We talk frequently on this blog about your “marketing mix.” But what exactly does that mean?
Simply put, your marketing mix is the group of activities that you do to promote your real estate business and your brand. It’s called a mix because it incorporates a variety of strategies.
You may wonder what the best marketing mix is for your business. The good news is that it’s not hard to discover it.
Just follow these three steps!
Step One: Choose The Elements of Your “Mix”
The first thing to do is choose your marketing mix from the three major categories. How many subcategories you choose will have to do with how much time you have for marketing, your current presence level in your market, and what fits your target demographic.
Print Marketing
The first bucket to think about is print marketing. There are subcategories within this part of the marketing mix. In reality, every Realtor® should do at least a few forms of print marketing.
Here are subcategories to consider:
- Farming postcards
- A Just List/Sold mailing series
- Outreach using business cards
- Expired Listing postcards or letters
- Notecards to thank vendors and clients
- Promotional items like pens or reusable bags
- Car door magnets
- Door hangers
Some of these forms of print marketing stand alone, but others work well with our next category, in-person marketing.
In-Person Marketing
Nothing builds your brand like being somewhere in person. The great news is that it’s easy to distribute your print marketing elements when you’re face-to-face with your target market!
At a minimum, we recommend pop-bys as an in-person strategy. Others can be very helpful as well!
Here are some ideas for in-person subcategories:
- Pop-bys
- Sponsoring 5Ks or other community events
- Donating to silent auctions or charity events
- Serving on boards in your community
- Being part of a neighborhood homeowner’s association
- Volunteering of any kind, to build relationships
- Holding seasonal events at your office or other location
- Going for walks in your farm area
In-person strategies can be time-consuming, so be sure to balance them carefully with your other marketing, buying, and selling activities.
Online Marketing
The final element of a marketing mix is online promotion. Different real estate agents will have different levels of comfort with the internet, and it’s OK for that to be part of your decision.
We’ve spent the last two weeks talking about social media and what to post. Here are links so that you can choose and plan your online strategy!
The key is to share useful information, like how a bridging loan can help you close on a new home sooner, how to prepare your home for the holidays, or what renovations really matter for home value.
Once you’ve chosen your subcategories from the print marketing, in-person outreach, and online marketing sections, you move to step two.
Step 2: Be Consistent
One of the most frustrating things for Realtors® is to put forward effort and not see results. However, before you give up on an area, ask yourself – have I really been consistent?
Psychology is an odd thing, and what we know about marketing is that people notice what they see most frequently. A one-time outreach – or even a three-time outreach – isn’t enough.
You have to show up consistently, week after week, month after month. You need six months of consistent implementation before you can judge a strategy.
Here are techniques to help you be consistent:
- Schedule time for marketing just like you would a meeting
- Use farming postcard series, rather than just one farming postcard at a time
- Take advantage of EDDM and outsourcing to save time and money
- Schedule online posts in advance, but come back and interact in the comments
When you’ve been consistent for at least six months, you can move on to step three.
Step 3: Evaluate and Prune
Very simply, what’s working in your market? Are you seeing a lot of interaction on Instagram, but not getting much from open houses? Was sponsoring a local 5K a success or a flop?
Once you see what’s working and what’s not, you can double down on the successful strategies and dump the ones that aren’t working. Once you do, you may have the space to try a couple of new ideas.
Over time, you’ll create the perfect marketing mix for your business!
How do you choose your marketing mix? Share in the comments!
This post originally shared on PrinterBees' Real Estate Marketing Magazine.
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