For most real estate agents, marketing and communication plans will center on print-based and digital content to serve local and web-based media. Our Marketing Framework organizes your approach for developing a plan.

Content is most often graphical images, pictures and text (or "copy") that present your image. Effective agents ensure the use of their business name, brokerage affiliation, colors, lettering styles, portraits and other graphical content are consistent in appearance and theme. It’s important to understand how content fits into your marketing plan and how your plan aligns with your business goals. An effective plan will take advantage of each technique’s potential to contribute to the overall effort. One tool’s usage lays the foundation for the next and if done properly the results can truly reinforce your brand, which in turn builds customer loyalty.

Goals

Effective marketing is focused on discreet goals. For most agents, goals fall into three categories: Build and promote your brand, Develop leads to add to your sphere of influence, and Listing promotion: once a listing is secured, feature and promote that listing to maximize its commission potential and optimize market awareness.

Working within this framework, we can provide a methodology of tool and technique application to make the most of each.

Your Marketing Channels

The first consideration is the mix of print-based and online presence. These are known as Marketing Channels and should not be confused with YouTube or other online site "channels”. Not all content works equally well in both channels. So creating a plan early on helps to ensure re-work is avoided and additional costs are not unnecessarily incurred. Importantly, your print media needs to encourage and incent readers to visit your website and social media presences - your core online communication tools. Statistics show your online channels are not only more timely and current in information dissemination, but they are also a fraction the cost and significantly more effective when measured against print media. Print content is designed to promote your brand and your listings as well as drive viewers to your cost-effective online presences.

Your Online Platforms
Moving on from the concept of Channels and their unique roles, let’s shift our focus to Platforms. Platforms are conduits used to promote your brand and messaging. Traditional methods of print-based marketing are still effective means of promotion. They should be used in balance to complement online marketing. Your online presences are where your clients will find and interact with you; they include your website and social media presences such as Facebook and Google+. These presences can be configured to highly reinforce your brand and messaging as well as promote your listings for rapid circulation. In addition to your website and social media are messaging tools such as email, Instagram and Twitter. Email, along with communicating with your contacts, is used to effectively convert your address book contacts and email address list into social media connections and website visitors. The value in this is to gain permission-based marketing opportunities with your expanding sphere of influence allowing you to reach a broader audience when marketing listings and your services.

Lead Generation

An expanding sphere of influence is critical to growing your business. Address books, business cards, and email lists provide a foundation of leads; tools such as online real estate marketplaces also offer effective lead generation. Sites such as Trulia and Zillow should be considered and properly placed within your marketing budget. Traditional direct mail campaigns to your farms, surrounding neighborhoods and specific addresses identified through predictive analytic services generate highly effective results as well.

Online Advertising

Online advertising complements your online presences and outbound messaging campaigns. Techniques for making the most your website like search engine optimization (SEO), utilizing online display ads, and implementing interactive ads and landing pages are all effective tools designed to reach new audience members for your sphere of influence and reinforce your services to existing members.

When creating content it’s important to understand where and how it will be applied across the various platforms and messaging activities. Content when used appropriately in each tool and technique, whether it be print, online presence or within electronic messaging, will effectively promote your brand.

AgentMotions can provide greater depth to the concepts outlined above and help you understand the opportunities and applications to your unique goals.