REALTORS® Strive to Reach Consumers in New, Creative Ways
by Kathy Erb and Robert Treadway
AvantEdge Features
When IBM engineer Craig Newmark began sending e-mails in 1995 to tell his friends about social events in the San Francisco area, no one would have imagined his e-mail list would morph into the popular online classified bulletin board now found at www.craigslist.org.
Today, REALTORS® in many major cities take advantage of the free service by posting their listings on the site, which has categories for everything from real estate to job postings and personal ads. The site was featured last year in USA Today, which reported that craigslist.org receives 3.6 million visitors a month. Since then, that number has doubled.
Luigi Perri of Provincial Real Estate, Inc. in Sterling, Va., says all agents in his company are encouraged to post listings on craigslist.org due to the outstanding rate of success.
Provincial Real Estate, like many real estate firms nationwide, is going beyond the standard marketing methods of advertising in local newspapers and mailing listing cards.
KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
For top-producing agent Stacie Turner with Long & Foster Real Estate, home is where the heart is for her business. Turner, who was named 2003 Rookie of the Year by her local REALTOR® association, lives in the Friendship Heights area of Washington, DC, and decided to stake her claim in her neighborhood.
She mails a quarterly newsletter, The Appreciation Quarterly, to more than 10,000 residents in the District's Ward 4. Her newsletter includes a column from the Ward's Councilperson, articles by a lender and a title company, and a column featuring her opinion of the market in the DC area and in Ward 4 specifically. She markets her listings and features her most recent sales and properties under contract in the newsletter.
"I have gotten so many clients from it," Turner said. "People living in Ward 4 will contact me or a client will tell me that a friend who lives in Ward 4 recommended me based on the newsletter."
Julie Carr of Marketing Matters in Gaithersburg, Md., says the most dramatic success stories recently have come from marketing plans such as Turner's. Carr recommends using mailings to demonstrate that you know a neighborhood well.
"Many of our clients will send out a series of four postcards on a listing, but also a calendar of events for the neighborhood to show that he/she knows that neighborhood," she said.
She also recommends "picking an area and sticking with it" by constantly farming it instead of sending an occasional mailing to several areas.
PICK YOUR NICHE
If geography isn't your strong suit, following one of the most common marketing tips may be easier: Specialize! This may seem like a forgone conclusion, but most agents don't follow this advice.
Bryan Boyle of Keller Williams Realty in Houston, has found much success by becoming a member of GayRealEstate.com. For home buyers and sellers, GayRealEstate.com is the leading source for finding a GLBT-friendly agent who represents and understands his/her rights and issues. For REALTORS®, it's a powerful online lead generator and a way to tap into the newly-discovered DINK (dual income, no kids) sector of the market.
"I signed on as an agent with GayRealEstate.com early in 2006. I've already had three clients settle and many more in my pipeline. The prospects I receive from GRE are consistently high quality leads -- they're serious about buying and/or selling," Boyle said. "GRE is one of the most fruitful lead generating services for me. I appreciate the opportunities GRE presents me to be of service to the GLBT community."
IN YOUR FACE
Imagine: Your face next to that head of lettuce you just put in your shopping cart. Renee Okon of RE/MAX Realty Services in Silver Spring, Md., has found success placing ads on shopping carts and on the back of cash register receipts at four area Giant Food Stores.
"There are many agents in Silver Spring who have been working a long time and I felt I had to get out there and get my name recognized," said Okon. "The grocery store is one place where I can reach a mass market without spending lots of money."
Okon includes a coupon on the cash register receipts in some areas for a $500 credit to buyers who use her services and a credit for $1,000 to sellers if she does not sell their home in 30 days. She says people hang on to the receipts and contact her when they are ready to buy or sell a home. Her multi-media approach includes an ad that runs before the movie starts at a nearby movie theater. "I have gotten many comments on that, so I know I'm reaching people," she said.
Okon has also made contacts through the church she attends.
"I place a notice on the back of the church bulletin," she said. "If anyone from the church uses my services I give 10 percent of my commission to the church. This serves two purposes: It allows me to give back to the church and to get my name out. I'm a reader at the church, so I am involved."
Okon has conducted three transactions in the past year as a result of her ad and involvement in the church. Okon adds that she placed an ad in the bulletin of another church, but because it was not one she attended, she did not receive any response.
