Its human nature for us to want to go after what we want. The same goes for business. Sometimes we jump into things without having a plan. A well thought out plan becomes your road map to success. It is difficult to know when you have arrived without having a clear path on how to get there. This is particularly vital when you are launching or trying to establish or advance your career in real estate.
Let’s take a look at what is important when determining your real estate marketing strategy.
1. What is your goal? How much money would you like to make and how many transaction sides would that be. Something to take into consideration when setting your goal are:
a. a) average home pricing in your area
b. b) your commission split.
2. A look at your past years productivity. Take a look at how much money you made over the past year and how many transaction sides you had. This will allow you to determine if the goal you are setting is realistic. You can also speak with your broker regarding you goal to get another perspective on whether or not your goal sounds realistic.
3. Set a marketing budget. When setting a marketing budget, you must take more into consideration than dollars and sense. You also need to take a look at budgeting your time to ensure that you have enough time to start and implement your strategies. Strategies take time to begin to show results so you need to be able to invest the amount of time needed for the long haul.
4. Determining what strategies will work for you. Marketing strategies are not one size fits all. There are many things that determine whether or not a strategy will work for you. Some examples of marketing strategies are:
a. Cold calling- Make sure that you review the Do Not Call laws and comply with the regulations or the penalties can be steep!
b. Email marketing- Just like with Cold Calling, make sure that you are complying with the Can Spam Act and that you comply with the laws.
c. Social media marketing- Social media marketing is believed to be a free source to finding viable business leads. The truth is that social media marketing I not free. It requires educating and learning the rules and regulations for each site and a significant time investment in order to achieve results.
d. Website marketing using strategies such as search engine optimization or SEO.
e. Networking in-person and online.
f. Farming or choosing an area to canvass. You can either do this by using tactics such as direct mail and door knocking. You will want to choose an area that will not be too hard to manage with about 200-300 homes. You will want to be aware that it will take up to eighteen months to establish a presence and that it usually takes a minimum of seven contacts before a prospect begins to trust you enough to want to do business with you.
g. Advertising- Advertisements should be placed in places where your target market will easily view them. Advertising is one the more expensive forms of marketing,
5. Set up a standard of measurement to measure your return on investment. This is very important in order to determine what’s working and what’s not. This will also allow you to adjust your strategies based on results. That way you won’t spend time or money on things that just don’t work.
If you have trouble implementing your plan, you may seek the assistance of an experienced virtual assistant who will assist you in creating and implementing your plan.
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