I often get asked about what the best real estate marketing strategy is, and the answer is not going to be super exciting.  The best real estate marketing strategy is marketing the people you already know.

Don’t get me wrong, as there are some real estate marketing strategies that kick ass if you have the skill set to do it, but there is only one real estate marketing strategy that works for everyone regardless of how long you been in the business or your “tech” skill set.

The most reliable and consistent source of clients will always come from the people you know, not strangers.  I want to define first by who I mean “Database”, because I’m not talking about.

• Leads from your website
• Purchased lead or data sources
• Opt ins
• any kind of list in your CRM you created from open house sign ins or Facebook ads

The Best Real Estate Marketing Strategy Is Marketing The People You Already Know

I’m talking about marketing the people you already know or say hello to in the grocery store. What if you had the ability to stay let every single one of your Facebook friends know you were in real estate? How much more business could you do if people STOPPED “forgetting” you were in real estate?

The real estate business is based on relationships. When the market crashed in 2007 who do you think received all of the REO(foreclosure) accounts, the top agent in the area or the one who had the relationship with the asset manager?

The top agents in your market who sell the most new construction, do they get their developer listings from cold calling or are they getting them from relationships they have?

There’s an agent in your office RIGHT NOW you cannot understand why is selling more homes than you are, but guess what, they are just more popular than you. The only things that EVER separates the top real estate agents and the bottom feeders is their network or a database.

WHY?

The vast majority of real estate agent business comes from referrals or repeat clients. You can interview any top producer in your area and the vast majority of them have one thing in common, a large referral based business.

What Makes A Good Referral Real Estate Marketing Strategy?

They might not be the sharpest tools in the shed, but they are the most popular and generally the only thing that separates you from the top producers in your area is that more people know what they do than what they do.  They are more popular than you right now,  but that’s it.  Real estate marketing, in my opinion is a giant popularity contest because of the statistics above.

[click_to_tweet tweet=”Instead of trying to generate a bunch of leads, why don’t you generate a bunch of attention with the people you already know. 10-15% of them are moving this year but all of them have ability to refer you one client right now” quote=”Instead of trying to generate a bunch of leads, why don’t you generate a bunch of attention with the people you already know. 10-15% of them are moving this year but all of them have ability to refer you one client right now”]

Real estate will always remain a people business because people hire real estate agents they KNOW, LIKE, & TRUST.

There is so much clutter in the world today around real estate lead generation, but in reality the majority of business is right in front of us. Real estate agents get referrals from their database, not strangers. We get repeat business from satisfied past clients, not from people we don’t know!

Marketing Your Relationships Is NOT Based On Mathematics, It’s Based On Theory

Everything I’m not talking theory, it’s factual and here’s why;

•  10- 15% of the people you know this year are moving, but how many of them can you get to use you? This means 10-15% of your Facebook friends, IG followers, people you run into, people you newly meet, and every conversation you have.
• 100% of the people you come into contact with, you’re connected with on social media, or even newly meet have the ability to refer you at least 1 client in the next 12 months because everyone knows someone who’s moving.

So what if instead of spending thousands of dollars trying to get a complete stranger to respond to one of your advertisements, you stopped spending money on lead generation, and instead invested that into “reminding” everyone you knew that you were in real estate?

You don’t market your database for their direct business, you do it for their referrals.  Direct business is a by-product of marketing your database, but that’s not the primary reason to do it in the first place.

Buyers and sellers want to work with a Realtor they know, like, and trust.  Our relationships are the most profitable aspect of our business. The one thing that CANNOT be outsourced is creating a human connection with your database. There is no real estate marketing strategy, gadget, device, or technology that can replace YOU! It’s your trust that people buy, but it’s your job to remind them that you are in real estate, because as you already know, they tend to forget.

The Best Real Estate Marketing Strategy Conclusion

A real estate marketing strategy focused around “reminding” everyone you’re in real estate is essential for running a referral based business.

Focus on building relationships first and the rest will come. This is not rocket science.  Build your database and then keep your brand in front of it using multiple channels.  It’s really that easy.

If you’d like help implementing an attraction based real estate marketing strategy, you don’t need more leads, you need more dudes.  If you were interested in marketing your database with video, then schedule a demo now and see how it works.

Looking to learn how referral marketing for real estate agents works, it’s much simpler than you think? In this post, we’re going to talk about the 2 things needed to start implement a referral marketing strategy and attract lots of referrals on this post!  If you’re stuck how to market your database, this should help you out too.

Why Referral Marketing For Real Estate Agents Is Essential

A good referral marketing strategy allows you to stay top of mind with your database. Let’s be honest, your database isn’t as loyal as you think.  They don’t think about you 24/7 staying in front of your database is a problem because you don’t know what to send them.  Sound familiar?

If you feel stuck , we’ll make it easy on this post.

Referral marketing for real estate does NOT have to involve you talking about real estate, but rather reminds your database you’re in real estate. 

The Strategy To Referral Marketing For Real Estate Agents Should Only Have 2 Goals

First, is that you create content people are excited to consume.  Secondly, is that your content reminds people that you are one bad ass real estate agent. The key to growing a referral based business is to build a brand amongst the network of people who already know, like, and trust you.  When people trust you, they refer you.  The key is top of mind brand awareness.

[click_to_tweet tweet=”It’s not your database’s job to send you business, it’s YOUR job to remind them to.” quote=”It’s not your database’s job to send you business, it’s YOUR job to remind them to.”]

Taking on a multi-channel approach so you are the first person people think of when the term “real estate” comes to mind is possible if you do these two things.

Referral Marketing For Real Estate Agents Thing #1- You Must Define Your Story

First, you must realize you’re a brand.  I know it feels weird thinking of yourself as a brand because you are just one person, but if you were to open up a clothing store, wouldn’t that be a brand?  How would you market that brand?  Most likely, you would first start by defining your audience.

In real estate, your database is the most important audience because the vast majority of people hire the first person they meet with 78% of the time.  

A good referral marketing strategy would consistent of creating content THAT REPRESENTS YOUR BRAND and then placing that content in front of your database CONSISTENTLY.

Let’s go through an example on how this is done. This is a past client of ours story.

The Logo/Brand Visual Story

Meet Emilio.  Emilio wants to be known by his friends and network as the go to resource for everything locally.  Emilio is not, just a real estate agent, he’s a resource.  His new visual story (logo) now accompanies him everywhere. This is the visual reminder of what his brand stands for!

