The end of the year is creeping up on us and with it comes the inevitable look-back on your real estate business. How’d you do?
If you didn’t get the results you were aiming for, your year-end business planning may require an overhaul of your real estate marketing plan.
It takes money
It may sound like a “well, duh” statement, but a marketing plan requires a marketing budget. Study your current year’s revenue numbers and commit to spending at least that on next year’s marketing.
A couple of years ago, Attom Data Solutions published the results of a survey of real estate agents, brokers, owners, and marketers to determine where they are “spending their largest portion of marketing dollars” and which method brings the best results.
Thirty-five percent of agents spent the most on social media while 20 percent spent the most on buying leads.
Regardless of how you spent your marketing dollars this year, the most important aspect of planning is that look back to figure out what worked and what didn’t. Naturally, you’ll want to reconsider underperforming real estate marketing methods and amp up anything that worked.
Chop your efforts into segments, such as:
- Lead generation
- Client retention
- Building your SOI
Then, decide how much you’ll allocate for each in the budget. Naturally, you’ll want to spend the most on which effort brings you the best results. For some agents, client retention dollars result in the best ROI, while others may choose to go bigger on real estate lead gen.
Even if it’s just 2 percent of revenue, you’ll have enough money to engage and retain current clients “with simple tools and strategies,” according to Chris Beecher, president of thewholebraingroup.com.
Next, determine the strategies you’ll employ, such as social media, paid advertising, blogging, email, and direct mail marketing, and allocate an amount of the budget to each.
The Looking For Listings Series is shown above. To learn more, click Here.
How will you broadcast your marketing message?
How you will market in the coming year depends a great deal on your budget but also on those segments we mentioned earlier. Lead generation is costlier than client retention, so you may want to take a look at some of the less-expensive methods if you choose to focus on the former.
These might include beefing up your social media presence (by blogging more and posting to your preferred social media platforms), knocking on doors, etc.
A planner will help keep you on track
A planner is a must if you hope to keep your marketing efforts on track all year. We offer a Free 6-Month Real Estate Marketing Planner to help with this task (a new 2024 Planner will be available soon, so watch for the announcement in our weekly emails).
Although it’s important to create a coming-year marketing plan for your real estate business, don’t become a slave to it. If something doesn’t appear to be working, replace it with something else.
The key to success in real estate lead generation and client retention is consistency. Having a plan will ensure this.
2. The Free 6-Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan
The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 6-Month Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do and when. Four key market segments include niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here
3. The Free Interactive 6-Month Real Estate Business Review
The Free Interactive 6-Month Real Estate Business Review allows you to enter your business goals for the remainder of the year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closings, and so on are needed to reach your goals. – Click Here
4. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook
Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here