You know you need a business plan, but have you taken the time to create a real estate marketing plan? Unlike your business plan, the marketing plan and strategy focuses on how you plan to attract new clients and stay top of mind with past clients. Your real estate marketing plan includes the tools and tactics you’ll use to achieve your transaction goal. Think of it as your plan of action. Here’s a closer look at the 5-steps you need to take to create a winning marketing plan for your real estate business.
Step 1: Understand Why You Need a Real Estate Marketing Plan
First things first, why do real estate agents need a marketing plan? As an agent, I’m sure you’ve found yourself so busy handling clients that you’ve forgotten to market yourself and your pipeline started to dry up.
When you’re not taking the time to market yourself, you’re missing out on creating relationships with future clients.
Marketing yourself is going cost you – whether in time or money – so it’s up to you to figure out how much your time is worth, plan what to do yourself and what to outsource so you’re always showing up where you need to be.
The second reason you need a marketing plan is so you know who you want to market to; that way, you’re showing up in the right places and creating the right message.
When you’re trying to appeal to everyone, you’re not going to appeal to anyone. Even in real estate, the money is in the niche. Creating a marketing plan allows you to zero in on who you want to work with, where they hang out online and create your content based on those personalities.
Step 2: Creating Your Target Audience
Have you ever worked with someone that left you feeling frustrated and stressed every time you spoke with them? As a real estate agent, I’m sure you’ve had a client that you couldn’t wait to get to the closing table with so you could move on.
Did you know there’s a way to avoid working with those people? It’s true; all you have to do is define who you want your target audience to be.
When deciding who your target audience is, it’s important to create a full persona for this person. What’s their name, how old are they, are they married or single, do they have kids, where do they currently live, where do they want to move to, where do they hang out, are they more active on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or a different social site? Maybe they’re not on the Internet at all.
As you’re defining your audience, do some research, and spend time on each platform to truly learn about your ideal client. For example – if you’re ideal client is the CEO of a company, you’re more likely to catch their attention on LinkedIn. If you enjoy working with younger families who are making plans for their first home, check out Pinterest or Instagram.
The more you can define the people you enjoy working with, the easier it will be to target those people with your marketing efforts. By doing this research ahead of time, you won’t waste time or money by putting effort into the wrong social media platform or social media at all.
Step 3: Create a SMART Goal for Your Real Estate Marketing Plan
Once you understand where you need to show up and how to show up, it’s time to start writing down your goals and how you want to achieve those goals. A great way to develop your goals is to make sure they follow the SMART goal guidelines.
S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Attainable
R – Realistic
T – Timely
To keep yourself on track to attain your goals, write them down every day, track your progress, and be willing to make adjustments within your marketing plan to achieve your goals.
Step 4: Understanding Your Marketing Tactics
Now that you know who your target market is and created a realistic goal for yourself, it’s time to know where you’re going to be putting in the majority of your time and money on marketing yourself.
Begin by outlining your primary marketing strategies. Be sure to include various tactics to reach potential clients at any point in the real estate cycle. For example – combine email marketing with blogging and social media to reach warm prospects that you’ve already been creating relationships with and use paid advertising to reach cold prospects.
To identify your ideal marketing tactics, understand where your ideal client looks for information on the home buying and selling process. Your marketing tactics must reach your prospects when they’re ready to enter the real estate market.
As you’re sketching out your tactics, it’s important to remember the attainable part of your goal because you want to make sure you can stay consistent.
It’s better to post three times per week on your social accounts than to post ten times one week and once the following. Remember, you’re in charge of your calendar, figure out what works for you, and stick with it.
Step 5: Setting a Marketing Budget
If you’re new to the real estate business, your marketing budget may come in the form of time instead of money; regardless, you have to know how much time and/or money you have to devote to your building your business.
Marketing is essential to growing your business, and with so many ways available in the digital age, it’s possible even on the tightest of budgets. Make adjustments until you have a mix of tactics you can use consistently that don’t drain your bank account or take too much time away from clients. The key to never stop marketing yourself.