Ever feel like you’re giving it your all but still not making enough sales from your real estate business?
You may already have the necessary qualifications, but it takes too much time to do everything, so you feel stuck.
Or, you may have reached a particular milestone but plateaued since then.
The truth is marketing in the real estate world isn’t easy. There are a lot of moving parts, and it’s easy to make mistakes, especially when juggling other things.
I’ve helped dozens of agents achieve their goals and, in the process, had the opportunity to peek under the hood of their businesses. And in the process, I’ve seen some common mistakes crop up again and again.
In this post, I’m sharing five of the biggest marketing mistakes most real estate agents make. My hope is that these will help you avoid weeks or months of trial and error, so you can fast-track your success as an agent.
Marketing Mistake #1: Only Focusing On Making Sales
Focusing solely on sales can be a common real estate marketing mistake because it overlooks the importance of building relationships with potential clients and creating a strong brand reputation. When real estate agents focus only on making sales, they may come across as pushy and sales-driven, which can turn off potential clients.
Because the real estate is a highly competitive industry, focusing solely on sales can make it challenging to stand out in a crowded market. By focusing on building relationships with clients and creating a strong brand reputation, real estate agents can differentiate themselves from competitors and build a loyal client base.
Furthermore, real estate transactions involve significant financial and emotional investments for clients, and they often require a high level of trust and confidence in the agent. By prioritizing sales over building relationships, real estate agents risk losing the trust and confidence of potential clients, which can ultimately harm their long-term success.
How to Stop Making this Real Estate Marketing Mistake
While sales are undoubtedly crucial to the success of a real estate business, it is essential to balance this focus with relationship-building and brand reputation management. Here’s how you can do this.
Build Relationships
Focus on building genuine relationships with potential clients rather than solely trying to make a sale. This can be achieved by offering valuable information and resources, engaging with them on social media, and regularly following up with them to see how you can be of assistance.
Share Valuable Content
Share valuable content with your audience that is relevant to their needs and interests. This can be achieved through blog posts, videos, social media posts, and newsletters. By providing value, you can establish yourself as a thought leader in the industry and earn the trust and respect of potential clients.
Create a Strong Brand
Focus on creating a strong brand that reflects your values and sets you apart from your competitors. This can be achieved by developing a consistent brand voice and visual identity, showcasing your unique selling points, and building a positive reputation through client reviews and testimonials.
Join Hobby Groups
Look for a hobby or interest group related to things that interest you and join them. This is a great way to connect with potential clients in a more relaxed setting, establish yourself as an expert, and differentiate yourself from other agents.
Create More Time in Your Day
While that may sound silly, the reason that you’re only focusing on making sales is because you feel like you don’t have enough time in the day to do everything you need to. To create more time in your day, consider joining a marketing membership like Rockstar Agent. By providing agents with a wide range of marketing materials, such as social media posts, email templates, and graphics, Rockstar Agent can help agents save time and effort in their marketing efforts, allowing them to focus on building relationships with potential clients and providing exceptional service to their current clients.
Not Showing Off Your Unique Personality
As a real estate agent, it can be tempting to try to appeal to everyone in your marketing efforts. However, by not showing off your unique personality, you may be making a critical marketing mistake that could be holding you back.
When you don’t show off your unique personality, you miss out on the opportunity to connect with potential clients on a deeper level. Instead of being just another agent in a sea of competitors, showing off your personality can help you stand out and establish yourself as a memorable, trustworthy agent.
So why is this a problem? If you continue to make the mistake of not showing off your unique personality, you may struggle to attract and retain clients. In today’s market, clients want to work with agents who are personable, relatable, and easy to connect with. By hiding your unique personality, you may come across as distant or unapproachable, which can turn off potential clients and harm your business.
Additionally, failing to show off your unique personality can make it challenging to differentiate yourself from other agents in your market. When potential clients are comparing multiple agents, they want to work with someone who stands out and offers a unique perspective. By hiding your personality, you risk blending in with the competition and missing out on valuable business opportunities.
