Agents, stop wasting money on advertising
7 steps to more effective marketing
By Bernice Ross, Friday, August 1, 2008.
Most real estate agents advertise, but very few have effective marketing campaigns. Do you know the difference?
Jennifer Cummings is America's leading real estate marketing coach. She helped Christina Martinez, America's top-producing real estate agent, increase her commission earnings from $4 million to $7 million in only seven months. What's the secret to her success? Marketing -- rather than advertising.
According to Jennifer, most real estate agents advertise, but very few know how to market. "Advertising" creates attention and promotes an image or brand. "Marketing," in contrast, compels someone to buy. Marketing is the number one way to build your business. An effective marketing campaign has seven steps.
1. Practice "Potato Chip Marketing"
Jennifer calls this "give-to-get marketing." Imagine that you are on a reality show. To win $100,000, you must persuade 20 squirrels to eat out of your hand. Your only tool is a bag of potato chips. You are taken to a park where you must stay within 100 feet of a park bench. How would you attract the squirrels? You certainly wouldn't run out and say, "Here squirrels, come get these potato chips!" That would scare them off. Instead, you would lay out a sequential trail of potato chips to attract them to where you were sitting. They will come to you only when they feel it is safe and that they can trust you.
Today's clients seek relationship and trust. They want to "try before they buy." Potato chip marketing is about uncovering their needs, building trusting relationships and providing service before expecting people to do business with you.
2. Target market
When you ask most agents who their clients are, their response is, "Anyone who wants to buy or sell a home." In contrast, effective marketing always targets a specific group. Your message must match the audience. For example, if you were marketing a luxury penthouse, your message would be quite different from the message for first-time buyers.
The next step is to decide what medium you will use. Will it be a postcard, print ad or a Web marketing piece? You must also decide the purpose of your piece as well as the message you want to send. Will you offer a special report or a checklist of pitfalls to avoid? To obtain the information, do they leave a message on your 800 number or can they download the item from your Web site?
3. Research your target market's wants and needs
To generate leads, you must know what makes your target market tick. Search for commonalities. Make it about them. This means doing your research before you begin your marketing campaign. For example, are members of your target market concerned about schools, down payment or neighborhood safety? As you go through this process, keep in mind that you're not in the real estate business -- you are in the problem-solving business. The better you are at solving problems and at providing value, the better your business will be.
4. Develop a hook
A "hook" is a headline or hot button. Because we're constantly bombarded with advertising, it's important to cut through the clutter. You have only one or two seconds to grab your reader's attention. The Reticular Activating System (RAS) is the brain's screening mechanism for what receives attention. While your subconscious can process up to a billion bits of information, you can only consciously pay attention to about 15 bits. A great hook cuts through the clutter and captures their attention. Some examples are "Save up to $100,000 on Your Next Mortgage!" or "Avoid the Seven Most Expensive Mistakes Sellers Make."
5. Keep them reading
If the piece is about you, readers will toss it. Instead, engage them in "coffee talk." This means to write the way that you speak. Aim for the seventh grade level. "Coffee talk" copy is salesmanship in print. It's about your customers and speaks to them in an easy, conversational tone.
6. Layout to stand out
"Legibility" refers to the "quality of print that can be easily read," while "readability" refers to the "quality of language that makes it easy to understand." Use short paragraphs, bullet points, headlines and subheadlines to keep the eye engaged.
7. You must have a call to action
What differentiates advertising from marketing is a call to action. Prospects are begging to be led! Remember, they want to try before they buy. On the other hand, they don't want to talk to you. Make it safe for them to contact you by creating a free hotline where they can order a special report or a checklist that will help them with their sale or purchase. You can also make the same offer online.
Ultimately, service is at the heart of attraction. We are paid according to the value we give. Get excited about creating value for your clients and being the resource to solve their problems. When you approach your business with a give-to-get mindset, you'll never want for business.
Bernice Ross, national speaker and CEO of Realestatecoach.com, is the author of "Waging War on Real Estate's Discounters" and "Who's the Best Person to Sell My House?" Both are available online. She can be reached at bernice@realestatecoach.com or visit her blog at LuxuryClues.com.
***
What's your opinion? Leave your comments below or send a letter to the editor. To contact the writer, click the byline at the top of the story.
