7 real estate marketing habits to break today

So you sell houses, or help consumers find the home of their dreams. But clients’ first impression of you as a real estate agent starts with your marketing efforts — online and in real life.

Here are 7 practices you should throw out immediately to improve the quality of your marketing presence.

1. Holding listings ransom for email addresses

If you advertise a new listing or price reduction but demand something in return for it, have you really earned that person’s contact?

There are other ways to get listing information and today’s consumers will find it.

2. Using exclamation points

The only time the words “breakfast nook” should be followed by a “!” is in the climax of an explosive action novel, specifically one in which our hero, the morning after he saved the world from a cabal of crooked gun-runners, discovers a virus-laced dirty bomb ticking on the underside of his chef’s kitchen table.

“Of all the places they could’ve planted it … they choose my breakfast nook!”

Describe a home in practical, enticing terms. Let the reader decide which features demand emphasis.

3. Not having your listings on your website

Why bother having a website if you’re not going to promote your own products? Relying on third-party portals to promote your customers’ listings is a cop-out.

There are too many affordable, easy-to-manage website solutions out there today to not have your listings promoted on your domain. You were hired to sell a home, not Zillow. (Not yet, anyway.)

4. Ignoring social media

We all know a few brokers who do really well without using social media. They are the exception, not the rule, and they’ll become more scarce.

The homebuyers of tomorrow want to see a YouTube channel and a Twitter handle. They also want Yelp reviews and responses via text. It’s time to adapt.

Why bother having a website if you’re not going to promote your own products?

5. Sporadic blog postings

I don’t believe a blog is a necessary component to a real estate website. People have come to expect them to be out of date or populated with crummy, surface-level listicles gleaned from content farms.

If you do choose to have one, keep it fresh with relevant, timely content.

6. Using yard signs without calls to action

I’m not sure when the trend became commonplace, but I too often see yard signs with only a name and maybe a logo. Is the house for sale, or did someone surreptitiously stick a sign in the yard and speed off?

The best sign should read: “For Sale. Call 919-555-1212.” If you have room after that, add a name and some branding information.

7. Focusing on branding first

Your relationships, reputation and referrals are earned by your sales record. Focus there first; your brand will be built over time.

The unfortunate truth about real estate is that a person can be successful in it without having to be a good person. Aim for both.

Have a technology product you would like to discuss? Email Craig Rowe.