There are many technology solutions, aka “shiny objects“, real estate agents can use today that provide real estate marketing automation. Automation is great, but if you want it to work for you you MUST personalize it. The point of this post is to help you avoid OVERAUTOMATING your AUTOMATION.

What?

People ultimately do business with agents they know, like, and trust, right? Do you know, like, and trust bots or people?

When your “automation” is not personalized it feels robotic and loses it’s authenticity. This loses the very “connection” needed to engage in conversations and convert potential clients to appointments.

Real estate marketing automation will help you do more with less work, but don’t shoot yourself in the foot by not personalizing it. Automation needs to appear natural, not robotic.

It’s more important to humanize your brand than it is to tell about how long you been in the business.

Let’s first talk about real estate marketing automation through traditional database marketing strategies.

Traditional Template Email Marketing “Turn Back The Clock” 

How do you think people really feel about your turn back the clock emails? Let’s face it, it’s spam. Have you ever received an email from a financial planner talking about something as interesting as turning back your clocks?

Did it annoy you?

Did you delete it?

The entire goal of sending out an email to your database is to reconnect with them.  The goal should be to nurture your relationship and stay on top of mind for their future referral and repeat business(nearly 70% of agent business is from referral and repeat clients).

If your email has a better chance of annoying someone than making them laugh, it is NOT a good marketing activity. Don’t fall into the Realtor trap of sending boring templated emails just to check the box and because some guru told you to.  If you are going to send emails to your database then make them count.

What Can You Do Instead?

I highly suggest using video emails to your database instead.  If you use the right subject lines and correct strategy you will get more of your emails opened and will connect much deeper with your audience. Let’s look at this recent Fathers Day Video I did to my database.

Subject Line: So grateful

Email copy:

Fathers Day is very special to me, but does anyone really know how and why we celebrate it?  I find history pretty interesting and thought that maybe this would serve as some good conversation while you are out and about with the “fathers” in your life.

This tradition is 107 years old!

I am very thankful for the “Fathers” in my life, but I am also vey thankful for you.  It’s because of my network who trusts me with their referrals that I am able to strive in my real estate business.

So to this fathers day I also cheers to you.  It means more to me than I can ever express.

Watch the video now to see how Fathers Day came about!

Enjoy,

I use the Hallmark greeting strategy as the excuse to stay in front of my network. The reason I use this is because it’s an easy excuse to send the email in the first place. I use creative subject lines and entertaining Holiday trivia to make it somewhat entertaining.

People don’t want to talk about real estate unless they are in the market.

Therefore don’t always talk about real estate.  Do you talk about real estate all the time with your friends?  Then you shouldn’t with your database as well.

There is a major difference between marketing and advertising.  One of the problems I see many agents facing is they confuse the two.

For some reason real estate agents are led to believe that “marketing their brand” must always involve the buying or selling process.  I say screw that because everyone lives somewhere don’t they?  It’s not a matter of if they move, it’s a matter of when they move. I want to market my brand in a sell without selling type of way.  The goal of marketing your database should be to establish name brand recognition.  You want everyone you know to instantly think of your brand when they think of real estate. That’s how you run a full attraction based business.

What email do you think will connect better with your database? Which one is more memorable?

The same is true for social media.  I see agents all the time looking for some type of real estate marketing automation service for social media, but the truth is that you cannot outsource authenticity.

For example: the people you are “friends” with on Facebook are connecting to you as an individual. Therefore using a social media real estate marketing automation service comes off as non-authentic.  Nobody can be you, but you. Let me show you what I mean.

Which post do you think has a longer last effect?

Automation Service

Personal Post

This agent ended up having over 30 reactions, 9 comments, and a few shares.  He’s not trying to chase leads, he’s nurturing relationships because he understands how referral and repeat business works and where it comes from.  He creates short entertaining videos to “remind” his network what he does.

Real Estate Marketing Automation To Cold Leads

Let’s switch gears and talk about using real estate marketing automation to cold lead generating sources like paid internet leads or website opt ins.

Are you using drip email campaigns for your online leads you are getting? Are you seeing results?

There’s a reason why so many drip email campaigns are not generating the results they used to. People want to do business with people, not robots.

Think about it.  You need to put yourself in the consumers shoes.   They are bouncing around Zillow and Trulia inquiring on several properties. They input their info looking to get information on a specific property. They have no idea who the hell you are and certainly won’t 7 days into your “drip” campaign either.  The key to following up on Zillow leads is NOT through drip email, it’s through following up immediately, personalization, and humanization.

The agents who are absolutely killing it on Zillow right now all have one thing in common. They are expert conversationalists.  I asked one agent what his secret was for Zillow. I wanted to know why he was converting at such a high rate.

His answer: “Mike, I talk about their fucking dog for 15 minutes before I start talking about real estate”. 

He forms a relationship first through personalizing and humanizing his brand and then asks for an appointment.

You can’t script for Authenticity either.

Want to know what kind of real estate marketing automation services are way outperforming the old school “drip” email campaigns?

One that incorporate video email or text messaging autoresponders.

The reason why these work so well is because the channel of communication is personable and our “leads” are more likely to connect with a human than an autoresponder.

The goal of your leads is not to convert them, it’s to form a relationship with them and start a conversation. The sooner you can have a conversation on the phone, the sooner you can beginning building rapport and trust.

Lets use some examples:

This is a service we highly recommend called Call Action.

This is a short conversation from a Zillow lead.  Using text message to automate your follow up to leads is genius because who the hell doesn’t check or respond to texts.

The goals should be to create engagement because that creates conversation, which creates trust, which creates CONVERSION.

Here is a “Drip” real estate marketing automation email.

Which one do you think has a better chance to start a conversation?

This is a video I made for an expired or cancelled campaign.  This would be my first response to an opt in from my website targeting hard to sell properties.  I use a service called BombBomb.

I’ll ask you the same question.  Which do you think will convert better?

Real estate marketing automation is awesome, but if you want it to work for you make sure you personalize and humanize it so it connects with people.  People want sincerity and honesty.  Don’t send your leads to a robot, send them to something more personal.

Quit being so professional and start being more personable on everything you do and you will begin ATTRACTING business instead of chasing it!

The best way to attract business is to create real estate content that’s relevant and that people search for. Often times I have Realtors tell me they don’t know what to create content on, but most times they are overthinking it.  You can create real estate content on anything that positions you as the expert in your field.

Current events are great to create real estate content on.

It’s your job to be the expert and share your knowledge with your audience. Today, I want to share a story on a recent event I decided to capitalize on.

On January 20th President Trump was sworn  his into office as our 45th Commander In Chief. Immediately upon taking office, one of the first things he did was direct HUD to suspend President Obama’s recent FHA premium rate cut plans.  This caused the social media world and many people opposed to Trump to lose their minds.

I have a lot of Realtors on my social media accounts so I see things from all over the country being posted.  Most of what I saw were many Realtors sharing news headlines like you see listed below.

Some of the headlines I saw were outrageous and in my opinion, promoting fear.  Now I don’t care what side of the aisle you are on, that’s besides the point.  What I saw, was a marketing opportunity to create real estate content out of current news.

I’m not shy about letting others know I supported President Trump.  I also respect anyone who voted for the other side.  This article is not about whether the move was right or wrong, but about the marketing opportunity this created since this news revolves around our business. I knew that many of these headlines were promoting fear and highly political, which is why this was a good opportunity to create some real estate content that could position my brand’s expertise.

The entire point of creating real estate content is to position yourself as the expert.  If you see something floating around online that’s controversial, interesting, or trending and it relates to real estate, then that’s a content creation opportunity.

So Here’s How I Saw Opportunity…

The day after the inauguration I was at a family party and was talking to my aunt about buying a house.  The first words out of her mouth were, “Trump is making it more difficult for people to get loans now. Will I be able to even buy?”.

