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Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Lisa Gray

Lisa Gray
105 POSTS 0 COMMENTS
Lisa is an accomplished marketer with years of expertise in direct response marketing, digital marketing, data analytics and business development working with both B2C and B2B.

Keep Buyers Interested

The importance of video within the real estate industry applies more to listing agents than buyers’ agents, at least according to a six-year-old study. Results of the study found that 73 percent of homeowners want a listing agent who uses video to market homes.

Avoid the top 3 mistakes

Despite knowing that videos may not be popular with all homebuyers, offering them to your listing clients is mandatory. As mentioned above, most want a video of their home and they expect it. Not giving your listing clients what they want is a big mistake.

As long as you are committed to creating a video, why not create one without the mistakes, so often seen online:

  • Overly-dark videos
  • Camera shake
  • Amateur/homemade look

The following are the three most common listing video mistakes and how to correct them.

Mistake 1- Penny-pinching

The old saying that “you get what you pay for” might not have been coined by a real estate agent who pinched pennies and obtained poor quality work, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was.

Videographers do charge money for their services, but they may not be as expensive as you think. In fact, we did an informal, non-scientific, cursory web search for prices and find professionals offering their services for as little as $200.

There are some photographers who offer packages which include a video walkthrough of the home. For instance, one Phoenix, Arizona photographer charges a reasonable $400 for a package that includes 25 photos, HD walkthrough video, twilight photos and a virtual tour.

Remember, your listing videos will most likely become examples in the marketing plan you show potential listing clients. Will they be examples of how you cut corners or will they show home sellers that you will pull out all the stops to sell their homes?

Mistake 2 — Not ensuring your videos do double duty

Sure, the purpose of the video is to market your listing, but videos do double duty, according to Forrester Research. Videos are 50 times more likely to show up on the first page of Google search results than text pages, if they’re optimized, according to research.

Why not leverage the power of YouTube to benefit your business while also promoting your client’s listing?

The Fix:

Mashable’s Nate Elliot suggests doing the following:

  • Use your keywords in the video’s title, tags and description when you upload it to YouTube.
  • After uploading the video to YouTube, embed it on your website. According to Elliot, Google considers “how many times a video is viewed, and any views embedded videos receive on your own site get added to the ‘views’ tally on YouTube.”
  • Create a video sitemap.
Mistake 3 – Too long, didn’t watch

When something becomes such a common, annoying practice that an acronym is created (tl;dw) stands for “too long, didn’t watch”, you know it’s best to avoid the practice.

Americans are busy. We also tend to have the attention span of a kitten – and are as easily distracted. YouTube says that visitors typically watch for 3.5 minutes.

The National Center for Biotechnology Information, on the other hand, claims that the average amount of time spent on a single video is 2 minutes and 42 seconds.

And, if you don’t get their attention in the first 10 seconds, kiss them goodbye.

In fact, research shows that you’ll lose 30 percent of viewers within the first 30 seconds of your video and, when it reaches the one-minute mark, another 45 percent will leave.

So, plan on putting the most important stuff up front and keep the entire video as short as possible.

Nearly 90 percent of the homebuyers surveyed by NAR found “photos very useful,” while only half of them said the same for real estate videos. Don’t make the common mistakes of other agents that result in unwatchable videos.

Follow the above guidelines to produce listing videos that enhance your marketing and sales efforts and keep your clients smiling.

Another way to capture the attention of home buyers is to send Property Showcase Just Listed postcards to the area surrounding your new listing.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list tool to create the ideal list or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are 3 free ways we can help you CRUSH IT in 2018!

1. The Free 2018 Real Estate Business Plan.

Treat your business like a business it is vital to long-term success in this industry. Some agents may put together elaborate business plans, yet there’s something powerful about keeping it simple. Check out our one page Online Real Estate Business Plan  – Click Here

2. The Free Online ROI Calculator. 

Consistency and automation are the keys to success. Discover how effective direct mail marketing can dramatically increase your bottom line. Enter your statistics in our Free online ROI Calculator and click the ‘CALCULATE MY ROI’ button to see your results instantly! – Click Here

3. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan.

The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Listing Inventory, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence – Click Here  – Click Here

Also…check out these cool tools 🙂

 Three Click Postcards – Just snap a home photo & create a postcard all from your mobile phone

MLSmailings.com – Automated Just Listed, Just Sold Postcards

Market Dominator System – Become a neighborhood brand

Want to Refer a friend or colleague? Refer them, Here. THEY get a Free $25 Gift Card and YOU become their hero!

