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10 Ideas to Expand Your Marketing Presence This Year

By
Education & Training with The Lones Group, Inc.

The Lones Group, Inc.

Ideas to Expand Your Marketing Presence This Year

Online and offline marketing is an essential part of every successful real estate agents business. Here are some ideas that you can implement this year to help you expand your offline and online presence.

Social Media Websites
Make sure that you have social media presence on all the big social media sites. The essential sites include Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Linked In and even Instagram. The key to creating a strong online presence is making sure that you engage and interact with people online. Make it a point to get all of the sites up to date in 2017.

Social Sharing Links
Add social sharing links to all of your marketing. Make it easy for people to find you by having links to your Facebook account, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.

Website contact information
Make sure that your contact information is easily accessible on every page of your website. One of the biggest complaints I hear about real estate agents website is that their contact information is hard to find. On your contact page make sure that you have your email address listed out in full and not just as a link.

Photography
People don't just buy homes they buy locations so market the amenities and the beauty of the surrounding area. Great photography that tells the complete story of the home and the area is essential. If your local MLS limits the photos you can use then make sure you have a website where you can showcase a collection of photos that conveys the complete story of the home and the area. People buy based on location and neighborhood, not just based on the house itself.

Online lead capture
Make your website a lead generating site by offering a strong lead capture tool on your site. Consider creating an e book or e article that answers important questions for buyers and sellers. For example:  10 Things You Must Know Before You Sell Your House

Community Involvement
Consider sponsoring a local event or local charity event to give back to your community and to be involved in your community. It is important that you get involved in the community you serve because it keeps your name and face top of mind with potential clients.

Pinterest Boards
Pinterest is a wonderful site for creating visual boards to help your clients see examples of different styles of homes or even interior design. I used to use visual Pinterest style boards to show potential buyers different photos of homes to get a better idea of what they liked. It was so helpful when sitting down and doing buyer interviews because having someone "show" you what they want rather than just "telling" you is way more effective in giving you a very clear visual representation of what your clients are looking for.

Make your website Mobile Friendly
Buyers and Sellers spend a lot of time on their mobile devices. It is critical that your website is mobile friendly. Make sure your listings are mobile accessible.

Get Branded
Branding is your secret weapon to getting your name and face out there. Can you imagine opening a restaurant without a sign or a menu? That would be disastrous!  Real estate is a very public business where your job is to build strong relationships and to offer great services to people wanting to buy and sell real estate. But you have to give clients something to remember you by. A great brand helps potential clients notice you and remember you; the key elements to being top of mind.

Past Client Testimonials
Testimonials are a tremendous way to show potential clients that you have done a great job and that you are a trusted professional. When you have a past client that has completed a transaction with you make sure to ask them for a testimonial and make it a celebratory event by remembering to take a photo with your clients. Make the most of your testimonials by placing them on your website and in your marketing.

Make 2017 your year to get noticed!

 

By Denise Lones CSP, M.I.R.M., CDEI - The founding partner of The Lones Group, Denise Lones, brings over two decades of experience in the real estate industry. With expertise in strategic marketing, business analysis, branding, new home project planning, product development, and agent/broker training, Denise is nationally recognized as the source for all things real estate. With a passion for improvement, Denise has helped thousands of real estate agents, brokers, and managers build their business to unprecedented levels of success, while helping them maintain balance and quality of life.

The Lones Group, Inc.

Comments (13)

John Slocum
Premiere Property Group, LLC - Vancouver Washington - Vancouver, WA
Broker, SFR - Vancouver WA Real Estate

Hi Denise, great information here.  Last year we took on making the fork-lift change with IDX provider, and changed the underlying dynamic-web-template to be mobile friendly.  The latter task took far less time than the first one.  Best of success in 2017!  John and Kat

Jan 06, 2017 02:40 PM
Denise Lones

Thanks Alexander, that's the kind of change that can either be a big deal or easy, depending on the skills of who you have on hand to assist with the transition. My tech director helps clients with this kind of thing a lot. Congratulations on taking that step forward. Supporting mobile visitors is huge. -Denise

Jan 06, 2017 03:00 PM
John Wiley
Fort Myers, FL
Lee County, FL, ECO Broker, GRI, SRES,GREEN,PSA

Good solid suggestions  to expand your marketing presence.

Keeping everything up to date is important.

