Best Ways to Market Yourself as a REALTOR®

BEING A successful REALTOR® means running your own business – and that means marketing.

Marketing is a wide term with a myriad of different specialisms contained under its umbrella and can be as simple or complex as you want it to be.

And while large firms have big budgets to throw at their marketing, you are likely to be looking at your marketing with a somewhat smaller budget – but that does not mean you cannot do a first-rate job with limited funds.

Getting your message out there – and showcasing your listings – has changed dramatically in the past decade and by picking and choosing your marketing channels between the traditional and new methods you can be a force to be reckoned with in your area.

Start with your social media. You most likely already have at least one social media account, but take the time and effort to establish separate business profiles and keep them away from your pictures of your cat, last lunch out, and political memes. Basic social media accounts are free on all the major platforms including Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram.

Take the time to understand the differences between the platforms, who sues them, and how to shape your messages to make the most of each. Join local community groups, post regularly, make positive contributions to comments and discussions and reply to inquiries and comments promptly.

Websites are an essential shop window for you and your business – it is your go-to space and any prospective client will expect to find your website when they are checking you out. Make sure your site is simple, clear, and inviting – with easy ways to contact you and kept fully up to date with your listings.

By ensuring you make the most of search engine optimization techniques, your site will pop high in Google searches in your zip code areas, and it is well worth making sure your site is optimized for mobile devices as they make up the majority of searches in today’s world – so your site has to look great on a mobile phone screen as well as a desktop.

Business cards may be old school and printed on cards, but they are still an absolutely essential part of a REALTOR®’s marketing toolkit. You cannot sell houses without meeting people and shaking hands and a card should be in that hand at all times. It is worth exploring the options available to make your card really stand out from everyone else’s – and magnetic cards that stay stuck to the fridge can be well worth it.

Email lists are a great and free way to build your marketing reach – be diligent in harvesting email contacts from everyone you do business with and build up your spreadsheets or set up a simple Customer Relationship management system. There are free and freemium ones available to help you do this online. Use a lead magnet to attract people to give you their email address in return for something from you – examples include quizzes or ebooks you can send them as a gift for signing up to your email newsletter. Email is cheap and has a good return on investment – if you make your newsletters reliable and worth opening you will gain customers. As well as showcasing new listings, newsletters can include tips for selling and tips for buyers, offering your services as high value.

Use the big aggregation sites such as Zillow -they will always show up towards the top of an internet search by anyone interested in buying a home, and they are not going away, so make sure you are listed and easy to find. Add your testimonials from happy clients – these should, of course, be on your own site as well, and there is nothing wrong with asking your clients to provide one for you.

Use Facebook adverts – you can pay to play and set clear boundaries as to whom sees your adverts, in a location or a type of person making sure exactly the right kind of people are seeing your adverts. It is a cheap and very flexible advertising platform with no obligations – you stay in full control of how much you spend, when adverts go out, where they go, and to whom.

Finally, do not forget direct mail, postcards, door hangars, and good old-fashioned networking – technology may be here to stay but this is still a people business, and meeting people is still best done in person. Contact Key Realty to get the best training there is.