3 easy marketing tactics realtors could use to differentiate themselves

Right now I am in the process of wrapping up both buying and selling a house.  As most people who have gone through this process can attest, it’s not easy and you often feel pretty helpless.  For me, it was even harder as a new age marketer who can’t stop thinking about things like inbound strategies, calls to action, and real-time insights.   Here are three relatively simple things that realtors could do to make the process easier and more effective for themselves and their clients.
  1. Narrow the Calls to Action.  As marketers, we know that too many choices are a bad thing.  As are calls to action that don’t have a reason to act attached. Yet every day I walked outside of my front door to a “For Sale” sign with five calls to action and no reason to choose one or the other.  A phone number for my realtor.  A phone number and a web site for my realtor’s office.  A phone number for my realtor’s partner. And finally the URL for a dedicated website for my property.  Five calls to action for someone driving or walking by to try to decipher. Pick one call to action and make it readable from far away. 
  2. Build Your Online Credibility.  When you get a listing is not the time to start attracting potential buyers to you online in that locale.  The truth is that almost every buying process starts with a Google search these days and while MLS listings are important, they are not the only way to tell home shoppers about yourself as a buyer’s agent or about the property you are listing.  Start a blog about local real estate today that covers what you like about the homes you have visited or listed.  That way you have both real-life and search engine credibility in the areas you serve.

    3.       Give Real-Time(ish) Updates:  Throughout this process we held numerous open houses and each time would come home to an absence of information.  Other than attempting to count the change in the amount of collateral left on our coffee table, we had no way of easing our nerves by knowing if the event had been a smashing success or a colossal failure.  As 21st century marketers, we live in a real time world... And while I don't need my realtor to post the information on twitter, it couldn't hurt to leave a note about how a showing or open house went.  In today's world, no information is not an okay option.  Take the two minutes to be customer focused and provide news, even if it's bad, and before we have to ask for it.

Comments

RatesinMotion.tv said…
Great points! Keep it simple and make yourself known.
July 29, 2011 at 5:13 PM
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