Marketing your home becomes easier if you can identify the current real estate market. Of course, agents tend to put a lot more money and work into selling listings when markets transition from sellers to buyers’ markets, but strong marketing techniques are just smart business sense regardless.
Some homes cry out for drone photography, especially if they’re situated on the waterfront, in the mountains, near a park, or on large acreage. An aerial view would be an important advantage to showcase the surrounding neighbourhood in these cases.
Another interesting element often utilised in luxury home marketing is a night view of the home illuminated by outdoor lighting.
Good marketing can bring higher prices in a seller’s market, and it can mean the difference between “sold” or “expired” in a buyer’s market. Good marketing might not sell your house, but it will make the phone ring, and if buyers don’t call, you won’t sell.
Have An Impressive Homepage
Did you know that 75% of people admit to judging the credibility of a business based on its website design? First impressions matter, so your homepage should be in top shape. It means vibrant images, a prominent call to action, and an intuitive menu.
Create Awesome Listings
Today’s consumers like to do a lot of legwork online when making major purchases, including home buying. I have only rented, but even then, when scouting around, I’ll Google Map the address, use Street View to get a feel for the area, see which businesses are within walking distance, look at home photos, and, ideally, take a virtual tour of the property.
Your property pages and listings should make it easy for users to access all this information—with detailed descriptions, great photos, virtual tours, and easy access to Google Maps and Google Earth. List the hot spots nearby and their respective walking distances (mention the bus stop that’s just a five-minute walk or the Starbucks at the end of the block).
Hire A Photographer
You must have gorgeous photos of your properties. The right time of day or angle can make all the difference. Hire a professional photographer (preferably with experience photographing homes and architecture), or, if you have sophisticated equipment and are confident in your abilities, have your hand at it. Just remember, this is one of those scenarios when it pays to bring in the professionals.
Create Lead Magnets
The key to generating leads is to offer your audience something worth giving up their contact information. Consider producing a lead magnet guide like “X Common Mistakes New Homeowners Make” or “X Features to Look For In a New Home.” things new homeowners should consider before buying” or “X most valuable features of a new home.” Offering free ebooks in exchange for an email address (and zip code, in the case of real estate) is a great way to capture high-quality leads.
Focus On User Experience
All the great property pages in the world won’t mean much if your site is a nightmare to navigate. But on the other hand, your visitors need to have a good experience on your website, so take the time to brush up on user experience design skills and information architecture.
Set Yourself Up For Social
The most popular social media platforms for real estate marketing are Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. When creating your accounts, make sure you fill out every field available so you can get found by relevant users.
Run Social Ads
Regular Facebook marketing is great for building client relationships, but you won’t get far if you want to land new clients. But while it has the weakest organic reach of all platforms, its targeting capabilities for paid ads are unmatched. So if you want to target single thirty-somethings who work from home and own a pet, you can do that. If you want to target LGBTQ couples looking to buy a condo, you can do that. Use our real estate Instagram ad examples and real estate Facebook ad examples like the one below to inspire you.
Local Sponsorships
Consider helping sponsor local festivals, sports teams, or school events. Signing up as a local sponsor means getting your business name a spot on t-shirts, program pamphlets, or flyers.
Local Content On Your Website
You’re not just selling a house; you’re selling a whole town or area in many ways. Showcase your area’s best with high-quality, beautiful photos of local town landmarks and familiar sites.
Also, include some local-oriented keywords in your copy to ensure that your content is found by buyers Googling online for homes in your area.
Become A Columnist In Local Magazines
See if you can write a column or feature for local publications. You don’t want to be blatantly sales. Today’s consumers don’t like to be pitched to. Instead, share advice and perspectives that add value. For example, write about how rising prices of houses on the market show that the town is doing well, or list why your regional area is becoming more popular (maybe it’s the revitalised downtown area or improved school system).
Host Free Seminars For Home Buyers
Make yourself and your knowledge available to the community by hosting mini-seminars. For example, consider providing a basic 101 seminar about the basics of home buying and mortgages.
