They seem easy and straight forward, but why do they seem so difficult to make? Well, 9/10 times it’s because we overthink our marketing. Whenever I get stuck I always revert to the basics, and when listing a new property the basics start with a flyers.
Today, I’m going to breakdown a listing flyer to its most essential components. Doing so has helped to focus and create flyers that sell listings and impress clients.
The flyer has 7 core sections: (1) Header & Sub-headline, (2) Address, (3) Price, (4) Property Description, (5) Bullet Points, (6) Agent Contact, and (7) Advertising Disclaimer. I’ll explain each section and provide a few tips I’ve picked-up over the past 10 years.
If you’re a new agent, this will help with take the guess work out of your marketing. For seasoned brokers, this is a great refresher and/or a perfect guide when training new assistants.
Let’s start from the top and leadoff with your attention grabber…
The Headline and Sub-Headline
Your headline is your “attention” grabber! This is probably the most under-utilized component of the listing flyer. The goal of a successful headline is to peak a buyer’s interest and get them to read the details of your property.
The best type of headline is one that speaks specifically to a buyer’s interest trigger. Ideas for a successful headlines are: “$30,000 worth of Upgrades”, “Perfect Starter Home”, or “Move In Ready”
It’s best to think of this like the title of a book or magazine. It’s meant to perk interest enough for you to read the back cover. The same principle applies here.
An optimal header uses large font block style text for maximum readability. It’s recommended to use Arial, Times Roman, or Impact bold style font with a text size between 24 up-to 48 point font. Fancy or script style fonts are way to hard to read and frustrate rather than excite buyers.
To add more “ump” to your headline, sub-headlines are a great way to keep the interest going…
Sub-headline
If the headline grabs the attention, the sub-headline tightens the grip! Sub-headlines are an amazing way to add more detail, elaborate on the benefits, or to create more excitement about your listing. Some examples are:
- Exclusive Listing (not on the MLS… yet)
- From 11AM to 5PM (for Open House headline)
- Largest in the neighborhood
- Priced below market!!
Now that we have the headlines covered, it’s onto the core information about your listing.
Address
It goes without saying that the address is a very important bit of information needed on a flyer. Here are a few pointers you may want to remember:
- Keep the address simple and easy to read. Again, simple fonts makes for easier reading.
- Watch for excessive abbreviations like 123 Ave Bella Ct, LN CA verses 123 Avenue Bella Court, Laguna Niguel California. In fact, I’d recommend NO abbreviations and rather spelling out the entire address looks more professional.
- Ensure the address is CORRECT! Too many times I’ve seen typos and/or wrong house numbers. Looks very bad and unprofessional.
Here are a few best practice example of proper addresses:
- 123 Main St., Newport Beach
- 123 Main St., Newport Beach CA
- 123 Main Street, Newport Beach California (this just looks and reads better spelled out)
Price
Price is a tricky section. Some brokers opt-out of price while others find disclosing price is the best option… the debate goes on… however, I’ve observed the following:
NOT having price adds mystery and anticipation. It gets the phone to ring, which is a great thing especially if you’ve got great phone skills. However, be aware, calls can be a double edged sword and good get a bit excessive.
Disclosing price can act as a natural filter and funnel strong leads to call or email. However, you are giving up the opportunities to capture call leads.
Regardless, place something within the Price section and make it clear and legible. Here are a few examples:
- $123,456
- Offered at $123,456
- Entertaining offers at $123,456
- $123,456 or best offer
- Call for Pricing Details
- Price is available upon request
- Please contact John Smith for current price
- Was $123,456… please call agent for new price
Description
It’s surprising that so many brokers don’t add more descriptions to their marketing. The description is the best section to place a strong “property pitch.” This is your chance to sell the “home” not just the house! It’s a shame, since this is your chance to really connect and express the value your home offers.
Use the description to express the “benefits” and the unique selling qualities of the home:
Hint: this is a great time to use your thesaurus and spice-up your property pitch. Don’t be afraid to use colorful words and pump-up your use of adjectives.
Far too often brokers omit the description in lieu of bullet points. Big mistake! Doing so is selling yourself short. Description and bullet points are two separate sections.
Bullet Points
The biggest mistake is to confuse “bullet points” as a property description. Bullet points are used to list the essential information buyers need to know. It’s nothing more than a “list” of the most important property stats and features. Keep this section short, sweet, and to the point.
Here are a few of the “required” bullet point or key features that buyers are looking for:
- Beds
- Baths
- Sq/Ft
Optional features can be added to highlight specific selling features of the home like:
- List of Upgrades
- Selling features of the neighborhood/ community
- Quality and/or brand of the kitchen appliances
- Property history
- Proximity to landmarks or city centers
- Award winning school district
Tip: It’s a great idea to break-up your bullet points with titles.
Keep your bullet points to 3-4 words MAX! The biggest “no-no” is to write full sentences; a big mistake since it’s hard to read and becomes very confusing very fast.
Photos
Photos, by far, are the easiest part of the flyer; however, it’s surprising how many agents struggle with this section. It can be quite difficult to decide how many photos to use and which rooms to showcase. Don’t worry, remember the photos are more like “reminders” or can act as “teasers” of the property.
As a general guideline you’d want to use between 2 to 6 photos. One photo isn’t enough, and any more than 6 spills the beans. An optimal setup would showcase 4 good quality photos. Why four? Simple, because there are four main photos a buyer expects to see:
- An exterior photo
- Kitchen
- Master Bedroom
- Yard/View
Additional photo can be:
- Exterior Rear
- Kitchen detail (Nook, sunroom, etc)
- Living Room
- Bedroom(s), den, bonus, or office
- Bathroom (if applicable)
Bathroom photos can be tricky because of the tight space. I’d suggest a bathroom shot if the room is significantly upgraded or large (usually the master bath).
Typically, you’d want one large main front photo accompanied by two additional photos at around 30% of the main photo size.
Agent Contact
Now that you’ve got your buyer’s interest, you have to make it easy for them to contact you, right? Your contact information is fairly straight forward and requires the following information:
- Your Photo
- Name, Title
- Brokerage Name (in some states, this is required)
- Office #
- Cell #
- Fax #
- DRE
- Website
CAUTION: Recently, more agents are inserting their “social media” links like your facebook or twitter handles. Depending on your market, this many be a good or bad idea. Some buyers might find social media a bit unprofessional.
Advertising Disclaimer
Last but not least, make sure you have a simple “disclaimer.” The disclaimer is generally placed at the bottom of the flyer in very small font (6 point).
A well organized flyer are amazing advertising tools that not only help sell your property but are amazing advertising tool to gain high quality local leads. Not to mention, quality professional flyers are very impressive to clients boosting your brand and giving you that edge over the competition.
You understand that you will be using flyers for any Real Estate listing you have. We wanted you to know the essential components to a flyer to help you with your business.
You also know you need to set yourself apart, here’s how to put it all together to create cohesive, professional, and eye-catching branded flyer that highlights your listings, but most importantly brands you!
See Exactly How You Can Set Yourself Apart Right Now!
Download a sample flyer layout template so you can get a feel for how the sections should layout and fit together.
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