The Ultimate Real Estate Marketing Plan: Template & How to Create

Think of your real estate marketing plan as a roadmap leading you to your destination. Achieving success as a real estate agent takes focus and strategy, and your plan is essential for setting off in the right direction. 

This guide will break down the elements of an effective marketing plan and demonstrate how it can help you optimize your budget while planning your business strategies for maximum impact in your community. Plus, you’ll get access to a downloadable plan to start using as soon as today.

Download Your Real Estate Marketing Plan Template

How to Create Your Real Estate Marketing Plan

Your marketing plan should include details about your activities for the year, including budget, lead gen efforts, and social media outreach. Although, you’ll likely need to make adjustments throughout the year. Creating a strong initial plan will give you a solid foundation to start from, allowing you to modify as you see fit for your business. 

Step 1: Conduct a Market Analysis 

To effectively complete your real estate marketing plan template, it’s crucial to understand your market. Knowing how quickly homes sell in your area and identifying who is buying them will guide your marketing efforts and help determine your target market. 

To gather this information, conduct a thorough market analysis. During this phase, your goal is to: 

• Understand your demographics: Learn who lives in your area to figure out how to talk to your prospects, appeal to their interests, and make valuable connections to prospects considering purchasing in your market.
• Know your competitors: Audit agents sending flyers, using social media in your city, investing in signs, bus benches, billboards, and anything else you see in your community. Study who they are and how they’re marketing themselves.
• Narrow down your geographic farm area: This will tell you where you should focus your business, the clientele you’ll be marketing to, and what methods you should utilize to reach your target audience.
• Learn the market stats: Understand the average days on market (DOM), absorption rates, median home prices, and home sizes, including local amenities. This will tell you what homes are selling, how fast, and for how much. Knowing this lets you effectively discuss your market with prospects.

Pro tip: Research your local community starting with your local MLS. You have access to your community’s data, so dive in and start researching your target market. Utilize other sources, like Realtors Property Resource (RPR), realtor.com, Homes.com, and even Zillow, to learn as much as possible about your area.

Step 2: Create Your Mission, Vision & Values Statement

Your mission, vision, and values (MVV) statement outlines where you want your real estate business to be in the future, how you’ll get there, and the values that drive you. It will help you clearly articulate your business philosophy, differentiate yourself in a competitive market, and build a strong and trustworthy brand that resonates with your ideal clients.

Here’s an overview of what each statement means, as well as an example of what it looks like. For more details, check our guide to crafting your own real estate MVV statement.

Pro tip: Now that you have all the elements to create your mission, vision, and values, print them and post them in your office so you can visualize them daily. These statements will drive every decision you make in your business.

Step 3: Discover Your Ideal Client 

Developing your client personas for buyers and sellers helps you build a brand that attracts your ideal clients. You need to understand who they are, their pain points, their goals, and the obstacles they face. Start by gathering as much data as possible about your geographic real estate farm area’s potential buyers and sellers. 

Here are some data points to consider: 

• Age
• Income
• Family size
• Own or rent? How long?
• Personal buying/selling history
• Tech savviness
• Education level
• Values
• Hobbies
• Interests

Pro tip: If you’ve sold any homes, your ideal client most likely lives in your current sphere of influence (SOI). You can use polls and questions on your social media pages to stay engaged with your network and learn more about how your SOI sees you. Learn more tips on how to build your SOI.

Step 4: Learn Different Real Estate Marketing Strategies

Your marketing plan for real estate gives you many options to show off your expertise, adaptability, and knowledge of the real estate market. That said, a smart marketing strategy utilizes various marketing methods to create more than one lead gen system. Choose the channels that make the most sense for you and your target market.

Digital Marketing

• Online presence: Create your online profiles that allow you to be found online. Set up a system to ask clients to give you reviews.
• Social media: Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn allow you to interact with your clients, sphere of influence, and future clients with engaging content.
• Email marketing: One of the most efficient ways to connect with your database. Time spent building and nurturing your email list is time well spent.
• Website: One of the first things your potential clients will do is look for you online. Make sure they can find your beautifully designed website that gives them more information about who you are and who you serve.

Don’t feel the need to DIY your own site. Trust one of the expert real estate website builders we recommend, like Agent Fire, to design it for you. They will ensure you’re SEO-ready with an elegant, professional site that shows off all that you offer to the clients that work with you.

Traditional Marketing

• Direct mail: Direct email marketing campaigns are an excellent and cost-effective way to reach your specific neighborhoods with your marketing message.
• Print advertising: Real estate print advertising includes magazines, flyers, and brochures for your listings and brokerage.
• Community engagement: Networking events and experiential marketing, combined with open houses are amazing ways to stay connected in person with your community.

