Creating top-of-mind awareness for your brand
By Kim Knapp, CRS
For your overall marketing plan, whether it is executed through social media or traditional farming methods, it’s important to find an effective way to capture people’s attention. Major industry brands have logos and messages that are simple and targeted—they know who their audience is and their messages are consistent. Real estate agents need a similar approach.
Take a fresh look
Sometimes in real estate marketing we focus too heavily on complicated listings or past sales. This information is valuable, but it isn’t going to capture the attention of someone who isn’t familiar with you as an agent. Look at your brand with a fresh eye or enlist the help of someone who can do that for you. Your marketing materials should have the equivalent of white space; they should be uncluttered and offer a clear, attractive message that motivates people to contact you for more information.
Think of your audience first
Crafting that message means you must have a target audience in mind. A message geared toward millennials or young families may not resonate with seniors in a second-home market. Do your homework. Once you have experience with a certain market segment, focus on the key words that will help you start conversations.
Reaching the right people
Once you have a clear message, think about how best to reach your target audience. In the days before we had access to solid data, it was harder to direct specific messages to appropriate market segments. Use a service like Offrs, whose predictive analytics can provide the names of homeowners most likely to sell in an area you want to farm. This allows you to target your message and save money.
After you have been consistently presenting your brand for a long time, you might find people will come up to you and say, “I see your stuff everywhere!” While that isn’t strictly true, it will feel that way to your audience because you have created those consistent, identifiable impressions over time.
Keep customers engaged
Lastly, once you have a solid customer base, enact a plan to stay in front of them throughout the year. You want them to be repeat clients and to refer you to their friends and family. Think of it this way: If you have 50 people on your A-list and 30 of them refer prospects—and 20 make a deal with you—you would be doing four times better than the average REALTOR® who, according to NAR, sells five houses a year. So, if you can stay top of mind with 50 people and close 20 more transactions, would that make a difference to your bottom line?
