The stacking model is a practical system for agents who refuse to be outmarketed by platforms with multibillion-dollar budgets, writes Zach Kennedy.
In Part 1, we argued that the combination of Rocket and Redfin and the acquisition of REMAX by The Real Brokerage portend the competitive environment in which all agents will operate over the next decade.
It’s no coincidence that Rocket’s 2025 customer retention rate is 97%. This is what happens when a company builds an ecosystem that exists consistently and clients don’t feel the need to look elsewhere. Every touchpoint influences the next touchpoint.
The flywheel spins faster with each transaction.
The question left from Part 1 is how individual agents build their own versions.
The answer is not to scale up. It’s about accumulating.
Why scaling fails and stacking works
The real estate industry is obsessed with scale. More phone calls, more mailers, more advertising. Increasing the volume does not solve the problem.
Expanding a weak marketing strategy will only produce the same weak results at a higher cost.
Agents who are really hard to compete with don’t do much more than that. They layer multiple types of marketing into a single, high-leverage campaign that works across all channels simultaneously.
All agents have access to five types of marketing:
Traditional relationship Content Digital Direct
Most agents use one or two alone. Stacked agents deploy all five in a single campaign.
Stacking score measures how efficiently your campaign is built. 1 point for each marketing type present. 5 means all 5 are active. Below you can see exactly where the gaps are.
Four pillars of content
All campaigns should also draw from the four content pillars.
Listing information: Active inventory and market activity. It’s the most direct signal that you’re working. Community: What’s happening in the areas you serve. This positions you as someone who actually lives in this market, rather than just someone who sells on it. Expertise: Analysis of market conditions translated into what it means for buyers or sellers in a particular zip code. This is where you get the right to be trusted. Branding: The least utilized pillar and the most powerful.
True branding is more than logos and colors. It’s about positioning yourself as an agent who understands that real estate transactions are rarely about real estate. They are about events in someone’s life that require moving, such as death, divorce, diapers, diamonds, and diplomas.
The agents who speak directly to these life events are the ones whose names come up first when that moment arrives.
Two stacked campaigns, with scores
Campaign 1: Neighbor-only open house (Score: 5/5)
A new agent with a small database was hosting an open house on a colleague’s listing. Rather than just showing up and expecting people to jump in, she built a campaign around it.
She sent out 8.5×11 letters to surrounding homeowners inviting them to a neighborhood-only open house on the Sunday before the public screening. The letter included a QR code with price analysis for the area and a link to online properties.
Six people participated in the private hour. Several had family members considering moving to the area, and all six signed in with full contact information.
A new agent with a small database started out with a list of reliable prospects in the exact area in which they wanted to build business.
Stacking score:
The physical character is Traditional. Neighborhood targets are relationships. The letter itself is the content. QR codes are digital. An intentional email sent to a specific list is direct.
Five to five.
All four pillars of content apply. A branding statement through listings, communities, proven expertise in open houses, and targeting prospects with specific aspirations in a specific field.
Campaign 2: Consistent Email (Score: 5/5)
If your open house campaign is a sprint, this is the engine that keeps everything running between events.
Sending consistent, well-structured emails to your database on a regular basis is one of the most underrated tools in real estate marketing. There are no printing companies or advertising costs. Sent directly to people who already know you, keeping you present during the transaction. Four sections, one for each content pillar.
The first features active listings or recent sales. The second is to highlight what’s happening in the community. The third is our view of market conditions or frequently asked questions. The fourth section is the branding section. Here, we talk directly about the life events that drive real estate decisions. Death, divorce, diapers, diamonds, diplomas.
By consistently writing down those moments, you become the agent who calls people before they arrive.
Stacking score:
Traditional channels Relationship database Content across four sections Digital through links and calls to action Direct because you can choose exactly who receives them
Five to five.
This is a retention mechanism. That’s the 97 percent version of you.
agent flywheel
The stacking model is the middle layer of a three-part business structure that all agents must intentionally build. Operations are the foundation. The brokerage firm’s job is to fully support this so you don’t have to think about the back office.
We will build our marketing on top of that. The goal of all stacked campaigns is the same. That is, to create the conditions for the conversation. Where Flywheel succeeds is in sales.
A conversation becomes a promise. The appointment becomes the client. The client becomes the contract. The contract will be concluded. Closing funds better operations, a stronger database, and more marketing capabilities.
The flywheel spins faster each time it rotates.
Platforms being built at a national level are spending billions of dollars to build this at scale. You don’t need a billion dollars. You need five marketing types, four content pillars, and the discipline to stack them consistently.
Don’t worry about being the biggest agent in the room. Be careful not to be the slowest person.
Zac Kennedy is a licensed broker with RealtySouth, serving buyers, sellers, and agents throughout the Birmingham-Hoover, Alabama metro area. Connect with him on Instagram and LinkedIn.