Marketing your broker’s brand does your broker great, but you no good.

When people think of real estate logos they often take their initials and put a roof over them.  When we design a new logo, we make a story out of it.  Your logo should do 3 things.  

1. Remind people you’re in real estate
2. Reflect your personality
3. Tell a story

Does your current branding reflect your story? Does it reflect who you really are?   The brain processes images 60,000 faster than text or verbal communication so trust me, branding your logo is essential.

Which do you think would be more memorable?  Emilio Solano, Realtor  or Ask Emilio?  Here are some other brand story examples.

It’s once you define your brand you can then create a content strategy.

Let’s take Ask Emilio for example.  Emilio is positioning his brand as the go to resource amongst his database and local community.  He is going to start a video series called Ask Emilio.  In it, he is going to conduct small business owner interviews with establishments he believes are the go to spots in their niches.  None of his videos will necessarily be about real estate, but rather put the focus on the business owner and why Emilio believes they are the best at what they do.  The content he creates will be used to video email to his database, post on his social profiles, create an additional blog post on his site, and run Facebook ads to it for further brand awareness.

Another example would be of me being a dude.  No matter business I’m in it will always be dudey because that’s part of my personal brand. For more information on personal branding, click here.

Referral Marketing For Real Estate Agents Thing #2- Adapt A Consistent Video Strategy

Once you have dialed in your brand strategy, let’s put it on video!  Video is an amazing communication strategy to brand building.  Video doesn’t generate leads, it converts them.  It allows people to see who you are and how you roll.  

Does it make you uncomfortable feeling like you have to talk about real estate with your marketing?

Then don’t.  This is when it gets fun! Video is a personal way to stay in front of your database and local community without you always having to talk about interest rates or market updates. I’m not saying don’t talk about real estate, I’m saying tell stories that infer you’re in real estate instead.

This is especially true for your social media marketing efforts. People aren’t going to Facebook to look for real estate, so you need a marketing strategy that keeps your brand present without turning people off by being too salesy.  I believe the same is for email as well as direct mail.  Are you starting to see how this works?

Your brand’s story will be the central message conveyed in anything you talk about.  That’s why it’s so important to have a real estate branding strategy that’s matches up to your values and passions. It no longer feels like work because you begin creating content about things you personally enjoy!

You’ll also…

• be more excited about creating video content
• avoid getting the video jitters because the videos aren’t even about you
• come across more authentic
• always have a marketing strategy to keep you in front of your database and local community in a more personal way

[click_to_tweet tweet=”The goal of this series is not to generate leads, it’s to generate the attention your database so they don’t forget to use you or refer you.” quote=”The goal of this series is not to generate leads, it’s to generate the attention your database so they don’t forget to use you or refer you.”]

The reason why this works is very simple.  78% of consumers hire the first agent they come into contact with.  At the same time, we also know that 10-15% of the population is moving this year and that 100% of them knows someone moving they can refer you to.  An effective strategy for referral marketing for real estate agents is simply establishing top of mind awareness amongst their database.

That’s it.

I believe real estate is a popularity contest.  The more people who know what you do, the more opportunities that open up.

Consistency is key!

If you decide to adapt a referral marketing strategy like this, you need to set a schedule no differently than any other kind of media.  You have to look at your business like it’s a media company because it is. 

Think of it no differently than direct mail farming.  You must continue to publish your content to keep that constant presence amongst your database. It’s the repetition that brands you as the go to agent of your network.

And if you need help just click the schedule demo link and inquire about hiring a real estate marketing dude.

I want to dumb down this real estate marketing game for you and in this post am going to show you how to get referrals.  Everything you are about to read is not rocket science, but common sense. My goal is that you will learn how important it is to focus on building an audience of relationships in this business.

You don’t get referrals from strangers, you get them from people you know.

Let me ask you a question….

If nearly 61% of business is generated   from referrals and repeat clients, what should be your most important marketing strategy? These aren’t statistics created by me, these are facts reported from NAR.

Should it be Facebook ads?

Should it be Zillow leads?

Should it be cold calling?

Should it be direct mail farming?

Should it be door knocking?

These are all great ways to prospect new business, but how could your prioritize these marketing strategies over marketing your sphere of influence when it’s a fact that over 60% of business comes from referrals and repeat clients?

Consider This…

If I were to open up a taco stand in San Diego and I found out that roughly 61% of my customer base were from a certain area or demographic, I would focus the majority of my marketing outreach and efforts to that audience don’t you think?

I would first determine how I could create content or advertisements focused in speaking directly to that audience so I can narrow in my marketing plan.  In any business, this is the very first thing you do.  It’s essential to understand and focus all marketing efforts on targeting your most ideal audience.

The chart above is factual data on where over 60% of business originates from real estate agents, their sphere of influence.  Not focusing on marketing your relationships is like me opening up my taco stand without putting a sign in the window saying I sell tacos? It would just say FOOD.

What are you doing in your business right now to generate more referrals?

The truth is that a large majority of real estate agents are chasing leads vs. creating and maintaining relationships that produce referrals and repeat business.  We are told to believe that we should be door knocking, cold calling, or prospecting strangers when in reality it should be a priority to set up a system of staying in front of the audience that is responsible for over 60% of your business before you begin setting up prospecting strategies.

Prospecting strategies are great, but absolutely should come secondary to setting up a system that generates referrals and repeat business.

What Kind Of System?

What I am talking about is farming your relationships so let me explain.

We all know direct mail farming works.  It’s been a marketing strategy since the dinosaurs ruled the world.  You pick out a neighborhood and then consistently mail it over a period of time.  After about 6 months or so many agents tend to start seeing some results of those efforts (if not sooner).  The longer you maintain a presence and build a brand in your farm area, the better the results over time. The reason this takes time to build is because it takes a while to get people to remember who you are. Over time direct mail farming creates top of mind brand awareness.

So if direct mail farming a bunch of strangers works, imagine if you started farming your relationships?

Why You Should Farm Your Relationships…

The biggest mistake most real estate agents make confuse why they are marketing their sphere of influence.

ITS NOT FOR DIRECT BUSINESS, ITS FOR THEIR REFERRALS!

You must market your relationships to maintain top of mind awareness because when you are out of sight you are out of mind. This is no differently than farming a neighborhood.  If you stop farming it, you can expect no results. The same thing happens if you stop marketing your brand to your sphere of influence! Trust me people don’t remember what you for a living as much as you would like to believe.  Top of mind brand awareness keeps your brand at the forefront, nurtures your relationship with your existing audience,  and makes it easier to be remembered when a referral opportunity rises.

