In a digital era, most traditional marketing strategies no longer work. New systems and tools turned the real estate industry upside down but abandoning some of the traditional real estate marketing strategies and tactics altogether may not be a good idea.
Buyers embraced new ways to search for homes and agents started benefiting from more effective marketing tools. But, as Forbes Real Estate Council authors argue, real estate marketing still needs some fundamental traditional tactics if agents are to be successful.
So what are these traditional “old school” ways that should still be part of your marketing? Let’s take a closer look at the breakdown from Forbes experts.
10 traditional real estate marketing strategies still worth using
1. Human interaction
The crucial part of the home buying or selling process is to maintain normal human interactions. Sure, in most cases, the home search starts online but it’s important to show that there are humans on the other side of the real estate transaction.
As Forbes experts argue, this is one of the most important prerequisites towards building a more smooth real estate process and closing deals successfully.
2. Personal connections
For the real estate industry, personal relationships have always been the cornerstone of an agent’s’ success. Personal connections can do a lot of good for your brokerage, primarily generating you referrals from past clients but helping to part with your clients on good terms too.
Today, it’s so much easier to deliver excellent customer service. Personalized automated campaigns and a real estate CRM work behind the scenes so it’s easier for agents to provide great customer experience and stand out from the competition.
3. Handwritten letters
Another of the traditional real estate marketing strategies worth using are handwritten notes. Many agents believe it’s a powerful way to connect with clients in a noisy market.
The most likely reason for why they work is that nobody is doing this any more. A handwritten note feels like going an extra mile and most clients do appreciate that a lot.
4. Physically exploring the markets and neighborhoods
For every agent or broker, it’s important to be a true neighborhood expert. That’s impossible to achieve if you do not go out into the streets and explore all that the area has to offer.
So another thing that is and will remain essential is to be physically present in your local area to know it inside out. You will use that knowledge everywhere: at your open houses and listing presentations, in blog content, email campaigns, social media, etc.
5. Putting clients’ interests at heart
As your clients go through the home buying or selling process, it’s worth reminding yourself that they are affected by a great deal of stress. Knowing the reasons behind their decision to buy or sell is crucial. It can be very emotional and agents are expected to help clients achieve their real estate goals in stressful circumstances.
6. Staying in touch personally
As one of the Forbes experts shares, agents at their brokerage send out gift baskets and handwritten notes and personally call their clients with whom they closed the deal. You may be surprised, but not that many agents are doing this. So it’s an opportunity for a brokerage to stand out in the local market.
7. Making lots of phone calls
Another Forbes expert believes that phone calls are one of the most powerful marketing strategies. You can do content, email and social media marketing or run online ads but in the end you pick up the phone and call that person who doesn’t seem engaged at all.
8. Print proposals and documents
Each real estate deal is incredibly complex. Legal regulations, taxes, transportation, home development, mortgage, etc. – that’s a lot of info to digest. Helping clients grasp the info with printed documents is a no-brainer way to keep the deal progressing. This eliminates mistakes and speeds up the sales cycle.
9. In-person meetings
To secure the results of online communication, agents need to book personal meetings with prospective clients to make listing presentations or discuss important details. It’s easier to be more convincing in the same room with a potential client than trying to persuade them with an email.
10. Keep experimenting
The last piece of advice from Forbes experts is to learn all the time and test how different tactics work both online and offline. Even traditional real estate marketing strategies can be approached from a different angle. You could be the first agent to do this.