I knew that she read some fearful news article that was not true, but regardless I wanted to do more homework on it. I did and it confirmed my gut instinct on the topic.  If she was confused, then so were many others. What a great opportunity to create real estate content!

Later that night I was on scrolling through my Facebook feed and saw the same thing.  I saw many Realtors promoting articles that were also inciting fear.  Many of the article shares were something like this:

Fear and confusion on any issue regarding real estate is an opportunity for you to create real estate content so you can position yourself as the expert. With tensions very high across the country this is a bigger opportunity than most other current real estate related events.

So Here’s What I Did….

Instead of spreading articles created by someone else, most of which are not even true I took this as an opportunity to market my business and drive traffic to my website.

I got slammed with requests to do the interview from lenders I never met.  I ended up deciding on one lender who is from the center left view point and we did a 20 minute interview on the topic. Even though we disagree politically on many points, this real estate content was not about me or my viewpoints, but rather on the topic being discussed. It was not about him either.  We were able to take a highly politicized topic and analyze it. At the same time it humanized my brand so people could get a chance to know who I was. That’s my entire goal.

So I created a podcast out of our interview that I will use for my Real Estate Marketing Dude Podcast. I also took the video and uploaded it to YouTube. I optimized the video to rank for search so I pop up on page 1 of YouTube when “trump fha cut” or “trump fha cuts” is put in the search.  I’m sure there’s a few other variations it will rank for as well.

I then wrote a blog post on the topic which can be viewed by clicking the link below.

http://chicagorealestatedude.com/the-truth-on-trumps-suspension-of-the-fha-mortgage-insurance-rate-cut/.  I reused the video to post at the top of my blog post.

This blog article is also optimized for search (SEO).  I created three pieces of content for distribution out of one topic. This is called multi-purposing.

UPDATE: In just one day on Google search, you could find my blog post.

It will take much longer to pop up organically on Google, but always worth a shot. I like to try and rank for specific key word searches.

Distribute It

Next, I need to distribute my real estate content.  I post to all my social media outlets and my email list that is comprised of my database.  So I use this real estate content to stay in front of my database as a relationship marketing tactic.  I then also use Facebook ads to drive traffic back to my website, part of a branding campaign for my farm, and a few other ninja tactics.

Personal Page

I always post all my real estate content on my personal page.  My personal page is where my database hangs out.  This is done for referral marketing efforts and reinforces my expertise to my network as well as remind them I’m in real estate for their referral and repeat business.

Business Page

I always post all my content to my business page. My database does not hang out on my business page, but people do visit it from my ads.  I will create a Facebook ad and distribute my content to my email list, farm market, and people who are likely to move. This drives website traffic to my site that I will retarget later.

You might want to listen to these podcasts.

Advanced Facebook Ads Strategy Podcast

Fan Page Vs. Personal Page Podcast

(Flume is a cool application that allows you to post to Instagram on a Mac)

I post to Instagram to again hit my database. Instagram is just another social media platform that my database hangs out at. Not everyone is on Facebook or vice versa, which is why I distribute my content on all my social platforms.

Linked In

I think you get the point. I post to one of my Pinterest boards as well.

Email List

I then take the video and send it to my email list using BombBombs API in my platform Attracktor. This give me another avenue to market my database with that creates value for them.  I don’t like sending my database “salesy” type of videos, but ones that create value or are funny and cute.

Creating real estate content gives you the excuse to market your brand in a sell without selling kind of way.

There is no shortage of real estate content to create. Keep your eyes open for current news you can create real estate content on. Use it as a way to analyze and get your opinions out there to people who are looking for those answers.

The question you should really ask yourself is if you duplicated this process in your business, would you find more clients? I’d much rather do stuff like this vs. cold call or go door knocking any day of the week, how about you?

Often times you hear all this chatter about which CRM has the best real estate drip email campaigns? What’s the best way to drip on leads?

As a “marketing dude”, it’s my job to tell you what’s working today and what’s not. Automated, template based, multi touch text based drip email campaigns will soon be a way of the past.

One of the cool things about marketing is that it’s always changing.  The Realtors who thrive change with it.

I’m not saying that real estate drip email campaigns don’t work anymore, I’m just saying that they don’t work as well and I believe their effectiveness will continue to fade away really fast in real estate.

They will continue to be effective in many other businesses, but real estate is a belly to belly business and is unique from others.

WHY?

I’m going to let you answer your own question to that.  Have you ever been on the receiving end of an autoresponder?  How does it feel?  Cold? Robotic?

The entire point of an real estate drip email campaign should be to trigger engagement and identify prospects who may need your services.  In theory you send out x amount of emails over the course of x amount of days and they are supposed to “engage” the potential prospect who opted in or inquired to your marketing piece.

The problem today is that everyone knows about autoresponders.  It’s obvious when you are on the receiving end of one and that’s exactly why their effectiveness are fading fast.

People’s inboxes are also cluttered with SPAM and other messages so less and less of emails are getting opened.  Especially ones with very boring subject lines that offer no value to their recipients.

Think about it…

You as a consumer opt in to receive information on a property and within seconds you receive this generic email from the “source” you opted in to and it feels totally robotic.  It loses all authenticity and the “prospect” feels less connection to you right off the bat.

The key to converting leads that opt in to any lead source you implement whether it be Zillow, ZBuyer, or a PPC campaign is…

Personalization & Humanization

Automation doesn’t convert leads, human interaction does. Start putting the focus of your follow up on relationship building and leads will start converting.  Quit acting like your in sales and start acting like you’re in service.

Make the focus on serving your prospect with the answers to their questions they are inquiring about in the fastest amount of time possible doing so in a very personable way.  Also, personalize your interaction with them so you have a better opportunity of attracting them to work with you.

Converting leads is sort of like dating. You have just a few minutes to get their attention and make an impression.  I don’t care where the lead comes from, this is true across the board.

Here’s what I recommend adjusting your real estate drip email campaigns to.

#1 Speed to the lead

This is no surprise.  We know that the faster you respond back to any inquiry the better chance you have to converting the lead. However, the key to converting the lead is building a relationship first, then looking to see if they are good prospect or not.  Following up ASAP is the key.

Whatever system you are using for your follow up, if not doing so personally, needs to follow up ASAP.

#2 Determining Your Channel Of Communication

What do you think is more effective, an email auto-responder boiler plate message or a text message?  Some of the top agents dominating lead sources like Zillow, Realtor.com, and Z-Buyer are personalizing their follow up using text messaging and video email.

WHY?

It’s way more personable and feels more natural to the prospect.  People don’t want to be on the receiving end of an autoresponder. They want your attention.  Following up with a text or video email is WAY more effective than a real estate drip email campaign. If you can follow up with phone call right away, then great, but chances are you are not available 24/7 and speed to the lead is crucial.

Think about automating your initial follow up with video email or text message so it stands out and has a better chance of connecting with your prospectand creating a response. It’s when they respond to your quick reply that you can really personalize your communication.

#3 Personalization

Did you ever hear the phrase, it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it?  It’s absolutely true.  If you want to start converting more incoming leads you need to humanize your brand.  You want to let people know you are not a blood sucking commission based salesperson as fast as possible.

If your real estate drip email campaign is not giving you the results you want, maybe it’s because you are coming off as a robot.  Often times, Realtors overthink the simplicity of follow up by trying to be someone they are not.  Be yourself and talk like your normally do. When you do so, it will be more natural and that’s what people are connected to. Focus on creating a level of service catered to what your “lead’s” inquiry was all about.

