Marketing Real Estate and Yourself in 2012

With homes staying on the market longer, advertising can get expensive. So how do you get the most the most out of your advertising dollars? I have found you get the most bang for the buck advertising your real estate properties along with your contact information using a mixed media approach that incorporates traditional media, digital media, social media, repeat business /referrals programs and WOM!

Why focus on advertising your properties? Because it gives you two for one - exposure for your property and yourself as the contact person. The more people see your name and your listings, the more they will want to learn more about you and what you can do for them.

Below are a few ways to get exposure for your listings and yourself:

Branding
Branding - make sure everything is consistent with your image from your business cards, website, print, newsletters and other. Use the same images, colors, logo in a distinct format so people will begin to recognize you and your listings or information. Consistency is key.

Traditional Marketing:
Print: Newspapers, magazines, HOA newsletters, specialty pubs, business cards.
Signs: Yard signs, car signs, billboards
Direct Mail: Post cards or letters to target market, area or sold home radius mailing.
Canvassing: Introduce yourself to the neighbors where you have listings. Maybe they need your services or know someone who may be interested in your listing.
Cold-call: Get a list of expired listings or a neighborhood you want to farm and start calling to introduce yourself and follow-up.
Networking: Check out Meetup.com for networking opportunities, join groups centered around your interest and business. Tell everyone about yourself, your business and your listings.
Press Release: Send out a press release about your property to local publications and online.

Digital Marketing & Listing Sites
Your Website.com
Broker Website.com
Local online mls
NAR Realtor.com
Local online publications & classifieds
Craigsist.com
Trulia.com
Zillow.com
LuxuryHomesandAutos.com (great place to market luxury properties)

Social Media - Get the word out!
Facebook | Personal network | FB Page & groups | FB Ads
Linkedin
Twitter
Blog
Guest Blog
Message Boards
Email Marketing to Realtors and Client Base
Flicker - upload photos
Other

Repeat Business & Referral programs
Always stay in front of your customers (email or newsletter) and always be asking for referrals.

WOM (word-of-mouth)
Do a great job and deliver on promises and you'll get lots of WOM!

Hope this helps :)

Laurie
LuxuryHomesandAutos.com

Agree with all of it except the Trulia/Zillow part.

I view them as 3rd party interlopers that are doing nothing than looking to hand me a bill over the long term.

One thing is for sure is you have to do a combination of those things in order to run a successful marketing campaign. I would add that for your campaign to be more successful you need to provide valuable information to your prospects. You could have a list of free reports and guides that you can offer to send by emails.

For prospects the most important thing is their selfish desires, that's harsh to say but that is the human nature. So if you can provide some information that helps them, then you get one step closer to them.

I think real estate agents are really forgetting the importance of SEO. People really are looking for homes through search engines. Social media works but let it wash up your plan. Be competitive and don't be afraid to pay a lot to market the home. If you're make 2 grand a home, don't be afraid to spend 500 bucks in marketing.

I agree that most of those resources are great, but I think there are ways to spice up traditional marketing. I love video marketing and you can easily incorporate them by using QR codes on traditional marketing. You can link QR codes to videos and place the qr codes on for sale signs, rent signs, business cards, newspaper ads, etc. Here's a quick video I did on QR codes, if interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=s8HtC8BnccA

I also agree with MiamiGuy that SEO is important. You can rank your website pretty easily for local keywords. You can also SEO your videos even easier than your website. Video SEO and video marketing are great ways to market your listings or yourself as an agent. I have a blog post at biggerpockets on 10 ways you can use real estate videos:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/2933/blog_posts/22346-10-ways-to-use-real-estate-videos

Lastly, I agree with social media too. If you have a good following of customers and people in your area its a great way to connect, share you current listings, and other information. Not only that but with the recent Google changes, social media plays a bigger role in ranking websites. You should be connecting via social media if you are not doing so already.

Natoli, good info on the free guides and info. It's a good way to get leads and build up an email list too. Offer the free guide in exchange for their email and name or phone number, etc.

I love video marketing as well, and I think that for real estate it makes even more sense, people want to see what's inside the home. Can you imagine driving around a neighborhood you like, seeing a house for sale and a QR code on the flyer, you scan it and boom, you get to see a video tour of the house. I think that would be awsome!

30-DAY MARKETING PLAN. http://www.willsellhomes.com/custom12.aspx