Hello and happy Farm Friday! This week has been exciting here at Virtuance. If you haven’t heard yet, we announced on Wednesday that Virtuance has officially been acquired by Diakrit, a global real estate marketing leader. We are excited to be joining forces with such a fantastic organization. I am confident that this will be an excellent opportunity for us all. You, my dear readers, included.
Let’s get going!
Do You Have a Real Estate Marketing Plan?
With the end of Q1 drawing near, I think it is a perfect time to help you all with your real estate marketing plan for the rest of this year. Coming up with a marketing plan can be a daunting task. Where do you even begin? What should you include? Where should you write it down? What if you win fewer listings than you thought you would? What if you win more? How often should you check in on your marketing strategy and evaluate what’s working and what isn’t? The answer to all these questions and more are in this article. Also, I made a template that you can fill in so that you don’t miss anything while you concentrate on growing your business!
If you’re just here for the template, no worries. Here you go:
What is a real estate marketing plan?
A real estate marketing plan (or RMP) is a document that outlines how you intend to market your property(s). It includes:
- a description of the property
- your target audience
- your marketing goals
- an evaluation of your current marketing efforts
- a list of strategies for achieving your goals
- a timeline for implementing each of your strategies
The purpose of an RMP is to ensure that you have a clear idea of where you want to go and how you’re going to get there. You’ll know exactly what you need to do to reach those goals by having a written plan.
How to Establish Your Marketing Plan
Before you jump into creating your real estate marketing strategy, let me give you some tips about creating one. Here are some steps to follow when developing your marketing plan:
Step 1: Who is your audience?
The first step to making one is to determine who your primary audience is. Do they want to buy or sell a home? Are they looking for a specific type of home? Is this a short sale or foreclosure?
Once you’ve determined your audience, you’ll need to define their needs. What does your ideal buyer look like? What types of homes are they interested in? A typical rice range? Once you’ve defined your audience, you’ll better understand what your target market wants from a listing.
Step 2: Define your goals.
Your next step is to set your goals. These goals may vary depending on what your niche is. However, most people agree that the following are essential:
You’ll also want to consider any other goals you’d like to accomplish. For example, maybe you’d like to increase the number of showings per day. Or perhaps you’d like to reduce the time it takes to sell a property. Whatever your goal, writing them down will help keep you focused.
Step 3: Evaluate your current marketing efforts.
Now that you’ve established your goals, you’ll want to evaluate your current real estate marketing efforts. This means taking inventory of everything you currently do to market your properties and business. You may already have a marketing plan in place. If so, you can evaluate using that plan. Otherwise, you’ll want to take stock of what you’re doing now.
If you haven’t been actively promoting your listings, you should start by assessing what’s working well and what isn’t. Then, you can make changes to improve your results.
Step 4: Create a marketing plan.
After reviewing your current marketing efforts, you’ll want to create a marketing plan. The best way to do this is to write out everything you think you could do to promote your listings. Include all of the different ways you could advertise, including social media, print ads, blogs, email campaigns, etc. Next, we’ll talk about how to create your marketing plan from scratch.
SMART Real Estate Marketing
If you create a SMART marketing plan (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely), you can significantly increase your gross commission income (GCI). Keep in mind that any marketing plan is an investment, and while you may see results immediately, you may also need to keep your head down and trust the process for a while.
Mission and Vision Statement
A mission statement is a short phrase that defines who you are and how you will operate. It’s also one of the first things prospective customers will read about you. So, if you don’t have one yet, get busy! A good mission statement includes these four components:
- What does your company stand for?
- Why does your company exist?
- Who are you trying to serve?
- Where do you want to go and how will you get there?
Your vision statement answers the question, “What do I want my company to be?” It describes what you want your company to look like in five years, ten years,’ even twenty years.
Example of a Real Estate Mission Statement
For example, you’ll see many mission statements like “To become the most trusted name in real estate in the Austin metro area” or “to provide affordable services to the community.” While there’s nothing particularly wrong with these mission statements, do they motivate you? What will get you out of bed in the morning when you’re working your third 60-hour workweek in a row?
