29 Smart, but Cheap Marketing Ideas for Realtors
Whether you’re a new real estate professional or a veteran, it’s always a good idea to freshen up your marketing. Better still, lots of marketing tactics are simple to execute–and either free or very close to it.
Here are 29 tips to help you get the word out about you and your business.
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Our Videos for Sharing are perfect for posting on social media and in newsletters — and getting the word out about all that Realtors have to offer homebuyers and sellers.1. Attend professional conferences to network. Take a bundle of business cards. Give everyone two cards: one to keep and one to give away.
2. Join your professional organizations.
3. Plan to meet three new people in every networking situation.
4. Contact your college roommate and ask for an introduction to an organization.
5. Submit press releases to the media regarding your major consulting engagements, awards, published articles or books, or professional appointments.
6. Agree to be interviewed on a podcast. Share it with potential customers.
7. Write articles for your professional journal. Contact the editor to obtain a calendar of topics for the year.
8. Ask your customers for referrals.
9. Create a mailing list and an email list. The lists should include everyone you meet daily.
10. Blog regularly.
11. Invite potential customers to a buyer or seller seminar to teach them about the buying and selling process. Host the event in a local hotel where food and beverages are served to encourage a more social atmosphere.
12. Host a summer picnic. Buy T-shirts with your branding to wear and hand out at the picnic.
13. Compile a list of success stories you’ve had with past customers. Use them on your website and in your listing presentations.
14. Find a reason to call special customers.
15. Every time you meet a potential customer, follow up with a personal note.
16. Speak at civic and professional meetings and conferences.
17. Collect testimonials from customers, experts or local celebrities and use these recommendations to spice up your marketing.
18. Use your email signature line to promote something new happening with business or a featured listing.
19. When you’re not given a listing, send a thank-you note saying you appreciated being considered. Compliment them on their choice—your competition.
20. Share articles that will be interesting to your present and potential customers.
21. Send a card for atypical holidays: St. Patrick’s Day, Groundhog Day or Independence Day.
22. Tie a customer message to a holiday—for example, “We’re thankful to have you as a customer” (Thanksgiving Day), “We’re lucky to have you as a customer” (St. Patrick’s Day).
23. For holidays, send a package filled with something tied to the occasion: a gourd for Thanksgiving, candy hearts for Valentine’s Day, a four-leaf clover for St. Patrick’s Day.
24. Send birthday cards to both people and companies.
25. Send congratulations cards for promotions.
26. Send personal, handwritten thank-you notes.
27. Pass your extra work to a trusted colleague. It will come back to you.
28. Help your customers locate other professionals who can do work you’re not qualified to do.
29. Use Google Hangouts, Zoom, Facebook Live or YouTube Live to create and deliver free how-to videos.
You’ll be surprised how quickly marketing your services becomes second nature. Some of these ideas might not seem simple or even doable at first, but great real estate professionals are able to seamlessly blend many of them into their daily work. Before long, you’ll feel like a seasoned marketing pro—and you’ll have the business to show for it! #
Elaine Biech (elainebiech.com) is the author of “The New Business of Consulting: The Basics and Beyond.” As a consultant, trainer and president of ebb associates for more than 35 years, she helps global organizations work through large-scale change and leaders maximize their effectiveness.