Did you ever get cold called from Comcast/Xfinity and hear the “boiler room” in the background? The telemarkter is reading a script and it feels slimy.  This is no different. No inbound phone call received from your marketing should ever feel “scripted”, because doing so would not feel NATRUAL. The key to converting leads is communicating effectively. This is what you need to know about how humans perceive communcation. Once you understand this, you will want to focus all your marketing efforts with this in mind, including responding to your in-bound leads.

How Communiction is Perceived 

60% of all communication is based on your tone.

30% of all communication is based on your body language

10% of all communication is based on the content or what you actually say

YOU CONVERT LEADS WHEN YOU COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVLEY

This means that what’s coming out of your mouth is not as important as how you say it. A real estate drip email campaign lacks tone and body language, therefore tends to lack following the rules above of effective communication.

It’s more important to be Personable vs. Professional

For example, my local brand is the Chicago Real Estate Dude.  When I follow up I am a “dude”.  If I were following up by phone, my initial line is, “Hi this is the dude, the Chicago real estate dude that is…”.

It’s almost always followed up by a laugh by whoever I’m speaking with.  I use my friendly brand to take away the “sales” aspect and focus on connecting on a human level. How many people get mad at a dude? How many people already have an impression of a “Realtor” before speaking with you?

If I were going to send a text message on follow up, I would say something along the lines of “hey this is the chicago real estate dude, just got your message, I’ll follow up within the next hour to answer your question is that ok :). Notice that I want to put some kind of emoticon or smiley face to personalize the text.

This is more natural. My text message, even if it’s automated, will not be known its automated.  It has to feel natural for max effectiveness.

If I were using a video for my follow up, I would either use BombBomb’s drip email campaign and have a pre-recorded video sent immediately to the prospect.  Again my goal here is to stand out and “connect” on a personable level, not conversion.

I know that regardless of what I say that it will go in one year and out the other so the main goal of any interaction from any opt in I receive is to build a relationships first.  When you make this your focus, the pressure of “converting” tends to go away and you find yourself more natural.

So let me ask you, what do you think is more effective?  A robotic real estate drip email campaign or a personalized text, video, or phone call? did you get in to real estate to help people or make money?

*Please don’t be a real estate agent to “ONLY’ make money. Do it because you have a passion of helping people with their house problems and not because you want to be “rich”. If your passion is REAL, you’ll attract LOTS of business following what I show you.

How Many Times Should You “Drip”?

I get a lot of opt ins on my website.  I follow up with all of them once.  I’m not saying this is what you should do, but here’s my take.  People who are shopping around online are also visiting more sites than yours.  Because they are fishing for information, don’t be surprised they forget about  your existence just a couple hours later.

My only goal in marketing is to initiate engagement.  

In regards to real estate drip email campaigns, I don’t do them. Instead, I automate my initial follow up once and then personally follow up only with those who respond to my initial reply.

The initial text, video email, or phone call(which I don’t have time to do) is only to identify people who did respond because I know they are more likely to engage. It’s the ones who respond initially that’ll I’ll invest my time to follow up with.

I DO NOT put them on a 5-15 day real estate drip email campaign!

The reason for this is because I know the more time that goes past their initial inquiry the less they remember what they inquired about.  I also hate being “automated” because regardless of how well you personalize it, most intelligent people know it’s automation by third plus email they receive from you.

The key is to personalize and humanize your follow up.

You can do that through the method in which your communication is delivered and focus on delivering the most impactful way to respond, which also happens to be the most personable.

Converting leads is about relationship building. If you are good at that, this should be a breeze for you, but make your response service oriented vs. sales oriented and watch the difference.

Is direct mail is good way to generate seller leads?

HELL YEA IT IS!

Direct mail is alive and well and can be one of your best listing prospecting tools if you know how to use it the right way. If you do not do it the right way you can end up spending a lot of money without any leads so pay attention to this article.

If real estate investors can find and buy properties where they are rehabbing or wholesaling, why couldn’t you do the same thing? In this post I want to talk about the direct mail process as a whole and how to approach it to make the most out of it.

Get A Targeted List

You must have a targeted list.  There are numerous data companies that can sell you very up to date information so you can reach your target audience.

You can purchase lists for absentee owners, FSBO’s, expireds, probate, and so on. This way you ensure no wasted reach as your message can get in the hands of who it is supposed to be for.

Create A Great Offer

Don’t waste your money on trying to brand your image. Nobody cares about how many houses you sold or how long you been in the business. They only care about what your marketing piece can do for them so keep it to the point. Every direct mail piece should have some kind of offer that solves a problem for the intended recipient.

Here are some examples:

Absentee Owners, divorce, probate– You have an investor who wants to buy their house as is, cash, quick close, no commissions.

FSBO’s– How To Sell Your House Without An Agent.

Expireds– Access to a case study on house that sat on market forever.

Each of these audiences would have a different type of campaign or message that is relevant to solve some kind of problem they may be experiencing. Your offer should ALWAYS be steered to generating a permission based response.  It needs to drive someone to a phone number with call capture technology or a landing page online. Check out this article below for more direct mail ideas.

How To Use Direct Mail For Real Estate Lead Generation

The Follow Up

This is the most important part! You are either going to convert or not.  The follow up is 100% the key to making this work for you.  If you suck on the phone, direct mail is not going to be for you.  It’s no different than any kind of cold lead generation you are doing. Check out some of these articles if you have further interest.

Why Some Agents Convert Better Than Others

How To Sell Anything Without Having To Close Someone

Your only goal for a lead should be to set a face to face appointment so you can begin the rapport building process.  You are not going to know up front how you can help this person until you meet with them.  Direct mail is a tool to set more face to face appointments where you can earn the business.  DO NOT TRY TO SELL YOUR SERVICES ON THE PHONE. Instead, focus on solving that person’s problem and everything else will fall in place.

Set Up A Multi Touch Campaign

It’s very important you have a multi-step campaign set up.  You are not going to have success with just sending one direct mail piece.  You want to approach any and all direct mail activities with a multi-touch approach to the same list. People may not respond on the first mailing.

Every marketer will tell you that you need to have multiple touches to be effective.  You are going to farm this list over a very short period of time.

TIP: We have a software that will 100% automate this process for you.  You place an order we handle the fulfillment. Coming Spring 2016.

If you can follow these four simple steps, you will have an effective direct mail campaign set up to generate listings.

Real estate is not a hard business, but it’s a hustle business.  The question you should ask yourself is if you feel like you are in the right hustle?

Check out the links on this post and please comment below.  I would love to hear from you.

If you think others could benefit from this article share it and help us get the word out by clicking the social media icons below or at the top of this post.

Do You Know The 3 Marketing Systems To Set Up In Your Real Estate Business To Avoid Cold Calls & Prospecting Forever?

Creating systems to keep business opportunities coming is very important to running a successful real estate business. Speaking of systems, you should check this out…

NOTE: Bookmark this page because it’s like a mini real estate marketing course.  There are many different lead generation strategies outlined here and it could take you some time to get through it all! Enjoy!

I don’t want to start the New Year out with bad news, but the truth is that there is a real estate paradigm shift occurring and it’s not good for REAL ESTATE AGENTS.

Good news is that you can take advantage of what’s happening as long as you stay on the offensive.

As I was starting to write this post I happened to come across this article:

SRE Matrix, Takeshi Sekiguchi’s real estate startup, is the next big hybrid brokerage

It’s about a new brokerage concept coming into the mainland from Hawaii.  They will be offering full service real estate services for 2% listings.  The 2% is split between buyer and seller brokerage!  In the comments there are threads of pissed off brokers complaining about how companies like these kill our industry. I think companies like these improve our industry because they force the rest of us to get better!  SRE Matrix (name of brokerage company) is not the only “discount” brokerage in town. There are many other brokerages offering discounts trying to out price their competition and save consumers money, but is that a good thing?