I suggest coming up with a mission statement that will be a grounding tool for you. That way, you always have something to motivate you even if times are uncertain. For example, let’s look at my fictional mission statement for my make-believe real estate business:
The Loraas team helps underserved communities in the Portland metro area build generational wealth through real estate.
Example of a Real Estate Vision Statement
The difference between a mission statement and a vision statement is that a vision statement includes a specific time frame.
The Loraas team aims to serve 50 families a year by 2027.
However, your mission and vision statements will vary based on your goals! These statements are imperative, so don’t skip over them. Your mission and vision statements will help guide you through every aspect of your marketing plan!
Identify Your Target Client
Now that you’ve got your mission statement and vision statement figured out, you can identify your target demographics in your farm area. This means you’ll know exactly who you’re targeting when you start advertising. You can use a variety of tools to narrow down your demographic information, but here are some examples:
Demographics:
Age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, education level, household size, number of children, occupation, income, homeownership, etc.
Geography:
Zip code, city, county, state, region, country, etc.
Interests:
What types of properties do people in this market buy? Are they interested in single-family homes, condos, townhomes, coops, rentals, commercial buildings, etc.?
Behaviors:
What kinds of activities do people in this market engage in? Do they travel frequently, own pets, play sports, garden, eat organic food, shop locally, etc.?
Based on this information, you can create an ideal buyer persona (or personas!) for each type of property you intend to sell. Creating multiple buyer personas is that different buyers may have very different motivations for buying a particular property. You can tailor your marketing messages to appeal to their unique needs by knowing this.
Develop Your Marketing Plan
Once you’ve identified your target client, you need to figure out how you will reach them. In other words, where are you going to advertise? What kind of content are you going to share online? How are you going to interact with potential clients? Once you’ve answered those questions, you can move on to developing your marketing plan. Here are some things to consider as you build your marketing plan:
Advertising Methods
How much money are you willing to spend on advertising? Will you pay per click or impression? What keywords should you be bidding on if you choose paid search ads?
Social Media
Which social media platforms are most effective for reaching your target audience? Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, Snapchat, etc.
Content Creation
Which websites do you want to publish your content on? For example, if you’re selling real estate in Austin, you might post your listings on Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, Craigslist, and Redfin.
Website Design
Do you want to design your website yourself or hire someone else to do the work? If you decide to DIY, which platform would you prefer? WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Weebly, etc.
Email Marketing
Do you want to send emails to prospects or customers? If so, which email service provider will best fit your needs? MailChimp, Constant Contact, AWeber, iContact, etc.
Mobile Apps
Are you planning to build mobile apps for your business? Which app store would you like to distribute your apps through? Google Play Store, Apple App Store, Amazon Appstore, etc.
Digital Ads
Are you planning to display ads on Google AdWords, Bing Ads, Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, etc.?
Offline Advertising
If you’re not using digital channels to promote your business, what offline methods are you planning to use? Flyers, direct mailers, print ads, billboards, etc.
Marketing Tools
Is there any software you’d like to integrate into your marketing strategy? Research CRM tools such as Salesforce, Hubspot, Marketo, Pipedrive, etc.
Reporting & Analytics
How do you want to track the results of your efforts? Decide between Google Analytics, Mixpanel, KISSmetrics, etc.
What’s Next?
Now that you know more about your target audience, you can start building your marketing plan. You’ll also need to determine whether you want to focus solely on one channel or multiple channels at once. It’s important to note that while it’s possible to market your business via various channels simultaneously, doing so requires a lot of time and effort.
Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day!
Regardless of how you decide to carry out your marketing plan, make sure that you remain consistent! Establishing a steady cadence in your efforts will be beneficial when you need to go back and evaluate what is and is not working in your marketing plan.
“Keep in mind that any marketing plan is an investment, and while you may see results immediately, you may also need to keep your head down and trust the process for a while,” says Rinal Patel, Licensed Realtor at We Buy Philly Home.
Real Estate Marketing Plan Template – Free Download
We’ve made a sample template for you to use on Canva! If you’ve never used Canva before, it’s a great marketing tool, but it is also useful for presentation and report design! This is the same link as the link at the top of the article, but to save you from scrolling, you can download our real estate marketing plan template below.
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