A presidential marketing lesson
Diary of a Real Estate Rookie
By Alison Rogers, Tuesday, November 18, 2008.
Flickr photo by jetheriot.Two weeks ago, Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States. Whatever you think of his ideologies, many political analysts noted that he ran a "near-perfect" campaign, with a revolutionary use of the Internet to raise money and inspire his supporters.
So obviously, it's time to take a look at his strategies and see if they'd be useful in building an individual Realtor brand or selling a condo.
Here, I think, are some of the more applicable lessons:
1. Define your brand. Newsweek got in on this early, with a big feature story called "When Barry became Barack." Once the naming was done, a couple of core values were identified: Change. Hope. The candidate also defined himself in the marketplace -- not against a competitor, but against an icon: President Bush.
2. Give people a place to find you. Barackobama.com offers links to all of the other places you can make a virtual Obama connection, including YouTube, Twitter, and MiGente. If you are on, say, LinkedIn, that of course has a link back to barackobama.com.
3. Have a weird name. OK, I know this can't necessarily work for everybody, but if you can differentiate yourself in an Internet age, do. On LinkedIn, I'm two degrees of connection away from both Barack Obama and John McCain, but Obama is easier to find because there are lots and lots of John McCains. I guess the corollary to this is, if you are at all working an Internet presence and have a common name, be aware of it. I just got an e-mail from somebody whose last name is Smith who didn't bother to identify his firm. He has a fairly common first name, so it's like, "Dude, there are hundreds of people you could be. Which one are you?"
4. Offer, if it's possible, premiums. You donate to Obama, and you get some little thing with a logo. Now you have to be very careful with stuff like this, because people who are left out can sulk. For example, if you donated $30 to Obama in September you got a shirt; if you donate $30 to Obama now, you get a shirt; but if you donated in October you got a car magnet.
Also, you have to make sure that people want your little logo thing. I personally feel that I have enough canvas tote bags with branding on them to last the rest of my life, but other people might feel differently.
But back to making this applicable to us agents: When customers first sit down with you, do they get a notebook? A pen? A coffee mug?
5. Put the calls to action in your drip marketing. Obviously "vote" is a much stronger call to action than "come to my open house," but to me the cool part was that there was always a secondary call to action before it. "Watch this video, vote" or "look up your polling location, vote." I don't know how successful "go to this apartment's Web site, come to the open house" or "check out these current mortgage rates, come to the open house" is going to be, but you can be sure that I'm going to try it.
Alison Rogers is a licensed salesperson and author of "Diary of a Real Estate Rookie."
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Submitted by Michael Gwynn on November 18, 2008 - 1:58pm.
This is a very clever article with some real learning points.
The Obama campaign also used multiple technologies for their advertising and promotion. They used online websites, texting, emails, video promotions, etc.
Real estate brokers and agents should take that lesson and ensure that they are employing both the traditional and nontraditional marketing.
Reach the client where the client is. If you are not an expert, there are services and experts available for assistance.
Submitted by Pamela Mackenzie on November 18, 2008 - 2:02pm.
Hey Alison,
I don't know about you, but I love cloth tote bags, and if you don't shop with yours, I'll gladly take them off your hands. I always shop with them, whether I'm at the grocery store or the mall, and I'm always giving bags away to people who envy me my stash of bags, which is considerable.
You can e-mail me at my paper, pmackenzie@mycentraljersey.com.
;)
Pam MacKenzie
Real Estate Editor
The Courier News, mycentraljersey.com
Submitted by Robert A. Hulme on November 18, 2008 - 2:08pm.
I agree that most Realtors will need some kind of Internet presense to be successful in the future. Obama reached out to many more people than can be imagined through his campaign. I certainly don't think Real Estate is that similar to a presidential campaign but some lessons can be learned and used by Realtors in their marketing efforts.
Robert A. Hulme
Realtor, GRI, e-PRO
Prudential Utah Real Estate
robert@RobertHulme.com
www.UtahCountyRealEstate.us
www.UtahCountyHomes.ws
Blog : www.UtahHomes.ws
801-885-2586
Submitted by Anne Hensel on November 18, 2008 - 5:03pm.
Alison, this is a great post. I have followed this campaign very closely, not because of the issues or any political reasons; I have followed it because Obama is one of the greatest sales people I have seen in a very long time. I am one of these brokers that is big on marketing, advertising, ongoing education, internet presents, sale tactics, thinking out of the box, getting more designations, etc. I am soooooooooo impressed by all the things I saw in the Obama campaign. His team was incredible and we should all learn from it. Besides the points you mentioned, look at his body language which is extremely important in sales. Just watch him walking “sprinting” up and down the airplane stairs.
He does not look down at the stairs, he does not hold on to the hand rail, and he does all this faster than most human beings. ( just try it and you will know what I am talking about) Do I need to say more about the Obama body language? The way he uses his smile, the way he uses that “pat on the back” I have seen a lot of him on TV and I have not seen one sigle moment when his body language did not match his words !!! (That can not be a coincidence – that is focus, knowledge and training) Every Realtor or salesperson for that matter can learn a whole lot from our president elect.
Anne Hensel
Broker, ABR, E-PRO, C-CREC, ASR, AHS, TRC, RECS
South Beaches Real Estate Professionals
727 409 8706 www.Southbeaches.info
Submitted by Valerie Belardo on November 18, 2008 - 6:03pm.
Allison,
This is a great article.Most Realtors have not yet relied that a strong internet presence is a must in the marketplace. I am just beginnning my career into the internet marketing. Wish me luck.
Valerie Belardo
ReMax Tri County
Hamilton,NJ, 08690
609-298-4283
www.valsellshouses.com
Submitted by Carin Arrigo-Zimmer on November 18, 2008 - 7:41pm.
Hi Alison~
Just when I think I'm not heading on the right track in the world of technology and real estate, *poof*, I end up reading something wonderful like this.
A rookie myself, with one sale under my belt, the Internet has become such a focal part of my business and this is only the beginning.
I completely agree with what Anne shared. Obama is thee salesman, online and off, that it behooves all of us to think about those airplane stairs!
Carin Arrigo-Zimmer
Referral Real Estate Services, Inc.
Submitted by Len Lochrie on November 19, 2008 - 11:36am.
I got my Obama magnets & a t-shirt. Ha! :)
I was very impressed that he had a logo at the very start. A recognizable branding, his own golden arches.
He also stayed on message. Always the same, never wavering. He stayed focused on the end result, and not the media issue of the week.