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You can’t cross marketing goals off your to-do list. To continually capture all the social media, email, and engagement efforts sown into your CRM, you need to regularly update and evaluate strategy updates.
Like any professional gardener, you need to know when to cut out the old to leave room for new buds to grow. Finding a marketing rhythm for your brand is a lesson in patience and, above all, self-discipline.
There’s so much noise going on in the field of marketing that the average agent is being pulled in different directions. Among influencers, coaches, gurus, and brokers, without a strategy, marketing can look more like a chaos garden than a well-oiled machine that produces consistent results.
Here are my five best tips and practices for a minimalist approach to eliminating clutter from your marketing plan and maximizing meaningful interactions with your clients.
1. Understand the difference between what you like and what your audience likes.
While it’s fun to jump on dance trends and silly ASMR parodies, it’s important to remember that you have different responsibilities to your clients and prospects depending on the type of content and message you’re sharing.
First, it’s important to know that consumers are being exposed to so many types of advertising and “visual” pollution that they’re reaching near breaking point, according to new research from Eyeo and Harris Poll. is.
The main complaints from consumers regarding digital advertising are:
Pop-up/Banner Ads: These outdated advertising practices plague consumers who are constantly prevented from finding the information they’re looking for. Annoying or Too Selling: Eliminate the Ego Noisy/Audio No option to turn it off: Always use captions, no option to turn off audio – sound media Boring, unoriginal, repetitive content: Canned content used heavily by large groups of agents Please throw it away. Clickbait: Be transparent with your message. Bots: They want to talk to you, not robots.
2. Do your homework
Creative marketing doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does need to be clear and compelling. Proper research is key to building meaningful connections with the clients you are trying to contact.
To get started, we recommend choosing the one social platform you’re most comfortable with and creating your campaign there. If Facebook is your hobby, it could be a great place to start building your ads. Check your audience metrics there.
What time are they active? Do you know what common things they enjoy? Are most of your friends millennials or boomers? Who is your biggest cheerleader? ?Is your entire area connected to this platform?
Answering these questions will help you identify messages and calls to action about your business or brand that your followers will appreciate.
Following trendy real estate influencers on Instagram or TikTok may give you ideas for interesting content, but it doesn’t necessarily mean your core audience will respond to, get to know, like, or trust you. It’s not like that.
A good place to start is by clarifying some common misconceptions in your area. This type of content can be fun and add value at the same time.
Harvard Business Review details that the key to building trust with consumers through content is understanding that loyalty to you and your brand is a shifting game. As loyalty is earned and consumers learn of their value to you, agents must continually bring that value to the forefront.
3. Actually speak to your audience
One of the most annoying things agents often overlook in marketing is not taking the time to talk and interact with their audience. In other words, much automated marketing is post-and-ghost or set-and-forget.
Today’s audiences know about ads, listings, and even recent announcements and are likely to ask questions, but many agents forget to actually read or remember what’s in the campaign.
This also applies to new prospects who need to know about you and your brand. You’ll see general auto-posted content or content you haven’t engaged with. Smart consumers know who will take the time to comment on the personal content they post, and who will only post their latest closing and not respond to anything else. .
4. Beware of gimmicks and always being a comedian
Dolls, costumes, parodies, and other strange things may attract the attention of consumers, but they may not only reject some potential customers, but may actually insult them, so Use with caution. If your marketing involves more of this content than value-based content, you may want to focus less on getting views and more on gaining the trust of prospects who might actually buy or sell your home. Sho.
@realestateswagshoppe Creepy and Accurate 🤣 #realtor #realestate #realestateagent #realestatehumor #realestateswag #firsttimehomebuyer #buyersdad ♬ Creepy and Scary Skeleton (House VIP Remix) – Crystal Knives & Lex Allen
This is a common trap for agents to fall into because social media fans are so engaging, but usually when this is in their wheelhouse, it’s not to connect with consumers, but for other agents to have a laugh. You’re creating content. While it’s great to keep holidays and special awareness events fun and light, that shouldn’t be your entire marketing strategy.
5. Don’t try to be something you’re not
The most annoying thing is when agents try to come out of nowhere trying to project a personality or image that doesn’t match their personality or their actual sales experience. Consumers can spot fakes from a mile away. If you are not representing your most authentic self, it will be misleading to consumers, and those who know you will be less likely to choose you as their representative.
Consumers are skeptical because for generations, companies have not had a good track record of always telling consumers the truth. We also have checks and balances against unethical business practices. A University of Massachusetts study that interviewed consumers about their interactions with companies found that companies lied at least once in a 10-minute conversation with consumers at least 60 percent of the time.
In other words, don’t claim to be an expert on something if you’re not. Also, don’t tell me the house is great when it’s not. Be transparent and honest. Don’t let hustle culture or popular culture force you into clever sales campaigns designed to trick consumers into cooperating with you.
Get maximum results with minimum effort
When I work with clients on tough marketing problems, the thing that stands out most is usually how unwilling agents are to get involved in marketing. They just want it to work, not think about it, and want to get leads on a regular basis.
The second most common problem is that there are too many campaigns and techniques going on at once, nothing is being measured, and we don’t know what’s actually working.
Build a solid foundation from the basics. Get a clear understanding of who you are and what you sell, then focus on consistently building and growing one successful campaign at a time.
Measure your results regularly and make adjustments as necessary. You don’t need a million dollars and a white BMW to get started, but you do need a very rare and very valuable asset. It is your own unique self.
Rachel Hite is an experienced housing counselor and thought leader in the real estate industry, known for her extensive expertise across business news journalism, retirement housing, and affordable housing initiatives. . Connect with Rachel on Instagram and Linkedin.