The Numbers

This is mathematical marketing, not theory.  You can literally get a good estimate on your referral opportunities for the next 12 months simply by determining the size of the audience you are marketing. According to MelissaData, the annual statistics in the United States show that 14.19% of the population is moving this year. Marketing your audience consistently will help generate direct business simply based on factual data here, but that’s not why you should be marketing it primarily.

You market your relationships because 100% of them knows someone who is moving that they can introduce your services to!

Let’s do some simple math.

100 People You Market or Farm consistently over a 12 month period.

Roughly 14 of them are going to be moving this year. Marketing them directly will help you generate some of that direct business as long as they know, like, and trust your brand.  If you want to generate more direct business from your database all you need to do is double the size.  If I had 200 people I was consistently marketing, it would be safe to say that roughly 28 of them will be moving this year.  Considering the average agent only does 6 sides annually, you can see how you can literally trip over business just doing this. Focus on building your network before you start focusing on building squeeze pages, running Facebook ads, or knocking on some random persons door.

However, the true value is that EVERYONE in your network has the ability to refer you because EVERYONE knows someone who is moving this year.  Think about it?  The question becomes if they will refer you or not.  You get referred when you create top of mind awareness of your real estate business with the people that know, like, and trust you.

Some other articles you may want to read…

 The 3 “Channels” Every Agent Should Use For Referral Marketing

  Why Do People Refer Realtors?

Access The Referral Marketing Vault

Please don’t lose touch with your clients after the deal closes. Part of being successful in real estate involves knowing how to effectively communicate with clients post closing.

Inman News published an article that states only 17% of homeowners actually use the same agent again.  The reason given is because they forgot what their previous agent’s name is.

That’s CRAZY! Can a business succeed without name brand recognition? NO!

What’s even more interesting is that at the same time repeat business accounts for roughly 21-23% of all agent sourced business!

So even though only 17% of people use the same agent, it still accounts for roughly 21-23% of all agent business!

Repeat business is a HUGE source of business! Are you positioning your brand to get some of it? Do you know how to effectively communicate with clients after they close?

You need to know how to effectively communicate with clients after the transaction closes for two reasons;

1. They are one of your biggest referral sources (roughly 38% of all business each and every year)
2. They will buy and sell again eventually (23 % of agent business)

When you don’t know how to effectively communicate with clients post transaction, you are more likely to be forgotten. People don’t refer or return to you for business when they forget your name.  It’s really that simple.

Knowing how to effectively communicate with clients post closing closes in a way that is not self serving is the key.  How do you keep a presence, but not be annoying or appear to be begging for business?

We are going to share the 3 ways you can be communicating with your clients post closing so you can nurture a profitable relationship with them!

Set Up A Relationship Marketing System.

If I didn’t continue to publish blog posts and podcasts like I do, I would eventually lose touch with my audience.  My content is what keeps me on top of mind with them.  What can you do to keep you on top of mind with your audience?

The largest problem most Realtors have to staying in front of their database is that they overthink their communication strategy.

“What should I send?

“How often should I send it?

“My past clients remember me so I don’t have to communicate with them”

THE KEY TO DOING THIS EFFECTIVELY IS  TO NOT ALWAYS BE TALKING ABOUT REAL ESTATE!

As a matter of fact you shouldn’t.  Instead take on a sell without selling type of approach and make your focus on branding, humanization, and personalization instead of selling.  The goal of running this type of marketing system is to stay relevant and on top of mind.  You never know when your past clients may come across another referral situation for you.

To know more about this kind of strategy check out some of these articles. You will learn about a 3 prong approach using social, email, and direct mail that works very well!

The Most Profitable Referral Marketing Strategy For Realtors

The Secret To Creating Emails Your Database Wants To Read

Have You Ever lost A Deal Because They Forgot You Were in Real Estate?

The 3 Channels Every Agent Should Use For Referral Marketing

Host Client Parties

Client parties are a great way to stay in touch with clients.  The problem many Realtors have is that they do not see instant gratification from hosting client parties. You might not get a direct referral but you should count on some further down the line.  I had a buyer contact me 3 years after a client party once.  They came to one of my events with a friend and remembered me from it 3 years later!

You have to play the long game in this business.  Hosting a client party is an easy way to stay on top of mind while showing your appreciation and reinforcing you run a referral based business.  Remember the stats!

15% of the people you know this year are moving, but 100% of them know someone who is moving. Every person you know, has the potential to introduce your services to someone in need. Will they?

You might invite 100 people to your client party, but that doesn’t mean they are all going to show up.  Regardless if they show up or not, you still went out of your way to invite them to a party you are throwing for them.

Each time you have a client event, you can invite your clients via direct mail, email, and even through social media.  However the most important would be to physically call them and invite them yourself.

The client party shares as an excuse to touch base in many ways and you can repurpose video and pictures of the client party to brand your business again afterwards.

If you want to get some ideas on different types of client events, you should check out this post below. It’s the most visited post on my site for a reason and these agents are ROCKSTARS.

7 Amazing Client Appreciation Event Ideas For Realtors

Make Annual/Bi-Annual Calls

If you want to know how to effectively communicate with clients after the transaction closes use common sense and pick up the phone.  There are multiple dates you can use as excuses to touch base with a client. Your past clients are one of the most important aspects of your business so make sure you let them know how valuable they are.

Don’t underestimate the power of a good old phone call.  People want to feel appreciated and just like you, never forgotten. It’s not our clients job to know you appreciate them, it’s your job to make them feel appreciated.  Here are a few easy excuses to touch base.

1. House sale/purchase anniversary– Why not check up on them and see how they are doing? It’s an easy excuse to touch base and reconnect.
2. Holidays– Holidays are an easy excuse to call your clients and wish them the best.  It shows you care. Even if you get their voice mail, it’s still an amazing thing to do.
3. Birthdays– You should always try to wish your clients a happy birthday if possible.  Make sure you friend request all of your clients on Facebook and it will trigger you to wish a birthday greetings.  The first thing I do every morning is wish all my friends happy b-days!

The overall concept here is reconnecting.  Sit back and think of someone who provided a past service for you did something like this.  How would you feel?  Would you appreciate it?

When you put yourself in the shoes of others, it’s much easier to measure it’s effectiveness.

Real estate is a people business.  If you want to be successful at it, you must be good with people. The best way to effectively communicate with clients, is no different than how you communicate with your friends.

