Are You Fighting Offline Marketing? I Fought Online & Look Who Won!!

Excellent post my friend Barbara. Off-line marketing is VERY effective. I'm conducting a campaign as we speak right now....

Clients have come to me through all kinds of marketing, or the message they saw in the marketing, or whatever. My strategy is to have one major new marketing effort per year that is costing me a chunk of money, and a whole bunch of marketing that is relatively inexpensive. Add my networking efforts face-to-face which has been really pretty impressive even for me this year, and business comes "out of the blue". I'm not all about the bottom line, either, real estate is a "lifestyle" for me that this year also includes swimming first thing every morning and tennis several times during the week. I'm all about "service", my clients know I'm an early riser and they can call me until fairly late in the evening. Having said all that, ONLINE capabilities is a must when it comes to finding information or getting things done and quickly. PS. My market which is pretty much nothing under $500,000 and more often than not over $1 Million, it is super competitive and doing a mailer doesn't cut it. Heavy and steady pricy print advertising will do it. Door knocking? 2/3 of the homes in Carmel-by-the-Sea are second/third/fourth homes.

Another of Barbara Todaro 's just a thought series...

Congrats on the feature Barbara Todaro !  The internet, although here to stay, is not enough.  Direct mailings never worked well for me and newspapers here are but a few pages these days.  I found that getting out face-to-face and getting involved was a better idea.  Besides, I enjoy it.

Plus we haven't even touched on "Big Data" and "smart-marketing". The issue is they all think they can "take-over" the Realtors turf. With folks selling every 9 to 10 years there is always a steep learning curve for the new Seller. Of course you can always have a Zillow tell you how much your home is worth and a "alternative" RE model sell it for you--but HOW much money do you REALLY want to leave on the table?

Barbara, one the traits I so admire about you is that you never shy away from new things, be they online marketing or your gym goals! 

Quarterly mailings, Just Listed & Just Sold postcards and staying in front of past clients works Barbara! Fantastic reminder that it takes more than one type of advertising and marketing to remain successful. Congrats on the gold star!

Wise advice as always, Barbara. I think some agents don't realize that not everyone is glued to a computer or a phone screen all day. Your integrated approach catches everyone who can read, and each of your efforts supports and builds on the others.

Oh yes! Wonderful post, Barbara and I agree with you wholeheartedly. I believe that a little of this and a little of a couple of other things, rounds out success.

We have to remain consistent and continuously evaluate our methods, tweak the ones that need tweaking and ramp up the ones that are working for us. It's a moving target every quarter but, that's what makes what we do enjoyable to me!

I get my online leads from various sources, Zillow being one of them. That is from always having listings but my main source of leads is being active in the community AND doing personal mailers. I just did one last Thursday, 211 mailings, 3 responses, all good, yeah!

I'm going through your answers and getting thoroughly inspired since yesterday! Wishing you all the good fortune!

Good morning Barbara, I think a mix of marketing is important. Nurturing my sphere is the majority of my business but, for my team direct mail, online marketing, paid leads etc. all have their place. It keeps a steady stream flowing in. You're right, direct mail may be more expensive but, it works! 

During the past 18 months 100% of our marketing has been online, and its worked well.  I have six strategies designed to compliment the online effort, but haven't used any of them yet.

Lead aggregation online is not hard to get today. You have Offline, Online, SOI, etc. When someone raises their hand very slightly, many agents get excited. The point of actual contact will involve human interaction and that is done by talking. In short: learn to use your phone and talk to them and keep trying until you do, although you probably hate rejection cuz everybody does. 

There is no silver bullet to success in real estate, especially when it comes to marketing.  I use both on-line and print advertising.  The ratio you use may depend on your business model.  If you primarily work with buyers you will likely benefit from more on-line advertising than print.  Or if you prefer to work the listing side, then you may have a more balanced marketing approach between print and web.  Either way, these efforts only open the door. It's up to you to get on the phone and confirm why you are the best person for the potential client to work with.

That healthy mix wins in starting the conversation, what we do after initial contact is what turns talk in to Transactions. You sure got that right!!

I put my prospecting letters in the mail last week, Barbara. One agent in my office commented about how much I was spending in postage. So what? I was targeting a specific neighborhood where I have a buyer. You do what you need to...

Barbara Todaro Thank you for your example that works, just keep on keeping on

We have definitely continued to mail thank you cards, and set up happy hours once a month.  That face to face contact goes a long way in establishing a relationship with people.