Remember, marketing today is all about inbound, which doesn’t just apply online. Users want you to share some of your knowledge for free before investing time and money in you. A home buying seminar is the local equivalent of a webinar. Yes, it will take time and energy, but attendees will walk away impressed and will have established a relationship with you. That relationship will be worth its weight in gold when they’re ready to shop for a home.
Partner With Local Businesses
Developing relationships with other local businesses will be key for your real estate marketing efforts. For example, see if you can get local breakfast joints to let you buy them a set of new coffee mugs with your logo on them or buy a place on their paper placemat setting. Or partner up with local moving companies to swap referrals.
Create A Newsletter
Collect email signups via your website and events and send out a helpful newsletter with new listings, upcoming seminars you’re offering, local events, tips, and more. Be sure to segment your lists out by different communities so you can provide super-relevant content.
Start An Email Nurture Campaign.
Nurture campaigns are like the breadcrumb paths of Hansel and Gretel, except instead of a gingerbread house at the end, clients find their dream home (hopefully without a resident evil witch).
Leave your clients a trail of high-end panko breadcrumbs by tailoring your interactions with them based on their previous actions. For example, if they first attended an open house with you, send them an email detailing other nearby houses on the market. If they attended your first-time homebuyer’s seminar, send them your “10 Things Every New Homebuyer Should Know “ebook. Deliver content that will help your clients take the appropriate next step, depending on where they are in their journey.
Use Call Tracking
Real estate is one of those industries that absolutely must use call tracking in their paid search campaigns. Most people use the phone when trying to find a realtor or make an appointment to view an apartment, condo, or house. If those calls come about because someone saw your PPC ad, you want to be able to track which ads and keywords are driving calls.
Photograph The Front
Most homebuyers begin a home search online so posting good photos is essential. Unfortunately, listings without photos or only an exterior shot are often ignored. But that doesn’t mean an exterior shot from the front isn’t very important.
If you crop out sidewalks and streets, your house photo will look ten times better than your competition. Next, remove vehicles from your driveway and the front of your home. Shoot both closes up and angled photos and avoid shade falling on the house — wait for another time of day if necessary. Finally, clear away any vegetation blocking the front door or the path to the door.
Other Exterior Photographs
Take pictures of the clubhouse, pool, spa, or tennis courts if you own a condo or townhome without a yard. But keep in mind that buyers will want to see it if you have a yard.
Emphasise space and shoot long. Mow the lawn and trim the bushes. Remove any evidence of pets and put away children’s toys. Avoid shooting into the sun.
Interior Photographs
Take photographs of every room, even if you suspect that a certain room won’t photograph well. Shoot it anyway because the photo quality might surprise you. It might be usable.
Open drapes and blinds and turn on the lights. Focus on interesting details like the condition of a wood floor or a fireplace mantle. Remove trash cans, close the toilet lids in the bathrooms, and use floral arrangements in kitchens and dining rooms.
Avoid shooting into mirrors because your image will reflect.
Virtual Tours
Virtual tours aren’t just for showcasing million-dollar homes anymore. Every home should have one, even if it’s only two spins. Buyers love, love, love virtual tours.
A good virtual tour will grab a buyer by the hand and lead them from room to room, whether it’s 360 or a video. Then, depending on the tour company, you can add sound, music, or an exciting, professionally written description that scrolls with the movement of the tour.
Virtual tours can also include individual photos available for download or print.
Signage
Signage encourages home shoppers to call you or your agent immediately. It’s free advertising! A well-designed “For Sale” sign will generate phone calls. Put up two signs if your home is on a corner lot.
Keep in mind that some homeowner’s associations prohibit real estate signs. Instead, they only allow window signs.
Try talking to a neighbour whose home is near the corner of a busy street, asking for permission to put a sign in that yard with an arrow pointing toward yours.
Agent signs should include the phone number of their closest office when their brokerage operates multiple offices. They should also include the agent’s cellphone number.
Print Advertising
Print advertising reaches buyers who read newspapers and online ads reach the rest. So you’re doing a good job if your neighbours say, “I see your home advertised everywhere I look!”
Put ads in major newspapers. Find out which days pull the most readers. It’s usually Sunday, but some newspapers also publish “picture classifieds” on other days.
Don’t overlook local newspapers. You can often run a larger ad for less money to target those looking in your specific area more closely.
