How to create a good property marketing plan
Property Marketing
There are certain patterns that all property marketing companies and real estate agencies follow when it comes to finding the right tenants for properties. You put a catchy sign in front of the property. You add the property in all sorts of listing sites and social media pages. You buy ads in magazines, newspapers, online. You can also try billboards or flyers or strategically placing business cards around the important places in town.
And let’s not forget the obvious: property marketing companies stick to doing all of these things because they work and they generate profit.
The problem is when you rely solely on doing the same things over and over again and expect to have better results in property marketing than your competition which is doing exactly the same thing as you.
That’s why you need to create an elaborate and efficient property marketing plan. Try to come up with organized strategies and to think outside of the box so you can put to work exciting and fresh ideas. Getting better at property marketing is of absolute necessity if you want to rent out your property effectively.
In this article, we’re going to explain in detail the steps you need to take to write an elaborate and efficient property marketing plan and then we’re going to give you some professional tips on property marketing you can use.
Writing a Property Marketing Plan
Here are the main points in the structure of an efficient property marketing plan that you need to cover:
• Research and analysis:
1. Market analysis.
2. Competitive analysis.
3. SWOT analysis.
• Identifying your objectives and goals.
• Marketing budget.
• Creating a target persona.
• Developing brand awareness.
• Marketing strategies that can meet your objectives and fit in your budget.
• Evaluation and monitoring of your property marketing plan.
Now we’re going to dive a bit deeper into every point of the plan and explain its importance, as well as how it’s best to go about it for optimal results.
Research and analysis
Research is the first step in your property marketing plan because without knowing the market, it’s impossible to excel in the market. To be able to develop realistic goals and to know what the optimal results are that you can expect from property marketing, you need to know the industry well. This is also necessary when it comes to identifying the perfect target persona for your clients and figuring out what strategies might work.
Market analysis is an overview of the trends in the real estate market at the moment. You need to get a clear understanding of what products and amenities people are looking for and at what price. What is the condition of the market right now? Is there a deficiency of something? What are the products that the market has an abundance of? Think about the ratio between products and buyers and why are people looking for certain products, what makes them popular. What is driving the market at the moment? Are there certain changes in governmental policy that can affect you and how can you take advantage of them? And what about the construction industry? Compare data from the past to data from the present in order to create strategies that will benefit the future. Be specific about your research – it’s good to analyze all sides of the industry but it’s too vast for an in-depth analysis on all of it, so it’s best to identify your target market and focus on researching it. A lot of real estate agencies focus on a niche market on which they can become experts. This is extremely helpful when it comes to planning marketing strategies.
Competitive analysis is one of the most important points in your property marketing plan. To become good at property marketing, you need to not only work with efficient strategies but also to have a different approach than your competition. All real estate and property management companies are your competition but it’s best to focus on the few that are competing for clients with you directly. You probably share the same niche of the market and you usually come up against them in listing presentations. Do your detailed research on them – you need to know everything from how they market themselves to what are their strengths and weaknesses to what do they offer that you don’t. In which market segments are you competing with them? What is something that they all have in common when it comes to property marketing strategies? It’s important to identify this in order to be different and develop your own unique strength that helps you stand out in the market.
Check the competition’s Zillow listings and how they set them up. Examine the structure and layout of their website and what items they’re incorporating into it, what types of ads they place in newspapers and on Facebook. See what keywords they are targeting and explore their presence on social media. What are their slogans? How are they developing their brands and does it appear to be working?
Now it’s time to move to the final part of the analysis: SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. You need to assume an objective viewpoint and try to analyze your skills and approach when it comes to the real estate business from the position of a customer. What are you good at? What do you need to change for the better? Use what you learned from your market research to determine what chances you can take and what threats you’re facing.
And remember: real estate is an extremely crowded marketplace. There has been a 6% increase in realtors from 2017 to 2018, according to NAR. This is why it’s so important to establish what makes you different from the competition and to set yourself apart. Focus on what makes you exceptional and create unique propositions, so you can make for yourself a place in real estate that no one else can take.
Identifying your objectives and goals
Now that you’re aware of the situation on the market and where you stand on it, you can think about realistic business objectives. There’s no use in making a property marketing plan without knowing what you actually want to achieve with it and if you’re not aiming too high or cutting yourself short.
Start by looking at your past numbers – number of deals you’ve closed, marketing costs, and whatever you think is necessary. Use them to make predictions on what you can achieve with more effort and better planning. What were your expectations for previous marketing strategies and where did they go wrong? You need to know so you don’t make the same mistake twice.
Set your general marketing goals so you can come up with strategies to achieve them. Be specific – “complete more transactions this year than the last” doesn’t sound as motivating and specific as “complete at least five more transactions this year than the last”. “Make more money” doesn’t sound like a real goal, now does it? “Increase your customer base by 12% by the middle of the year” definitely qualifies as one, though.
Long- and short-term goals are equally important so it’s best to look at the bigger picture when you’re setting business objectives.
Marketing budget
Don’t start making marketing strategies without knowing if you can afford them. It’s a loss of time. Be realistic and determine objectively how much money you can spend on property marketing. Compare vendors and be clear with yourself regarding what type of property you will be offering because some kind of property, f.e. luxury real estate, require a higher marketing budget than normal residential properties.
