Agents: Are You Sending MIXED Messages?
Written By: Julie EscobarTuesday, September 2, 2014
8 Ways to Mix Your Message Mediums to Attract More Business
While coaches, experts, trainers, top agents, and our own marketing team will all tell you that consistency in your message is key to staying top of mind and a consistent pipeline of referrals -- most will also share that is not only fine to mix up the mediums -- its a smart strategy for success. Why? Because lets face it -- were all DIFFERENT. Which is a good thing Makes life WAY less boring -- dont you think?
So because were all different -- the way we view, absorb and react to marketing messages is different too. Using email, direct mail, social media, video, audio, visuals, phone calls, personal visits and everything in between will help you reach the folks in your sphere or farm in the ways that make the most sense for them.
First lets start with the obvious -- NAR tells us that more than 90 of home buyers and sellers START their search for their new home or REALTOR online, which is great news for you if youre busily building an online presenceright? Theres just a little hitch -- according to a study of Broker Website Effectiveness conducted by the WAV Group 69 of visitors to broker websites type the address directly into the browser, 20 use search engine -- but with keywords such as agent or brokerage name, which means that more than 85 of all traffic to the brokers websites were coming from people who ALREADY knew them. This is good in terms of retention of customers -- but not so good news in terms of driving NEW eyes to your website, blog or social media channels.
So if NEW traffics your goal, then youve got to find some ways to get consumers in YOUR MARKET who are looking for information about buying or selling a house and they start to type something into that search bar.They know YOUR NAME amp; Company name
1. Make direct mail your friend. Dont start yelling at me and saying direct mail is dead -- before you consider a few facts. According to a survey conducted by the Direct Marketing Association nearly 70 of consumers prefer to receive announcements and information from companies they are familiar with via conventional mail, versus less than 20 who prefer e-mail pitches.
Dont get me wrong, Im a big fan of email marketing, but I have agents asking me week after week -- "How do I get email addresses?" And thats where I believe direct mail postcards can really compliment an agents marketing plan. Theyre affordable, fast, dont have to be opened first, quick to make an impression and done right -- a great way to brand yourself, get your name TOP OF MIND for area consumers and drive people looking for real estate answers or information -- Straight to your website
We even developed a great line of postcards to help you develop a social media following Sowhether youre posting, pinning, blogging, tweeting, linking, or a combo platter -- weve got you covered -- theyre called our
On-the-Web postcards and theyre really helping drive traffic to your social media sites. Check them out: On the Web Templates
Need help finding addresses to mail to? Check out our MapMyMail feature. It allows you to identify addresses in the geo farms where youre looking to brand yourself.
And now with the addition of Every Door Direct Mail -- you can send larger pieces like newsletters and flyers for a fraction of the cost and make sure you are literally getting in EVERY door. This is great news -- especially if youre marketing luxury homes and you want to saturate a high end market with larger Just Listed/Just Sold brochures. In fact our Dominator System is really taking things to an even higher level -- it allows you to send a 12 x 15 poster-size piece with done-for-you, direct response content for 1 or less a piece Learn more here.
And one of the BEST things you can do in todays market is to share your STATS. Let people know what you are listing and selling. Heres a great way to showcase your success stories...
2. Next, add QR codes to all of your printed materials. Postcards, business cards, flyers -- even sign riders Point those QR Quick Response codes to your Facebook Fanpage, your lead capture forms on your website, your single property websites or just about anywhere on the web you want to drive new customer attention. Ive even seen them on car magnets
Here are a couple of QR Code Generators for you to try:
- http://delivr.com/qr-code-generator
- http://www.beqrious.com/generator love the name of that one
If you dont like either of those just Google "QR Code Generator" and youll find a bunch Id look for ones that have analytics attached so that you can track your results.
3. Add your social media addresses to everything just like your QR codes Your business cards, email signatures, newsletters, printed materials, websites, blogs, the works. Make sure everything has got all the myriad of ways people can find you and create some great backlinks for your different sites at the same time And please dont make the mistake that I see many businesses make where they simply say "follow us on Facebook" -- you have to go the extra step. Tell them HOW For example -- Follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/ProspectsPLUS. A shameless plug -- but a good example I see business signs, cards, brochures etc. that just have the icons for social media and blogs but not the actual address. Make it EASY for folks to find you
4. Join the online conversation. Dont expect immediate results, but also dont discount the power of the internet to help establish and fuel new >
Another great strategy is to interview area business owners. If youre tweeting or facebooking about them, theres a good chance theyll do the same for you Ask an area roofer how what are the signs of a roof that needs to be replaced. Ask a plumber about winter pipe maintenance. Ask a local restaurateur about new menu items and promotions they might be having. Start conversing and connecting Ask a local pediatrician about school vaccinations or seasonal allergies. Ask a new shop owner what brings them to the area. You get the idea
5. Offer items of value on your website or blog. A great way to capture email addresses is to offer free reports and value items to your website in exchange for email addresses. People are information hungry these days and if you can satisfy that hunger with the right collateral pieces- theyll share their contact information and their loyalty Weve got lots of free reports and handy tools that you can download for free -- find them here: ProspectsPLUS.com Resource Page.
6. Event marketing. People are thirsty for information -- invite them to learn what you know by hosting workshops in your market on popular topics such as First Time Home Buying, Real Estate Investing, Real Estate and Todays Seniors, What You Need to Know About Short Sales and Foreclosures. PTAs and PTSAs are always on the look out for local professionals that can speak for 15-20 minutes or more at their meetings to draw more attendance, libraries are another great place to host meetings, or talk to some of the HOAs in your area about community meetings that you can take part in. All great ways to reach out to folks in your area. Here is a link to some handy workshop invites
7. eMail is still viable: eMail is tough in a lot of ways -- spam blockers and just a saturation of inbox items can make it hard to get seen from the rest -- but it is a good way to just touch base with your sphere -- especially if there is something new in the market to talk about. Stay in tuned with whats going on in your area so that you have little sound bites to share with people for that kind of hyper-local touch thats so important. Things like school events, neighborhood block parties, community garage sales, new business openings, special offers and items of interest that people are happy to learn about and grateful to have a resource to remind them
8. Stop being camera shy. Awesome GoPro and iPhone videos are becoming more and more a powerful marketing tool for agents who are stepping in front of the camera to share everything from market information tidbits to house tours to great news sound bites and featuring local businesses. They spotlight community attributes, share valuable content, are a great way to get seen, heard AND build SEO-friendly websites Be sure to have links to all of them on your website, drive people to your YouTube account and break out your inner movie star Go ahead -- its fun
So start mixing and matching and building both your email database as well as your book of business database so that you can whether whatever market storm comes your way. Good luck and remember were here when you need us Call our team at 866.405.3638 or visit www.prospectsplus.com/specials if you need help with mastering any of your marketing needs or implementing any of the direct mail solutions weve spotlighted here
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