At a real estate agent event I hosted with our local home builders association this week, we asked a panel of agents a question that I thought would get some interesting answers:
How often do you post something — or decide not to post something — because you’re worried about what other real estate agents will think?
We also put the question to the room through live polling. There were more than 200 real estate professionals in attendance.
The answer, almost unanimously, was essentially: I don’t think about other agents. I’m marketing to consumers.
And I sat there thinking: Really? I’m not sure we’re being entirely honest with ourselves.
I can’t imagine working in any profession and not caring at least a little about what my peers think of me. That’s human nature. We want to be respected by people who understand what we do.
I’ll admit it: I care.
When I post something, I know other agents are going to see it. I want to come across well. I want to be respected in my industry. I want other agents to think I’m good at what I do.
That doesn’t mean they dictate what I post. But pretending they aren’t part of the audience seems a little short.
More importantly, I’m not convinced they shouldn’t be part of the audience.
Your peers can help sell your inventory
If your business is primarily about attracting buyers, I understand the instinct to say, “I’m marketing to consumers, not real estate agents.”
But the minute you have listings to sell, the equation changes.
Most transactions involve another agent on the other side. The people we’re so quick to say we’re not marketing to are often the exact people who have access to the buyer we need. Why wouldn’t I want them to know what I’m selling?
I want agents in my market to see my new listing. I want them to remember the unusual feature. I want them to know about the price adjustment. I want them to understand why a particular house might work for a buyer they’ve been struggling to place.
And yes, I want them to know me.
Younger, more naive me probably didn’t spend much time thinking about that. It’s easy when you’re young to believe you don’t need anybody else.
Then you spend a couple of decades selling real estate. You sit on enough listings. You negotiate enough difficult transactions. You have enough deals where another agent goes the extra mile to keep something together. Eventually you realize: We need each other.
5 agent-to-agent listing marketing tips
So if we admit that other agents are part of our audience, what should we actually do differently?
1. Market the reason an agent should remember the listing
Agents don’t need another post telling them a house is “stunning” or “won’t last long.” Give them something useful.
What’s the one thing about the property that might make them think of a particular buyer? Maybe it’s the location, an unusual floor plan, a price change, a hard-to-find feature or an incentive. Market the memory hook.
2. Don’t rely on social media to do all the work
Posting a listing and hoping the right agent happens to see it isn’t really a strategy.
If I have a listing that needs more attention, I think about who has sold something similar, who works that area and who may have shown comparable properties. Those agents may get an email, a text or a personal invitation to an open house.
Sometimes marketing is less about reaching more people and more about reaching the right 20.
3. Give other agents something worth sharing
Make it easy for another agent to send your listing to a client.
That might mean a good video, a neighborhood guide, a useful graphic, a strong landing page or a post explaining something about the property that isn’t obvious from the MLS.
Your marketing shouldn’t just make you look good. It should help another agent do their job.
4. Let agents see how you work
Your marketing is also building your reputation.
Agents notice whether your listings are presented well. They notice whether your information is accurate, whether you’re responsive and whether you communicate clearly.
Over time, your marketing tells your peers something about what it might be like to work a transaction with you. That’s valuable.
5. Build relationships before you need them
Don’t wait until you have a listing sitting for 90 days to suddenly discover the other agents in your market.
Know them. Attend things. Comment on their successes. Share useful information. Be someone who answers the phone and helps when you can.
Then, when you do have something they need to see, you’re not a stranger dropping another listing into their inbox.
There are 2 audiences
Consumer marketing matters. Obviously. But I’ve come to believe that good real estate marketing often has two audiences: the consumer you’re trying to reach and the professionals who can help you reach them.
Those audiences don’t need different versions of you.
I want consumers and agents to see the same thing: what I sell, how I market it, what I know, how I communicate and how I conduct business.
So maybe the better question isn’t, “Do I care what other agents think about my marketing?” Maybe it’s: “Do the agents in my market know who I am, what I do and what I’m selling?”
After 25 years in this business, I absolutely want them to. Because sometimes the person who needs to see your marketing isn’t your next customer. It’s the agent who already knows them.