My personal opinion is that discount brokers give you discount service. Did you ever notice that many newly licensed and/or inexperienced agents tend to work at these types of brokerages?  They are given clients to work with vs. having to rely on their own lead generation.  There is nothing wrong with that.  It’s a win-win for the brokerage and the agents working there.  There is a market for this and all they are doing is serving it.  More power to them, this is capitalism.  I don’t feel threatened by them in any way.

Once those agents mature in the business, their experience typically graduates them into a traditional real estate brokerage. The discount brokerage served  as a stepping stone for newer agents to get to the next part of their career. Do you see many top producers in your market hang their license with these brokerages? I believe these models will always have a “revolving door” of agents, which is key to my next point.

You see, saving money is not always what EVERYONE wants.  It’s also not always in the best interest of consumers.

People will pay more for things they feel they are receiving value with. Have you ever seen what women’s purses sell for today?  I was trying to buy my wife a purse and didn’t know it would cost me a mortgage payment.  What’s wrong with the purses at Target?

Creating Value For Consumers…

Not long ago my wife and I were at dinner with a couple we just met.  I found out they just bought a house FSBO.  They gave me the info on where they bought and I knew immediately they way overpaid!  I probably could have gotten them the exact same property for 50,000-75,000 less!

Do you think this couple would have any problem with me making a full 2.5% commission if I found them them another house at a much lower price?  HELL NO!

The reason why I attract buyers is because I’m great at what I do. My job on the buyer side is to advise whether or not their investment is a good one. This is my value proposition to any buyer I work with and why there is a demand for my services.  It’s my job through marketing to educate consumers on that.

Listings…

There’s a discount brokerage in my market and their agents are very new to the industry. Everything they list seems to be at a great price and sells within days. I’m sure the sellers think they saved 2.5%  of the sales price not knowing that an agent with the experience and a true marketing plan can easily find a buyer that would exceed the 2.5% savings!

The discount brokerage’s marketing proposition is the savings on commission. They do a great job educating consumers of this and it works!

Here’s the point.  There are good agents and there are bad agents.  Just because someone has a real estate license does not make them equal to another agent who has the experience and expertise to do a better job!

It’s like plastic surgeons.  Some of these doctors get top dollar for their procedures while the newly licensed surgeon does the same surgery for less money.  There will always be a market for a more or less expensive price point of the same product.

However, most buyers and sellers don’t understand this unless you educate them.

They think that anyone with a real estate license can provide the same level of service more or less.

So back to the good news…

The discount brokerages, the Zillow’s, Trulia’s, Realtor.com’s, and all the rest of technologies out there are competition.  If there wasn’t competition, how would our industry advance?

Don’t Get Pissed…Get Better

The real estate market has changed and unfortunately you have to do more than you used to to earn your business.  Not doing anything different in 2016 should not be an option.

In the next 5-10 years, you will see the role of Realtors diminish unless they adjust to what the market is asking of them. Consumers will continue to think the services of real estate agents are not needed.  The more technology advances and discount brokerages that come on to the scene, the more you can expect consumers to diminish the value of Realtors.

The only way to compete is by providing a value proposition and showing what you bring to the table!

The market is asking you to get better and compete! Those who cannot see the writing on the wall will have problems long term with their business.

Here Are The Top 6 Real Estate Marketing Must Do’s In 2016!

Adapt these 6 things into your business and you will begin attracting business so you can eliminate the peaks and valleys of real estate.

1. Create A Better Listing Marketing System

Create a better listing marketing system– What’s your current value proposition for a seller?  What’s you marketing plan?  We know you will put a sign in the yard and list it on the MLS, but what else are you going to do? If you cannot answer this question, then yes I am speaking to you.  I’m not talking about hosting an open house or your print brochures either, those don’t count. Sellers can do this without us! 

Technology has caught up and we need to do more than the status quo to compete with the ‘discount brokerages” and Zillow’s of the world.  Check out a couple of these articles and you’ll see how you can create a value added proposition through enhancing your listing marketing plan so that you may begin attracting business, not chasing it.

2. Create A Referral Marketing System

61% of  ALL agent business is attributed to referrals and repeat business.  Real estate is like a popularity contest.  The more relationships you have that know you’re in real estate…the more referrals you’ll get.

A good referral marketing system will nurture your relationships keeping your name at the forefront. Anytime the word real estate comes to mind, everyone in your database immediately thinks of you! When you pair this with a value driven selling proposition, you will ATTRACT clients so you can throw the cold calling scripts out the window!

Prospecting sucks! Attracting business rocks! Check out some of these articles.

Have You Ever Lost A Deal Because They Forgot You Were In Real Estate? Here’s How To Avoid That

The 3 Channels Every Agent Should Use For Referral Marketing

3. Create A Better Process

Have you ever thought about your process to working with clients? Do you have a system you follow with each buyer or seller client you work with?  Can you think of any business that exists today that doesn’t have a process to follow with their customers?  What if Dunkin Donuts coffee tasted different every time you went there?  What if the next time you went to Apple Bee’s the honey mustard sauce was totally different?

You cannot have a brand without consistency. You cannot have a real estate business without a brand.  A better process will allow you to create a level of service that transforms your current clients into referral sources.  A better process will have you performing marketing tasks during the course of each transaction so that you can leverage existing clients into additional spin off business.  Things like Facebook Just Listed Ads, Just Sold Postcards, You Tube video marketing,  and online listing marketing!  If you are not using your existing clients to market your brand you are missing out!

4. Become The “Expert”

 We are living in a Content Marketing world.  Content marketing is how to market your business by sharing your expertise with people who are highly likely to need your services.  Much like I am writing this article you are reading. If you are looking to market your business online, you are going to need to consistently create content.  This is how you attract business to you. People look online for the content you produce and are naturally drawn to you.

People want to use an expert. Your goal in all of your marketing efforts online and offline should be to become the real estate expert in your area.

You will realize that once your focus becomes education, that you will rarely ever feel like you are selling anything!

How To Sell Anyone Without Having To “Close” Them

What Every Agent Can Learn From Donald Trump About Marketing

5. Start Using Video

It’s 2016 and whether you like it or not video is here to stay.  I know it’s very scary for most agents, but you aren’t alone.  It’s supposed to be scary, but wasn’t your first showing the same way?  Don’t you remember the first time you had to show a house, how nervous you were?  I was so nervous and didn’t know what to do! That didn’t stop me from doing it though.  Video will take some getting used to, but it has so many advantages. I suggest using video for content creation, social media, listings, neighborhoods, about you, and email marketing for referrals.  Here are some articles that have some more ideas how you can use video in your real estate business.

3 Ways To Use Video In Real Estate Marketing

6 Ways To Use Video Email Marketing To Sell More Houses

6. Set Up Multiple Lead Generation Systems

Relying on a single source of business is never a wise thing.  In real estate you should have several different lead generation systems set up in your business. This is how you avoid peaks and valleys. I suggest using permission based marketing strategies that have leads coming to you vs. you having to chase business through old school prospecting techniques and cold calling.  You can buy internet leads, use direct mail, video marketing, blogging, and Facebook ads.  It’s not hard to make your phone ring, it’s all about what you say when it does.  Check out some of these articles to get a better idea of some things you can implement.

How To Use The Interest Rate Hike As A Marketing Tool

4 Ways To Attract Business Because Chasing It Sucks

Cold Calling Sucks, Try This Instead

How To Use Direct Mail For Real Estate Lead Generation

Real estate is not a hard business, but it’s a hustle business.  The question you should ask yourself is if you feel like you are in the right hustle?

Check out the links on this post and please comment below.  I would love to hear from you.

If you think others could benefit from this article share it and help us get the word out by clicking the social media icons below or at the top of this post.

Do You Know The 3 Marketing Systems To Set Up In Your Real Estate Business To Avoid Cold Calls & Prospecting Forever?

