A study by the National Association of Realtors found that 87% of people who were buying a home used a real estate agent. This leads to an interesting question —  how did those people find their real estate agent and why wasn’t it you? The answer leads to one main subject — real estate marketing. What sets top-performing agents above the rest is a creative real estate marketing plan that meets and exceeds established goals.

These goals in real estate marketing focus on different strategies that help build a complete and resilient book of business. This means that you have a continuous flow of leads coming in from a variety of different sources.

For someone looking to invest in real estate marketing, the first step is choosing what kind of strategies you want to employ and invest your time in. Then, you write these ideas down and pair them with goals to develop your real estate marketing plan. You can always supplement this plan with different ideas, some of which we will suggest on this page.

What Is A Real Estate Marketing Plan?

A real estate marketing plan is a written document that outlines a business’s sales goals and how the company will succeed. An effective marketing plan for real estate will contain several key features, such as:

  • Budget
  • Market research
  • Target audience
  • Marketing strategies
  • Competitor analysis
  • Product or service information

When creating a marketing plan for a real estate business, it’s important to be as detailed as possible. Including all of the demographic information, data, and analyses can help hold you accountable and set a clear path for you and your team to follow to reach your goals. Additionally, if you’re looking for investors, they’ll want to see your marketing plan to ensure they’re making a wise investment.

Why Real Estate Agents Need A Strategic Marketing Plan

A realtor marketing plan, like a business plan, can help you identify the goals you want you and your business to achieve. But why should real estate agents create a marketing plan? There are several reasons why a marketing plan can help realtors succeed, such as:

  • Client satisfaction: Your clients are the backbone of your business. As a real estate agent, you need to ensure they’re satisfied, and a detailed real estate marketing plan can help you operate your business smoothly to ensure clients are satisfied throughout every stage of the home buying and home selling process.
  • Increased profits: The primary goal of every business is to increase profits year after year. To make this happen, you need a plan in place, and that’s where marketing for real estate comes into play. Through marketing, you can reach a broader audience to sell your services to, which can eventually generate more leads that convert into lifelong customers.
  • Future growth: Because a real estate agent marketing plan outlines the goals you want to achieve throughout the year, you can plan for future growth. Scaling your business can be challenging without the right systems in place, but with a detailed plan, you know what milestones you need to reach in order to succeed.
  • Adaptability: Sometimes, plans don’t always go the way you intend them to, as external factors, such as a pandemic or economic collapse, can impact your industry. By having a real estate marketing plan in place, you’ll be able to make corrections when needed to keep your company moving forward.

These are just some of the many reasons why real estate agents need a strategic marketing plan. With a plan in place, you can use data to make informed business decisions that set you apart from your competition and make you a leader in your local market.

Key Strategies For A Real Estate Marketing Plan

There are several key real estate marketing strategies to keep in mind when drafting a marketing plan. To create a soundproof marketing plan for real estate, keep these marketing strategies in mind:

  • Publish virtual home tours to your YouTube channel
  • Promote your properties at all MLS association marketing sessions
  • Stay in constant contact with the seller by providing feedback and reports
  • Keep advertisements fresh by rewriting them weekly
  • Explain your pricing strategy
  • Place a flier sign box at your properties
  • Use high-quality photography

These are just some of the many real estate marketing strategies you can implement to help grow your business. For more tips and tricks, take a look at Tom Ferry’s real estate agent tools that can help you take your company to the next level.

Choosing Your Real Estate Marketing Strategies

Crafting a real estate marketing strategy relies mainly on your personal strengths and areas of opportunity within your given market. For example, if your neighborhood is near a military station, your approach might be largely different than an area that is predominantly retirees. Here are some broad ideas on different strategies you could employ:

Social Media

There’s plenty of opportunities here, with survey data showing that most people begin their search or sale process by looking at things online. A well-placed ad on social media can spark someone’s imagination and have them thinking about buying or selling a home instantly.

For Sale by Owners

As a strategy, this is a tried and tested plan by many experienced real estate agents. Contacting owners who are trying to list their home and then selling them on your strengths is a great way to gain a client. You’ll later place goals on this when you write it into a real estate marketing plan.

Working Your Database

The list of people you’ve already touched is tremendous. Word of mouth costs nothing, and a quick email can keep you on the top of your databases’ mind. Regular calls, emails, and lunches can help cultivate relationships that may take time to pay off. The result is that you are the first real estate agent on their mind for when they are ready to buy or sell a property, or if someone they know is looking to buy.