Check on press dates before you place ads in real estate publications. And finally, make use of every website you can find, as most online listings are free.
Direct Mail
You can buy mailing lists from list brokers if you’re an unrepresented seller. Ask about a direct mail program if an agent represents you. Oversized four-colour postcards are good because they’re inexpensive to mail and eye-catching.
Give them to neighbours. Everybody has friends and relatives who might want to move near them. Give them to agents who represent buyers in your neighbourhood and buyers who live in other areas and often relocate to your neighbourhood.
Open Houses
Not every home is suitable for an open house because of its location or other factors, but sometimes the only way to find out is to try. If nobody comes, that’s probably a good indication.
Suppose your home is near a high traffic area where buyers often swarm. Place open house signs throughout the area directing buyers to your location. Advertise your open house in the newspaper and post open house times online.
(Don’t forget to invite the neighbours. They’re going to come anyway.)
Host Broker/Agent Tours
You can skip this step if you’re planning to sell your home without representation, but it’s good to draw as many agents and brokers as possible to view your home. Agents represent most buyers.
Agents who linger in your home will better remember details to later describe to buyers, and the best way to entice an agent to hang around is food. It doesn’t have to be anything expensive. Sandwiches will suffice. The hope is that they’ll admire your home as they munch and network, then they’ll bring back a buyer.
Send E-Flyers
Technology has made it very easy to create and send electronic flyers. You can include multiple photographs of your house. Costs vary, but these generally aren’t prohibitively expensive to produce.
Please send them to real estate agents who sell in your area and friends, family, and coworkers. Of course, out-of-area brokers and agents who represent buyers in your area can be targets, too.
Don’t Forget The Mls.
This one isn’t a suggestion — it’s a must-do. If you’re represented, your listing agent will certainly make sure your house is listed in the Multiple Listing Service. But even if you’re not, the MLS can accommodate for-sale-by-owner listings.
Find a discount broker who’s willing to enter the information about your property for you without actually representing you. Many will do so for a flat fee. Posting your home here will ensure that many agents and buyers are aware of its availability.
Keep In Touch
Stay in touch (even months and years later) with past buyers to build that good relationship. Send anniversary cards, holiday cards, etc., to stay fresh in their minds. Then, when they have a friend ready to buy, they’ll pass along your info.
Consider Going Niche
If you’ve got some real estate marketing competition in your area, you may consider making yourself stand out with niche marketing. For example, become the go-to real estate agent for dog owners, families with kids, divorced individuals, whatever. Making a name for yourself regarding a specific niche need can make you memorable, especially in saturated zip codes.
Conclusion
So, how do you effectively market a house? Start by understanding your target audience and what they’re looking for in their next home. Next, create a strategy that incorporates the right mix of digital and traditional marketing channels to reach as many potential buyers as possible. And finally, be patient—marketing a house can take time, but if you stay focused on your goals and follow through with a solid plan, you’ll be successful in no time. Thanks for reading!
Faqs
What Is The Listing Strategy?
Listing is a strategy writers use to brainstorm and write ideas about their chosen topic as they come. Usually, writers will place each point or idea on its line, either on loose-leaf/notebook paper or a Word document.
What Is The Most Common Reason A Property Fails To Sell?
The most common reason a property fails to sell is an unreasonable asking price by the seller. An asking price that’s too high is the surest way to increase your days on the market and have a “non-starter” listing that buyers ignore.
Why Is It Important In Brainstorming?
As its name suggests, the listing is a brainstorming technique in which you make a list of ideas. The advantage of this technique is that it enables ideas to be generated more quickly than with clustering, as you can write the ideas in any order.
How Do You List Brainstorming?
First, brainstorm randomly about possible topics for the essay. Then, pick two or three possible topics and list as many subtopics for these as possible. After finishing your list, draw lines, make arrows, stars, whatever works for you, to indicate connections between different subtopics.
Should I Sell My Land Or Keep It?
Suppose you have a piece of land that you are holding onto year after year but are not using or actively developing. In that case, it is time to consider whether to sell your land, as the tax bill is likely to add up much faster than any appreciation in the undeveloped property’s value.