How to Stop Making this Real Estate Marketing Mistake
Identify your unique personality traits
To avoid the mistake of not showing off your unique personality, start by identifying what sets you apart from other agents in your market. What unique skills or experiences do you bring to the table? What values do you hold dear, and how do they influence the way you do business? Once you’ve identified your unique personality traits, incorporate them into your marketing efforts.
Use your authentic voice
Incorporate your authentic voice into your social media posts, website copy, and other marketing materials. Use a conversational tone and write as if you’re speaking directly to your potential clients.
Showcase your hobbies and interests
Showcasing your hobbies and interests in your marketing efforts can help you stand out and make you more relatable to potential clients. For example, if you’re an avid hiker, you could post photos and videos of your hikes on social media or incorporate hiking-related content into your newsletters.
Create videos
Creating videos that highlight your personality and approach to real estate can be a powerful way to connect with potential clients. You could create videos introducing yourself, showcasing properties, or offering tips and advice on buying or selling real estate.
Emphasize your values
Your values play a significant role in the way you do business. By emphasizing your values in your marketing efforts, you can attract clients who share your values and build stronger relationships with them. For example, if you value honesty and transparency, you could create marketing materials that emphasize your commitment to these values.
By incorporating these solutions into your marketing efforts, you can avoid the mistake of not showing off your unique personality, differentiate yourself from the competition, and attract and retain more clients.
Trying To Appeal To Everyone
It can be tempting to try to appeal to everyone in your marketing efforts. After all, the more people you appeal to, the more clients you’ll potentially attract, right? Unfortunately, this is a common marketing mistake that many real estate agents make.
When you try to appeal to everyone, you risk diluting your message and making it unclear who your ideal clients are. By trying to be everything to everyone, you may come across as generic and unmemorable, making it challenging to stand out in a crowded market.
So why is this a problem? If you continue to make the mistake of trying to appeal to everyone, you may struggle to attract and retain clients. Instead of being a go-to agent for a specific niche, you’ll be seen as a generalist who may not have the specialized expertise to handle more complex transactions. This can make it challenging to establish yourself as a credible, knowledgeable agent in your market.
Additionally, trying to appeal to everyone can make it difficult to create marketing materials that resonate with your ideal clients. When you’re trying to speak to everyone, your marketing messages may lack the depth and specificity needed to truly connect with your target audience. This can result in a lower response rate to your marketing efforts, leading to fewer leads and, ultimately, less business.
How to Stop Making this Real Estate Marketing Mistake
Identify your ideal clients
Take the time to determine who you want to work with, what types of transactions you specialize in, and what sets you apart from other agents.
Tailor your marketing efforts
Once you’ve identified your ideal clients, create marketing materials that speak directly to them. This could include using language that resonates with them, addressing their specific pain points and concerns, and showcasing your expertise in the areas that matter most to them.
Choose a niche
Consider specializing in a particular area of real estate to set yourself apart and become known as an expert in your field.
Use data to inform your marketing
Collect data on your ideal clients, such as their age, income, and location, to help you create more targeted marketing campaigns. This will help you reach the right people with the right message, increasing the chances of generating leads and closing deals.
Making It All About You
One of the most common marketing mistakes real estate agents make is making it all about themselves. This can take many forms, from constantly talking about your accomplishments to using “I” statements in your marketing materials. While it’s important to showcase your skills and experience as an agent, focusing solely on yourself can turn potential clients off and cause you to miss out on opportunities.
It’s important to remember that real estate is a people-focused industry. Clients want to work with someone they can trust and feel comfortable with, and constantly talking about yourself can create a barrier between you and your clients. Additionally, it can make potential clients feel like you’re more interested in making a sale than in helping them find the right property for their needs.
If you keep making this mistake, it can have serious consequences for your business. You may find it difficult to build a strong client base or generate repeat business. Additionally, you may have a harder time standing out in a crowded market, as potential clients may struggle to differentiate you from other agents who are also focused on themselves.
