How can I Market My Real Estate Services? – Marketing Your Real Estate Business for Pros!

Out of all the entrepreneurial ventures there are in the world, real estate services are some of the hardest to get started in. With the large amount of real estate agents and services out in there it can be difficult to get your name out there. Difficult, but not impossible. And for pros like you, we’ve gathered a list of 10 great ways that a new real estate service can market and advertise their business.

1. Run Referral Programs (Client Incentives)

Real estate services are one of those businesses that still work really well with word of mouth advertising. If a friend tells you about a certain restaurant, you are going to go out and try it. The same goes with businesses. If a person hears from a friend how wonderful their real estate agent is, the more likely they will be to ask for that agent’s help in the future.

But here is where the fun part comes in. If you run a program that gives your previous clients an incentive if they refer a friend, then they will be a lot more invested in getting clients to you. It doesn’t have to be huge, but it needs to be substantial. Like maybe a $100 gift card to a nice restaurant.

2. Run Social Media Programs

The internet has opened a lot of doors for real estate services, especially when it comes to marketing. There are plenty of things that you can do that doesn’t take that much time at all. Creating a social media platform on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google+ will give you a large reach. Start by just creating a page for your real estate service and invite all your friends to like it. From there you will just want to regularly post real estate related things that people find funny or interesting. Your audience will naturally grow and people will start to think of you when they need help with real estate.

When you do this, you may want to consider giving the page a catchy name. Something other than just your normal name. This will make it more fun and likeable by others. And it doesn’t have to be that creative either. Just something that sets you apart from the rest.

3. Always Have an up-to-date Blog

While you are working with social media, you might as well start your own blog. Now, you are probably thinking that blogs are outdated, but you’d be surprised at how well they can help you extend your reach. By simply writing and posting one or two blogs a week to your social media platforms, you can build an audience and get better rankings on Google than you would expect. Plus, that means you will have stuff to post on your social media platforms so you don’t have to go searching for something else.

4. Get On Board With The Parade of Homes

When there are events in your community like the parade of homes, you will want to get on the band wagon. If you can get in with one of the parade homes, that would be the best scenario as they will easily draw large crowds that you can pass out your business cards to.

Now, if you can’t get in with a house that is already part of the parade, schedule to have an open house at one of your client’s homes during that same time. People from all over the valley come out of the woodwork to look at all the great homes and if they see an open house they will likely stop in. And viola, you have a drawn a Parade of Homes like crowd without having to pay to get into the parade itself, all of whom you can give your card to.

5. Use Good Old fashion Signs

Never underestimate the power of a sign. Bus bench advertisements, billboards, etc. they are just as useful now as they have ever been. If you have the funds and the ability to do it, you can draw a lot of attention and business by simply putting up signs. Just be sure that you put them in areas where they will be well seen and that they are professionally designed.

Then of course, there are your ‘for sale’ signs. Be sure that the signs you order have your name and number on them. This will be great for exposure for your business as well as for the house you are trying to sell.

6. Have Open Houses

Like we said earlier, an open house is a great way to spread the word about your real estate services. However, you don’t have to wait until the parade of homes comes around to have one. You can have one any time. They can be great for you to spread the word about your business and get exposure for your client’s home. This works especially well if it is a prominent house in a neighborhood. One that all the neighbors have been wanting to see.

While you having your open house, be sure to run contests. This will get you the contact information of a lot of people, especially if you are offering a prize that a lot of them want.

7. Craigslist Ads

There are also some other great tools on the internet that are not only easy to use, but completely free. Craigslist is the modern day classifieds. They are location specific so they are great for anyone trying to market a real estate service. All you need to do is to create a profile, which doesn’t take very long, and then post a small ad listing your services along with your contact info. This way, when people search for real estate on craigslist, you will be right there.

There are other sites like Craigslist that you can use, so pick the ones that you like the best and get to posting.

8. Make a List of Businesses that Frequently Need Help With Real Estate

There are many businesses out there that need to buy or sell real estate as part of their usual transactions. These businesses are great because, if you can get on their list of trusted agents to use, they will just keep bringing business to you. Some businesses include house flippers, investors, and even banks in some circumstances.

These businesses may have fixed up, old, or derelict pieces of property that they want to sell. So, give them a call, or better yet, go down and introduce yourself to them. After that, whether they give you business or not, keep in contact with them. You never know when they will give you a chance.

9. Join a Networking Group

There are many networking groups in the Boise area and many of them have real estate businesses as members of their chapters. This will give you the ability to spread the word quickly to others who have the networks to help you. Join some sort of group and they will help you on the road to success. Some of these cost a bit of money, but it will be worth it.

A networking group will do many things for you. It will help get your name out there, but it will also connect you with other business owners out there that may have other needs that you can help them with. For instance, they may not need a real estate agent, but they might need someone to help with their investments (of which real estate is involved). Who knows.

10. Create and Circulate Useful Infographics

Ok, back up, what is an infographic? Well, in short, an infographic is a graph or chart of any kind that is meant to act as a guide or for quick and easy information. Now, these don’t have to be just bar charts, pie charts, or what have you. They can be flow charts, time lines, and anything else really that will be useful to your potential audience.

Whether it is in an infographic or just some sort of great tool, offer it for free. If you can offer homeowners, other real estate agents, and the general public something for free, that is actually quite cool or useful, your name will be spread around like wildfire as people pass it along.

Now, of course there are many more ideas out there and the right tactics for you may not have been covered in this article. So, we encourage you to keep searching and trying new ideas and new strategies. However, if you want more hands on help, contact the Hughes Group. Our team is dedicated to helping each other build their businesses and quickly and effectively market their real estate services. Call now to find out what the Hughes Group can do for you. Our recruiting team will help you get your business started and going in no time at all.