As a real estate agent, you’re an expert at marketing… marketing properties, that is. Marketing yourself is entirely different. Real estate is highly competitive, and if you don’t snag your clients’ attention, another realtor will! Here are several tips to help you establish credibility, gain new clients, and create strong connections.
1. Stay Consistent with Social Media
Social media is essential! And you can’t just post once a month. You need to be on a regular schedule. Get familiar with the popular social media platforms and create content that your clients will appreciate. Share blogs and articles with tips and tricks. Post photos of the homes you’ve sold, complete with the happy, smiling new homeowners (of course, get their permission first!). You can also share great new listings in your area and share your own website or blog.
2. Market Yourself on Zillow
90% of buyer will house hunt online. Zillow is the largest real estate website and gets over 160 million hits per month! Zillow Premier Agent allows you to advertise on local Zillow and Trulia listings, and in addition to posting new listings, you can also create a profile for yourself. Make sure to share a little bit about yourself to catch peoples’ attention and get them to call you up. Here’s how to create your free agent profile on Zillow.
3. Be a Part of Local Events
Online profiles are great, but nothing beats face-to-face engagement. Being a part of local events will you meet people. It’ll also help you showcase your knowledge and expertise as a realtor. You could have a booth at a local festival, sponsor an event in your town, or have a float in a parade. There are so many ways to connect and engage with the community if you put in a little effort!
4. Offer Less-Common Services, Like Video Walkthroughs
If you have an edge over your competition, you can market that to your advantage. For example, if you offer video walkthroughs on listings and most other realtors don’t offer videos, you have an immediate edge. You just have to advertise the fact that you offer these services and explain to clients why they are so valuable.
5. Create an Eyecatching Logo
This is one of the most important elements of your brand. A good, attractive logo will help you attract customers. They’ll see your logo all over town and recognize it as your brand. A bad logo can be confusing, it can look outdated, and it can make you look unprofessional.
6. Consider Livestreaming/Taking Video on the Job
People are naturally curious. They also spend a lot of time on social media! Use this to your advantage and let people see some of the behind-the-scenes work of being a realtor. Facebook Live and Instagram Stories are a great way to do this. You could livestream during an open house or other public event, explaining to viewers what you’re doing and why. Or you could videotape yourself while you’re staging a home, giving helpful tips at the same time.
7. Make Sure Your Website is Up to Date
Be sure to have an easy-to-use, aesthetically-pleasing website to showcase yourself and your work. Clients should be able to find your current and previous listings, reviews, and your blog on this site. It should be branded with your logo and include high-quality professional photos of yourself and the homes you’re selling.
8. Use High-Quality Photos
Whether on listings, social media, your website, or your print marketing, your photos need to be appealing and eyecatching. To accomplish this, you need a professional photographer. If your photos are better than other local agents’ photos, you automatically have a great advantage over them.
9. Write Blog Posts on Your Website
Build your audience by regular posting on your website’s blog. Give people helpful hints and tools for homebuyers and homesellers. You can even add some content about your day to day life to create a better relationship with consumers.
10. Install Google Analytics and Check it Frequently
Google Analytics helps website owners keep up to date with all sorts of metrics and information as it relates to the content and your website visitors. If the vast majority of people are leaving your site without contacting you, Analytics may be able to help you figure out why. If you suddenly have tons of people visiting your website, you can figure out where they came from. And if you post blogs, you can find out which ones are more popular than others. This can help you plan your blogs for the future.
11. Make Yourself Easy to Get Ahold of
Have your business contact information on every page of your website. Print it on every card or brochure. Let any potential clientele know how to reach you and make it easy for them! As soon as you have them on the line, you can personally speak with them to convince them of why they need your services.
12. Make Sure Your Site is Mobile-Friendly
As stated before, 90% of buyers house hunt online. Make your site mobile friendly and easy to use. In addition, consider creating your own app for more convenience.
13. Consider a Niche
If there’s a lot of competition in your area, then find a niche. Maybe you could target families with young children, pet owners, or real estate investors—just to name a few. You could focus on a specific price point (lower end or higher end) or you could zero in on a certain neighborhood that no one else seems to be targeting.
14. Get Branded Items
Keep your name in people’s minds by having some branded freebies. This helps you spread the word all over town! Magnets, pens, and other items make good freebies to hand out to clients and to give away at local events.
15. Ask For (And Use) Testimonials from Past Clients
If your past clients are really happy with your services, they’ll be glad to provide a short testimonial. Amp it up even further by asking them specific questions and by including a photo with the testimonial. Use these testimonials on brochures, mailings, social media, and your website.