Are Your Real Estate Marketing Strategies Obsolete?

If you’re having a tough time getting leads, prospects and sales for your real estate listings, don’t blame the market just yet. Playing the blame game won’t get you anywhere.

Instead take a look at your own real estate marketing strategies and ask yourself if these are still in tune with what consumers are doing.

Too often real estate agents spend so much time in the field that they get tunnel vision: meaning they don’t take stock and look what’s happening in the overall scheme of things. They think they’re too busy to read, study or keep themselves in step with the latest real estate buying trends.

It is these agents who’ll wake up one day wondering why their usual selling tactics are no longer working  and their sales pipeline has dried up.

And if you think reassessing marketing plans applies only when sales are down, think again. Initial successes actually blinds you from a painful reality check that will come crashing down when you least expect it.

Rapid Changes + Slow Reaction = Failure

Face the truth that change is not only constant, it is happening at a very rapid pace. Your marketing techniques may have worked well in the past but if you don’t bother to check what’s happening on the ground, those tried and proven techniques will end up obsolete.

To illustrate, check out data below which is among gold-mine of insights released by the National Association of Realtors last February 2012 in their NAR 2011 Home Buyer And Seller survey:

• 9 out of 10 home buyers use the internet to search for a home to buy
• 9 out of 10 of home buyers used a real estate agent to help them with their search…they found these agents by using, again…the internet
• 55% of home buyers also say yard signs helped them with their house hunting
• Only 45% of buyers attend open houses
• Just 30% of prospective buyers respond to newspaper advertising

While the NAR report goes on to reveal a ton of other very useful stats, the 5 items listed above should be more than enough reason to seriously rethink your real estate marketing strategy.

Use data to create more powerful strategies 

Serious real estate agents / realtors should start asking themselves these crucial questions:

a.) Do I have an online presence?

If yes, are my listings and my realty agency / practice easily found on the search engines using relevant keywords?



Is my website or blog found at least on the first page of the search results for relevant keywords?

b.) Am I making full use of my property for sale signs?

Are my “For \Sale” signs easy to read, well designed and helping me project a professional image?

b.) Should I hold regular or just special open houses?

c.) Am I wasting money on newspaper ads?

If my newspaper ads are still delivering results, how often should I advertise?

How much budget should I allocate so I can redirect resources to other more effective activities?

These are just a few of the many critical questions you should ask about your present real estate marketing activities.If your present techniques are no longer working then chances are your real estate selling strategies are becoming obsolete.

Bottom line: read, study and adjust to market realities. 

How about you? Do you think some of your marketing methods are becoming obsolete? Leave a comment.

Facebook Marketing - Common Blunders Made By Real Estate Agents & Brokers

With 750 Million users worldwide spending billions of minutes monthly, real estate agents and brokers are understandably flocking to Facebook for both personal and business purposes. And why not? Facebook marketing is one of biggest & most effective strategies available today and it has reaped online & social media-savy realtors enormous benefits.

However, despite all tons of advice on proper Facebook marketing published on the net, many real estate practitioners still manage to commit one boo-boo after another. Yes, we all commit mistakes but  for the real estate service profession, the effects of these errors can affect one's ability to create more business opportunities.

Below are some of the common Facebook marketing blunders committed by real estate agents:

Spamming

Many agents think it's alright to post property listings in other Facebook pages, groups and even personal walls without the expressed permission of the page, group or profile owner. No, it's not alright. In fact, it's considered rude and very unprofessional. 

The best way to show your listings without annoying anyone is to create a Facebook page and invite everyone to like it. Facebook pages are free and you can do a lot cool stuff with it such as: upload photos, documents, notes, videos and many other kinds of content. 

Best of all, you can engage your prospects in meaningful conversations centered on a topic that gives you business: your listing. Plus you can also get other visitors who may not be your friends to like the page and add to your clientele base.

Tagging friends/clients with photos and videos without permission

Tagging someone on a video or photo without their permission and more so if they are actually NOT in the said content is just plain bad Facebook marketing or simply bad behavior.

We all know that once you tag someone on Facebook, those photos and vids will appear on their wall and are visible to that client's friends. Now, some agents may think this functionality will increase their audience base, which is true but again, without any authorization by the person, these agents end up advertising their lack of consideration & respect for that person's privacy. Instead of gaining clients, agents may end up losing them.

If you really want to send property listings to a client/prospect-friend a good technique would be to do it via private message. Facebook's private messaging system allows you to attach photos, videos and other links to anyone. If you'd like people to take notice, make sure the content is really professionally done and attractive. You may also insert a note in your message saying: "please feel free to share this with your Facebook friends".

Posting Off-topic Sales Messages

Do you like someone uninvited butting in any of your private or public conversations with a friend? Of course not. It's the exact same thing prospects feel when an agent out of the blue posts a comment that's directly & openly selling a property. 

The proper way to join a conversation is to:

a.) Help someone who publicly posts a problem or a question (i.e. someone asking about the property market in an area or government regulations like taxes, etc.)

b.) Ask a question that concerns your target market / audience 

c.) Make professional recommendations (only when asked, unless you have a strong personal connection with the prospect)

Other Facebook marketing mistakes include: 

• Using the status update as a classified ads tool (your friends are interested in you but not necessarily your offers). The best way to avoid this is to create a Facebook page, Event or post on your wall a link pointing to a website, blog or other channel. Better yet, why not create a Facebook paid advertisement? It's easy to use and manage with excellent targeting tools.
• Incomplete personal profiles (You need to create credibility and an incomplete profile doesn't help you accomplish that)
• Failure to engage clients/prospects in your Facebook pages

The Bottom Line

Facebook offers vast opportunities for real estate agents and brokers to grow their business. However, it is important to remember that Facebook marketing means following accepted social rules. After all, Facebook is a social networking tool designed specifically to enhance communication and build relationships. 

Committing social media boo-boos defeats the entire Facebook marketing idea and will cost you time and money.  You want to gain more prospects and sales, not lose them.

How about you, any irritating Facebook practices committed by real estate you wish to add? Feel free to add some more in the comments section.