Podcast Ep 2: The 10 Commandments of Real Estate Marketing

Content Marketing for Real Estate Agents: The 10 Commandments of Real Estate Marketing (Podcast Episode 2)

People ask me all the time about effective marketing for real estate. What should they do? What should they pay for/not pay for? What’s important? What’s not important? Inspired by a LinkedIn post last week, I’ve put together my 10 Commandments of Real Estate Marketing. Enjoy!

The 10 Commandments of Real Estate Marketing (and why they matter):

1. Know your audience. And, no, it is not every buyer or seller who has a pulse. It is incredibly important to carve out a niche audience for yourself. Be a Jedi master of your niche market. You must go deep before you go wide.
2. Once you KNOW your audience, you must deliver REAL, incredible value not once, not twice, and not three times, but ALWAYS, in ALL of your marketing–your website, email marketing campaigns, social media content, open houses, listing appointments, buyer showings, and more. It is ALL important.
3. Leverage your really GREAT content. Do NOT sell. Repeat after me: DO NOT SELL. Define the problems that your audience is facing and create content that provides them with a roadmap or a solution…for free. And do NOT sell. This is how you can begin building your subscriber database.
4. Offer even better VALUE to your subscriber database. Serve them. Be authentic. Engage with them. Answer their questions. Be available and approachable.
5. Creativity is THE competitive advantage. Tools and technology are commodities. Creative is what wins attention in the market place.
6. There’s a story behind everything. Zillow’s commercials may drive you bonkers, but they capture the emotion that comes with buying a home. Find a way to tell the story of owning a part of the American dream. What do four walls look like to the new mom as she brings her bundle of joy home from the hospital? What does it feel like when empty nesters ditch the big house for a lock-and-leave vacation lifestyle? Feel the emotion of the dad as he sees himself making tick-marks on the doorway to the kitchen, measuring how tall each of his children are. What does it feel like to sip morning coffee and soak up the panoramic view on the balcony of your latest listing? Weave together the STORY. Use this in your marketing…ALWAYS.
7. Hire a professional writer–content writing can be very niched, and there’s absolutely NO judgment if you’re not a good writer. I’m sure you’re AMAZING at things where I’d fall flat on my face…quite literally! Writing is extremely important. Don’t be afraid to farm it out to someone else.
8. Obsess over headlines. The shortest part of the story is the most important. ALWAYS write them last and write 10 terrible ones. Edit and chip away at it until it’s just right.
9. Find places where your competitors are not. Who is doing YouTube? Who is doing YouTube in your area or targeting your niche audience? What keywords should you use? (Keywords Everywhere and Google Trends) Turn your keywords into hashtags that broaden your social audience. Do LinkedIn–for the love of Pete, please do LinkedIn! Be smart, be strategic. What is your website strategy? And so much more!
10. You must find a way to execute your content marketing strategy every single day or you will never see the end of the highs and lows of the unpredictable sales and commission cycles. Start now.

Recommended Resources:

• Keywords Everywhere – https://keywordseverywhere.com/. Get “People Also Search For” data along with volume metrics to hone in on keyword (or hashtag) opportunities.
• Google Trends – https://trends.google.com/trends/?geo=US. See how and when people are searching for certain keywords to determine and plan your content strategy with the seasonality of real estate.

Quotables:

• Find Places Where Your Competitors Are Not.
• There’s a Story Behind Everything. 
• Deliver Real, Incredible Value.

Photo by charley pangus on Unsplash.