As a luxury or other real estate marketing professional, you must understand the “inner game” of marketing as well as you know the process of selling a home.
If you want to gain or sustain market leadership in your area or your niche you must “own” real estate in the minds of your target market.
We refer to the real estate of the mind as top-of-mind status. The key question is: Who comes to mind first?
Many point to the number of followers they have on social media, and all that is well in good. People boast about their exposure on the latest and greatest media.
However, the real question, or the bottom line is not an abundance of numbers. What matters is actual engagement with those who will call you or inquire about your market. Numbers of transactions have more validity than hits on Google, leads of followers. Transactions pay the bills.
Pictured above is a picture of oil and water. No doubt you are aware that the two do not mix. In your mind who owns the category of multipurpose household oil that lubricates, cleans and prevents rust? Did you come up with W-D 40 or 3-IN-ONE? Can you think of another brand?
Most people cannot think of a 3rd or 4th brand in this product category. It so happens that both household oil brands are owned by the same company. More importantly, they own the category!
By, the way...did you know that W-D stands for "water displacement" which was what the inventor, Norm Larson, was aiming for with his formula to prevent rust. It took him 40 attempts to find the best way to prevent corrosion by repelling water.
Welcome to the world of real estate of the mind! In our time-pressed, over-communicated world we just cannot hold more than a few brand names in our mind in any category of product or service. That is what makes the stakes so high in the bid for market leadership.
In the realm of listing and marketing real estate, achieving top-of mind status is far more valuable than owning the top position on a Google search result pages.
Sure, it is great to also come up first on the search engines so you can get more buyer leads, especially when properties are slow to move. (They are not at this point in time).
But, over time he or she who has the best listings and has the best reputation in town, or has a given niche, the one who stands out from the crowd, wins the lion’s share of the business!
We know an agent who is one of the top producers in all of the United States who has never optimized his website for the search engines. He does not have a Facebook or any other social networking account.
His phone rings off the hook. He barely keeps up with his email and the business he attracts. He enjoys top-of-mind status in his marketplace because he has focused solely on building trusting relationships that yield continuous referrals.
This seems to fly in the face of what is now considered conventional wisdom. But, this real estate marketing professional has mastered the inner game of marketing.
He owns the most valuable real estate where “location, location, location” rules the day now and forevermore: in the minds of his target market.
Do you have the top of mind position in your market? Do you own the real estate of the mind in your marketplace?
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