Real Estate Marketing for New Agents
A marketing information center for new real estate agents.
So you're a new agent? Well, you've come to the right place. This learning center is geared just for you. It is specifically designed to teach modern real estate marketing concepts to new agents. Enjoy!
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Contents |
Real Estate Marketing Defined
Just so we're on the same page, let's establish a basic definition of real estate marketing (as it's used on this website). I define it as marketing conducted by real estate agents in order to gain new clients. We're not talking about marketing a house here — we're talking about you marketing yourself.
What's the Purpose?
I created the information on this website (books, articles, newsletter, etc.) to help you do one thing — gain new clients. That's it. That's the whole purpose of what we're talking about here. We're not going to talk about staying "top of mind" with your prospects (like a lot of marketing companies tell you to do), because I think it's unrealistic. People are too busy these days to remember an agent based on a postcard they received or an ad they saw in the paper.
Extra Credit
Getting Started
If you're new to the world of real estate marketing, start with the basics. First determine your goals. This will make the entire process easier. Too often, I see people define marketing goals that are overly vague. "I want to grow my business," is not a marketing goal — it's something we all want.
Of course you want to grow your business. But to gain any direction from this step, you have to get specific. For instance: "Within my first six months, I want to have a real estate postcard campaign in full swing, I want a website with good search engine visibility, and I want to find a mortgage professional to partner with."
Now that's much more specific, and it's something we can build a marketing plan on (next item).
Extra Credit
- Technology Guide for Agents
- 5 Fundamentals of Real Estate Marketing
- Modern Guide to Real Estate Marketing
Create Your Marketing Plan
The very phrase "marketing plan" scares some people. But it doesn't have to be scary. While a marketing plan for a large corporation might take weeks to develop, you can create yours in a day.
Constant Evolution
Your marketing plan will constantly be evolving, so don't worry if it's not perfect from the start. In fact, it's a good idea to revisit and revise your marketing plan once a month or so. New ideas, opportunities and challenges will arise, so you want your marketing plan to be flexible.
What to Include
What you put into your marketing plan depends on several factors. Is real estate going to be a full-time or part-time job for you? Are you an independent agent, or do you work for a company with marketing programs in place? What's your first-year marketing budget?
Despite all the variables, here are some things you might want to put on your "six month" list: (1) Get a website and start learning about search engine visibility. (2) Start a blog and post to it a couple of times a week. (3) Decide on at least one type of direct marketing (like postcards) to start with.
Marketing Specifics
Start with the general items listed above, and then get more specific as you go. For instance, one of your general items is to get a website. Some specific goals under this might be: "I want to create a resource website with a lot of professional-looking reports and downloads. I want to promote the site with direct mail. Using the lead-generation tools on the website, I want to capture 20 new leads per month."
Extra Credit
- Go Beyond the Free Consultation
- Real Estate Marketing - The Talkability Factor
- Modern Guide to Real Estate Marketing
Elements of Real Estate Marketing
Will you use all of these different elements. Maybe ... maybe not. It will depend on your goals, your audience, your budget, and the level of competition in your market area. But understanding the various elements of a real estate marketing program will help you decide which ones to start with. So with that in mind, here we go.
Direct Mail Marketing - Real estate postcards are a great way to put your message in front of your audience. With postcards, you know that everyone who receives it will look at it. You won't get such a guarantee with regular advertising. You can also control exactly where your postcards are going. This lets you shape your message around your audience.
I've worked for two direct mail and printing companies. So if you have questions about postcard marketing, I can certainly help you out.
Extra Credit
- Real Estate Postcard Marketing Tips
- Article: "How to Modernize Your Postcards"
- Real Estate Postcard Book
Public Relations - Public relations is perfectly suited for new agents, because it's a long-term strategy. So as a new agent, you can initiate a PR program that will serve you over the course of your career. This might involve publishing articles and press releases, conducting seminars and inviting the media, or a variety of other tactics.
Extra Credit
- PostcardSmart.com - Real Estate Section
- How PR Can Help New Agents
- Generating Buzz With "Talkability"
Search Engine Optimization - Real estate search engine optimization (SEO) has become a hot topic. The reasons why are obvious. A website with good search engine visibility can capitalize on all the buyers and sellers who use the internet these days. SEO takes time and patience, which is why I recommend you put it on your 6-month "to do" list. The sooner you start optimizing a website, the better.
Extra Credit
Website Marketing - Web marketing is the perfect complement to search engine optimization. SEO will help people find your website. But what do you do once you've got them there? This is where lead-generation comes into play. (Note: My search engine guide comes with a 14-page tutorial on generating website leads!)
Extra Credit
- 5 ways to dominate the Web
- Capturing Website Leads with Downloads
- The Agent's Guide to Web Marketing
Real Estate Blogs - After using a real estate blog for a while, you'll understand why they've become so popular. Basically, a blog gives you an easy way to publish content onto the web. This in turn helps you create an online presence you never had before. So in this regard, blogs make an excellent real estate marketing tool for new agents. Need help getting started? Try my real estate blog service!
Extra Credit
Getting "Live" Help
You've noticed the "Ask a question" button located throughout this page. How could you not? ;-) That button will take you to AdviceForAgents.com, my companion website to this one. You can use it to send your real estate marketing questions directly to me.
Just enter your question on this page, and click the "Submit" button. Done! I try to post answers with 48 hours of receiving the original question.