Convert More Leads to Listings

If your blog isn’t performing in a way that is resulting in new potential listing traffic, it may be time for a tune-up.

Yes, we get that you’re busy, but this process is painless and can be done in pieces so you won’t have to take an entire day or evening to get it done.

Best of all, these tips will help improve your site’s visibility, your visitor’s experience and you won’t have to hire a web developer.

Fix broken links

Broken links on your blog return 404 errors to your users. They become frustrated and click away. As a result, you’ve lost them and probably for good. Broken links also impact your search engine ranking.

In essence, broken links are broken promises, so the first step in the blog tune-up is to check for and fix them.

There are several easy and free ways to do this:

  • WordPress site? Install “Broken Link Checker”. You can find a walk-through of the process (it’s quite easy) at Org.
  • Check My Links – a Chrome browser extension that checks all the links on a page. Find it in the Chrome Webstore.
  • Xenu Web Sleuth – it’s a rather odd-looking website, and you’ll need to download the software, but according to many, it’s one of the best, free ways to check for dead links.

Remove any dead links that can’t be replaced and update those that can.

While you’re in “link” mode

How is your internal linking structure? Linking from one blog post to another on your site keeps your reader engaged longer on your blog. In addition, search engine spiders love internal links.

Go through some of your most popular blog posts and find opportunities to link to other posts on your site.

Add some bling

Blog posts with compelling images are read more often than those that offer poor images. Therefore, check your blog post images and replace any that may be doing more harm than good.

Try using Canva.com to create overlays on your photos to give them that Pinterest look. It’s free and, once you get the hang of it, quite easy to use.

You can find free images online at:

  • Pixabay
  • Pexels
  • Morgue File
  • New Old Stock (vintage photos)
  • SkitterPhoto (click on “Browse Free Photos)
  • Unsplash

Fix blog format problems

The name of the game when writing a blog post is “white space.” Don’t torture your visitor with great, big blocks of text. Break it up with short paragraphs, the use of images, quotes, subheadings and bulleted lists.

Throw out everything you learned in English composition. You aren’t writing for a teacher, you’re writing for someone who typically scans text online. If it appears on the first scan to be too much of a chore to read, they’ll leave.

A good rule of thumb is to break up any paragraph that exceeds five sentences in length.

How’s your call to action?

If you hope to convert your blog visitors to leads, you’ll need effective “calls to action”. Any money and effort you expend to drive traffic to your blog is wasted if your posts lack this critical component.

Your call to action must consist of the following:

  • Make it unique
  • Use enticing offers
  • It must be prominent
Check your post titles

We get it, you’re not a copywriter. That doesn’t mean, however, that you should neglect the most important component of each post, the title.

A compelling, descriptive headline can mean the difference between the reader leaving or staying. It also impacts whether they click on the post’s link when you share it on social media.

Look at each headline and ask yourself if you would be compelled to read on if it weren’t your blog. If not, fix the ones that don’t work.

Magazine covers are ideal places to look for ideas on how to write catchy blog titles.

Order at least 100 of the Free Report, “5 Reasons Why Your House May Not Sell”, and use them as an opt-in on your blog site.
Also, for extra lift add them as a “call to action” on all of your marketing pieces.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list tool to create the ideal list or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are 3 free ways we can help you CRUSH IT in 2018!

1. The Free 2018 Real Estate Business Plan.

Treat your business like a business it is vital to long-term success in this industry. Some agents may put together elaborate business plans, yet there’s something powerful about keeping it simple. Check out our one page Online Real Estate Business Plan  – Click Here

2. The Free Online ROI Calculator. 

Consistency and automation are the keys to success. Discover how effective direct mail marketing can dramatically increase your bottom line. Enter your statistics in our Free online ROI Calculator and click the ‘CALCULATE MY ROI’ button to see your results instantly! – Click Here

3. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan.

The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Listing Inventory, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence – Click Here  – Click Here

Also…check out these cool tools 🙂

 Three Click Postcards – Just snap a home photo & create a postcard all from your mobile phone

MLSmailings.com – Automated Just Listed, Just Sold Postcards

Market Dominator System – Become a neighborhood brand

Want to Refer a friend or colleague? Refer them Here. THEY get a Free $25 Gift Card and YOU become their hero!

Our Three Contest Winners From June are Revealed Below!

Thank you, everyone, for the incredible reviews we received in June! We really appreciate the time you have taken to give us your feedback.

Remember, if your name isn’t announced in this month’s contest, a new contest starts in July with new opportunities to win!

