When it comes to real estate marketing, everyone wants to start with the fancy stuff.
Setting up Facebook ads, developing an Instagram strategy, or even starting a TikTok channel.
But if you ever want to scale your real estate business, you’ve GOT to start with the basics.
I’m seeing a ton of agents who still haven’t gotten clear on certain marketing fundamentals. And it’s holding them back.
If you don’t understand how marketing works, all the work spent on your Instagram strategy and money poured into FB ads is going to be one big waste of time.
So to save you a whole lot of frustration, let’s make sure you understand the core real estate marketing principles to grow your business to seven figures. Sound good?
Let’s go!
Niche
We can’t talk about marketing 101 without talking about niching.
A lot of agents are generalists. They’re trying to speak to everyone.
And because of that, they end up speaking to no one.
I want you to think about it this way…
Imagine you were standing in a crowded train station.
If you were to stand up on a bench and start shouting at the crowd, “Hey everyone! Hey all!”
…nobody would even look at you.
But if you were to stand up on a bench and yell, “Hey Bob!”
SOMEONE would turn around. Someone’s name would be Bob.
The lesson here is that the bigger the group you’re trying to speak to, the more generalized your message becomes. You become vague and saturated, and because of that, you don’t resonate with anyone.
But when you decide to niche down, you create a connection. And connection leads to conversion.
Ideal Client Avatar
Choosing your niche all comes down to nailing down your ideal client avatar.
You want to get clear on the pain points, problems, fears, and desires of the person you’re speaking to.
Doing this will help you attract a specific type of person in your real estate marketing.
A lot of ideal client avatar exercises will have you make up an imaginary person.
But what I like to do is choose a REAL person that belongs to this group of people.
My ideal client avatar is someone I know in real life. So whenever I’m creating content, I have one specific person in mind.
This allows me to tap into my ideal client’s psyche.
I’m able to ask myself…“What does she need to hear from me today?”
Notice how I didn’t ask myself what I want to talk about today?
Having a business isn’t about building a platform where you get to talk about whatever’s on your mind. It’s about building a platform where you get to serve your ideal clients.
Because marketing is all about service.
Messaging
If you want to master real estate marketing fundamentals, you’ve got to master your messaging.
So what exactly is messaging, you ask?
Messaging is what you speak about to attract and help that person you’re trying to serve in your business.
It’s about delivering the messages that are going to help them connect with you.
Many people think of messaging as tag-lines or one-liners. But messaging is so much more than that.
I’m not a big believer in tag-lines and one-liners. They used to make sense back in the day when we were more limited by print marketing.
But nowadays, your messaging has the ability to be much more robust.
Your messaging should revolve around the pain points, problems, fears, and desires of your niche.
An important note: As mentioned above, your niche should be based on your ideal client avatar.
I am NOT talking about farm area.
The farm area model was imperative when we didn’t have the technology. We didn’t have the internet.
The only way an agent could be consistently successful was is if they had a farm area. All marketing was done manually – cold calling, knocking on doors, handing out flyers.
Now, we’re able to market at scale. And because of that, it makes much more sense to niche down by human being, or by life transition.
Some examples might be:
- First-time buyers
- Up-sizers
- Down-sizers
- Corporate women
- The LGBTQ Community
These are all people who you can speak to directly – in terms of who they are as humans, and what they need in terms of their current situation.
Your messaging should address your ideal clients and take them from being a total stranger all the way up to feeling like they know you, trust you, and want to work with you.
Video Content
If you feel like videos are everywhere these days, there’s a reason why.
And it’s NOT because everyone loves looking at themselves in the camera (in fact, most people hate that part of video marketing!).
The reason video marketing for real estate has skyrocketed in the past couple of years is that video is the best way to create connection.
You can have the most aesthetically pleasing photo and the best-written caption…
But nothing helps your audience feel like they know you more than video.
When people can hear your laugh, the cadence of your voice, and see your facial expressions it allows them to connect with you as a human being.
It accelerates the trust-building process.
And at the end of the day, creating trust is what marketing is all about.
So even if you hate video, even if you’re terrified…push past your comfort zone and give it a try.
Start small with a quick Instagram story. After all, it disappears after 24 hours anyway!
And if you want more help, check out our post on five tips for embracing video marketing for real estate.
Pro Tip: If you want your videos to convert, keep them short and sweet. While longer videos might perform well on YouTube, on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, ~2 minutes is the sweet spot.
Personal Content
There’s one type of real estate content for social media that can skyrocket your business results…but SO many agents are neglecting it.
That content type is personal content.
One of the biggest reasons people resist creating personal content is because they’re stuck in an old-school sales mindset that business and personal are separate.
But that is NOT the case anymore.
People don’t want to see you as a faceless brand. They want to see you as a human being.
More now than ever, we’re craving connection. We’re craving vulnerability.
We’re all tired of polished perfection. Give your audience something real!
The other reason personal content is so incredibly important is because your average ideal client only moves once every three to seven years.
So if you’re ONLY posting business and real estate content, you’re only going to be relevant to them every three to seven years. Which means they’re going to hit that ‘unfollow’ button.
It will be nearly impossible to grow an audience if you’re 100% business, 100% of the time.
When you create personal content, don’t be afraid to go deep.
Your captions should almost be like mini-blogs. Not one or two-line captions with a blurb of hashtags.
Hashtags will do very little if your content doesn’t resonate.
So make sure you’re focusing on the right things – creating content that drives connection and conversation with your audience.
Get Clear on The Problem & Solution
This basic sales principle is key to a successful real estate marketing plan.
You *must* be super clear on the problem you solve and the solution you offer.
You need to be able to answer the questions:
- What problems do you solve?
- What are your ideal client’s pain points?
- What is their biggest struggle?
I don’t want you to guess. I don’t want you to take a stab in the dark.
I want you to go out there and TALK to your ideal clients. Start having more market research conversations!
People never move for fun.
They move because their current situation is no longer serving them.
It’s up to you to get clear on the specifics of why their situation is no longer serving them, and what they’re desiring in its place.
Once you get clear on:
- Their current situation (or problem)
- Their desired situation (or solution)
- And how YOUR services are the bridge to get them from Point A to Point B…
You have the fundamentals needed to create compelling real estate marketing.
This is not just about peddling your services. Too many agents are too transactionally focused in their marketing.
Focus more on the client and their desires rather than yourself.
Your client is the hero of your story. They want to see themselves on top.
So be sure to paint that picture in your marketing!
Social Proof
The last thing you absolutely need when it comes to real estate marketing is solid social proof.
And no…I don’t mean a constant string of those, “Just listed, just sold” type of posts.
Instead, I’m talking about case studies, testimonials, and PR features.
And not just any testimonials, but in-depth testimonials.
In order to get these powerful testimonials, you often have to guide your clients.
Rather than just asking them, “Hey! Can you write me a testimonial?”
You can ask them strategic questions to get powerful marketing material. Ask them what the experience was like, what kind of results they achieved, and how they felt before and after working with you.
When you take the time to master these real estate marketing fundamentals, you’ll create a solid foundation from which you can scale your real estate business to seven figures.
Before you move on to ads or social media strategies, you’ve got to go back to basics.
Otherwise, you’re building your business on a house of cards.
If you want deeper support with building a truly scalable real estate business, be sure to download our free guide, The Listings Lab Method, where we walk you through marketing fundamentals to consistently fill your calendar with appointments.
