I have noticed something happening in real estate marketing. We have become the main character. Scroll through social media for approximately 14 seconds, and you’ll see what I mean.
- “Allow me to reintroduce myself.”
- “I’m so honored to announce … ”
- “Come spend the day with me!”
- “Here’s what I’ve been up to lately!”
- “Another amazing week doing what I love!”
And there is absolutely nothing wrong with telling people who you are, celebrating an accomplishment or showing some personality. People want to know the human being they’re hiring.
But eventually, we have to ask a slightly uncomfortable question: Why should they care?
Not why we care. Why should they care? That distinction is Marketing 101, and I think our industry sometimes skips that class.
We learn marketing from other agents
Most real estate agents aren’t classically trained marketers. We learned contracts, negotiations, prospecting, pricing and how to smile calmly while an inspector says the words “possible structural movement.”
Marketing? A lot of us learned that by watching other real estate agents. And therein lies the problem. An agent sees another agent make a Reel. It looks polished. She appears successful. Maybe she’s walking dramatically through a $3 million house while pointing at words floating above her head.
So another agent does it.
Then another.
Before long, we’re all pointing at floating words. But somewhere along the way, nobody stopped to ask whether a consumer actually cared about the original post — or whether it generated a single piece of business. We have somehow turned other real estate agents into our focus group.
That’s not a marketing strategy.
Tell them why — in terms of them
One of the simplest marketing principles I’ve learned is this: Don’t just tell people why. Tell them why in terms of them.
“I have 20 years of experience” is information.
“I’ve spent 20 years watching real estate transactions go sideways, so I know where to look for problems before you write the offer” is a benefit.
Same experience. Completely different message.
“I toured five new-construction communities this week.” Cool.
“I toured five new-construction communities this week, and here are three builder incentives buyers are overlooking right now.” Now you’ve given me a reason to listen.
Or consider the award post.
“I am incredibly honored to receive this award.” That’s perfectly fine. You worked hard. Celebrate it. But what if you went one step further?
“This award represents 42 families who trusted us with a move this year, and those transactions taught me three things sellers need to know about today’s market.” Now the accomplishment isn’t just about you. You’ve translated it into something useful for the person reading it. That’s marketing.
Visibility isn’t the same thing as marketing
This is where I think agents get frustrated. They’ll tell me, “I’ve been posting consistently and social media just doesn’t work for me.”
Maybe.
Or maybe you’ve been consistently posting things nobody has a reason to respond to. Posting isn’t a marketing strategy any more than owning a treadmill is a fitness program.
You can create three Reels a day, seven days a week and still never give someone a compelling reason to hire you. Because visibility and relevance aren’t the same thing.
A consumer isn’t scrolling Instagram hoping to discover what their local Realtor had for lunch between appointments. They’re thinking about themselves.
- Can I afford to move?
- Why hasn’t my house sold?
- Should I renovate before listing?
- Is that crack in the basement something I should worry about?
- Which neighborhood makes sense for us?
- Is the builder’s incentive actually a good deal?
That’s the movie playing in their head.
Good marketing figures out how your expertise gets a role in that movie instead of constantly asking them to watch yours.
You can still be the personality
None of this means your marketing needs to become a beige educational brochure. Please don’t do that either. Be funny. Be weird. Tell stories. Show your dog. Take people behind the scenes. Celebrate the closing. Show the ridiculous thing you found during a showing.
Personality matters tremendously in a business where people are choosing a human being to guide them through an expensive, stressful and deeply personal transaction.
“Look at me” isn’t automatically bad marketing.
“Look at me for no particular reason” usually is.
There should be something on the other side for the audience: information, entertainment, reassurance, curiosity, perspective or a reason to take action.
Your personality gets their attention. Your relevance gives them a reason to stay. And your expertise gives them a reason to eventually call you.
3 questions before you hit publish
So, before you spend another hour making a Reel, designing a Canva graphic or trying to remember the password to your TikTok account, stop and ask:
- Who is this for?
- Why would that person care?
- What do I want them to know, feel or do after seeing it?
Those three questions will fix an astonishing amount of bad marketing.
And if your answers are:
- Who is it for? Me.
- Why should they care? Because I’m awesome.
- What should they do afterward? Remember that I’m awesome.
Maybe don’t hit publish just yet.