Creating systems to keep business opportunities coming is very important to running a successful real estate business.

Consistently chasing after business week in and week out can eventually burn you out.  I don’t care if you wear a cape and are the world’s greatest Realtor.  At some point, you will break.  If for any reason you don’t please call me directly because I may want to work for you.

Old school prospecting techniques teach you to set aside a certain amount of time per day to pick up the phone and cold call ideal prospects in hard selling techniques. The days of Glen Garry Glen Ross are long gone.  People do not want to be sold, they want to be served.

People hate being sold on anything.  Sales in our business is dead.  Serving others is alive and well.

Do you know what consumers think of getting cold called?  How do you feel when you get a cold call from India?  I seem to get three cold calls each week and I hate them.  My cable provider, some car warranty company, and countless calls from real estate related internet paid lead service providers.  Even though they may be trying to help me get a better deal, it still annoys the living shit out of me.

So the question you have to ask yourself is what kind of “prospecting” do you want to do?  Do you want to spend 2-3 hours a day annoying strangers?  Do you want to spend hours a week “popping by” FSBO’s? Do you want to have to rely on “closing” people all the time on something they are unsure on?

OR

Do you want to create marketing systems that have potential clients calling you?  We call this permission based marketing.  It’s really a simple concept.  You create some kind of marketing piece interesting enough to make someone want to reach out to you.  No more cold calls. No more pop bys. All you need to do is learn to attract business.  Lets look at some of the different ways you can do this.

Direct Mail

I’m sure you know some real estate investors in your market.  Did you ever wonder how they are able to consistently buy properties cheap enough to turn around and flip them?  Did you know that the majority of them use direct mail as their #1 lead source?  Why couldn’t you do the same thing?

If you want to run direct mail marketing systems in your business then you MUST have a good targeted list and an appealing offer. Direct mail is a very effective way to target potential sellers. You can purchase all kinds of targeted direct mailing lists.  The second part is that you need to have an attractive offer that can help solve your prospect’s problems.  If they call you, they are interested. Pretty simple.

We built a software to totally automate this process for you.  If you are interested please inquire further.

Let’s go through an example direct mail campaign targeting For Sale By Owners:

FSBO’s

For sale by owners are great potential leads.  You know they want to sell and the vast majority of them end up listing with an agent. However, most sellers do not want your phone call solicitation. Direct mail is a great way to break the ice and try to build a relationship by offering a helping hand.

After about 1-2 months FSBO’s begin to realize that selling a house encompasses alot more than just popping a sign in the yard and posting the house on Zillow. This would be a more ideal time to reach out to them.

Marketing Piece Example: Perhaps you could offer your entire marketing plan to help them sell their house for FREE. Send them a For sale by owner marketing plan in the mail detailing exactly how you sell every house. You could call it a “DIY” Home Sale Guide.  You can insert some kind of call to action and drive them to a landing page on your website.  You can also follow up with a call after you sent them the information asking them if there is anything else you can help them with and to confirm receipt.

If you are interested further in direct mail marketing I suggest you read this article, How To Use Direct Mail For Real Estate Lead Generation

Facebook Ads

Facebook ads are amazing if you use them the right way.  If not you can be digging yourself a hole on ad spend trying to figure it out.  Trust me on this because I’m the guy who spent boatloads of money with them trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t.

Facebook allows you the ability to place your content in front of people who are most likely to need your services.  You do this through Power Editor on the advertising backend of Facebook. This requires a 1-2 approach.  I wrote an entire article on this that will spell it out greater detail should you be interested.  Check it out here, An Advanced Facebook Ads For Realtors.

In quick summary, you would create a great piece of content in the form of a video or blog post.  You would place a tracking pixel on the page you are sending traffic to knowing that you are going to retarget everyone who visits that page.  You would then create a second ad retargeting only people who saw your previous content with an offer for more information like a FREE CMA.

Here’s an idea of what this looks like.

Video Marketing

I love video marketing. Video marketing is simple.  It’s about creating compelling content that consumers are searching for online. You create a video with a goal of educating on a specific topic.

The video below is based on a true story and one of my most popular videos on my You Tube Channel.

You have to get in the habit of asking yourself what you can be making videos out of constantly. That’s the mind of a marketer. Here’s the story:

This was a rental unit we made $700 on before our split.  The video cost me $200 alone so do the math.  This video served as a loss leader for me as I only shot it for the marketing. I knew I was not going to profit on the rental.

The amount of business I received from this video has paid its dividends.  The term “Lofts For Rent In Chicago” was the keyword that got it ranked so high.  There must be a lot of people who type that into You Tube’s search bar because it currently has over 6,000 views! Some videos get tons of views and others not so much, but this one was winner that will continue to create new business for me.

This video made me well over $25,000 just last year!  One couple called me inquiring about loft living in the city.  I ended up selling them a $400,000 condo and also listed their single family in the suburbs for $290,000. They wanted someone who knew loft living and my video made me the expert! Video makes you an authority. Authorities get business without having to prospect.

Point of the story is that you never know where your next client is going to come from. Go all out on marketing every listing regardless of what you will make because every listing is an excuse to create spin off business. Not bad for $200!

Paid Internet Leads

We have all heard of Zillow and Trulia. I’m sure you know you can buy zip codes to capture  leads.  This can be a great way to to pick up business, but to be successful you have to be very good at building relationships.  Potential clients are inquiring about specific properties and you get an opportunity to call them back and try to build a relationship with them.

The key to any kind of internet lead service is to be good on the phone and follow up as soon as possible. The agents I see who do best with paid internet leads are great at building relationships with complete strangers.

What do you do for new business?

Did you like this article?  If you think others could benefit from this article share it and help us get the word out by clicking the social media icons below or at the top of this post.

Creating systems to keep business opportunities coming is very important to running a successful real estate business.

Would you be interested in learning more about adapting a cold marketing attraction plan in your business? Do you want to run a business instead of being run by one?

I hate cold calling and so do the 98.54% of other agents out there.  I know it works and that it’s a numbers game, but the thought of doing it is so depressing.  Dealing with rejection after rejection trying to sell something can drive you nuts!

It sucks.

But wait, if I am to convert 1 in 15 cold calls and I got hung up on 5 times already then I am going to get a new listing within my next 10 calls…right?  SCREW THAT!

Some agents love cold calling. If that’s you, then God bless you because most of us it hate it!  It takes a certain skill and personality type to be able to do this consistently. Keep it up if it’s working for you, but for the rest of us, how do we keep a consistent stream of business coming through?

Good news is you don’t have to cold call.

If you want to avoid cold calling then you need to learn how to attract business, not chase it. Some marketing dudes would call this permission based marketing. Permission based marketing is when you perform some kind of marketing that gets potential clients reach out to you.

We recently repositioned a listing we had and took it off the market for a few days so we can resist it under a new price. Our client received over 30 phone calls of agents using “scripts” on her.  She was extremely turned off and annoyed.  I’m not saying don’t do it, I’m just saying there is a better way.

How do you feel when you get called by a cable company telemarketer trying to get you to upgrade your package into the “triple mega package”?  I thought so.

It’s obvious they are reading from a script and it’s obvious when you are reading from some kind of script when you are cold calling. Let’s look at how to take cold calling out of the equation!

Step 1: Permission Based Marketing

There are two main components to attracting business.  First, you need an inquiry either online or by phone. This requires you to do something that triggers a potential client to reach out to you (Notice I didn’t call it a lead. I think people don’t want to be classified as leads either).  Most agents have trouble attracting potential clients, but it’s not that hard.  It comes down to how much you want to invest per lead. You can invest either with learning how to do this on your own or by paying some kind of online lead service(there is no shortage here). We will discuss these sources in part 2 of this blog series.

