Buyers are not falling for the same sale tactics that have been used for years. Real estate signs, open houses, ads in papers and real estate guides, and word-of-mouth are not enough. If you’re relying on those old marketing methods, you’re missing out on a lot of potential sales. Experiential marketing for real estate draws potential buyers and lands sales.

Four Things Lead to Failure

There are five commonalities that lead to failure in the real estate market. Planning an experiential marketing campaign can overcome them all. Experts avoid these four mistakes when they’re planning a successful real estate campaign.

#1 – Lacking Commitment

Being a real estate agent is one thing. You may find the job fascinating, but how are you showing your clientele that you’re committed to them. Are you available night and day? Do you have weekend hours or do you try to avoid any business dealings on those days?

A committed realtor is available at all hours. There’s a lot of hand-holding sometimes. A new buyer may have no idea what to expect. If you’re pushing the buyer to decide after seeing just a few houses, you’re not truly committed in their best interests. They’re going to tell their friends how disappointed they were.

You’ve got to be organized. You have to respond to social media messages, texts, phone calls, and emails promptly. Keep the promises you make. If you can’t handle website design, social media integration, and respond to messages, you need to find a company that can help you handle those varied responsibilities.

#2 – Focusing on the Wrong Content

Social media is a great platform for sharing new listings and successful closings. That’s not enough content to keep buyers engaged. If you’re not offering anything of value, they won’t stick around. Studies find that almost half of all buyers view three or more blogs or articles before they reach out to a representative. What types of content are you using?

New listings are great, but they can find those on sites like Zillow easily enough. You need to give them a reason to trust in you and stay engaged. Informative blogs and visuals that teach them something new is key.

Content creation is one of the biggest ways to achieve this. Instead of the same old posts about a new house you have on the market and sales that have been completed, show off your expertise. Inspire home buyers with a blog post about the perfect herb garden for a rooftop garden or ways to make a small kitchen appear roomy.

#3 – Having a Weak Online Presence

Do you have a website? Is it well-designed and responsive or slow and lacking in information? If you allow for online chat help, do you have staff answering those messages? If you have an email system for booking appointments and never check it, you’re sending clients away. They won’t think you want their business.

Have a strong online presence and make sure you check messages regularly. No one is going to want to wait days for a response. Remember that some people are more comfortable on the phone than online and vice versa. You must be able to respond to everyone in their preferred method of contact without frustration.

A website alone isn’t enough. It needs to have a responsive design that scales the screen size and information for today’s smartphone user. You need to have quality images and a design that matches your intended business message. What would help your clients? A built-in mortgage calculator that helps them understand how much they can afford is one of the best tools to add to your site, but it’s not the only one.

#4 – Missing Out on Lead Generation

You can’t rely on buyers or sellers to come to you. They have dozens of choices. They’re not going to choose you just because you advertise more than another realtor. You need to spend hours each day looking for new leads and potential business.

Homeowners often think they can sell their own home with ease. It’s not as easy as it looks. Attending for-sale-by-owner open houses is a great way to generate leads. You’ll find potential properties for the clients you do have. Plus, you can hand out your business card and offer them advice. If they don’t get the results they want selling the house on their own, your name is going to be in the front of their thoughts.

Social media can help generate leads. You have to be smart about it. You could hold a contest and offer a discount on your commission. Consider offering a free moving truck rental with every home sale. If it will save the buyer money after spending a lot to close the sale, it’s going to generate interest.

How Do You Bring It All Together?

The first step to planning a successful real estate marketing campaign is to consider your budget. Be realistic. You don’t want to spend more than you can earn, but you shouldn’t be cheap either. You need to find the sweet spot in terms of budget. The U.S. Small Business Administration suggests small businesses spend an average of 2.5% of their gross income on marketing. Larger businesses should go as high as 20%. A survey of marketing professionals found that many spend an average of 12%, but some go as high as 40%.

One of the problems realtors face is the lack of manpower. Many realtors have to handle marketing on their own. If you’re devoting all hours to your clients, as you should be, what time is left to properly market your agency? Successful agents find it’s best to hire a professional. It leads to better results and costs less than hiring a full in-house marketing team.

Factory 360 helps plan all angles of a complete experiential marketing campaign. Our experts can build or redesign a website that will draw traffic. They can help with social media integration, and come up with a design that matches your message. Call us and let us show you how we can help you achieve your goals.