The one thing for certain is that when you are out of sight, you are out of mind.  People don’t give referrals or repeat business to Realtors they don’t remember. They give them to Realtors they have a relationship with.

Stay in touch with your database they tell you.

I get it, you’re tired about hearing what you need to be doing, especially something called database marketing.

I mean why would any agent implement a database marketing campaign instead of doing something like Facebook ads or getting the latest autoresponder with the super duper drip email campaign that is “CRUSHING IT”.  I got news for ya!

Quit chasing the shiny objects because they can bankrupt you!

Over 60% of Realtors’ business comes from referrals and repeat business so let’s use our common sense and focus on that before you start chasing the shiny objects.  Shiny objects are great for drumming up new business, but they can also be very costly.  What do you think is more important in running your real estate business; setting up a database marketing campaign that targets where 60%+ of all agent business comes from or investing a hefty chunk of money to adapt the latest shiny object that goes after complete strangers?

Set up your real estate business to win in the long run first.

You don’t get referrals and repeat business from strangers, you get them from the relationships you have established in life.

Want to know how you get more referrals and repeat business?

I want to address the 3  most common excuses Realtors make to avoid setting this up in their business.  My goal here is to help you understand this isn’t something you should be doing, it’s something you MUST be doing.

Here are the top 3 excuses Realtors have for not running a database marketing campaign.

Database Marketing Reservation #1- “I don’t know what to send my database”.

Great reservation, but let me answer this correctly.  You get referrals and repeat clients from your relationships you have in life, not complete strangers. However, your relationships don’t want you to always be talking about real estate either. Constantly talking about your latest open house or why they should “buy now” will turn people off.  People don’t want to talk about real estate until they are in the market to buy or sell in general. Let me ask you a question:

When you go out to dinner with your friends do you always talk about real estate?

No, of course not so you shouldn’t always be talking about real estate with your database either.

If you stopped communicating with  your friends, would you still be friends?  Chances are they wouldn’t be inviting you to the next outing, would they?

Well, your database feels the same way about sending you referrals or returning to you again for another trasnaction.

The goal of running an effective database marketing campaign is not to generate leads, it’s to remain on top of mind.

This article will explain further why.

Marketing Vs. Advertising in Real Estate

The most important part of running a database marketing campaign, is to nurture your relationships without talking about real estate.  The goal is to stay relevant in front of your largest source of business.

Look at it form this point of view.

Why does Coca Cola run holiday campaigns?  They need an excuse to remain on top of mind.

Why wouldn’t you do the same thing with your real estate business?

This article will outline exactly how to sell without every selling anything at all.

Sell Without Selling

Don’t overthink what to send your database. Send them holiday greetings or fun fact based direct mail campaigns.  The truth is it doesn’t really matter as long as you remind them you exist.  It could be a magnet or a gift, but the key is to stay in touch the same way you would any  with any of your friends or they are more likely to reciprocate with referrals.

Database Marketing Reservation #2- I don’t know how often to communicate with my database

That’s exactly why you need a database marketing system running for you.

The reason why it works is because it’s consistent.  Agents who farm certain areas commit to do so over a period of time. Typically, after 7 months, the cost and work start to pay off with listing appointments.

Why does it work?

Over time an agent begins to brand themselves as the neighborhood expert and the residents begin to associate their brand with “real estate”.  One day one of the residents decide to list their house and they call the first person they think of.  It takes multiple touches to brand a farm area as it also takes multiple touches to remind your database what you do for a living.

If direct mailing a bunch of random strangers works, how could the same concept not work marketing your relationships?   Why not farm your relationships?

People do business with agents they know, like, trust, but also REMEMBER!

When you are marketing your relationships you shouldn’t ever have to talk about real estate. All you need to do is stay in touch, BUT

YOU MUST DO IT WITH CONSISTENCY BECAUSE…

Out of sight is out of mind!

A good database marketing system will give you the content to do this for you without you having to think much about it, HINT HINT HINT.

Database Marketing Reservation #3- My Database already knows what I do for a living

I got news for you…

You ain’t that cool!

Do you really think your entire rolodex of relationships instantly associates your name with real estate?

When a referral situation pops up it’s almost always because there is an ongoing conversation occurring about real estate. Yes, people may know what you do for a living, but do they instantly associate your name with real estate without having to think about it?

Let’s do an exercise.

I want you to think about what your significant other’s best friend does for a living.

Is it finance?

Is it construction?

Is it technology related?

Ok let’s say he’s in construction.

Now let’s say you are at a party and one of your friends is hinting about getting their kitchen redone.

Do you instantly associate your significant other’s BFF with construction and automatically introduce his name into the conversation?

No, you don’t because you have no idea what kind of construction he does.

Does he rehab houses?

Does he work in concrete?

Does he build skyscrapers?

Is he a general contractor?

Just because he’s in construction does not mean you really know what he does for a living.

It’s no different with your database. Yes, they might know you are in real estate, but do they really know over 60% of your business comes from referral?

No, they don’t.

Do they instantly associate your name with real estate and as a Realtor who can help their friends, family, and co-workers with their real estate needs when they come across a real estate conversation?

Nope.

One of the worst things that can happen to you is when you learn of a past friend or family member who bought or sold a house without you. It happens to every agent!

It’s not our database’s job to remember what we do for a living, it’s our job to remind them.

Your database wants to refer you business, you just have to make it easier on them to do so.

I really hope I was able to address any reservation you may have about database marketing and if it works.  Quit thinking about why you should not implement a database marketing system and start thinking about how much money you are leaving on the table by not doing it.

Real estate lead generation is changing.  The entire purpose of this post is why you need to change with it and ignore all the noise, especially when it comes to shiny objects.  There is a reason 87% of agents fail in real estate after 5 years.  It’s because they can’t get business.  The most important part of our business is real estate lead generation because doing real estate isn’t rocket science.  However that’s where most of us hit a wall.  What is real estate lead generation vs. real estate marketing and what do I do first?

Most agents suck at real estate lead generation

I believe that many real estate agents are being led in the wrong direction in terms being told what they should be doing for real estate lead generation. There is a paradigm shift that has occurred and real estate agents are no longer in the sales, we are in the service business.  Should agents be chasing leads or relationships? Let’s first define what lead generation is.

What Is The Lead Generation Process?