Our First Winner of the $100 ProspectsPLUS! Gift Card is  – McKee Smith

McKee shares his experience using ProspectsPLUS! with the following feedback.

“I’m a relatively new agent and have sent two mailings with ProspectsPLUS!”

“The service was great – they even called me when there was a minor question combining two mailing lists. I will use them again!”

McKee’s Latest Marketing Purchases – Fencesitter Series, Upload Your Own Design, Expired Series
Our Second Winner of Our $100 ProspectsPLUS! Gift Card is – Catherine Stevens

Catherine shares her experience using ProspectsPLUS! with the following feedback.

“I have had great results when farming with ProspectsPLUS! postcards.”

“Once set up, it’s really easy to continue the farming. So excited to have found this!”

 

Catherine’s Latest Marketing Purchases – Just Sold Postcard Series
Our Third Winner of Our $100 ProspectsPLUS! Gift Card is – Ruth Pancoast

Ruth shares her experience using ProspectsPLUS! with the following feedback.

“I have always been very happy with the products from ProspectsPLUS!”

“I will continue to use them for my mailings.“

                 
Ruth’s Latest Marketing Purchases – Doorhangers, Real Estate Newsletter, Neighborhood Specialist

Take the lead from McKee, Catherine and Ruth and send at least 100 listing generating Postcards to an area where you want more listings.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list tool to create the ideal list or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

Engage the right audience

Ok, I’ll say it: some real estate clients are better than others. The qualities that go into the making of the ideal client are subjective, but the fact remains that your favorite clients, financially and otherwise, are head and shoulders above the rest.

So, how can you attract more like them and fewer of the others?

It starts with your branding. Since it’s the chief attractor of leads, improving your branding will help you attract more of the leads you are seeking.

You are your branding

Scary, right? Unless you are the agent that has spent a great deal of time working on your brand, what you are putting out there may appear unfocused and too general.

Let’s break it down and see where you might need a new strategy.

First, who is your target client? And, no, “anyone with a pulse” isn’t the correct answer. In fact, pursuing all real estate consumers is one of the most common mistakes real estate agents make. When you try to be the “every agent” to everyone, you lack focus and your brand gets watered down.

Instead of standing out, you blend in.

Take some time to think back on your past clients, picking out those you truly enjoyed working with and who were most profitable. See what each of them have in common and then write out their client profile, combining the commonalities among those on your list.

Focus in

Are you suffering a brand identity crisis? It happens frequently when agents don’t take the time to focus on a target client pool.

For instance, suppose the primary real estate consumers in your area are Gen Xers with a family and a home to sell before they buy another. However, your blog posts and social media shares are about condos and your happy hour cocktail client events don’t speak to the primary client pool at all.

Once you have narrowed down your ideal client, it’s time to customize your brand (and content is a main component) to appeal to and speak to that client.

When you strategically focus your brand’s “voice,” you’re more likely to attract the clients you prefer.

Keep it simple

Hopefully, your brand communicates to potential clients in a way that engages them. Unless you’re a strictly luxury home agent, this means keeping your web content and blog posts simple – writing in plain English and at a 9th-grade level.

Sounds weird until you understand that the average American adult reads at a 9th-grade level, although studies show that we prefer to read at a 7th-grade level, according to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy.

Other studies show that nearly 80 percent of us don’t really read the words but scan the content. Therefore, the average reader isn’t looking for flowery prose, real estate jargon they can’t decipher, clichés or self-promotion.

And, whatever you do, avoid trying to sound like every other agent in town.

“Would you go to a dinner party and repeat what the person to the right of you is saying? Would that be interesting to anybody? Why are so many businesses saying the same things at the biggest party on the planet — the marketplace?” Jason Fried, co-founder of Basecamp asks in an article at Inc.com.

Keep your content simple in vocabulary, friendly and engaging while you supply your ideal client with the real estate information he or she craves. How’s the current market? What step should I take next?

Your brand’s voice, evident in your content is important, but it’s speaking to an empty room if you don’t promote it. Use social media channels and direct mail marketing to push out your branded content and bring more eyes back to your website and more calls to your phone.

Brand voice is just one part of a brand, but, for real estate agents, it may just be the most important aspect.

Are you currently focused on attracting sellers? What do sellers want more than anything? Buyers!
Send the I Have a Buyer postcard from the Listing Inventory Series to 100 prospects in an area where you want more listings.

Need help targeting buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list tool to create the ideal list (it’s easy) or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are 3 free ways we can help you CRUSH IT in 2018!