Jan 06, 2017 05:04 PM
Denise Lones

Thank you John, great to see you again here at ActiveRain!

Jan 06, 2017 05:05 PM
John Pusa
Glendale, CA

Denise Lones These are excellent tips to expand marketing presence.

Jan 06, 2017 05:16 PM
Denise Lones

Thank you John, so nice to see you again, happy New Year!

Jan 09, 2017 10:35 AM
Sondra Meyer:
EXP Realty, LLC - Corpus Christi, TX
See It. Experience It. Live It.

Denise, these are all excellent recommendations. I should print this out and use it as a checklist or reminder sheet.

Jan 07, 2017 06:07 AM
Denise Lones

Would love to hear where you pin this up for reminder power after you print it. Have a great Monday! - Denise

Jan 09, 2017 10:34 AM
Dorothy Liu
Alain Pinel Realtors - Los Altos, CA
Broker Associate, Silicon Valley Area,650-492-0859

good information!   Thanks for sharing!

Jan 07, 2017 06:11 PM
Steven Johnstone
stevenjohnstone.com - Boise, ID
More money. Fewer hours. Better Clients.

Would love to hear from Rain community members what the most successful / compelling Lead Capture Tools are for getting site visitors to enter their details...?

Jan 08, 2017 12:37 AM
Denise Lones

Home valuations, listing updates, newsletter sign-ups and schedule-a-showing forms are nice, but where we see the most traction are things like



  • offers to send a buyer/seller package

  • forms for requesting a community tour

  • offers to send a relocation package

  • contact forms are ok, but where they really shine is alongside content that showcases expertise

  • QR codes on yardsigns, or listing-flyers that offer any of the above in exchange for 1 piece of contact info.


The lower bar of entry, the less you ask for, the more you give, the stronger it ties into their immediate need and what they are viewing, the more likely it will deliver.

Jan 09, 2017 10:28 AM
Donna & Larry Johnson
Keller Williams Real Estate - West Chester, PA
Chester & Delaware County

Great tips and ideas! The most important thing is to get help from true professionals who know what makes the difference.

Jan 08, 2017 08:43 AM
Diana Dahlberg
1 Month Realty - Pleasant Prairie, WI
Real Estate in Kenosha, WI since 1994 262-308-3563

Yes, Yes, Yes!  Great information and each one is as important as the other.  

Jan 08, 2017 10:18 AM
Denise Lones

Diana - love your enthusiasm! Thank you for leaving your note - Denise

Jan 11, 2017 09:37 AM
Rochelle Kretchmar
GenEquity Mortgage - Lewisville, TX
Simply Irresistible Staging

Thank you for sharing the valuable information.  I really need to work on getting my past client testimonials.    

Jan 09, 2017 07:25 AM
Denise Lones

Reaching out for testimonials and feedback can be a great way to reconnect with clients, even those you haven't been in touch with for years.

Jan 11, 2017 09:38 AM
Sharon Parisi
United Real Estate Dallas - Dallas, TX
Dallas Homes

Denise, these are all great ideas.  I have wonderful notes from clients and need to get all clients to create testimonials for marketing purposes.

Jan 09, 2017 10:47 PM
Thomas J. Nelson, REALTOR ® e-Pro CRS RCS-D Vets
Big Block Realty 858.232.8722 - La Jolla, CA
CEO of Vision Drive Realty - Coastal San Diego

Great tips! I think mobile friendly sites and testimonials online are two great starting points from your list. The social sharing buttons are easy and important too.

Jan 11, 2017 06:46 AM
Denise Lones

Thank you Thomas. It's especially easy to knock those three items out at once with a website built on WordPress. Agents can add testimonials easily to their website, a typical WordPress website is mobile friendly and social sharing buttons are practically built in (a free plugin). I know because in addition to the coaching I do, our company builds real estate agent websites too.

Jan 11, 2017 09:34 AM
Jan Green - Scottsdale, AZ
Value Added Service, 602-620-2699 - Scottsdale, AZ
HomeSmart Elite Group, REALTOR®, EcoBroker, GREEN

A little late here, but thank you for this complete list of to do items for social media and marketing!  Branding is key to being top of mind.  I think branding is like word assimilation.  

Jan 11, 2017 07:18 PM
Denise Lones

Jan - Never too late! Thanks for leaving a note for me. Wishing you a fantastic new year! Let me know if we can help in any way - Denise

Jan 12, 2017 10:55 AM