4 Major Marketing Mistakes Realtors Make

I talk with a lot of real estate agents, and the same problems come up: 1) it’s extremely competitive 2) while they’ve tried various marketing tactics, none seem to generate many leas and 3) prospects don’t understand the value they provide and want them to lower their prices. In most cases, the reason why their business isn’t booming is that they are making one of the four mistakes below.

1. Not Differentiating Yourself - I can’t tell you how many pieces of mail I’ve received from agents telling me they serve “all your real estate needs!”, that their goal is “to make the entire process stress-free and easy”, that they offer “the most complete, caring and informative service possible”, and that they’d be happy to provide me with a free home evaluation. Doing the same thing as everyone else does not work. It won’t get prospects to remember your name. It won’t convince them that you’re different. And it certainly won’t help them understand why you charge what you do. Differentiating yourself means you can charge a higher fee. Not differentiating yourself means you end up competing on price.
2. Not Focusing on a Niche - Every small business owner I talk with hesitates when I mention the “niche” word. They don’t want to pigeonhole themselves, they say. It seems logical - if they need business, anyone will do. Unfortunately, this will only set you up for failure. The truth is that marketing is expensive, so even if you wanted to reach everyone, you couldn’t - unless you were willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars. There are a number of people you don’t want to do business with -people that live well outside driving distance, that can’t afford your services, that want to do it themselves, or that clash with your personality. We all have people we like doing business with and who value our services. When you market to a niche, you are cherry picking those good clients from all the bad ones out there. And you’re positioning yourself as a specialist that works with a particular subset of problems - first time buyers, investment properties, second homes, vacation homes, lifestyle changes, etc. People feel more comfortable with specialists who are experts in their field.
3. Not Having a Marketing Plan - Most agents I speak with understand they must market. The question is how? There are so many ways to market your services that it can be overwhelming. That’s why taking the time to create a marketing plan is essential to growing your business. A marketing plan helps you get all your thoughts down on paper and evaluate the good ideas from the bad. It helps you narrow down what you want from your business and who you want to help. And then it provides a framework for analyzing which marketing opportunities will work and which won’t.
4. Marketing Your Image Rather Than Your Expertise - Many agents focus on promoting their name and image. They send pictures of them with their families or pets or expect people to remember their name. They then mistakenly call this “branding” themselves or getting the word out about their services. This type of marketing is extremely ineffective because every other agent is doing the same thing - expecting prospects to remember their name. People are terrible at remembering names. They are good at remembering things that are relevant to a current problem they are having. If they are a first time buyer, they are looking for information that explains to them the down payment they need, how to get pre-approved for a mortgage, how to make sure they get a good deal, how to get sellers to reveal what’s wrong with the homes, etc. Each of these is a very specific concern a first time buyer may be thinking about. If you can offer a tip sheet or article that addresses that concern, you’ve captured their attention - a huge step in the marketing process!

Running a successful real estate business - like any small business - is hard work. It takes time, money, and effort to get your business off the ground. But if you can create a niche for yourself and meaningfully differentiate yourself from your competitors, you’ll be well on your way to creating a sustaining business.