Getting leads is not hard, converting them into clients is! Once you start using marketing systems that create new opportunities for you, the days of cold calling will be long gone.  You will then focus on “warm calling”.

Step 2: Rapport Building

I know some agents who are absolutely terrible at working Zillow leads.  Then I know some agents who are killing it with Zillow leads.  The only difference between the two is that the agent killing it, has a relationship based approach, while the agent who sucks at it is reading a script.  Scripts suck and are cold!

Zillow is a form of permission based marketing because you are receiving potential clients asking you to respond to them.

The second component necessary to attracting business is your ability to create relationships with strangers. You will start seeing results once you focus all of your “scripting” on “relationship building”.  Relationship building is how you ultimately attract business in 2016 and beyond.

How Do You Build Relationships?

There are many ways to build relationships through marketing, but I have to get this out of the way first. You cannot use the word “scripts” anymore.  The very first step to attracting business is to take ALL THE SALESMANSHIP out of the equation.  Would you like to be on the receiving end of a “script”? Do you like to be sold on anything?

“Scripting” should instead be replaced by “helping”.  When you are scripting something, you are selling something.  When you are helping someone you are assisting them. People want to be helped not sold. I want you to think about the last time someone helped you do anything.  Were you grateful? Did you appreciate it?  Did it make you like them better?

If Realtors focused all of their inquiries in a “how can I help you approach” they would turn more “warm calls” into clients. Your goal of any kind of inquiry should be to WOW the potential client with your knowledge.  You should go extremely out of your way to “assist” them in any way possible.

Don’t talk about yourself because nobody cares.

Your only goal should be how you can help someone who asked a question. Customer service is the most important kind of marketing in real estate.

When you are on the receiving end of the communication spectrum, its much easier to build a relationship because you are following up with someone who asked you to contact them. You are not interrupting their dinner with a cold call.  Once the focus of any phone call becomes, “to WOW them with your knowledge and help them get the answer they are looking for”, you will see that you will end up setting more face to face appointments.

Marketing is easy.  Building relationships is what holds agents back.  You are not in sales. You in in the business of helping people achieve the American dream.

Do you cold call?

I want to know about how you attempt to build rapport with complete strangers.

Do you have a system?  Did this article help you?  I’m teetering the idea of showing people how to do this step by step, would you be interested?

Did you like this article?  If you think others could benefit from this article share it and help us get the word out by clicking the social media icons below or at the top of this post.

Creating a better system to service your listings is one of the things you can be doing to improve your level of service.

Would you be interested in learning more about adapting a transactional marketing plan in your business that creates multiple lead sources? Do you want to run a business instead of being run by one?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you may want to check this out…

Whether you like him or not, Donald Trump is one hell of a marketer and all real estate agents should pay attention to a very important marketing lesson he is demonstrating daily. This article is not taking sides for any political party, but rather to point out what you can learn from him regardless of what side of the political spectrum you reside in.

But how and why?…

Donald Trump is following one of the most important rules of marketing…authenticity and confidence. He is real. He doesn’t take any shit. He is unscripted and says exactly what’s on his mind with no concern about what people think about him.

Ok cool Real Estate Marketing Dude, so what does this have to do with real estate? Get to the point…

Donald is not trying to appeal to everyone like every other candidate is.  He knows his audience and speaks directly to them.  In a crowded presidential field he is standing out from the bunch! The Donald is not just a person, he is a brand!

So back to real estate and how this helps you…

Real estate agents are a dime a dozen. The industry is flooded with agents so what makes you different? How do you capture the attention of people who may soon need your services?

Consumers think we all offer the same level of service to our clients.  Is that true?  Of course not. It’s a fact some agents are better than others when it comes to experience, marketing, knowledge, and customer service. However, just because you might be a better agent than some of your peers doesn’t mean that you will do more business than them.What makes you different from the rest of the herd?  What makes you stand out and be remembered in your referral marketing efforts? What makes you stand out in your cold marketing efforts from the agent on the bus stop bench? What’s your attraction or USP?

Think about your current marketing efforts and message.  What is your brand? 

In real estate, you must remember that you are the brand and not the company you work for.  Statistics show that only about 2% of consumers pick their agent because of the company they are affiliated with. This means that consumers do not care about where you hang your license.  They care more about if they trust and like you.

Donald is leading the pack because he’s NOT trying to appeal to everyone. He’s not a typical lobbyist controlled politician and he’s speaking a way that no Presidential candidate has ever spoken before.  That is becoming his attraction.  He knows his audience and is speaking directly to them.

Do your know your audience in your marketing efforts?

Well back to marketing for real estate….

The lesson of the story is that the best way to market yourself is to just to be you and know your audience! Nobody can be you better than you. Before you begin any marketing strategy you must first have an identity because it’s that identity that will resonate with your audience. Look at your market and take note at how some of the top agents are positioned.

What’s your positioning or brand all about? What’s your tone? How do you speak to people? How do you want to be perceived?

I’ll start by using myself as an example. I’m not the type that dresses up in suits and talks very formal to my current and potential clients. Sometimes I swear within minutes of meeting someone, but you know what?  That’s who I am! My real estate website is www.ChicagoRealEstateDude.com go and check it out and see for yourself.

I know that I’ll probably turn off some of the “professional” crowd, but I’m ok with that because at the end of the day I want to attract people who I would like to work with and they work with me.  I’m not trying to go after every single potential client out there. Brands that try to appeal to everyone end up with less than if they defined their audience.

Have you ever gone to a restaurant that literally had every single thing you can think of  on their menu and you literally could not decide what to order? What did you remember that restaurant by or did you?

The most successful restaurants only offer a few things on the menu and cater to a specific audience.  They have defined their niche.  Now let’s define yours.

Let’s go into more detail specifically on referral marketing…

I love referral marketing.  I believe it’s the most crucial form of marketing for any real estate agent because 61% of all agent business is directly attributed to referrals and repeat business. Referral marketing is all about being remembered.

If you read one of my pervious articles I speak about the 3 “channels” to use for referral marketing.  Check that out if you want but here’s the point. Your uniqueness is what people remember you by so you want to carry that over into your referral marketing efforts.

Facebook/Social Media Marketing

I post cool real estate related stuff on social media that mixes my personality in it. Sometimes my posts are crazy, other times they are funny. The point is that I post content that reflects who I am as a person.  I am everything short of professional on anything I post because professional is not who I am. Your Facebook posts need to reflect you and not anyone you are trying to be.  Be yourself.  When you try to put on a front you look stupid.

I’m not saying do what I do.  That’s my personality.  I’m saying be you and stick with it.  Every human being on this earth is unique in their own way.  If you are a suit and tie type of guy then be that guy in the social media presence.  If you are a super polished strong independent woman who works the seven figure real estate business, then continue to be that person.  If you are a surfer real estate agent, then be that dude, but don’t ever change who you are to try to impress others. Your personality should reflect in all your marketing efforts.

I remember a good friend of mine was fired from his job.  He took up a financial consulting position with a firm.  He went to a week of training and suddenly came back all “professional”.  I was like, “who the hell is this dude”. He sent me an email  to solicit business from me and made a real professional Facebook post trying to change his image.  To be honest I was a little turned off by it.  If I needed his services I would use him because I like and trust him, but his new sales attitude turned me off and I felt like I was being sold to.

What do you think?

Email Marketing

I love email marketing my database.  In real estate you have a couple choices. You can sign up for the cheesy templated “Automated” spam like email programs that turn you into a robot or you can use email marketing to build your brand.

I love using video email marketing to hit my entire rolodex at least 1-3 times a month.  Why?

Because a video allows me to be myself a lot better than some boring pre-written email newsletter that annoys the people it’s sent to.

Here’s a piece of advice:

Your database does not give a crap about boring real estate matters that provide absolutely zero value. It’s boring to them the same way it would be boring to you. Have you ever received one of those financial planning emails from someone you know?  You can literally fall asleep in the first two paragraphs.