In marketing, lead generation (/ˈliːd/) is the initiation of consumer interest or enquiry into products or services of a business. Leads can be created for purposes such as list building, e-newsletter list acquisition or for sales leads. … The opportunity then has to undergo multiple sales stages before the deal is won, according to wikipedia.

Why Do Most Real Estate Agents Fail?

I don’t care if you are new or experiences in this business,  the majority of your business doesn’t come from lead generation it comes from people you already know or personal meet. Most  real estate agents go right after the shiny objects of real estate lead generation instead of first researching where they should prioritize their marketing efforts. They start searching for real estate leads in the following sources and start chasing objects.

1. Facebook ads
2. A super duper autoresponder with a fancy drip email campaign attached to it.
3. A geo farm area
4. A CRM like system that generates opt ins and leads for you.

Look prospecting is great.  The shiny objects are great.  I love these marketing tools, but they are not the most important or effective real estate lead generation system to implement.

Should I pay for real estate leads?

No, you should pay to make sure everyone if your relationships in life knows you’re in real estate because the most profitable source of business for real estate lead generation is your database. Over 60% of all agent business comes from referrals and repeat clients, but you don’t get these from strangers, you get them from the relationships you have developed in life.

These are the stats:

This was a poll done in Lab Coat Agents which is a Facebook group of roughly 56,000 + Realtors across the country. Last Christmas Day they conducted a survey asking Realtors where the vast majority of their business comes from.  Here are the findings:

Where do clients come from for real estate agents?

• 74% came from sphere if influence
• 9% came from Facebook
• 5% came from Internet leads
• 10% from cold calling and prospecting

The numbers speak for themselves. The vast majority of business is directly attributed to referrals and repeat business.

How Do I Get Free Real Estate Leads?

Start developing good relationship building skills because people do business with agents they know, like, and trust. The goal of real estate lead generation should be to become the most known, liked, and trusted agent in your market because it’s a FACT that over 60% of business is derived from referrals and repeat business.

Nothing is more valuable for your business than building an audience of relationships and then staying in front of those relationships.

The concept I’m talking about here, Relationship Marketing, is how Best Buy, ByeBye Baby, and virtually every successful business markets their brand.

Why can’t you do the same thing in real estate lead generation?

Quit chasing leads and start chasing relationships so that you can begin attracting clients to you. Continue to reinforce those relationships with consistent communication and then you’ll start attracting business from them. It’s really that simple. This kind of marketing doesn’t require tech skills or “scripts”, it just requires you to set up system that keeps your brand at the forefront of your database.

Why do so many agents chase leads vs market for referrals?

They are told to chase leads vs nurture relationships.  Here’s an interested poll.

A poll was done in Lab Coat Agents asking what agents need most help with in their business.  As you can see from the image, marketing their database or building relationships was #4 on the list. I think it’s crazy that if 60% of all agent business is coming from referrals and repeat clients, why isn’t that #1?

Lead generation is not cheap. An agent can sign up many different types of lead services, but plan on dropping some dough. Is it something an agent should tackle before setting up a system to stay in front of their most valuable asset…their database?

Maybe you want to go after one of the CRM’s like a Commissions Inc, Boomtown, or Bold Leads.  These are great systems in what they do as they tackle online lead generation, but it’s a numbers game.  If you throw enough shit at the wall, of course something will come out of it.  The issue is that some of these systems can run an agent up to $2000-$3,000 a month.

That amounts to $24,000-$36,000 a year on one system, which many agents cannot take on.

I then posted a question about how much time and focus is spent on marketing their database and received the following….crickets….

This simple exercise again proves my point that many agents are in the mindset up creating leads vs. relationships. The shiny objects are cool, but they are not responsible for 60%+ of business, your database is.  I will again ask you, which is more important?

Do you want to know how much I spend on my annual Database Marketing efforts?

Less than $4,000 a year and it accounts for 95% of my business.  In my personal business I don’t have to invest in shiny objects because I control my own destiny with real estate lead generation. I know where the vast majority of business comes from.

The stats do not lie. If over 60% of ALL agent business is sourced from referrals and repeat business, what is the most important marketing system to set up before you start tackling the shiny objects?  You better answered your database or go back to the beginning.

Real estate agent farming… Should you do it?

Well, that depends on what your overall strategy and goals are. Lets first examine what real estate agent farming is so you can get a better idea and see if it’s something you should do or not.

Real estate agent farming, is traditionally when you pick a certain geographic area and consistently direct mail its residents.  Traditionally post cards were the most common marketing piece to use for real estate agent farming, but things are changing. Today you can social farm areas through Facebook ads for example, but that’s another blog post.

The strategy is based on maintaining a presence in the area so that you are the first agent they think of when they think of real estate.

YES, this works, but plan on committing to it long term.  This is a great way to build a market presence in the area, but some of it’s downsides are that it can be expensive and take a while to see the results.

We can go into all kinds of strategies about the content of the postcard and the call to actions within it, but that’s not the point of this article.

The entire goal of implementing a real estate agent farming system is to remain on top of mind to trigger ready, willing, and able clients through maintaining a consistent presence.

So if marketing people you don’t know works, why the hell are real estate agents not farming their relationships the same way?

Here’s why you might want to consider taking the concept of real estate farming and applying it to your relationships.

These numbers came directly from the National Association of Realtors. Does your entire rolodex of relationships remember or know to refer you business?Think deep, do they automatically think of you when they think of real estate?

A recent poll done in Lab Coats Agents Facebook Group reflected similar findings…

Here’s another fact on agent sourced business again from NAR. This came right out of the 2015 Home Buyers and Sellers Report.

Real estate is a referral dominated business, but a large majority of real estate agents chase business with advertising activities looking for “leads” instead of nurturing their largest asset where over 60% of all agent business comes from!

The best real estate agent farming market to hit is all the people you know, not complete strangers!

Real estate is a belly to belly business where overwhelmingly people want to work with someone they know, trust, and like, but so many real estate agents place their marketing efforts on shiny objects they are told will create business for them.

Here’s where most real estate agents think they should be doing.

1. Buy an expensive zip code or online lead platform to keep “leads” coming in.
2. Get a mega website they don’t know how to use or drive traffic to.
3. Cold call cancelleds, expired, and FSBO’s constantly.  They are told that it’s a numbers game and once they get 10 rejections they are one step closer to getting a “YES”.
4. Get a super duper email autoresponder to “drip” on people until they respond to you.

There’s a reason people in general don’t like real estate agents. When a large majority of our industry is Glen-Garry Glen Ross, boiler room, Wolf of Wall Street hard selling the crap out of people, it can give the industry a bad rap.

