Thinking About Real Estate Advertising

Thinking About Real Estate Advertising

 December 15, 2014

Real estate agents have an almost overwhelming choice when it comes to advertising their services and the properties they represent.

As a real estate agent you have an almost overwhelming choice when it comes to advertising your services and the properties you represent. Consider this list as just a start:

  • Your website – this may be the most important
  • Email newsletters
  • Snail–mail newsletters, printed
  • Your business card
  • Signs on your car
  • For sale signs for each property
  • Brochures for each property
  • Ads in newspapers
  • Ads in throwaway / neighborhood newspapers
  • Opportunities to sponsor events
  • Bus benches and shelters
  • Grocery carts
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Other social media outlets
  • Radio advertising
  • Television advertising
  • “Talking house” schemes

This list could go on and on for quite a while. 

What are you trying to do?

In general when you or your broker buys advertising there are two reasons: to sell a particular property, or to promote an agent or the business in general.

To be sure, many kinds or advertisements serve both purposes to one degree or another. It is helpful when you’re thinking about advertising to be clear on what you’re trying to do – promote yourself, your agency, or a specific piece of property. Knowing what you’re trying to accomplish and keeping it in mind will help you choose the right ways of advertising.

Your website is an example of an advertising property that accomplishes all three things. Obviously it’s promoting you as a real estate agent; indirectly it’s also supporting the agency work for. And if you’re using your site properly it also advertises specific properties that you’ve listed and that are on the MLS.

Put yourself in your client’s shoes

Pretend, for a moment, that you are looking for a real estate agent. Where would you look? What would you want to know? What would make you feel comfortable and like you could trust an agent to look out for your best interests?

Answering these questions will help you decide where to advertise your own services beside your website and what to say and those advertisements.

When you’re ready to advertise one of your listings, again put yourself in the client’s position. Where would they be looking for a house like this beside your website? Is it on a well-traveled street and good neighborhood? Obviously a for sale sign is in order. But supposing it’s tucked away in a hidden corner of your town or city? Where would you advertise it since people aren’t likely to just stumbled across it and see the for sale sign? Consider the income bracket of the person who can afford this house – with a look at a local paper? Is there a better venue to advertise the house in?

Questions like these will lead you to do the right kind of advertising. As a general rule it’s probably better to target your advertising toward specific buyers and sellers rather than do a scattershot approach. On the other hand, there are some real estate markets where a scattershot is the best approach

It’s always about service

Success in the real estate business is really determined by how much service you give to your potential clients. Your advertisements should be informative. They should probably carry the price, definitely at least the neighborhood in general, and maybe the school district or other information buyers really want to know. Trying to get buyers to call you for missing information is likely to make them feel tricked.

If the house is across from the school, say so. While some don’t want to live that close to the noise children, others love it. If the house is a fixer-upper, say so. There’s no need to hide or try to trick the reader of the ad you’ll. You’ll only end up with an annoyed client who probably won’t come back.

No matter what ad form or media you choose if you create the ad with an eye towards serving your client by providing excellent information, and by answering questions even before their house, you’ll be way on your you’ll be well on your way to add that dry and exactly the clients you want.

What’s your favorite kind of advertisement? Let’s talk it over in comments.

real esate

 


Anne Wayman

By Anne Wayman

Before Anne Wayman became a writer she sold real estate in Southern California. She worked with her father who learned the business from his father. Not surprisingly she learned a few things along the way. Since then, she has been freelance writing for over 30 years – she is a grandmother, loves cats and writes about a wide variety of topics including real estate.