On this 226th episode of my Monday Morning Pep Talk, I will challenge you to answer the question: "Is your real estate business being noticed by your clients? Do they know you are open for business?" Most entrepreneurs will answer the question "YES!" without hesitation, but with some deeper thought and analysis after today's call, you might just change your answer. You may think that your clients will remember you and be committed to you, but have you done what you need to do to secure their business over the long term?
I want to re-introduce a phrase I've used in the past, originating within the marketing industry called "Top of Mind Awareness.” Top of mind awareness refers to the strategic efforts employed by businesses to ensure that their brand is the first one that comes to a consumer's mind when they think about a particular product or service within a specific industry. It involves creating and maintaining a strong brand presence through consistent visibility and memorable interactions.
Is your business visible? Are your marketing efforts consistent?
You've heard me use the "storefront cafe" metaphor in the past, and I'd like to pull it out again today to further make my point. It goes like this: Imagine you have a storefront cafe in a good location walkable for people in the neighborhood. Your clients have had wonderful service and meals in the past at your cafe but now when they (and potential new customers) walk by, they see that the lights are off, there is no placard outside welcoming guests with a whimsical statement or special of the day, tables are not set up outside and there is no sign of life. In essence, you've got the "closed" sign up, but in reality you are inside waiting for customers to stop in. To your dismay, your business is not growing and you see customers that have dined with you in the past eating at the new cafe across the street. The only people that dine with you are those that know you well enough to know that you are inside. Compare this to a real estate business. It would be the equivalent of when a broker rarely sends email marketing campaigns, they have sparse social media content and rarely take the time for client follow up/touches. If this example reflects your efforts, step back and put yourself in the public's and your clients' shoes. Would you actively reach out to you if you weren't 100% sure if you were "open for business"? Studies show that you lose 10% top of mind marketing awareness position each month you are quiet.
So how do you keep your "Open for Business" sign fully in view? There is no question that if you implement several targeted marketing strategies, executed consistently over an extended period of time, your business will be impacted with positive growth.
First identify the marketing channels used most by your clients and then try some of the following strategies which are low cost, easy to implement and will help you establish marketing momentum:
- Send specific neighborhood quarterly stats to your clients. Have you considered creating neighborhood tags within ActivePipe? By doing this you can target your clients more specifically. When using email marketing as a strategy (which should be everyone), spend some time breaking down your list into categories using tags. Do not SPAM your entire list with emails that do not matter to them. How does your email list look? Is it updated?
- On Instagram, follow @sothebysrealty, @sothebys, @sothebysjewels, @sothebyswatches, @sothebyssneakers, @sothebysstyle, @sothebyswine and share content, specifically their reels that you love and find really interesting.
- Follow your local brokerage's (@jamesonsir) social channels and share content.
- Build out an email newsletter created by your brokerage and share to your email list with "tags" that would benefit. JSIR agents look specifically for IMAGINE and other templates provided by marketing.
- Build out a "touch" strategy to stay in contact with your TOP 100.
- Execute a "Real Estate Review" process, similar to the NINJA Selling process, on the anniversary of each of clients' home anniversaries. Or simply keep track of an MLS hot sheet in the neighborhoods you've sold and send quick market nuggets of closed listings to your clients.
- Do you have a Birthday/Anniversary strategy for TOP 100? (My best marketing ROI strategy when I sold)
- 3 social media posts per week on Facebook and Instagram minimum. 2-3 stories posted per day.
- On your next listing, get creative and upgrade your marketing. Elite level marketing of your listings can equally benefit your personal brand.
- Instead of just scrolling through your social feeds, take the needed time to comment on "noteworthy" posts your clients drop on their feeds.
I just gave you 10 simple ideas that are low cost, easy to implement and, as a whole, will have a big impact on your business. Don't let the word "marketing" frighten you. Pick some strategies from this list and be consistent with your efforts.
If this call got your attention, listen to it again and identify areas you can improve, commit to them, and execute consistently. We make it way harder than it needs to be.
