How to Do Real Estate Marketing
Understand your clients., Consider the properties., Compare commercial vs residential real estate., Perform a SWOT Analysis., Set Goals and plan tasks., Be organized.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Understand your clients.
Clients are the focal point of your real estate business, so you need to grasp who they are and what motivates them, so that you can meet client needs.
Giving the clients a sense of the “personal touch” can be one of the most influential aspects in real estate.
Ask yourself important questions about the types of clients who spend money with your business.
Are they rich or poor? Educated or not? Young or old? Single, family, or retired? Male or female? Business or individual? Buyers or sellers? This will impact the kinds of language you use in your marketing, which can have a significant impact on steering potential clients towards your business.Do they want a “bargain” or “over-the-top luxury”? Create a mental image of a client or clients you would like to serve, and use this image when you are creating marketing campaigns.
Make sure that you direct your message to this client and not to some general population.
Really try to connect with your ideal client.
Consider market segments that may exist for your clients.
If your real estate business has both business and residential clients, you may need to market to them differently.
Other examples of market segmentation include age and income.Remember that business is all about serving others.
Clients are the only ones who will put money in your bank account.
The more a business focuses on serving them, the more successful it will be. -
Step 2: Consider the properties.
Your marketing strategy for office units, retail spaces, and residential real estate will be different.
It is important to think about the purpose of the real estate in order to predict what your clients will want.
Low-density residential clients are often looking for single family homes.
They may have children, pets, and may be more interested in quiet, calm neighborhoods close to schools, or in more private or secluded locations.
High-density residential clientele are people looking to live in buildings with many people, such as apartments, condominiums, and high-rises.
Convenience, spaciousness, and building amenities are often considered premium, and highlighting these aspects can appeal more to these customers.
Commercial units are going to be retail spaces and offices.
As these spaces will hold a person's livelihood, words like “busy,” “accessible,” and “prominent” might make your properties appeal more to these clients.
Industrial realty may become more appealing when its utility an easy-access is highlighted, and may include warehouses and factory spaces. , The single biggest focus of commercial real estate is profit.
Commercial real estate involves the sale, lease, or use of properties to make the biggest possible return on investment.
The decision may be made by a committee or board, rather than a single individual.In contrast, residential real estate is usually an individual, emotional purchase.
Some residential real estate investors may be looking to buy a house to "flip" or to build their wealth by purchasing homes or duplexes to rent.
However, most homebuyers are individuals or families looking for a place of their own.If you want to buy, sell, or lease commercial real estate as a commercial real estate agent, you'll want to be able to represent tenants looking for places to lease, building owners or lessors (owners renting out), and investors looking for return on investment., SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.
Although it was initially developed to help plan competitor strategy, you can also use it for marketing.
A SWOT analysis should be the first stage of your marketing planning.It can help you better understand your business, which can improve your ability to identify your ideal clients.The goal is to turn weaknesses into strengths and turn threats into opportunities.Strengths and Weaknesses are factors internal to your organization.
An example of a strength is having an excellent location.
An example of a weakness is the lack of capital for investment.
Opportunities and Threats are factors external to your organization.
An example of an opportunity is a growing number of your target clients moving into your area.
An example of a threat is a new competitor moving into your area.
Once you know your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, you can develop a matrix that will help you to develop strategies based on the relationships between different factors.
For example, you may develop a strategy based on a fit between your strengths and the opportunities available to you. , Your goals will likely be income-related, since your overall strategy is to sell/lease as many properties as possible and/or receive lots of commissions.
To accomplish these goals, you need to have a plan for what you want to do, and when you want to do it.
Make a list of tasks you need to complete in order to successfully launch your campaign, with how long you estimate it will reasonably take to complete them.
Then, plot them on a calendar.
Hold yourself accountable to these dates.
Have both short-term and long-term tasks, e.g., you might want to contact different papers about pricing for ad space by the end of the week, and the entire ad complete and hot off the press in two months, with a new holiday season advertisement placed each following month, over a period of four more months.
Give yourself a ample amounts of time for development. , Get a folder to hold everything together.
Or, if you're a digital native, make sure all your files and folders have specific, clear names and dates.
Don't just have a messy pile of untitled documents scattered all over your desktop.
Write everything down.
You may have a lot of ideas, but they're not much use if they never leave your head.
A good first step toward implementing your strategies is to write them down.
Get a notebook or legal pad, a whiteboard from an office supply store, or even take notes on your phone. -
Step 3: Compare commercial vs residential real estate.
