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3 Key Marketing Tips for the Modern Real Estate Agent

For Sale Sign with QR Code

In today’s fierce Real Estate market you have to stay on your toes. Marketing your open houses, agency, available properties and yourself as a Real Estate agent is a key component to drive business, sales and changing that For Sale sign into a Sold! sign.

As a printing company we get to see what is new and what is working across different markets using different strategies. Here are some key marketing tips inspired by what we have seen work best for real estate agencies and agents in their marketing efforts:

Content is King

1. Apply the Content is King Concept to your Real Estate Marketing Efforts

To begin with, most home buyers want to know what they are getting and how much it costs; They peruse through the property listings on your website and find a few pictures, a list of features and a few bullet points with a sales price which gives them the skinny on the property. But where is the value?

Content is King is a phrase well known to today’s internet marketers, SEO gurus and social media experts. It’s a very successful concept on the web and has been for years, these days even more so. Content adds value to a product beyond its functions or assets. Is there a positive story behind the property, the street or the town? Did someone famous or worth mentioning live there at one point? Content can give a property personality; transforming a house for sale into a home for sale. Words can influence, that’s why Content is King.

 

For Sale Sign with QR Code 2. Modernize your Real Estate Marketing Materials

With the sharp increase in consumer purchases of smart phones, it is a big mistake not to consider incorporating mobile into your Real Estate marketing.

As a home buyer, I can remember the frustration caused by seeing a beautiful house with a for sale sign outside as I drove by and saying to myself: “I can’t wait to get home and look up the listing on that house!”
By the time I got home I had forgotten the address, the Real Estate Agency that was selling it and of course, I didn’t stop to write down the phone number on the sign.  For the Real Estate agent this meant a lost sale or a lost lead at the least.

Behold, the QR Code. It began as a special barcode to track car parts and has evolved into the connection between offline and online marketing. The QR Code can be scanned with a smartphone to display information or initiate an action on the mobile phone.

A For Sale sign with a QR Code on it can lead a person who is interested in the home to a mobile friendly website where they can view pictures and contact the seller or Real Estate agent. QR Codes can also store contact information directly into the mobile phone’s contact list simply by scanning the code. QR codes are open for personal and commercial use. Here is a list of free QR Code readers and generators.

 

Personalize Communications Variable Data Printing VDP3. Personalize Communications

Real Estate agents and agencies have access to a vast amount of data about potential customers and their interests. Too often, this data goes unused to its full potential when in reality, it is bursting with value.

There is a little hidden gem that doesn’t seem to get the exposure it deserves…yet! Only the big ad agencies and corporations seem to be using this technology to their advantage. The printing industry is currently experiencing a digital evolution and from it we have the birth of Variable Data Printing, also known as VDP.

Variable Data Printing is the personalization of each individual piece in a print run. Let’s say you have a database of 5000 potential home buyers and in that database you have details about the type of homes these potential home buyers are interested in purchasing: Cape, Colonial, Ranch, two family, etc.
In your magnificent database of real estate information you also have access to all of the listings of homes for sale that have these features.

Now tie it all together. A printing company with Variable Data Printing capabilities can take your database information (usually in MS Excel format) and customize each printed piece with information pertaining to the recipient such as their name and information related to their home buying interests such as images and open house dates.

Here is a sample Postcard with Variable Data Printing

 

Real Estate Variable Data Printing VDP Postcard

 

Here are the Variable Data Fields:

 

Variable Data Fields in Real Estate PostcardVariable Data Printing is a remarkable technology will absolutely increase your read rate. Most generic postcards are glanced at and discarded. If the recipient sees their name on it, they have a higher probability of reading all of your content and contacting you.

 

 

Have you used QR Codes or Variable Data Printing in your Marketing? What other technologies are you using in your Real Estate Marketing Campaigns?

Please comment below

Giovanni

Print and Design Expert

14 Comments

  • Kristofer Van Wagner
    August 18, 2020

    I do agree that it is important to use technology in the real estate industry, especially during a pandemic. Assuming that I want to start a real estate business, I will definitely consider marketing strategy by utilizing technology. I will heed your advice.

    Reply
  • Octavia
    July 31, 2020

    That postcard example you shared was so helpful! Thank you so much for sharing! Learned a lot of things from your article.

    Reply
  • Skylar Williams
    October 16, 2019

    I like your tip to use a QR code to market for real estate sales. My wife and I are planning to move out of our apartment and we are looking for a real estate agent still. I’ll look for a real estate agent that knows how to modernize their marketing materials.

    Reply
  • Penelope Smith
    September 26, 2019

    I liked that you explained that it would be smar tot consider getting a QR code on your sign. That does seem like an easy way to get people to look at the information about your house. I know that I would rather use a QR code instead of getting a paper flyer.

    Reply
  • Bob
    June 27, 2019

    I love your real estate tips. My wife and I are thinking about moving to Texas, but we need to sell our home. We’ll have to consider getting a realtor to sell the house quickly.

    Reply
  • Bob
    June 21, 2019

    I love your real estate tips. My wife and I are thinking about moving to Texas. We’ll have to hire an agent that can find us a nice home.

    Reply
  • Daphne Gilpin
    June 4, 2019

    Thanks for explaining that good real estate agents will modernize their marketing materials to accommodate the sharp increase of consumers with smartphones. My husband and I need to choose a real estate agent to sell our home soon. I’m glad I read your article because now I can ask potential real estate agents about the efforts they’ve made to modernize their practices.

    Reply
  • Bree Ward
    April 27, 2019

    I like your idea of modernizing the ways or property listing for accessibility lie putting them on phone. My sister is planning to sell her house, and I will advise her to look for real estate companies who do modern listing on the internet just to increase its marketability potential. I will help her find one soon.

    Reply
  • Indianareia
    April 16, 2019

    In my opinion. The successful real estate agents build a real estate website and use an email address connected with the website as the business email. In addition, they have a direct phone line and have emails forwarded to that phone.

    Reply
  • Sam Li
    April 3, 2019

    I love what you said about QR codes and how they can store valuable information within them. Using modern design is important when it comes to commercial real estate signs. If I were to work in such an industry, I would make sure to locate the best sign company in my area.

    Reply
  • Penelope Smith
    March 5, 2019

    This is some really good information about real estate. I liked what you said about how it would be smart to modernize your marketing materials. I liked the idea of having a QR code on the listing sign. That could be really helpful for selling a house.

    Reply
  • Kyle
    July 15, 2014

    This is a very informative post. The property market is recovering but is still a little volatile and you do need to be on your toes. I’m really intrigued by the content is king concept. A real estate’s job is difficult and I think most things come with experience but a lot are working from online now. I can definitely see the benefits of high-quality and valuable content. I really like the point of having all information available for the mobile platform because it is true that more and more people search via their phones.

    Reply
  • Richard Saturday Strategy
    January 23, 2013

    This is one great post!!! Real Estate Agents especially starters can learn more on this post ands grow their real estate business in unprecedented levels in the industry! They will be the forefront!! Definitely must shared and recommended!!! Way to go!!!!

    Reply
    • Giovanni
      January 24, 2013

      Thank you for commenting Richard. We firmly believe that real estate agents can benefit from a mixed marketing strategy that involve both online and offline efforts. They compliment each other making the message stronger.
      Thank you for sharing too!

      Reply

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