When the Market Gets Tough – The Tough Get Marketing
It’s not news to anyone to say that the market has slowed down, but it may be news to many to hear that you need to promote yourself and your listings now, more than ever.
When houses sold in hours instead of days; Posting an ad, writing a blog, or updating the listings on your website may not have been the first thing on your mind. Now, in this slower and very competitive market where money can be tight, the need to market your listings is extremely high if you want to beat the competition in selling.
Marketing can be confusing and you may find yourself stuck on the question “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” stage type; where you feel like you need money to promote yourself and your listings, but to have money to spend on marketing you have to make sales… and so on… and so on. Breaking that cycle can be easier than you think.
change your way of thinking from “How much can I afford to spend” to “How much can I afford to invest“. Think of your marketing as an investment in your future. Whether in print or online, agents who market themselves now will see greater returns in the future.
set aside a percentage of their commissions specifically for marketing. Whether it’s 5% or 50%, decide how much you can comfortably spend and add 1% to that amount. Being a little out of your comfort zone is not a bad thing; Remember, marketing is an investment.
Why a percentage and not a fixed monthly amount? Because as your business grows, the amount invested will grow with it. Allowing you to delve into other areas and maybe even experiment with new technology or ideas; ultimately growing your brand and ensuring its strength well into the future.
Start small: This can take real effort, especially for those new to marketing. There are very profitable and inexpensive opportunities to market yourself, but it will take time to research all of your options. For example (I’m going to shamelessly plug The #1 Real Estate Publication in North America here) with him Real estate book in Tulare County, CA. And nationwide, ads come in many sizes, price ranges, and terms. However, you get much more than a highly visible print ad when you advertise with our publication; you also gain exposure on over 25 nationally recognized websites. And you only have to enter your information once; it feeds data to these sites automatically, saving you time to get started. This system covers 2 key areas for you and can be very profitable. There are also free sites that are eager to show their listings! These are the ones that can take a bit of time to enter your details, but there are some services like postlets and vflyer that look quite promising. They can help you create an ad to post your listings on various free sites. The key to finding what will work for you is research.
Research, research, research…and just when you think you’re done, do some more digging! When talking to any company about their product, don’t be tempted to sign on the dotted line right away. Take some time to research product claims. For example, when you purchase a print ad; You are essentially buying the claim that this ad will be A: printed and released for a certain period of time and B: that the ad will be distributed through a set number of print publications throughout the area. Now, I know because I’m a publisher that numbers can be misleading and easily misrepresented in this area. I could say I print 1 million magazines and who would know? Muhahaha! However, distribution and how many magazines I print is a very, very important element that I must be 100% responsible for. Therefore, I am voluntarily audited by an external organization and can show the reports to any of my advertisers if they want to see them. This proves one of the claims made in the field of print advertising: “We print xx,xxx magazines.” So this would be one of the claims that you would like to investigate. What research claims in any type of media should be easily identified by asking yourself “what exactly am I paying for?” Whether it’s impressions, clicks, or print ads, be sure to ask questions and take the time to do your homework. Question any statement that makes you uncomfortable or that may be misleading and is not supported by facts.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket: If you can afford to mix it up a bit, do so. My obvious choice would be to advertise in print and online, but no matter what you do, don’t spend your entire budget on one medium if you can help it. If you don’t have a big budget, stick with the cheap multi-media packages. Don’t worry if others have the Cadillac of all the ads and you have the Ford Focus (sorry if you drive one of these cheeky little hustlers) – you have to row like a puppy before you can breaststroke and if you’re just starting out – focus on getting your feet wet to begin with.
Track your investment: Once you’ve settled on a current marketing mix, be sure to keep track of your response. Asking “If I may, where did you hear about this list?” it can be a hard habit to get into; finding something to write down this small detail at the same time can complicate things. But, this is a very important step to know where your money is best spent. Once you get into the habit, it can be quite easy and can actually be a good icebreaker. Some people will even give you more information than you asked for; like “I see your ads everywhere.” Getting feedback is always a good thing.
give it time: Give any new marketer to try a minimum of 90 days to get a feel for their response; even better would be a full six months. Keep track of your leads, and if you feel you’re not getting enough response from a particular channel, you can contact their representative (provided there’s one) and talk to them about your expectations. Let them know how the product is performing from your perspective. They may be able to help you improve your marketing performance with them. Do what you do; If you feel like your marketing isn’t working to your expectations, don’t sit quietly getting more and more annoyed by the fact that the phone doesn’t ring. Make use of the people who represent the companies you work with and select your brain.
Stick with it: Brand awareness comes with time; So the best thing to do is stick with the marketing you’ve found to work and relax with new things as your budget grows.
Your brand is like a machine; it needs fuel to function. The fuel that fuels a brand is marketing.