Now if you can create some very useful real estate related content that can provide value to someone while at the same time tie in your personality then now you are talking. Relate your message in the form of a story or recent experience that happened to you perhaps.

How about wishing them a happy holiday?  Check out this video I made here for for a Groundhogs Day email.  Who sends their database an email on Ground Hogs Day?

Again this is my personality and it works for me.  You have to find yours and run with it.  These were my stats associated with that email. Is your current email marketing getting a 50% open rate?

People do not use our services frequently so in my opinion the goal of your email marketing should be to be remembered vs. annoy people with stupid crap.  Using video in your email marketing efforts allows you to do just that and provide some entertainment in the meanwhile which really nurtures your relationships.  That’s the key to this business!

Direct Mail Referral Marketing

Direct mail referral marketing to me is the best channel to use because it’s one of the few physical marketing pieces you can use.

Think about it….

You are going to Cabo San Lucas on vacation.

You see a picture of the beach with the famous arch in the background.

When you get to Cabo San Lucas you visit that very spot you previously saw in that picture.

Which is more memorable?  The pictures you saw or the actually physically being there?

I think you know the answer. Any kind of tangible marketing is always more memorable whether it be a client party (experience) or a direct mail piece (physical).

Your direct mail referral marketing can take form of a postcard or even a monthly newsletter, but it cannot be boring.  There are many great tools for you to use with technology today (like our CRM, shameless plug:) but my point is this.  The entire point of direct mail to your database should be to stay on top of mind so that you are thought of when your recipient needs your services or they come across someone who may need your services.

I suggest using something that’s totally different and stands out from the crowd. Fun Facts, interesting trivia, or anything else that would make someone think…

“Hmmmm that was a cool read”

If you can reflect your personality in it then that’s even better!

Internet & Cold Leads

I love converting because it’s fun when you want it to be.  We all know how many tire kickers call in when you are subscribed to an internet type of lead service.  However, the agents who do best with these services always have great personalities.

An internet lead is like dating. You have 15 seconds to stand out.  You are dealing with a voice and that’s it.  You must remember that 60% of all communication is tone.  30% is body language. 10% is actual content.

The tone of your voice is key to cold lead conversion, which is reflected in your brand. Have you been cold called by one of these internet lead companies trying to get you to buy a zip code or something?  I get tons of these and typically hate them but here’s what happened:

I always get calls from this company and most times it’s someone you can tell is reading from a script. Within 15 seconds I usually say no thanks and it goes a little something like this;

They say, “Are you telling me you don’t want to sell more houses”

I say, “yes I am telling you that I’m busy enough” and then hang up the phone.

One day I finally was closed.  The same company called me up, but this chick was awesome.  I think she opened up with something like:

“What’s up Chicago Real Estate Dude, hey I’ll be quick because I know you get these annoying calls all the time.  I got some good shit and maybe you can check this out.  This thing rocks I’m telling you”

She talked the way I talked so I gave her the time of day and ended up signing up for a 6 month plan at $1,000 a month to test it out. Her tone resonated with me. I’m sure if I was a totally different type of personality that she would have approached me differently.

Scripting

I hate the word scripting because I think it’s cheesy. The big name gurus always give you this script to use and tell you if you read it verbatim that you will be the next millionaire agent.  Most of the scripts verbatim are cheesy as hell, but the roadmap on what to say is laid out for you.

Scripts are fine to use as long as you put your own twist on it.  Here’s one of the best I seen.

Upon an initial rejection:

“You do know the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again right”? hahahahaha

Yes, that is literally in there.

I understand the point here, but you should word it the way you’d say it.  For me I would say something like…

“Look if I didn’t know what I was doing I would’t waste my breath with you on this because I’ve seen this happen time and time again with past clients.  They resign their listing agreement with the same agent who’s marketing plan is to put a sign in the yard and list the home on the MLS with mediocre pictures. Truth is if you could not sell your home in this market in under 90 days you are either way overpriced or your marketing sucks.  Sorry there’s no way to sugarcoat that.  The same seller then wastes another 90 days with the same agent getting the same results.  I’m not telling you who to use but I am telling you that I am suggesting you at least check this out. What you got to lose? I would also suggest interviewing at least 3 other agents to you can make the best decision?  Sound cool?”

Scripting is the most important form of marketing next to outstanding customer service that you can do.

Trump Recap

I can go on and on and give you many more examples, but the truth is this. A few years ago somebody told me that the riches are always in the niches and the masses are for asses. That statement stuck to me and I found it to be so true.  In all of your marketing efforts you are better off being you and resonating with those you strike an emotional cord with.  Trump is doing it right now and he’s attracting a new audience because of it.

Yes, you might alienate some people who will not like you, but that’s ok.  Your marketing efforts will pay off much further, because in real estate you are the brand and not the brokerage you work for.

How Do You Find More Clients?

Creating a better system to market your business is how to increase business.

Would you be interested in learning more about adapting a several marketing systems that work simultaneously in your business to create multiple lead sources? Do you want to run a business instead of being run by one? Do you hate cold calling or cold prospecting?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you might want to check this out…

Are you seeing all kinds of Facebook ads in your newsfeed and curious as to how to make Facebook ads for Realtors work?

This is article is about creating an ongoing Facebook ads strategy.

By the end of this article you are going to know how to use Facebook ads for Realtors for the long haul.  Before we can get into that you must understand how Facebook is used in general.

Facebook is NOT a Classified ads section. It’s a social media site and people are not looking to see your ads. They are looking for relevant information THEY WANT TO READ, not intrusive self promoting classified ads. People don’t give a crap about how many houses you sold or how long you been serving your community. They care about things that are relevant to them at that given moment.

The key to running successful Facebook ads for Realtors is to make your ad very targeted to an audience that WANTS TO SEE it. Running Facebook ads is a lot like farming, but farming to an audience that is likely to need your services soon.

What you do not want to do is make your ad intrusive because you are more than likely wasting your money at that point. Before we get into the meat and potatoes let me first say that what was working 6-12 months ago is not working as well now and things are always changing. The key is to change with it.

I look at my fan page as a tool to reach a cold audience who I otherwise would have not known. In other words Facebook ads for Realtors is cold lead generation. In my opinion, and this is specifically for real estate, you are better off using Facebook ads as a cold marketing generation tool only.

What not to do…

I see many coaches advising Realtors to build up a ton of likes. They are promised if they post tons of content that it will lead them to greatness, but nothing can be further from the truth.  The organic reach of a non-paid fan page post is very low and unless you are paying to reach those who like your page, the majority of your fans will not see your organic posts. Organic reach on your fan page means the number of people who would see a post you made in their newsfeed.

What To Do…

This is going to be more of a 1…2…. punch marketing strategy. We are going to use your fan page to target people who are likely to need your services, send them to some great content which allows us to identify those who “raise” their hands, and then retarget those very consumers to create a lead.

Nobody Cares About You

The biggest mistake I see being made by Realtors currently using Facebook ads is they are using a “bus stop” type ad that mentions how they are #1 in their market or how many houses they have sold.  Nobody gives a crap about that.

Do you care about how many cars your local State Farm insurance agent insured last year or how many backs your chiropractor adjusted?

Create GREAT Content

If you want to be successful in Facebook ads for Realtors, you need to reach an audience that wants to hear what you have to say. You only want to create ads that people want to see. Start by creating content that can take the form of a blog article. Below are some examples of blog posts that I used in Facebook ads:

How To Sell And Buy A House

How To Get A Good Deal On A House

Top 5 Cheapest Home Improvements To Increase Your Home’s Value

Best Time To Sell A House…In Chicago

Low Appraisal On House? Now What…

How To Sell Your House By Owner

How To Sell A House Fast-Online Marketing

The Importance Of Market Time

The Truth On Print Marketing

The Importance of Using Pictures & Videos

How To Position Your Home For Sale

Seller Closing Costs

All of these articles are relevant to what someone who is in the market to buy or sell a property might want to read about.  This is referred to as content marketing.  I am using the articles as a draw to get people to see what I am about and gain authority as the expert in their minds and drive them back to my home base, my website.