All rights reserved. This article may not be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, in part or in whole, without written permission of Inman News. Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright law.
Bookmarking Sites
Add A Comment
You must login or register to post a comment.
Submitted by Karen Rice on August 1, 2008 - 4:53am.
Would love to see an example or two of "Potato Chip Marketing."
Great point about the short paragraphs and bullet points - this is especially true for bloggers and websites as well as in print advertising.
One thing agents seem to forget is that all the marketing - or advertising - in the world is never going to sell an overpriced listing. One of the best ways to sell a house is to have it priced right to begin with. :/
Northeast PA / Pike & Wayne County Real Estate Agent
Lake Wallenpaupack Real Estate Website
Submitted by Lenn Harley on August 1, 2008 - 5:01am.
Wonderful article with good advice.
I would only add that consistency is imperative. Focus your marketing and work it. Sounds simple but the key, for real estate agents, is to make a plan and work it, every work day.
We limit our market to home buyers in specific niches. However, our marketing is specifically Internet marketing and for that we cast a wide net.
Lenn Harley, Broker
Homefinders.com
http://www.homefinders.com
Submitted by Catherine Read on August 1, 2008 - 5:13am.
Great column Bernice! I taught a class last night at the Capitol Hill Office of Long & Foster and touched on every point you made here. I will send your column along to those agents as validation of what I showed them as we surfed the web looking at what agents are actually doing (or not doing) out there.
It's about pull and not push. Consumers associate real estate agents with pushy sales people, and that image needs to be recast so they see them instead as subject matter experts who are there to engage, educate, guide and "problem solve" for their benefit.
It's a paradigm shift for agents to move away from agent centric marketing and understand that what they say - even about themselves - needs to be couched as a benefit statement to the person they want to attract, to invite in, to engage with.
You took a very important concept and set it out there as clearly as I have ever seen it done. This is beautifully articulated and I hope every agent who reads this understands how critical this is to building their future business.
Catherine S. Read
Creative Read, Inc.
Submitted by Stanley Nichols on August 1, 2008 - 7:14am.
Stanley Nichols
So true, so true. MARKETING YOUR BRAND & BRAND YOUR MARKETING! You can't please everyone so market your website ID with product descriptive traffic catcher .com names that are memorable like BankResales.com, ZipBPO.com, MLSShopping, HomeNewsByte, or CashOutRefi, HomeNoDown, BuyerHomeTeam, RefiFree & TermLifeAuto.com
Don't be afraid to share information with the clients you are trying to reach. Send them something free through an email request. They are looking for your help.
My site is, BuyersHomeFinder.com
StanleyNichols@hotmail.com
Submitted by Virgnia Hepp on August 1, 2008 - 7:30am.
Excellent advice, Bernice.
The days of inputting a listing in MLS and waiting for someone to find it are over.
Buyers want complete information about a property that includes neighborhood and city info and they want it now.
After getting their attention, you must show them that you are ready, willing and able to provide them with what they need.
Submitted by Roberta Ross on August 1, 2008 - 8:10am.
Great article Bernice! In an up or down market, we are always more effective and more professional to make what we do about our clients and not about us. I am a speaker and trainer who touches on these very points with regularity and great passion. Thank you for providing an excellent back up!
Submitted by Candace Robinson on August 1, 2008 - 8:42am.
Fantastic article. Trust and building a relationship is at the top for all my clients.
Submitted by chis eliopoulos on August 1, 2008 - 10:34am.
Great article great topic.
The times call for more articles like this.
Submitted by Erika Beede on August 1, 2008 - 11:18am.
Bernice, this is such a great article and reminder. I know that sometimes the "advertising" and "marketing" definition get mixed up; when in fact they are two separate strategies. Ultimately, yes, we want them both to increase sales, but as far as tactics go, they are just on a different level. I love the "potato-chip" approach.
Of all your points, I particularly enjoy #5 the most. When I know a potential customer isn't ready to be sold, I don't use the "seller" voice on them. I provide them with helpful information and knowledge. For many prospects who aren't ready to buy, the minute they see any "sales" talk, they check out. After engaging in significant "coffee talk", I just simply suggest that if the person ever wants to hear more about how your services can help them, then feel free to let me know. Otherwise, I am always open to answer any other questions they may have. More often than not, they appreciate the softer approach and remember you when the time comes for them to make a buying decision.