-
Step 4: Perform a SWOT Analysis.
-
Step 5: Set Goals and plan tasks.
-
Step 6: Be organized.
Detailed Guide
Clients are the focal point of your real estate business, so you need to grasp who they are and what motivates them, so that you can meet client needs.
Giving the clients a sense of the “personal touch” can be one of the most influential aspects in real estate.
Ask yourself important questions about the types of clients who spend money with your business.
Are they rich or poor? Educated or not? Young or old? Single, family, or retired? Male or female? Business or individual? Buyers or sellers? This will impact the kinds of language you use in your marketing, which can have a significant impact on steering potential clients towards your business.Do they want a “bargain” or “over-the-top luxury”? Create a mental image of a client or clients you would like to serve, and use this image when you are creating marketing campaigns.
Make sure that you direct your message to this client and not to some general population.
Really try to connect with your ideal client.
Consider market segments that may exist for your clients.
If your real estate business has both business and residential clients, you may need to market to them differently.
Other examples of market segmentation include age and income.Remember that business is all about serving others.
Clients are the only ones who will put money in your bank account.
The more a business focuses on serving them, the more successful it will be.
Your marketing strategy for office units, retail spaces, and residential real estate will be different.
It is important to think about the purpose of the real estate in order to predict what your clients will want.
Low-density residential clients are often looking for single family homes.
They may have children, pets, and may be more interested in quiet, calm neighborhoods close to schools, or in more private or secluded locations.
High-density residential clientele are people looking to live in buildings with many people, such as apartments, condominiums, and high-rises.
Convenience, spaciousness, and building amenities are often considered premium, and highlighting these aspects can appeal more to these customers.
Commercial units are going to be retail spaces and offices.
As these spaces will hold a person's livelihood, words like “busy,” “accessible,” and “prominent” might make your properties appeal more to these clients.
Industrial realty may become more appealing when its utility an easy-access is highlighted, and may include warehouses and factory spaces. , The single biggest focus of commercial real estate is profit.
Commercial real estate involves the sale, lease, or use of properties to make the biggest possible return on investment.
The decision may be made by a committee or board, rather than a single individual.In contrast, residential real estate is usually an individual, emotional purchase.
Some residential real estate investors may be looking to buy a house to "flip" or to build their wealth by purchasing homes or duplexes to rent.
However, most homebuyers are individuals or families looking for a place of their own.If you want to buy, sell, or lease commercial real estate as a commercial real estate agent, you'll want to be able to represent tenants looking for places to lease, building owners or lessors (owners renting out), and investors looking for return on investment., SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.
Although it was initially developed to help plan competitor strategy, you can also use it for marketing.
A SWOT analysis should be the first stage of your marketing planning.It can help you better understand your business, which can improve your ability to identify your ideal clients.The goal is to turn weaknesses into strengths and turn threats into opportunities.Strengths and Weaknesses are factors internal to your organization.
An example of a strength is having an excellent location.
An example of a weakness is the lack of capital for investment.
Opportunities and Threats are factors external to your organization.
An example of an opportunity is a growing number of your target clients moving into your area.
An example of a threat is a new competitor moving into your area.
Once you know your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, you can develop a matrix that will help you to develop strategies based on the relationships between different factors.
For example, you may develop a strategy based on a fit between your strengths and the opportunities available to you. , Your goals will likely be income-related, since your overall strategy is to sell/lease as many properties as possible and/or receive lots of commissions.
To accomplish these goals, you need to have a plan for what you want to do, and when you want to do it.
Make a list of tasks you need to complete in order to successfully launch your campaign, with how long you estimate it will reasonably take to complete them.
Then, plot them on a calendar.
Hold yourself accountable to these dates.
Have both short-term and long-term tasks, e.g., you might want to contact different papers about pricing for ad space by the end of the week, and the entire ad complete and hot off the press in two months, with a new holiday season advertisement placed each following month, over a period of four more months.
Give yourself a ample amounts of time for development. , Get a folder to hold everything together.
Or, if you're a digital native, make sure all your files and folders have specific, clear names and dates.
Don't just have a messy pile of untitled documents scattered all over your desktop.
Write everything down.
You may have a lot of ideas, but they're not much use if they never leave your head.
A good first step toward implementing your strategies is to write them down.
Get a notebook or legal pad, a whiteboard from an office supply store, or even take notes on your phone.
About the Author
Victoria Coleman
Dedicated to helping readers learn new skills in DIY projects and beyond.
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