Creating a target persona
Who are your buyers and sellers? Identify your clients so you know how to attract them and what to do in order to cater to their needs. Age range, location, combined income, family size, home buying experience, lifestyle, interests and hobbies. These are all important things you need to take into account when you’re defining your client base. Target your property marketing efforts towards one or two groups that are big enough to boost your sales but also specific enough to serve your best interest.
The more you know about your clients, the better you will be at crafting a specific message when you’re marketing a listing and considering where you should place that listing. People need to feel like you’re speaking directly to them and marketing is the best way to attract the right crowd. Does the kind of property you offer sells best to young people that travel a lot? Make sure your ads go on in detail about the local social scene and the interesting things one can do in the neighborhood. Families will be interested in the local school district, the safety of the neighborhood, whether it’s peaceful and there are beautiful beaches and parks around.
This will help you immensely in tailoring your property marketing strategies effectively.
Developing brand awareness
In all competitive businesses, you need to establish a brand identity so the clients recognize you among the others. Any property marketing strategy needs to keep this in mind. Create your own trademark and use it abundantly. This is the best long-term marketing strategy – create an individualized name brand and use it for years to come. People will associate it with the industry and will choose to trust someone present in the market for long enough to become recognizable.
Marketing strategies that can meet your objectives and fit in your budget
So here we are at the final milestone. Once you’ve taken care of the previous points in your property marketing plan, you can develop realistic and unique marketing strategies that can help you with your objectives.
Check statistics and past experiences. If increasing spending on door hangers and direct mail got you more seller clients, think about how you can use the same approach again, but optimized for better results. What seems to work for your competition? Can you make something that doesn’t work for them work for you because of your unique strengths?
The three important segments of every marketing strategy are the following:
• messages – what will get you the customers’ attention? What offer do you need to make them? Which services address directly what your clients are looking for? Think about enhancing the unique strengths that you determined with the SWOT analysis.
• distribution channels – what are the best ways to make the customers hear your message? Will this message reach your target audience better through personal networking or direct marketing or gifts? What can give you as much exposure as possible?
• tactical plan – you need a detailed plan of how you’re going to use each channel plus a timeframe for this to happen. Think about who you’re using to implement that strategy and if you’re outsourcing. Can you develop some partnerships along the way? What do you need to do in order to make this happen? Calculate the approximate expenses.
Evaluation and monitoring of your property marketing plan
That’s a step that many people forget when they’re making their property marketing plan. It’s critically important to measure the success of your plan and to know what serves you and what doesn’t.
Monitor your results and track every lead and where it came for. Some flexibility can be very useful – if the results are failing to meet your expectations, think about whether you set realistic deadlines and how you can make the plan work better. Refining your approach is something that naturally happens with time but also with self-evaluation. Try different approaches and don’t forget to monitor how they’re working out so you know if they’re of use for you in particular.
Property Marketing Tips
Here are some professional marketing strategies that you can implement for yourself.
• Blogging
We live in a time where everyone has access to the Internet and reads most of the information they receive online. Starting a blog can help distribute your message to a wider audience. Create content optimized for SEO so your posts have exposure and show in search results every time. You can use tools like Google Analytics to find the right keywords for your blog articles. Make sure it’s easy to navigate your blog visitors to your website and profile pages on real estate sites. And add images! They catch the eye easily.
• Hire a copywriter that focuses on an emotional approach
When it comes to writing, it’s important to establish a real connection with your target audience. Objective facts are important to list for sure, but that’s not enough. Every property marketing ad includes facts about the property. You need to step up your game and hook your clients with more than just a dry list of features. Look for emotionally impactful phrases when you’re describing your property and focus on the kind of lifestyle people can have if they take it.
“Single-family home with three bedrooms and two baths. Solar, low taxes and has a garage and great view. Entertainers backyard” – this sounds pretty informative, right? But things look a bit differently when you realize most of the descriptions of property sound the same way.
“Every family needs a hearth that brings it together. Nothing makes the family bonds strong and healthy like sharing the comfort of a beautiful home and taking care of it together.” – what if we start the description like this? It makes people dream, doesn’t it? After all, customers don’t want to buy four walls and a roof, they want to buy themselves a home.
• Seek partnerships with local businesses
Use local connections and try to establish a partnership with various vendors. Clothing boutiques, showrooms for home decor, the local bakery – invite them all to an open house event. Set up pop shops in different rooms. This will make the potential clients explore every room and feel its atmosphere better. You can work on discounts with local vendors. This way you provide more clients for the local business and affordable prices for your clients!
• Be active on social media
You need active accounts with interesting posts on all big networks : Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, Google+. Run Instagram promotions – Instagram ads allow you to pick a target audience and to use targeted hashtags to reach people. It’s also a great way to share images of your property. Interact actively with users on social media, share interesting posts, and promote your property.
• Drone photography
Speaking of Instagram, you need to get some good shots of your property, or no description can be compelling enough even if Shakespeare wrote it himself. Drone photography can be used for incredible pictures of the exterior and landscape of the property. Making videos is also an interesting approach – video footage of the space gives a more intimate look on the property.
• Trust the professionals
Property marketing is best handled by property management companies. In case you prefer someone else to handle for you the most important part of property management – property marketing, start here with Caris Property Management.
Caris Property Management is one of the best Orange County property management companies with years of experience in creating efficient property marketing plans and following through with them, achieving real results. Trust the professionals!