Thanks again!
Submitted by Michael Rahmn on August 1, 2008 - 11:27am.
Great article! Having a better (or any ) strategy as outlined in this article is a great first step.
Tactically, another critical part of effective marketing (and a new topic for Agents but old hat for many marketers) is tracking effectiveness and return an advertising dollar.
There is a lot of talk about shifting dollars from print to online, but very little in the way of metrics to demonstrate the relative effectiveness of either.
Michael Rahmn
http://listingnumber.com
shameless plug:
listingnumber lets an agent create free, unique tracking URLs that can be used to track both online and offline ads and do a comparative analysis of which mediums are most effective at driving visitors.
Submitted by Dennis Pease on August 1, 2008 - 12:17pm.
Great Article Bernice,
That was presented in Coffee Talk fashion and very Readable.
So few agents understand any of this, so to master these techniques gives you a major advantage in your market.
Dennis Pease
Florence, Oregon
http://www.DennisPeaseTeam.com/
Submitted by Mark Owens on August 1, 2008 - 3:21pm.
Where is Snopes.com when you need them? It is nearly unimaginable,unless you sell several MONSTER listings over-looking the Pacific, to increase production that much in only 7 months... $40,000 to $70,000 is tough. $400,000 to $700,000 is even tougher. And $4 million to $7 million...WOW!!
Did the following seven months of Potato Chip marketing proper her to $10 million? ...You know nobody can eat just one chip.
Submitted by Eliese Pivarnik on August 2, 2008 - 6:54pm.
You make some really good points. Advertising can be costly--but it's worth it if it's effective.
Eliese Pivarnik, Steamboat Springs Real Estate Broker Associate
Steamboat Springs Real Estate Blog
Submitted by Bernice Ross on August 4, 2008 - 9:16pm.
Bernice Ross, CEO RealEstateCoach.com, the place you go to make Real Estate Dough!
My apologies about the slow response to all of your great comments. First, Karen Rice raised the issue of some examples of Potato Chip Marketing. The concept is simply a give-to-get approach. Provide them with an offer of service such as helping them get their property tax bill reduced if their property value has gone down. Another excellent idea would be to see if they know anyone in foreclosure that could benefit by speaking with a workout specialist, a loss mitigation company, or a consumer attorney to see if there is a problem with their loan documents that will give them leverage with the lender.
Lenn Harley mentions consistency. That is spot on.
Catherine, thanks for the great job you're doing at Long and Foster in spreading the word on this. Your company continues to support training in an environment where it's being cut elsewhere.
For those of you who need to track ROI (Return on Investment)Michael Rahm's site at LIstingNumber.com provides a great tool. Look for my review on cool new sites later this month. Michael's was one of them.
Finally to Mark Owens, no one can eat just one chip--completely agree. No need of Snopes. Christina Martinez of RE/MAX IS the top producing agent in the United States. She heard Jennifer speak and told her "You're the one who will take me out of my box." When Jennifer asked about how big the box was, she said "$4 million." "Four million in sales? No--four million in commissions. I want to go to seven million." The key is in your mindset. Christina reached those numbers by implementing some very aggressive and unique approaches. Needless to say she's not driving around individual clients in her car.
Thanks to all of you who contributed to this thread!
Submitted by Michael Lange, e-Pro, GRI & Cheron Lange on August 5, 2008 - 9:26pm.
I'm a few days late in reading this article...Great advice! There were some areas that I need to perfect and some areas for me to really think about. I definitely need to master these techniques in order to reach the goals I have for the end of the year.
Thanks,
Cheron Lange
http://letourfamilyhelpyours.com
http://blog.letourfamilyhelpyours.com
Submitted by Alvin Paulson on August 14, 2008 - 12:02pm.
Great article! I really like the potato chip idea.
By North Dallas Real Estate
Submitted by Carolyn Gjerde-Tu on August 14, 2008 - 7:28pm.
I really think taking the focus off the individual is important and making the marketing (in whatever form, print or online) about the product or service is key. Marketing about homes for sale or how a home will be marketed really is the focus.
Carolyn Gjerde-Tu
Davis, CA
www.DiscoverDavisHomes.com