As a matter of fact in August of 2015 Inman News stated the largest threats to the real estate industry.

They were;

1. Low quality agents
2. A poor consumer experience

I’m not saying those activities don’t work. Constantly looking for new business is necessary in real estate.  I am saying that you can focus your marketing efforts on where over 60% of ALL agent business comes from by taking the same concept of farming and applying it to your database. Relationship marketing should be every agent’s #1 marketing activity because the numbers don’t lie.

Any logical business owner would place the majority of their marketing budget and energy towards the largest source of business, but for some reason that’s not the case in real estate.

When your database forgets what you do for a living, they forget to refer and use you.

People refer real estate agents for 3 reasons.

1. They have to like the agent they are referring them to;
2. They have to like the person that is asking or suggesting for a referral for an agent; and
3. The person referring the agent has to notice that an ongoing conversation is taking place (about real estate) and they have to THINK OF YOU (this is the key).

If you are interested in the psychology of referrals, read the rest of this article below;

The Real Reason People Refer Realtors

It is our job to remind our relationships what we do for a living. It is not their job to remember to refer business to us.

I don’t want to be salesy!

Don’t be. It would be cheesy if you did. You cannot get nervous about consistently marketing your database.  That’s why you have to apply a “sell without selling” type of approach.  You can consistently market your brand without doing this very easily.

Just tell your daily real estate story…

The goal of marketing your database is not to generate a lead or create an opt in, it’s to not be forgotten.

You might want to check out some of these articles in the link below if you want to know more about some relationship marketing strategies.

Relationship Marketing Ideas

Here’s the main point!

If real estate farming works, imagine how it would work with people you actually know. Staying on top of mind as the go to real estate pro amongst your database pays off big!

These are the facts.  If 15% of people you know, or know of you, are moving this year, how many of them remember you are in real estate?

The primary reason you are marketing your database is not for their direct business, although that’s nice, but to get their referrals because everybody you know, knows someone who is moving this year. That’s a fact.

When you become the “real estate guy/gal”, you’ll get their referrals and repeat business.

if you liked this, please share this article and help me get the word out!

Believe it or not direct mail marketing for Realtors is still a TOP strategy for generating referrals.  So NO, direct mail marketing for Realtors is NOT dead, it’s alive and well. Over 70% of all agent business is generated from referrals and repeat clients.  Keeping that number in mind, where do you think you should spend the majority of your marketing budget, time, and energy?  In this article I want to share with you the most profitable referral based marketing strategy for Realtors.

Direct mail marketing for Realtors  is simple. Don’t overthink this because your clients are right in front of you.

The first question is very simple to answer.  You get referrals and repeat clients from your past customers, clients, friends, family, or anybody else who knows of you, NOT STRANGERS.

So what does that tell you?

It tells you who you should to be marketing to. Real estate is one of the few businesses you can start in with a built in audience of client list. Everyone has some kind of database. Instead of spending tons of money on super duper ninja magical opt in websites, expensive internet lead programs, and other “noise”, why don’t you start by marketing the people you know first.

YOU MIGHT WANT TO READ THIS ARTICLE FIRST

Why People Refer Realtors

Setting up a referral based marketing system is all about keeping in touch with past clients, prospects who aren’t ready yet, and your entire network remembers what you do for a living. It’s about keeping your brand in front of them with CONSISTENCY so you are not forgotten about. It’s not about telling them what you do for living but more of reminding them of what you do for a living.

When you are known as the go to real estate pro amongst your network, you win. It’s that simple.

Why direct mail marketing for Realtors is one of the most effective referral based marketing systems for your database

The reason why direct mail is so effective is because 100% of your “list” will receive it. You cannot say that in any other form of referral based marketing.  It is also physical, which means they must engage with it.  If they pick up your direct mail and throw it in the trash, they still physically engaged with you. That’s powerful for marketing. 

Direct mail going to have one of the highest ROI of any referral marketing strategy you implement. Direct mail is not dead, it’s alive and well. As much of the world has gone digital, direct mail is still a tangible piece of marketing. This means that its recipient has to touch, feel, and see it. Don’t underestimate physical interaction.  I know nowadays everyone wants to hide behind a computer, including myself, but good old communication is powerful and it sticks out.

Think about it…

How much mail do you get today as opposed to 10 years ago? Your mailbox is not cluttered like your email inbox, is it?

The only goal for your referral marketing strategy should be to stay on top of mind, nurture your relationship, and encourage referrals. When you are known as the go to real estate pro, you will begin ATTRACTING more referrals.

What kind of direct mail should you send them?

Does your direct mail have to be about real estate? HELL NO, as a matter of fact it shouldn’t.  Quit trying to sell someone a house every time you are communicating.

If you are able to “touch” your database once a month with direct mail, that’s amazing!  This does not replace email marketing or social media, it’s just part of an overall marketing approach.

I like to organize my database in a series of lists.  Direct mail is just one of 3 lists I use to market my database.

Build A Direct Mail List First 

A concept so many agents fail to understand is that you need to create your direct mail  “list” with qualified relationships. You need people you personally know and like and they must feel the same way about you. Part of having an effective referral based marketing strategy is that you need to set up multiple ways to communicate with your database.

Setting up your direct mail touches is just one channel.

Marketing your database is much like farming a neighborhood, but we are farming your relationships.

Determining if you have someone worth marketing to comes down to a very simple test. If you were at the grocery store and came across someone you know, would you stop and say hi to this person with a smile? If that’s the type of relationship you have with them, then they definitely need to go on your direct mail list.

If you were at the same grocery store and saw someone you recognized, but turned and walked the other way, then that person did not make the cut. It’s not about the quantity, it’s about the quality.

The key here is to not sell your services, but to stay on top of mind while at the same time quietly encouraging referrals. The back of my postcards always asks for referrals. We call this referral programming. It also thanks the recipient of sending referrals ahead of time. Your company logo, headshot, title and information will all go on there, which is where you infer you are an agent. This is why you don’t need to sell them on real estate, it will be known. Just stay in touch with cool stuff and be you!

Direct Mail Marketing For Realtors Marketing Ideas

Sports Refrigerator Magnets 2 x’s a year

There are several times throughout the course of the year you can send out magnets, but I like the sports schedules.  Yes, these are old school, but they work!  Baseball starts back up in the Spring and football season in the Fall. I personally use baseball and football magnets with my local professional teams to send out at these times. The reason I like these two seasons is that they are about 6 months apart, which has the potential to keep you on someone’s fridge for most of the year!