Digital Presence

Hand in hand with social media is creating a digital presence. There are a handful of websites that allow for advertisements and connect those looking to buy or sell with a real estate agent. It is a solid method of real estate marketing to employ these websites as well as well-crafted websites to create an online brand.

Creating a Real Estate Marketing Plan

A real estate marketing plan takes the strategies listed above and applies goals and timelines to them. For example, if you are reaching out to For Sale by Owner opportunities, you might have a goal of reaching so many prospective clients in a given week. You could take it a step further, and say that you’d like to have at least so many presentations with these clients as well.

It’s important to keep track of your plan’s success as goals and timelines will need to be consistently evaluated to make sure they are realistic. If you find that meeting a goal is too difficult and it becomes disheartening, you should probably look at restructuring your real estate marketing plan to make it more obtainable.

An important aspect of crafting your real estate marketing plan is making sure that it is written down, measurable, and with specific outlined timelines. An important thing to remember is that a goal will always stretch to its due date. What this means, is that if you give yourself a year to reach a goal, you will likely use that entire year to meet that goal. If you give yourself a week to do the same task, you will likely complete the same tasks in that time period.

Having goals with challenging time frames imposes a sense of urgency on your calendar. That means that you feel a need to complete things because you are on a tight timeline. Don’t fret — it’s natural and a great means of improving your performance!

15 Clever Real Estate Marketing Ideas

Real estate marketing ideas are small, easily implemented steps, that can help your marketing plan reach its maximum potential. We’ve gathered a list of some of the top ideas you can use to help grow your business:

  • Use 3D and VR depictions of your listings. This allows potential buyers to see your home in a new way that might help them plan out how they can visualize themselves in the home. When they start placing the furniture around the house, it is a great indicator that you’re going to have a promising offer soon!
  • Hire professional photographers for your listings. There’s a reason why we recommend people buy and sell with real estate agents — because of the training, education, and experience. The same can be said for photos. Make photographers an essential part of your real estate marketing plan!
  • Create video walkthroughs. In an environment where houses can be off the market in less than a day, a video walkthrough might be all a family needs to decide that this is the house for them.
  • Invest in blogging and creating content. To keep it simple, writing about relevant topics that others will find useful will keep your name popping up consistently in online searches.
  • Use pay-per-click advertising. One of the most established means of advertisements online is the “PPC.” With this system, you set a specific price you’re willing to pay for leads, and online advertisements will drive people to your website.
  • Utilize Instagram for marketing. Instagram is huge and as a fact, millions of people look at it daily. The next time they glance at their phone to see what is happening in the world, have them see an advertisement with your name on it!
  • Master Twitter hashtags. Regular use of keywords can help get your listings or message to an entirely different set of people that you might not have engaged any other way.
  • Create offers that provide value and are “free of charge.” Everybody likes free things! If you can provide something that is free of charge and gets your foot in the door, you’ve mastered a tactful way to grow your database and create potential leads!
  • Use email marketing campaigns. These campaigns can be specific to the way you’ve met people (like at a home show, church, an open house, etc). They should have consistent messaging to keep your name top of mind as a real estate professional in the area.
  • Master a specific niche of the market. Real estate marketing can be easier when you have a consistent message.
  • Ask for reviews. This could be on Google, Yelp, Facebook, or even short videos to use on your website. Buying or selling a house is huge — capture that through an authentic testimonial that will help future clients choose your brand from the rest!
  • Build a profile on Zillow and get acquainted with its functions. It’s a website with massive traffic, and because many people may come with information from this site (like a “Zestimate” figure), it’s essential to have an understanding of it.
  • Create a Google Business Page. Being featured on Google can help give you the credibility that sets you apart from your competition.
  • Maintain a Facebook business page. Having your name and message at the top of the newsfeed only secures your place as an expert in their area in the real estate business. Real estate marketing is all about being seen and heard.
  • Use local images that draw people in. Use local images that will draw people in. By using pictures of local parks, attractions, and monuments, you place yourself as an expert in that specific area, and allow potential buyers to envision their family in the neighborhood.

Drive Your Business With Real Estate Marketing

If you’re looking at real estate marketing as some daunting path that you’re not sure which direction to take, know that it’s natural to experiment with different methods until you find what works for you. It’s worth mentioning that we have a team of experienced real estate coaches that can hear about your current real estate marketing plan, and help mold it with their experience to help you reach a level of success in the industry that you have been striving for. We offer a free consultation to get you started.

There is a reason people get into the real estate market — they have a motivation for financial freedom that allows them the luxury of spending more time with their friends and family and so much more. While each person’s depiction of success may vary, our coaches are available to pair your drive with years of experience to help you reach your dreams.