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Real estate marketing trends are changing every day, which makes the process of reaching your ideal client a multifaceted one. You can t just have great business cards or an awesome website. You need to have a brand that stands out, an online presence that s consistent, print materials that make an impact and a little bit of technology know-how to evolve as your clients do. If you re new to promoting your business, dive into our real estate marketing starter kit to figure out how to get it all done, while building a consistent and recognizable brand.

Develop a Real Estate Brand That Stands Out

Your real estate brand is critical to your success as a real estate agent. It s what people will remember and what draws them to you in the first place. It s important that your brand is unique, and caters to a niche audience, which means a specific, targeted audience. If you re not sure what your niche is, there are a few questions you can ask to figure it out. Get a pen and paper and jot down some thoughts for the following questions:

• What problem do I solve? Is home buying faster with you? Do you negotiate well?
• What does my competition do poorly? This represents an opportunity for you. Perhaps you ve heard that the lead agent in your area is slow at returning calls. Take advantage of this.
• What do I love, personally? What are your passions? People want to connect with you emotionally, as a person, and bringing this into your brand allows them to do that.
• Who is your ideal client? What do they love and what do they want in a real estate agent?

Use your responses to come up with a short tagline that sums up your brand and what you offer. For example, the tagline for Steele San Diego Homes is Not Your Typical Agents. The goal is to make your tagline short and sweet. If you re struggling with this, remember that your brand may develop as your business does, so start here and see how it evolves over time.

Build a Mobile-Optimized Site With a Home Search

NAR s 2018 Real Estate in the Digital Age report found that 93 percent of people use websites to find their home. What s more, the very first step taken by 44 percent of people was to look for properties online, ahead of contacting a real estate agent (17 percent) or even talking with a friend or relative (6 percent). This is why it s critical, first and foremost, that you not only have a website but that you have a home search bar available for anyone that gets to your homepage. See the example below from Nancy Jenkins, a real estate agent in Burlington, Vermont. If you work with a web developer, they can add this feature for you. If your site is built with WordPress, you can also add it yourself with a plugin like Realtyna Organic IDX plugin + WPL Real Estate. Secondly, your website needs to be optimized for mobile: 76 percent of all buyers found a home on a mobile device and 17 percent found an agent via mobile, according to the same NAR report. Being optimized for mobile simply means that your site loads quickly and looks great on any mobile device. Luckily, this is easy to do. Start by testing your website with Google s Test My Page Speed tool. That will give you a grade out of 100 along with suggestions for how to speed up your site on mobile, if needed. If you don t have the technical expertise, you ll need to work with a web developer to boost the speed of your site. This person can also help improve the look and experience of your site so it works well on any device.

Plan Your Print Marketing Materials

Your real estate marketing plans must include print materials. As a local business, print gives you a way to reach your community directly and effectively. In fact, direct mail, like postcards, have a 5.7 percent response rate with an ROI of 29 percent, according to the 2017 DMA/ANA Rates Report. This is consistently higher than online response rates and ROI, which is another reason why it s important to diversify your efforts. As you put together your print marketing plans, consider the many ways you can market yourself with offline materials. In addition to business cards, you may want to consider the various options available that will allow you to promote yourself creatively and effectively. Here are a few trending print ideas to keep in mind.

Print Marketing Ideas and Templates

? Swag, like coasters and stickers to give to clients or open house attendees. Check out our coaster templates and our sticker templates. ? Flyers, to promote open houses or local events. Check out all of our flyer templates. ? Brochures, to give away at open houses and local events. Check out all of our brochure templates. ? Postcards, to send offers or advertise yourself with direct mail. Check out all of our postcard templates. ? Door hangers, to directly reach your ideal client, without the clutter of mail or social media. Check out all of our door hanger templates.

Stay on Brand With All Marketing Materials, Both Online and Offline

To build a name for yourself, you need to be recognizable. Not just your face, but your entire brand. To do so, it s important that you keep your colors, voice and messaging the same across all platforms, from social media to your website and print materials. When someone goes from your website to your Facebook page, or from a flyer to your Instagram account, they recognize you and your brand. As marketing experts at Deluxe explain, a strong, consistent brand improves recognition, creates trust, supports advertising, build financial value and inspires employees.

Want to dive deeper into branding? Check out this entertaining read from Imaginasium - Why is branding important?

The easiest way to maintain your brand consistency is to develop brand guidelines, which specify your colors, messaging, voice, style of images anything related to look and feel of your brand. To do this, simply put the necessary information into a document that s easily accessible to you or any designer and marketer you work with. This will evolve as your business does, as well, so the first attempt is just a starting point.

Make an Impact With Great Marketing for Your Real Estate Business

Effective real estate marketing requires a multi-pronged approach, allowing to you be available in the digital space, while connecting with your local community via print. Use this starter kit to get a jumpstart on your marketing. With a unique brand, consistent messaging, a digital presence and custom print materials, you ll be one step closer to reaching your audience and attracting your ideal client.

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