Building a list of new clients can be a challenge for any new real estate agent regardless of how saturated or unsaturated the market is with realtors. While technology has modernized the real state world to some extent, it’s still a very person-to-person business where you build relationships and gain the trust of your clients to become known locally. However, along with word-of-mouth marketing and advertising, there are also some unconventional ways in which you can send your message across and attract potential buyers and sellers. Here are six methods that you should look into if you’re starting now.
1-Go beyond the local market
Of course, establishing yourself in a particular location will take time and you’ll have to put in the hours on a daily basis. But, with the availability of online search tools, you can also look for promising sales in other localities. Dedicating a small amount of time to online research will give you a wider picture of the market and options you have in it. Besides finding interesting properties, you can also get those properties inspected without actually going there. You can do this with a search tool that gives you the neighbor’s information for a given location. Use turn information to ask if they can maybe help you for a small fee. Contacting neighbors will also be a good way of learning more about the neighborhood of the property. If everything goes well, then you can then think of marketing the property.
2-Create a strong online presence
The idea here is to go where the client goes to search for properties. If people are using the web to find properties in your area, then you should try to come up in their search results. These days, it’s easy to find the terms people are using to search for a specific type of information. You can not only get the exact searched words but also information about many times those terms are searched on a monthly basis. Combine this with the fact that there are both free and paid methods of appearing in the search results of Google and other search engines, and you have an understanding of why you see the pages you see in the top of search results. To compete for the organic search results, you should develop a website where you list the properties and provide convincing information about your services. A good copywriter will help you incorporate the search terms used by people into the content pages of your website.
3-Go for a brand name
However, having a strong presence is more than just creating a website. It’s about thinking in terms of a brand instead of an individual. Put some research into what are the requirements of customers and what your competition is doing to fulfill those requirements. Use this information to decide what you will offer and if there is any room for improvement. iI you have something unique to offer then don’t be shy to share it with your clients.
In terms of your online presence, develop content that is targeted towards specific locations instead of a general website. Give the people a little bit of background information about the neighborhood. Mention any notable people or landmarks in the neighborhood. Along with history, provide them information about what’s going on at present. Create a section about current events and real estate-related facts and figures. This is particularly useful for areas that people are not that familiar with.
4-Stay connected with your past clients
Once you start getting some traction and have a few entries in your client list, make sure you stay connected with them. The goal here is to make them returning customers or leads. You should be the first person that comes to their mind when they won’t recommend a real estate agent to someone. Email marketing software will make things easier for you when it comes to re-targeting. This software allows you to schedule posts a long time in advance and send it to all the people on your list. However, you have to be careful with the frequency of your messages. With email marketing, less is more because you don’t want to go into the spam folder of your clients. The type of information you provide can be anything from real state concepts to announcements about new developments in the location.
5-Stay connected with like-minded people
Social media platforms and discussion forums are a great way of finding and connecting with like-minded people. On the pages and discussion sections of these websites and apps, you can find other experts sharing their tips and tricks to find and retain clients. You can also directly connect with people to ask questions and discuss the point of view. Besides using your own social media profile, also create a profile for your business, where you update your followers whenever you have a blog, listing, or an event to share.
6- Use visuals along with words
It not only takes less time to see a video than to read an article, but videos can also be more memorable. Share your experience with the world through a video channel or a webinar. Of course, you can focus on a particular location and explain the pros and cons of buying or selling property there or expand to include general topics like mortgage and insurance options, tax information, inspections, etc. Another good thing about both web pages and videos is that you not only have data available on the performance and tactics of your competitors but there also tools to quickly make and edit webpages (Wix, Square Space, etc.) and videos.
7-Become a volunteer
As mentioned before, the real state is a person-to-person business, so it helps to get involved with community affairs. Meeting members of the community will give you an opportunity to befriend interesting people and introduce your service in a casual environment.
