Realtors and Real Estate Marketing

Does it seem to you that real estate agents don’t use the Internet fully to build exposure and brand reputation and generate buyers or seller leads?

Sure there’s a smattering of ads but relative to other businesses, their exposure is minimal.

Realtor marketing spend — Screenshot courtesy of Realtrends.com

You have to wonder at the full long term cost to Realtors and their careers when they avoid using the most powerful channel driving reach to buyers and sellers. That’s a horrible form of self denial for anyone. Why would a professional sales person delete themselves from channels/platforms which are designed to create what they need?

Realtor marketing spend survey — Real Marketing Spend by Channel. Screenshot courtesy of Attomdata.

Let’s take a good look at some attitudes that might be causing the problem and what they could be doing to turn this situation around.

Dominating Visibility Leads to Market Leadership

The lesson of marketing and advertising is exemplified by Apple, Coca Cola, Google, Proctor & Gamble, and other market leaders. Capture visibility, deliver the right message, and the market is yours.

If Realtors want to, they can dominate this online real estate marketing space and force other agents to fade into the background. Foreground/background is a key concept discussed in Realtor branding strategy. If other local agents take center stage to prospects online, they are much better positioned to capture the market (and get their lawn signs placed everywhere!).

The number of ads showing Realtors on Facebook, Google, Bing, Twitter, and Linkedin is surprisingly low. Ads are even light on the third party websites that carry their advertising spots. Given these sites listed above own most of the Internet advertising market to reach to consumers, you’d think real estate agents would want to dominate them.

Is the weak presence on digital media due to a lack of available ad inventory? Is it because they’re expensive and the cost per lead is too high? Or, is real estate marketing on the Internet a weak lead source for real estate agents? Are agents just not able to convert leads very well?

The reasons for Realtor’s absence on the Internet are many, but perhaps what can quell all doubts is a powerful, sustainable real estate marketing solution. Before we get to that unifying, empowering solution, let’s summarize what the issues might be.

28 Reasons Realtors Don’t do Online Marketing

they don’t feel they have a good enough value proposition
they don’t understand online marketing including FB, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, or Snapchat
they don’t know how to use internet marketing media well enough
it takes so much energy and effort that it’s like another full time job
they’re confused about who to target online and what to say
they’re afraid of saying something that will alienate some of their valued current clients
people ignore real estate agents online and may not like them
they don’t feel they can compete with stronger smarter Realtors
they feel social media makes them look like a commodity — or different but in a false, cooked up kind of way
they feel print and local advertising is good enough
they feel marketing is boring, not as interesting as meeting and influencing real people in person
they’re afraid they’ll lose their own farmed leads and connections if they get brought it all online
they aren’t able to create the marketing materials and assets necessary
it’s too much work and persistence requiring skill, creativity and specialized tools
they lack the imagination to be creative and innovative
it requires too much specific knowledge and skill (SEO, blogging, social media posting)
it takes time to create a real estate lead
they believe sellers aren’t online on Google or Facebook
they don’t have a budget for online marketing
they don’t believe it can aid in word of mouth referrals
they don’t know how to leverage online media to generate referrals
they haven’t found a marketing specialist they can work with to do this well
no one’s ever educated or coached them on modern Internet marketing
real estate lead aggregators are bidding on advertising too
they’ve used real estate lead generations companies and the leads were awful
they’re using Facebook and feel that is all the marketing they need
they feel advertising by lead generating companies is all hype and shows Internet marketing is a scam
no one has ever approached them with a marketing solution that works

That’s a lot of reasons to avoid digital real estate marketing. One more might be that they have tried digital marketing and it didn’t work well. Now they’re skeptical and cautious and that attitude could end up poisoning their careers.

Yet the fact remains that home buyers go online to search the housing market for houses and condos, and even sellers are online checking prices and other information related to their selling decision.

The fact is, everyone is online, and Google and Facebook know all about them. Their knowledge of consumer’s preferences, behavior, buying choices, and more is very intrusive and deep. It gives them the power to keep one step ahead of a consumer to present solutions before the consumer is aware they need them. With AI marketing, they’re getting even better at it.

If you’re a Realtor, and not doing internet marketing, you’re deleting a lot of sales and revenue for you. The mediums of Facebook and Google have immense audiences — almost everyone in North America, Europe and Australia.

Realtors need to leverage their sophisticated reach and analytics capabilities, by adopting a comprehensive real estate marketing package.

Okay, so what is a winning, sustainable Realtor marketing service package?

In a nutshell, it’s the development of market leading unique value proposition delivered to a targeted audience of home buyers and sellers, who need to see you as the only Realtor they need.

You start with the brand image, build the website/marketing assets including content and distribution channels, and you actively promote these marketing materials via advertising and free, organic media (Google, Facebook).

The marketing channels and your lead funnel system aggregates and moves visitors through the conversion path, while you study what is creating leads and sales. A marketing service helps you learn and optimize your lead conversion activities.

It’s not one-time Marketing, it’s Continuous and Improving

If winning at online real estate business takes time, energy, creative assets, distribution channels, persistence, and mastery, then the right selection of services solves those challenges. From wide exposure on Google search to geolocation marketing on mobile phones to social engagement, Realtors can build persistent presence in buyers and sellers minds.

There are lots of components, but don’t stick to your main objectives and use the media/software that’s most appropriate.

This omnipresence I speak of frequently is a key to creating tremendous long term value (LTV) which translates to a market leading real estate company. Think of a big wide foundation you keep building upon.

Remember that your local farm of prospects aren’t that loyal to you. Other Realtors can learn more about your prospect’s goals, preferences and personality and then present unique offers to seal a deal.

Check out these optimal Realtor marketing services packages.