11 Powerful Real Estate Marketing Ideas

Have you been looking for ways to sell your property? The competition in the market for home buyers can be fierce, which is why you need to differentiate yourself to sell your house faster with creative ideas.    These tips will also help you stay ahead of your competition. Create catchy content to capture leads When you have a property to sell, consider coming up with content that will deliver value to your intended audience as well as engage them. For instance, a free ebook can work wonders for you.  You could create an e-book with the title, ’30 valuable things Nigerians should consider before buying a home.’ Another example is an e-book with the title ’40 crucial things to look out for in a new home.’ The catch in creating this free ebook is to give it out for free in exchange for email addresses and zip codes. it is a brilliant way to get leads. You can then nurture these leads with timely and valuable content on a regular basis so that you are top of mind when they make the decision to buy or rent property. Work with a professional photographer Let’s be honest, no matter how great your property is, poorly captured photographs will hurt the interest of potential buyers in your house. You should not compromise when it comes to photos of the property because a successful real estate business relies heavily on the amazing pictures. What you should do is hire a professional photographer. If you can find one with vast experience in architecture and taking pictures of homes, the better your chances of selling your property quickly. Alternatively, if you have a camera and all the tools you need to take a really good picture, you can capture them yourself but be sure that you are capable of getting good pictures. Consider creating a niche If you find yourself in a situation where the competition to lock down property buyers is becoming difficult, we suggest that you strongly consider creating a very specific niche for yourself. For instance, instead of being a property agent for houses to rent in Lekki, you could become a property agent for single and working people in Lekki Phase 1 or an estate agent for families with children. The idea is to come up with something very targeted. Establishing yourself as an expert in a particular niche would go a long way in improving your marketing in the niche you have created for yourself. This works wonders in a market where the competition is really fierce.

Emotional storytelling works Storytelling has everything to do with your business of real estate marketing. The secret with storytelling is that the moment you learn and understand how to tell a good story, your audience is always going to want more and this is where you want to be when you are into property marketing. You can use a good emotional story around your real estate business to captivate prospective homebuyers and land great deals. Wondering how it works? When you are able to tap connect emotionally with people, they will become your audience. From being your audience, they connect with your story and your brand and eventually become leads. From being leads, they become customers and eventually become loyal customers. Humans respond positively to good stories. Tell them a really good story and customers will come to you.  Send a package after closing a deal Your marketing does not end when you close a property deal with a client. No way! What you should do is to ensure that they remember your name so that there is a possibility that they will share information about you with their family, loved ones and friends who might need to relocate or buy a property in the near future. After closing a deal with a client, you should send a package to him/her/. The package could be anything you might have figured they like from your dealing with them. For instance, it could be movie tickets for two, tickets to a red carpet event, dinner reservation for two at a nice restaurant. Think of something they would really appreciate.

Have a website that offers value Most clients do not sit back and expect things to happen especially when they have to do something like buying a property. Today, your clients eventually put a call through to you, they would have searched Google for the apartment or property that suits their needs and taste. For instance, a young lady who works in Marina and currently lives in Ikorodu could search for apartments in Surulere using the keywords ‘mini flat in Surulere under N300,000’ or ‘affordable house for sale in Yaba.’ This is where you want to be; to have your property or listings come up. However, this cannot happen when you don’t even have a website.  Before buying a property, some prospective buyers go as far as using Google Map to look at the street’s view. They search online for articles that are relevant to their location they intend to rent the property. For instance, a Nigerian who wants to relocate to Lagos could search for Lekki Neighbourhood guide. What he/she is searching for is to see what the neighbourhood has to offer. Does the place have a good road network? Are the social amenities available? Are there gyms, restaurants, beaches and recreation spots within the neighbourhood? They also search the web for good photos of the neighbourhood. If you have a website with the information they need, your chances of transforming leads into customers shoot up. All you have to do is to make it easy for users to access the information. Ensure all your property pages have great pictures and have easy access to Google Maps and Google Earth.  Consider branding Now is the best time to make branding work for you. By branding, we don’t mean spending N3 million on a billboard. Rather, what you should do when you want to sell a property is to brand items like torches, pens, T-shirts, hoodies, water flasks, flash drives and mugs. When you are done branding them, give them out as freebies at events or popular malls to spread the word about your brand by giving them something they are bound to use daily while at work or at home. The better the freebie, the better for your brand. Branding also involves brand credibility, integrity and the market perception of your service. Brand integrity includes clear values, goals, messaging, marketing and brand properties that make it easier for you to sell your property. Write a column for a publication or website If you plan to be effective in selling a property, then it is important that you focus on the local community where you are based. One way to do this is by becoming a columnist for a local newspaper, magazine or website. If you are based in Lagos for instance, you should consider writing for ‘Castle,’ which is a real estate magazine. However, it does not have to be a real estate publication. You should also consider writing for Punch, Guardian, The Nation, Sun or ThisDay newspaper, which also have an online presence.  Writing for a local newspaper is an effective way to reach your audience as most local publications have pages that are dedicated to property. For instance, you can write about how the rise in the cost of property in Lagos is a sign that the city is doing really well. There are quite a number of insights you can share with them and the moment, they consider you an authority, they will reach out to you when they have property-related concerns including if they want to buy a house. Organize a seminar for property buyers You can tap into the home crowd by organising a seminar for your host community. For instance, you could educate them on the basics of what they need to know about buying their first house or how to secure a property loan.  Remember that a seminar about how to buy your first house is the local equivalent of a proper webinar. it takes time and energy to put a seminar together but you are bound to reap where you have sown when those in attendance turn to you when they want to buy a property. Launch an email newsletter The email newsletter is a powerful instrument to establish and maintain a long-term relationship with your audience. To achieve this, you have to collect emails from your website, your local outreach as well as WhatsApp and BBM channels. Ensure that what you are sending your email subscribers emails about are things that they need. Also, take into consideration what stage of the buyer journey they are in order to communicate effectively. Send them information on a new property on the market and tips that help them make better decisions. If you realise that you are in a different geographical space from your audience, you should consider segmenting your subscribers based on their needs and their location. Get a super business card The idea here is a ensure you get a business card that looks really amazing. However, it doesn’t end there. When you have the cards, don’t forget to hand them out at every opportunity you interact with potential clients. Good thing is housing is a basic need, everyone needs a roof over their heads. So, it might surprise you how many leads you could get from a single card.  We hope the tips we have shared here have opened your eyes to new ways through which you can optimise your estate marketing skills. Which was your favourite marketing idea?