Magnets serve as a constant reminder and people spend more time in the kitchen than any other place. The concept behind using direct mail for a referral based marketing strategy is being staying on top of mind. It’s not about creating leads, it’s about creating attention.

12 Monthly Postcards

You can send one postcard a month that features fun facts about real estate. Nothing needs to say anything about buying or selling a house Instead I cite interesting world record facts about real estate.  I want to send my database content they will actually read like fun facts.  One example is a postcard I send about the world’s most expensive house.

These are short, sweet, cute, and fun to read.  Remember all I want it to do is keep me on top of mind.

9 Holiday Cards Touches

I also send out holiday-based postcards. They follow a very similar format. Each postcard cites a fun fact revolving around that holiday. We know that when there are more conversations, it’s more likely that a referral can be born since real estate is a highly talked about subject.

I send my postcards out on the following holidays.

• Groundhogs Day
• Valentines Day
• Patty’s Day
• April Fools Day
• 4th of July
• Labor Day
• Halloween
• Thanksgiving
• Happy Holidays

That’s and additional 9 touches a year. These cards are very simple and cute. They allow me to stand out and do not sell at all. The purpose is to wish a happy holiday in a cute way and to not be forgotten about when a referral situation comes about.

I hope this article helped you understand a very simple referral based marketing idea using direct mail.  Now imagine using this same concept with video email and social media.  If you take on a multi-channel approach to staying in front pf your database, you’ll start attracting more referrals and repeat business. If you like the content here, check out our YouTube Channel.

The jury is out on real estate magnets…

GET THEM…THEY WORK…

As old school as it may seem, real estate magnets work! I’m going to tell you why EVERY agent should be sending these to their database, or what we like to call their audience. In a real estate marketing paradigm shift that has many traditional real estate marketing methods expiring, real estate magnets still work well.

Here are 5 reason why you should invest in sending your database branded real estate magnets.

People Keep Them

Did you ever notice that the majority of homes you are showing have real estate magnets on their fridge?  It’s because people keep them!

The entire point of communicating with your database consistently is so that you can remain on top of mind and not be forgotten.  The main goal of implementing a referral marketing system in your business is to always be reminding your largest referral source that you exist.

How many people visit their fridge everyday? This like putting up a billboard on your clients house.

I have not done the research on this, but I’m guessing it’s near 100%, which means that this is a simple stealth way to keep your name at the forefront.  I love going to listing appointments and seeing my cartoon on their fridge.  It serves as a constant reminder that I am THEIR Agent and nobody else.

Direct Mail Touch

When your database receives their real estate magnets, it’s a marketing touch.  We like to “touch” our database over 80 times a year through direct mail, video email, and social media posts.  This is just another way to reach them. The act of sending the real estate magnet is a marketing activity because they still have to acknowledge its receipt.

I like to send 2 real estate magnets a year. The first I send is the local NFL football schedule.  I like to send this out in August as it typically lasts the season through January.  The second real estate magnet I send is for MLB baseball schedule around March.  The season will end in September for most teams.

The reason I choose sports calendars is because these two sports almost take up a full calendar year. I want increase the chances of my mugshot appearing on my database’s fridge as much as possible.  Make sense?

They Are Cheap

This is one of the least expensive marketing touches you can do.  I ordered about 200 real estate magnets and my cost ws near $80 off the top of my head.  I do that twice a year for a total cost of $160.  If I have 2 mailings, that would be a list of roughly 400 recipients times $0.44 a stamp = $176 plus print for my annual campaign.

What I’m trying to tell you is that for less than $500 you can post your mugshot on your entire database’s kitchen for roughly 10 months a year.  I can’t think of anything better than that!

The Encourage Referrals

I don’r market my database for their direct business.  I market them for their referrals.  That is my primary goal in sending a real estate magnet in the first place. Far too often, Realtors look at their database for their direct business only. 36% of agent business sourced from referrals, which incur more frequently when you are remembered.

Think about where people spend the most amount of time.  Yes you got it, in the kitchen. Where do you think people hang out at when they entertain?  Yes, the kitchen.

Market your database for referrals and their direct business will come.  Just remember that a referral marketing system will encourage referrals, direct business, and repeat business.

The Build Your Brand

I’m a huge fan of brand building.  I like real estate magnets because it allows you to build your brand. The way to build a brand is to create a constant reminder of your existence. Did you ever hear the phrase, “you have to tell someone what you do 7 times before they remember it”?

It’s true.  Repetition is how you ultimately build a brand.  Real estate magnets allow you to subliminally put your brand in front of your referral source every time they get a glass of milk.

There are many companies who sell real estate magnets, but I’ve been a customer of Magnets USA for over a decade.  You can check out their pricing and information at the link below;

www.MagnetsUSA.com

Conclusion

I hope you can see why I’m a big fan of real estate magnets.  Don’t expect to get get instant business from just sending out one magnet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you did. Sending out real estate magnets should be a small part of your overall marketing strategy and not a single solution to your lead generation problems.

Should you hold  a client appreciation event?

Well, you don’t need to do anything, but the short answer is HELL YEA.

WHY?

Because its the ultimate way to connect with the most important asset in your business in a very natural way,  your DATABASE. The most important kind of marketing you can be doing in your business is one that focuses around nurturing the relationships you have in life because it’s a fact that 60% of ALL agent business comes from people you know, not from technology or prospecting.

Having a client appreciation event is a marketing ploy to gather more referrals and repeat business if you do it right and consistently(1-4 times a year). Let’s first knock out the first question many Realtors ask.

Who Do You Invite?

Many realtors think their client appreciation event should only be for past clients?  Everyone lives somewhere don’t they? This is mistake #1.  Your friends, family, and past co-workers are future clients, unless you don’t expect them to use you when they are ready to buy or sell. They are also all referral sources because each of them has the ability to introduce your services to someone in their sphere(100% of the people you know, knows someone who is moving this year). Inviting them to your client appreciation event allows them to see you in a professional light.  They will see that you are more than their weekend warrior beer drinking buddy. You are a professional DAMN IT!  Often this is what it takes to turn them from a “friend” into a referral source.

It’s only a matter of time until everyone in your network moves so the sooner the you program in their heads that you are their go to Realtor, the faster you will see their referrals and direct business.