How to Stop Making this Real Estate Marketing Mistake
To avoid making this mistake, it’s important to shift your focus to your clients. Start by listening to their needs and concerns and working to address them in your marketing efforts. This could include creating content that speaks directly to their pain points, highlighting your ability to understand and empathize with their situation, and using language that shows you’re invested in helping them achieve their real estate goals.
Here’s how that might look.
- Use “you” statements – focus on your clients by using language that speaks directly to them. Instead of saying, “I’m the best agent in town,” say “You deserve the best agent in town, and that’s me.”
- Highlight client success stories – showcase the successes you’ve had with clients and how you helped them achieve their real estate goals. This will help potential clients see how you can help them as well.
- Focus on providing value – create content that provides value to your clients, such as tips for first-time homebuyers or updates on local real estate market trends. This will help establish you as an expert in your field and build trust with potential clients.
- Stay humble – while it’s important to showcase your skills and experience, it’s also important to stay humble and focused on your clients. Avoid constantly talking about yourself and instead focus on how you can help your clients achieve their real estate goals.
Making It A Competition
One of the common marketing mistakes that real estate agents make is making their marketing efforts a competition. They tend to focus too much on comparing themselves with other agents in their market, rather than focusing on their own strengths and unique selling points.
Expanding on this mistake, some agents may spend too much time trying to outdo their competitors rather than working to establish their own brand and unique personality. They may end up copying what others are doing instead of taking the time to figure out what sets them apart from the rest of the pack. This can lead to a generic brand that lacks personality, which can make it hard to stand out in a crowded market.
Why is this a problem? What bad thing will happen if they keep making the mistake?
Making it a competition can have several negative consequences for real estate agents. Firstly, it can lead to a lack of authenticity in their marketing efforts. If agents are just copying what others are doing, they may not be communicating their unique value proposition to their audience. Secondly, focusing too much on the competition can lead to a lack of creativity and innovation in marketing campaigns. Real estate agents who are only concerned with keeping up with the competition may miss out on opportunities to differentiate themselves and stand out from the crowd.
How to Stop Making this Real Estate Marketing Mistake
Identify your unique selling points
Start by identifying what sets you apart from other agents in your market. What unique skills or experiences do you bring to the table? What values do you hold dear, and how do they influence the way you do business? Once you’ve identified your unique personality traits, incorporate them into your marketing efforts.
Focus on your audience
Instead of focusing on your competitors, focus on your ideal clients. Tailor your marketing efforts to speak directly to them, create content that addresses their specific pain points and concerns, use language that resonates with them, and showcase your expertise in the areas that matter most to them.
Collaborate with other agents
Instead of seeing other agents as competitors, try to find ways to collaborate with them. Partner with other agents to co-market properties or create joint marketing campaigns that benefit both parties.
Be creative and innovative
Don’t be afraid to take risks and try new things in your marketing campaigns. Experiment with different types of content, platforms, and formats to see what resonates with your audience. The more unique and creative your marketing efforts are, the more likely you are to stand out from the crowd.
Stay true to your brand
Above all, be true to your brand and your unique selling points. Don’t get too caught up in what other agents are doing and lose sight of what makes you different. Stay true to your values and your brand message, and your marketing efforts will be more authentic and effective as a result.
Say Good-Bye to Real Estate Marketing Mistakes
If you’ve been making these mistakes with your real estate marketing, it’s not your fault. There’s a lot of misinformation out there, and it can be tough to know what works and what doesn’t.
Once you’re aware of these common mistakes, however, you can start making the changes you need to attract more leads and close more deals.
In fact, by reading this post, you’ve taken a huge step toward doing just that.
High-five!
If you want my help to take your real estate business to the next level, I invite you to check out Rockstar Agent, my monthly marketing program designed specifically for real estate agents who want to stand out from the competition and dominate their market.
With Rockstar Agent, you’ll get access to cutting-edge marketing strategies, personalized coaching and support, and a community of like-minded agents who are committed to success.
If you’re ready to take your real estate business to the next level, click here to learn more about Rockstar Agent and see if it’s right for you.