Know Your Product

People buy or sell a property on average every 5-7 years, but that number changes market to market.  The point is that we don’t have a frequent customer base like a restaurant would or even a chiropractor so we should always be prospecting for new business.  Our clients need our services once every several years so we should have a marketing strategy designed to attract ideal consumers who may be entering the market soon. Stats are showing the the average home buyer or seller start their information seeking as far as 6 months prior to entering the market, and this is the crowd we are trying to attract. We want to target that crowd with the information they are seeking.

If you are trying to use Facebook ads without targeting your marketing, be prepared to see dismal results. Why would we farm people who are not in the market for our services. Real estate is a highly talked about topic, but typically only when someone is approaching a buying or selling state of mind. If you are going to be a marketer you have to know your market and how to reach them.

You want to view using Facebook Ads for Realtors as a way to reach people who are likely to need your service much like you would view an expired or FSBO direct mail campaign by using Facebook’s EXTREME targeting capabilities.

Targeting

This is the part where many agents need assistance.  You want your ad to be as targeted as possible and in the Facebook Power Editor you are able to do just that.  You can target people who are likely to move, homeowners, vs. renters, precise location, and even income levels. Depending on who it is that you are targeting, you want to make that audience as relevant as possible to your ad.

Power Editor is the tool where you create, design, and target your ad.  You want to make sure you know how to use this as well as use properly sized images in all ads.  We won’t get into how to use Power Editor here as that is an entire course in itself.

I like to make Facebook ads targeted to my email list, past website visitors, and a very targeted audience I create in Facebook’s Power Editor.  My strategy is to consistently keep relevant content in front of these three audiences in a sell without selling type of way.

My email list is made up of people whom I know personally and/ or worked with in the past.  That is referral marketing. I want to stay in front of those people as much as possible to remain on top of mind.

Next, I market my Facebook ads to people who visited my website by inserting a tracking pixel on my website which allows me to  retarget people who have visited it in recent months with FB ads. This group is more likely to be in the market to buy or sell since they have visited my website. This group is more likely to need my services.

The last group I target are people who are likely to move soon. This is more of a cold lead generation strategy.  All of this can be done if you know how to use Facebook’s Power Editor.

I don’t really care much about how many likes I have on my fan page as a real estate agent, because I don’t engage on it like I do my personal page. I use my personal page for that since that’s where my referral audience is. Even if I did the amount of people who see my posts is minimal and I would be paying to reach complete strangers who are not ideal candidates to buying or selling a house right away.

Why You Want To Create An Audience Using A Tracking Pixel

I place a tracking pixel on the initial blog article that I am advertising.  A tracking pixel is a small amount of code you can place on the page of your website you are sending people to.  Facebook captures those website visitors for you and will create an “audience” of everyone who visited that page so you can retarget with better call to action ads. Don’t you think if someone visited that page that they are more than likely going to be more interested in your services than someone who did not?

This is where the 2nd part of this strategy comes in at.  I want to make a second Facebook ad and target all those people who visited my original ad that posted content.  This is important for two reasons.

1. This allows me to retarget my ads to people who have already risen their hand, which is more likely to create a lead.
2. This allows me to save money marketing a very targeted list vs. spend money on ads marketing to people who would not need my services whatsoever.

Ad #2-Retargeting Those Who Visited Your Website

Your second ad is used to target specifically people who took action by visiting your website on your first content based ad. This is the ad where you are more likely to use some kind of lead capture like a squeeze page.  You could offer a CMA, marketing plan, or whatever is relevant to your original ad. Without having that in place there is no point to begin running ads.  Now that you have identified an audience that you are more likely to create a lead with, it’s time to go for it. What do you want your recipient to do when they see your ad? Your ad should lead them to your desired landing page.

This is a dark post ad that I ran which showcased consumers who were very targeted a page I built on my website that educated them, on how to have a true online marketing plan. Once they clicked this ad they were immediately directed to a page where there is lead capture capabilities.

There you have it.  This is the baseline for an ongoing Facebook marketing strategy. Hopefully this helps in your Facebook ad marketing strategy.

Did you like this article?  If you think others could benefit from this article share it and help us get the word out by clicking the social media icons below or at the top of this post.

How Do You Find More Clients?

Getting better at Facebook ads is one of the things you can be doing to increase online business, but it’s not everything.

Would you be interested in learning more about adapting a several marketing systems that work simultaneously in your business to create multiple lead sources? Do you want to run a business instead of being run by one? Do you hate cold calling or cold prospecting?

The Power Of Story Telling Using Images To Create Engagement Within Your Social Media Platforms

Learning how to use social media for real estate is much simpler than you might think. The world of social media can be very overwelming. Facebook, Linked In, Twitter, Instagram, You Tube, Pinterest, and a whole lot more are on the way.  Social media is something you know you need to know about, but it just keeps getting pushed off.

I’ve been there too.

From a real estate marketing perspective, social media platforms are another channel in which to communicate no different than e-mail, or direct mail to your “Audience”.

The question is how do you use it correctly to create engagement which creates referrals for you?

Paid Vs. Free Social Media Marketing

I know it can feel overwelming learning how to use social media for real estate, but if used correctly, it will lead to additional business. Don’t worry you DO NOT need to learn every single platform as certain ones are better for real estate agents than others. The very first thing you need to know about social media is that there are two different ways you can use it.

First you can use it to market for referrals.  To simplify the entire social media process, is that each and every social media platform is nothing more than an additional channel in which you can market to your database or audience.  Regardless of what platform you use,  any type of engagement you create on one of your social media channels, is just an additional way for you to communicate with your sphere of influence or “Audience”.  Your “friends”, “followers”, or “connections” are just extensions of a network or sphere of influence.

You can also use social media for cold lead generation in a paid version too!  When using paid social media marketing, you are paying to reach certain demographics who participate in that platform.  Social media is great for advertisers, because of how targeted you can be in your marketing.  Social media advertising is a whole other ballgame and each platform is a course within itself.

The most important tip I can give you on paid social media advertising is that unless you are set up to capture someone’s email address or phone number, IT IS NOT WORTH DOING. If you want to run paid ads, you need to know some more advanced marketing techniques.  Been there done that and threw a bunch of money down the drain.

Before you can begin to think about using a paid advertising campaign in social media, I first suggest that you learn how to use the FREE marketing techniques to generate referrals and repeat business.

Here’s How To Use Social Media For Real Estate Agents

The most effective way to use social media for your real estate business is by telling a story by sharing content using pictures and videos.  Social media platforms are very engaging and images stand out much more than just plain boring text.  As a matter of fact, I should not teach you about social media through text and writing like this. It would be too hard without a visual to show you a good overall social media strategy so…

I stepped up my game and shot this video for you.  

The video above shows you how you should be using your social media platforms right now.

I hope this video made you understand more clearly how to use social media for real estate agents.  If you thought this was  good article and video make sure you check sign up for our marketing updates below. Please feel free to comment below.

Did you like this article?  If you think others could benefit from this article share it and help us get the word out by clicking the social media icons below or at the top of this post.

Would you be interested in learning more about adapting a full real estate marketing plan in your business creating multiple lead sources? Do you want to run a business instead of being run by one?  Do you want to take control of your destiny?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions you are going to want to check this out. You can take our FREE Real Estate Agent Marketing Course… you might want to check our system out…