1. The Free 2018 Real Estate Business Plan.

Treat your business like a business it is vital to long-term success in this industry. Some agents may put together elaborate business plans, yet there’s something powerful about keeping it simple. Check out our one page Online Real Estate Business Plan – Click Here

2. The Free Online ROI Calculator. 

Consistency and automation are the keys to success. Discover how effective direct mail marketing can dramatically increase your bottom line. Enter your statistics in our Free online ROI Calculator and click the ‘CALCULATE MY ROI’ button to see your results instantly! – Click Here

3. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan.

The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Listing Inventory, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence – Click Here

Also…check out these cool tools 🙂

Three Click Postcards – Just snap a home photo & create a postcard all from your mobile phone

MLSmailings.com – Automated Just Listed, Just Sold Postcards

Market Dominator System – Become a neighborhood brand

Want to Refer a friend or colleague? Refer them Here. THEY get a Free $25 Gift Card and YOU become a hero!

The right audience

Before you can sell anything to anyone, you must reach the right audience.

Your first step in creating a marketing plan for your new listing is to figure out and target the right buyer. The following are some avenues that will help you narrow down the buyer pool.

Go to the source

Talk to your listing client about their neighbors – are they primarily young families, older couples with kids still in the home, retirees, singles?

Location, as you know, is very important in determining a home’s value, but it can also help you pinpoint the likely buyer. Make note of it’s proximity to anything that is popular with homebuyers:

  • Quality schools
  • Shopping, dining and entertainment venues
  • Parks
  • Walking/biking paths
  • Beaches
  • Recreational opportunities, such as ski resorts, golf, equestrian center

The home holds clues

Everything from the price of the home to the square footage can serve as clues to help you narrow down your target market. For instance, smaller, single-story homes may be attractive to older clients while larger, roomier homes in the suburbs are hot with Gen X.

Also, consider any amenities the home offers. Homes with playrooms or a den are ideal for families. Backyards might lure pet owners, but backyards with space for entertaining are magnets for several different types of buyers (young professionals, families, etc.)

Then, use demographics to help you further define the buyer. Is this person single or married? Children? How old would you say the buyer is?

You can figure this out by using some of the various studies you’ll find on the internet.

  • Luxury home? A female between the ages of 50 and 60 may be your target. This group of Americans controls more than half of the country’s wealth. One study found more than 60 percent of luxury home clients were age 45 to 54.
  • A home with more than 2,000 square feet of living space, especially with close proximity to a decent school, your likely buyer will be a member of Gen X, with children.
  • Starter home: If it’s located in the suburbs you’ll be visited by both Millennials and baby boomers. If it features a walk-in closet in the master bedroom and a front porch, you’ll attract the former, while a dedicated laundry room, air conditioning, and a patio will attract the latter.

If you find your buyer will most likely be a Millennial, hire a professional photographer to snap the marketing photos. According to a Zillow study, nearly 60 percent of buyers in this generation say professional pictures are an important factor in their homebuying decision.

The bottom line

You may need to come up with profiles for two or more buying groups. If so, distill each one into one persona and keep those specific personas in mind when targeting your marketing.

Once you figure out who to target when marketing your listing, you’ll find that many of your other listing duties fall into place naturally. You can more confidently recommend which items need to be repaired, for instance, and how to stage the home to appeal to the likely buyer.

Now it’s time to determine your target market and create the perfect mailing list, Go Here.
Then send the Waiting, Waiting Waiting postcard from the Fence Sitter – Buyers Series to at least 100 buyers that you have targeted.

Need help targeting those buyers? Use our mailing list tool to create the ideal list (it’s easy) or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are 3 free ways we can help you CRUSH IT in 2018!

1. The Free 2018 Real Estate Business Plan.

Treat your business like a business it is vital to long-term success in this industry. Some agents may put together elaborate business plans, yet there’s something powerful about keeping it simple. Check out our one page Online Real Estate Business Plan – Click Here

2. The Free Online ROI Calculator. 

Consistency and automation are the keys to success. Discover how effective direct mail marketing can dramatically increase your bottom line. Enter your statistics in our Free online ROI Calculator and click the ‘CALCULATE MY ROI’ button to see your results instantly! – Click Here

3. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan.

The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Listing Inventory, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence – Click Here

Also…check out these cool tools 🙂

Three Click Postcards – Just snap a home photo & create a postcard all from your mobile phone

MLSmailings.com – Automated Just Listed, Just Sold Postcards

Market Dominator System – Become a neighborhood brand

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