Last year I sold a house to a guy who came to my client appreciation event 4 years prior.  When I asked him how he got my information he told me, “I was at your party dude, it was awesome”. I didn’t even have his email, he just remembered me and looked me up. That one deal paid for the whole event plus some, in addition to creating another client and referral source.

Client parties will bring you business and build your brand if you do them. The key is to not overthink it and brand them.  You’ll see what I mean in some of the client appreciation event ideas below.

How Much Should I Spend On A Client Appreciation Event?

As much as it takes.  Yes, a client appreciation event can be expensive, but with a little creativity they don’t have to be. I used to do HUGE blow out parties and we used to spend $10,000-$15,000 on each event.  I know you are probably like holy crap, but I would sponsor those events out.  I would have my lender, closing attorney, and other strategic alliances contribute as sponsors and in exchange they were free to invite all of their database, which increased our overall attendance and impact.

I would also team up with my agents on my team and we would split the cost up amongst each other based on the total amount of agents participating to keep costs down.  The end result was one bad ass party that people loved to attend. We used to average 400-600 people per event.

I understand that this may be out of many agents budgets. so I want to give you some other client appreciation event ideas.

Here are some client appreciation event ideas to help you plan your next one.

Rent Out A Nightclub/Bar– We would rent out  a nightclub before they were open to the public from a 6-9 pm on a Thursday night and invite over 1,500 people through Evites, social media, email lists, and direct mail invitations.  The reason we did a nightclub was because they had no kitchen,which helped lower the costs.  The nightclub was also closed at the time we would do the event so it was a win win for both of us. We would do a 3 hour mega party, free drinks/food, host fundraiser, pictures, and even ice sculptures. The establishment monetized an early evening when they were typically closed.

After 6 years of doing this, it built a very solid brand.

Holiday Events– You can very easily host a “Pictures with Santa” or “Pictures With The Easter Bunny” for a client appreciation event. These are very inexpensive and an easy way for you to market your business and at the same time solve a problem many families face. As a father trust me when I say this, but I don’t want to stand in line for 2 hours waiting for a 5 second picture with Santa, but I do want the picture for memories.  You can  do this in your office and totally sponsor the entire event out. Remember that the lines are super long at the malls and most parents just want the pictures so this is an easy way to get in front of them and brand yourself to remind people what you do for a living.

Last year I stood in line for almost 3 hours to get a picture with Santa.  I was miserable and wish a Realtor just had a Santa to snap a 2 second picture with to please my wife.

House Party– Have a party, yea at your house.  Depending on your home set up, you may want to limit your invite list in this case, but just remember its the thought that counts.  You can have a BBQ in your yard. This shouldn’t be too expensive and a great way to nurture your database. You can also host neighborhood BBQ as a farming technique to your community and sponsor your brand making it an event!

Fundraising Events– I love fundraising client appreciation events because it’s something most people can get around.  I used to like raising money for foundations.  A fundraiser can be less expensive because most of your sponsors should be donating towards the cause and your attendees should not have a problem paying some money at the door.

Your database will also appreciate what you are doing.

Local Events of Importance– What if your local sports team is in the championship? Have a viewing party of the final game for a client appreciation event.  You could create an event very quickly just by hosting a viewing party at a public place or even your house.  This may be more last second, but it’s the invite that’s most important.

Just don’t invite any Packers fans, lol.

Here are some other client appreciation event ideas from a couple of agents I know in California that were extremely creative and thought you would get a kick of these.  Both of these Realtors understand the importance of branding their business within a client appreciation event and BOTH of them are Rockstars!

Meet David Serpa

I thought I was a bad ass in real estate until I met this guy.  David is a veteran and served our nation proudly as a marine. After he returned from Afghanistan he took up a career in real estate and has completely dominated his market in a very short amount of time. David understands the importance of building a brand.

David is a good man and gives back to his community and did a country music festival in Temecula, CA for his client appreciation event.  Most people wouldn’t believe me, but watch the video and see for yourself.  This is one of the best examples of client appreciation event I have ever seen.

I want you to take notice of how he branded the entire thing from the video to the stage.  What a class act.

Check out his website at www.DavidSerpaHomes.com if you want to get more information on how to build a brand and a team!

Meet Cherrie & Zach

Here’s another team out of Santa Clarita, CA that dominates.  Meet Cherrie Brown and her partner Zach. These two are rockstar agents and totally understand branding and how to think outside the box and create value for their network. I saw this on Facebook and thought it was very clever.  When Star Wars came out, all the shows were all sold out so what Cherrie and her partner do?

They rented a movie theatre at 10:00 in the morning and held a client appreciation event viewing party.  HOLY CRAP is that good.  They knew everyone wanted to see Star Wars so they made it happen because all the theaters were sold out. This was an outstanding way to create value for their network. I want you to see how they branded the event. PURE GENIUS! They also used hashtags for all photos taken from the event because they know what to do with social media.

Did It Work?

Here’s what Cherrie had to say;

“I got a referral the day after from someone who attended too. So it worked! We got so much biz from it. We rented out a theater for opening day of star wars and treated our clients to unlimited mimosa and hot chocolate and a local restaurant in walking distance to the theater since it was a 10am movie. Total cost was $2500 I split with affiliates 3 ways so my cost was $750”

If you want to see a very good real estate marketing team visit their website at www.CherrieAndZach.com.

WOW.  Please keep in mind that if your primary goal of your client appreciation event isn’t to rake in business then your mindset is backward.  It should be to strengthen your relationship with your network to encourage referrals and repeat business.

Don’t Forget This…

What If Nobody Shows?

So you don’t get the turnout you wanted. Big deal, it’s the thought that counts. I would market my client appreciation event to my database 3- 4 times the month of.  At worst I was able to market my real estate business without having to talk about real estate at all. My first client event was only 40 people, but it was a starting point for me. I collected all their names and addresses and put them all on my database that I systematically market.  The event itself allowed me to have an excuse to call my network and ask for their direct mailing address  I built my direct mail list in the process furthering my reach.  The promotion of the event itself is a “sell without selling” marketing activity for your business!

As long as you invite your network it’s an excuse to touch base, reinforce the fact you are in real estate, and a way to humanize your brand.

TIP:The most important thing you can do to increase attendance is to make a phone call and give them a personal invite.  I used to text and personally invite my most important contacts.

Hosting a client appreciation event is a way to build and strengthen your relationships with your network and will be the best use of marketing dollars that you can spend.  I would recommend this over a Zillow zip code any day of the week, what you think?