by Any type of real estate marketing is expensive, when it doesn’t produce results. Of course if you put out marketing that had a cost of $1,000 and it returned a commission of $20,000 then suddenly that $1,000 marketing expense is looking like a good deal. Many of the frustrations for real estate professionals revolve around how leads from their marketing efforts are poor and that they aren’t closing any sales from any of their lead generation activities. Unfortunately this usually results in ditching marketing all together and hoping a new customer will “appear”.
Instead of just hope, you might consider starting with an online marketing strategy that will generate low cost leads. When you start your online real estate marketing efforts there are a myriad of choices available to you. Just a fraction of choices would include paid advertising on Google, Yahoo, BING, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, etc. In the field of paid online advertising each system works differently and allows quite a bit of flexibility for the advertiser. With this flexibility though comes the opportunity to waste your money quite easily and be stuck in that same viscous cycle.
Consider the following methods when starting your online advertising:
- Set a Budget – Too often real estate professionals jump into their online marketing efforts with no idea of how much they want to spend. Getting started online means understanding there will be a time needed to uncover how it all works and setting a budget that will allow you to succeed. A good rule of thumb to start with is don’t spend any more than 7% of what your average commission would be on your advertising. When you consider that if you spent just 7% to get a 1 transaction you would be in good shape, especially when you could repeat that month after month! Remember, when you first start you are going to have to look at some of your marketing as an investment in your learning. Understand what you are learning within your budget, make adjustments, and then make those dollars work hard for you when you determine what is working best within your local market.
- Set a Goal – Sounds crazy, but I invite you to consider that your online real estate marketing efforts can have results from your very first month. Holding your money accountable and setting a goal for a specific number of transactions that you would like to achieve will help you to keep your money accountable and provide you with some focus at the same time. A goal for transactions is your ultimate goal, but to keep your energy going in the right direction, consider setting leading goals such as Leads, Conversations, and Appointments. Tracking all of that will get you to see the “waterfall” of what it takes to go from Lead to a Closed Transaction.
- Focus on Leads – Creating ads online (and even your SEO efforts) should all be focused on generating leads. When you have people requesting information from you, either via phone or e-mail, each day it gives you the opportunity to convert those leads into fresh appointments. Don’t think that you need to “brand” yourself or “get the word out”, rather consider focusing on providing value to your online visitors and compel them to contact you for help. With so many sites offering “listings” consider shaping your expertise in a more unique fashion such as a local home buyers report. You can develop a report that is deep with your information that helps people to understand what is not offered on online searches such as which streets might be busier than others, where more homes have been renovated lately, where certain architectural styles or builders have developed and much more. Make your report an incredible source of YOUR information and let people provide their information to retrieve it.
- Be Specific – Too often real estate professionals (and many business owners for that matter) take very little time in their ad creation and where they will direct their ads. Take time to consider what people are searching on and direct them to pages within your website that will quickly give them the information they are looking for. This will keep your costs low and keep the leads flowing.
Real estate is an extremely competitive field and is getting even more competitive online. Keeping your costs low for your online marketing efforts will keep leads coming in, new appointments each week, and a steady flow of closings going each and every month.
