1. YOUR PROFILE AND HEADSHOT
Authenticity is key here. There’s nothing worse for a prospective client to read or see your profile and find it doesn’t match the person they meet in real life. Worse still, your information is not current or up to date. Take time to review and identify your value-add proposition to prospective clients, including:
- What is your ‘stand out’ point of difference and how does it relate to past results?
- What are your achievements over the past twelve months?
- How are you relatable? For example, you might have lived in the area all your life. You’re on the local school’s parents and friends association. You’re a life member of the Lions Club or the auctioneer at the school’s charity.
Your photo should be welcoming and engaging so, most importantly, have fun and smile!
2. VIDEO PROFILE
Once you’ve got a brilliant written profile – and made sure it’s updated across all your digital assets – it’s time to either review your current video profile or find a brilliant videographer and bring your written profile to life!
Remember, video is different from a written profile. It’s always easier and more credible for others to speak about your successes rather than doing it yourself (less ego and arrogance). Think about having your staff, clients or local community members speak about their experiences and dealings with you.
It’s all about being authentic and true to yourself. Don’t be someone you’re not.
3. SOCIAL MEDIA
Consistency is key with social media and there is no better time to start than now! Create a Facebook business page and download your database list into Facebook. There you will be able to target your contacts through their newsfeed. Write a strategy that incorporates recent success, news about community events, competitions and giveaways, property videos, testimonials and blog articles that will inform your marketplace. Become a media company and the recommended authority in your area with relatable content.
As well as Facebook, create an Instagram account and video blog the more human side of real estate through Instagram stories; share the journey, the highs and lows with your followers.
4. WEBSITE
If you haven’t already done so, have an agent website created. This is a fantastic tool to send prospective clients to as an online pre-list kit, as well as for prospective clients who are searching for you online. Items to include are a profile video, recent testimonials (video and written), recent sales and results, current listings and profiles on your team, as well as information to assist buyers and sellers through the property process. This could include tips to sell, how to present your home for sale, step-by-step guide to buying your first home, and so on.
5. ONLINE PRESENCE
This is a great time to jump onto business.google.com and ensure all your business information is correct. If you work for an agency, you can create your own business listing (such as One Agency China – John Doe). Ask friends and past clients to rate and recommend you. This will help with your search engine ranking and ensure that when your prospective clients Google your name they can find your correct phone, email, website and address (and not those of your competitors).
This is a great time to get past clients and business associates to recommend you, not only on Google review but also Facebook and LinkedIn. Don’t be afraid to ask.
6. STRATEGY
Who are you and what do you offer? In a crowded market your message needs to be clear and concise. Create a campaign that will be memorable, based on facts or data.
My team created a twelve-month campaign across all advertising material saying, “Josh Hart sold a home every 4.3 days” based on my days on market, or “Josh Hart, Launceston’s most recommended agent” based on how many reviews I had compared to my competitors. Don’t keep changing the campaign either; you want it to become instilled in the community. I also worked closely with our local advertisers to buy my media packages a year in advance – affording me the best market rate for the advertising space.
7. TESTIMONIALS
What people say about you will hold more credibility than what you say about yourself. Try to collate testimonials from every transaction you’re involved in and create a ‘recommendations’ booklet which you can leave in a pre-list pack, on your website or on your social media. Even better, try to have it as a video testimonial which you can place on social media and have it run as an advert to generate further leads.
There are so many ways you can market yourself to stand out. However, the main rule is to play the long game, be consistent and be authentic. People buy people, and do business with people they trust. Does your marketing show that?
Get ready for a busy spring, and good luck.
