If you’re a real estate agent or marketing professional in the industry, you’ve probably heard how transformational good marketing can be for business. Sometimes small things can get in the way of all the excellent work you’re trying to do. This article will review some of the top mistakes real estate agents make when marketing themselves in 2021 and how to avoid them.
Relying on Overpriced Media
I see agents & brokers all too frequently blow their entire marketing budget on overpriced media. Was the cost of your direct mail campaign worth paying $4K, or would that $4K have reached more people through a Facebook or Google Ads ad campaign? I believe that there is no such thing as “dead” media, only overpriced media.
Revenue/Cost = ROAS
You just have to decide if it’s worth the cost; look at your return on ad spend (advertising revenue/advertising cost = ROAS) and calculate how much you’re generating. Was the lead that came through from your TV commercial worth the $4K monthly advertisement cost? There are a few ways to evaluate media effectiveness, but if your primary goal is to generate leads, look at your cost/lead and the ROAS of your media tactic.
In many cases, you will find that brands need to optimize their budget and adjust their media mix to better-priced media.
Relying Too Much on Your Brokers Brand
Marketing and advertising is an investment and should be something you invest in yourself. When I work with real estate agents, I typically have to remind them that their primary goal should not be to improve the brand awareness of the brokerage; we want to invest in you! Leveraging your broker can be a good tactic for improving your brand awareness, but it should not be the sole objective.
It is important to note that you need to disclose your brokerage in your advertisements in almost all cases. If it is not a requirement where you live, it is still a good practice. Here are a few things you can do to invest in yourself:
- Create a website for yourself, separate from your brokerage. An example of this would be mattmorelandrealtor.com. That way, your clients can find you even if you change brokerages.
- Learn your brokerages brand and advertising standards. Understanding your brokers’ brand standards will help you leverage brokers’ brand awareness to improve your own. Here is an example of Keller Williams’ brand standards. Be sure to ask your broker if they have a copy of their brand standards or marketing standards. If they do not, look for consistencies in the brokers’ marketing material and use those as a guide.
- Set the focus on yourself when you create your social media pages; leave your brokerage out of the name, but include it in the page description. For example, you would want your page name on Instagram to be “@mattmorelandrealtor” instead of “@mattmorelandBROKERAGE.”
Refusing to Optimize Media
Imagine you have been running TV, Google Ads, and billboards in the area. You have generated a few leads from prospective buyers and received plenty of compliments from friends and family who have seen your advertisements. It’s time to decide if you will continue to run the same media mix next quarter. Do you do it?
When evaluating our marketing mix, we need to try to step back and ignore our own experiences. We might passionately believe in a platform because of our own experiences, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best thing for your business. Try it out, and if you don’t generate the results you are looking for, you will need to change one of two things; what you’re doing and how you’re doing it.
Advertising people who ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of enemy signals.
David Ogilvy, Ogilvy on Advertising
Taking a step each month to evaluate media performance is going to improve your results over time significantly.
Not Writing a Marketing Plan
One of the most important marketing concepts to always keep in mind is the “sales funnel.” There are endless variations, but one of the simplest examples is the 3-tier funnel consisting of awareness, consideration, and conversion.
Your clients will naturally fall into one of these tiers; the closer they are to the bottom of the funnel, the more likely they are ready to convert soon. Typically, generating brand awareness will make lead generation more effortless and less expensive in the future. It is crucial to reach prospective consumers and say, “when you are ready to buy, think of me first.”