"If people can't identify you in their lives, it won't work," she cautions.
IT'S A WEB, WEB, WEB, WEB WORLD
According to the National Association of REALTORS®' 2005 Profile of Homebuyers and Sellers, 77 percent of homebuyers use the Internet to search for homes and 15 percent of all homebuyers first learn about the home they buy on the Internet.
Presenting a property on the Internet is an integral part of marketing for the Lockard, Lusk and McCormick (LLM) Group of Tutt, Taylor and Rankin Sotheby's International Real Estate in South Florida.
"When we get a new listing, we immediately call HomeVisit.com to take digital photographs of the property for a color flyer and a virtual tour for the Web. We put the virtual tour on our company Web site, the Web site for our group (www.llmgroup.com), and REALTOR.com," said Daniel Lusk, a LLM Group partner. "It's just second nature."
Or, if you are Sally Hamidi of RE/MAX Allegiance, you seize an opportunity to service an underserved market -- albeit via the Web.
Through friends and acquaintances, she heard horror stories of how some agents would turn up their nose, or turn and run, at the mention of the word "rental." In June, Hamidi launched CityLightsRentals.com. The site basically serves as a landing page before potential clients click through to access her specialized portal into the local MLS listings to which she is subscribed.
"Demand has been through the roof! I've had to hire an assistant to help show all the properties," she said. "I've gotten so many comments from people saying `Thank you for providing this service. No other agent would help us search for a rental.'"
Hamidi said most of the money spent on the project is for marketing, but the Website was relatively inexpensive to create and well worth it as she has already recouped money spent on marketing.
Marc Fleisher of Long & Foster Real Estate (named a "Top Producer in the Nation" by REALTOR® Magazine) agrees about the importance of the Internet in reaching buyers. "The Internet is the greatest single use of marketing efforts," Fleisher said.
He said he has had luck with Ziggs.com, which guarantees his profile will come to the top of the search results when someone uses a search engine to find him. Marketing yourself, he said, will benefit your sellers by better preparing you to market their property.
DIVERSITY IN PRINT
Noticing the characteristics of a home and what facilities are close to it may help you identify the best place to advertise.
"If I'm listing a home within walking distance of a synagogue, I may place an ad in Jewish Week to reach an orthodox population who would find value in that," Fleisher said. He adds that for homes that are wheelchair accessible, he advertises it in the local senior citizen publication.
Newspapers such as La Nacion USA enable you to reach the growing Hispanic population. The newspaper distributes 15,000 copies daily in the mid-Atlantic region and has a special weekly real estate section. The paper also provides free translation of ads from English to Spanish.
NEIGHBOR TO NEIGHBOR, FACE TO FACE
"I think being involved in the community in which you live is extremely helpful," said Daniel Lusk. "When I'm at a neighborhood party or a fundraiser, I find that every one is interested in real estate and wants to talk about it. They will ask about a certain house or if I know of any projects."
Jackie Simon, who was honored as a "Hometown Hero" by NAR in 2002 for her work on behalf of the disabled, agrees that community involvement in a variety of areas helps you reach a number of people. She has also been heavily involved with organizations promoting fair housing and homeownership.
"There are a lot of opportunities out there for those who want to be involved. If you involve yourself in community work, people in these communities will call on you when they need something," Simon said.
Working through churches and advocacy groups is also helpful, according to Simon. "If there is a certain market you are trying to reach, such as minority groups, identify community leaders and approach them. When I was working on affirmative marketing, I looked in the Yellow Pages to identify minority churches, such as Asian or Latino churches. I wrote short articles for their newsletters, having articles translated into Spanish," she said.
In reaching out to seniors, Simon wrote a couple of short articles and sent it to organizations such as AARP, the Gray Panthers, the Fossils and the Commission on the Elderly. She also participated in senior fairs held throughout the region.
THE BIG PICTURE
Reaching the right person or family for a home may take some creative outreach and effort, but most agents concur that creativity wins the day -- and the deal.
"I think many REALTORS® rely too much on multiple listings and there are many other ways to market," Simon said.
Okon agrees and advises to look at marketing as a long-range plan.
"I look at success as a phone call, not necessarily a sale. Find a target group and choose something you'll stick with in order for it to work," she said.
"Stick with a well-thought-out plan of specifics, remain focused on the client's needs and your credibility, reputation and business will build automatically."
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