Emerging Trends

• Virtual reality tours: Augmented reality technologies and virtual reality tours can expand your reach and put you at the forefront of certain demographics.
• Collaboration: Working with influencers is awesome for cross-pollinating databases and expanding your connections. Use influencers to grow your email list fast.

Step 5: Get Clear on Your Unique Selling Proposition

Your unique selling proposition (USP) is what makes you different from everyone else. To identify your USP, conduct a SWOT analysis on yourself, considering your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. After you’ve completed your SWOT analysis, you will identify what makes you unique and be able to market yourself in the most effective way.

Here are some examples: 

• Example 1: Leveraging over 20 years of unmatched local expertise to navigate the luxury market, ensuring every client achieves their real estate dreams with unparalleled personal service and insider knowledge.
• Example 2: Bringing fresh energy and cutting-edge digital marketing strategies to the real estate market, I empower first-time homebuyers to navigate the buying process with confidence and ease.

Pro tip: It can be hard to conduct an audit on ourselves and our own business. Seek feedback from friends, family, colleagues, and past clients if you’re struggling to get started.

Step 6: Formulate a Budget for Your Marketing Plan

Several factors influence how much money you’ll spend on marketing and which channels you’ll use. However, a general guideline is to allocate around 10% of your monthly income for marketing expenses. Ultimately, it often depends on your target audience and where they are showing up. 

To get started, it’s important to establish some initial figures. Then, once you’ve put your plan into action, return to it after a few months and analyze your results. 

Step 7: Utilize Free Resources 

If you’re newer to the biz and don’t have much for a marketing budget at the moment, utilize some or all of these cost-saving strategies. This will help you keep more money in your pocket while getting the maximum exposure for your real estate business.

Step 8: Set Your Goals & Timeline

A crucial part of creating a marketing plan is establishing goals and timelines to help you achieve what you want in your business. This not only helps hold you accountable but also keeps you motivated. So, let’s get started building your dream business by writing down those goals and giving them deadlines. 

• Short-term Goal: Consider your annual, monthly, quarterly, and weekly goals. This should encompass the gross commission income (GCI) and the number of transactions you’d like to achieve by the end of the year. Then, break down your annual goal into smaller quarterly goals.
• Long-term Goals: Consider where would you like your real estate business to be within the first five years. Then, look further out and consider what you want to accomplish in your real estate business within 10 years.

Pro tip: Reverse-engineer the results you want to achieve and draft action steps to help you get there. Plan out your perfect day by breaking up your day into blocks dedicated to completing certain tasks. Plan out how many phone calls you will make daily, how many emails you will send, etc. Your success lies in the details you set and implement to create your roadmap to get there.

Step 9: Create a Marketing Calendar 

Being hyper-aware of how you spend your time is one of the keys to success in real estate. That’s why creating a calendar is crucial to staying on top of your marketing efforts. Start by creating a month’s worth of content, then decide from there if you want to look ahead six months. 

This calendar can include: 

• Newsletters
• Social media content
• Direct mail campaigns
• Pop-bys
• Holiday marketing

Pro tip: When you get a listing, you’ll need to tackle that marketing as it comes up. Plan open houses and any marketing to promote it at the time of your signed listing contract. To maximize its impact, send postcards such as, Just Listed and Just Sold.

Step 10: Implement Your Marketing Plan

Now that you’ve created your marketing strategy, it’s time to launch it and start bringing in more business. Each piece of content you deliver will boost your reputation in your area. Soon, you’ll see engagement on your posts, people in your DMs, and texts and phone calls from people in your community asking to meet for a cup of coffee to talk about listing their homes. 

• Here are some goals to keep in mind:
• Set aside some time to build out your social media content.
• Set up any print advertising you have on your real estate agent marketing plan and get everything ready to deploy.
• Make sure you have your landing pages set up to capture leads as they come in.
• Don’t forget to automate responses to leads once they are entered into your CRM.
• Make sure everything is running smoothly and make any corrections necessary.

Step 11: Track Your Progress

Congratulations! Your real estate agent marketing plan is up and running. Now you just need to monitor your progress and make adjustments when needed. Don’t panic if you don’t see a lot of leads come in initially. It takes time to develop that know, like, and trust factor. The more people who see you, your posts, and your marketing materials, the more they will feel like they know you. 

Tracking your metrics will give you a good idea of where your traffic is coming from and how well you or your team are converting. The more you know about your leads and your success at converting those leads, the more success you will achieve. 

Here is a short list of some of the most important metrics to track once you’ve implemented your real estate marketing plan:

• Website traffic
• Lead capture rate
• Conversion rate
• Response rate
• Cost per lead
• Cost per client
• Lifetime customer value
• Referral rates
• Engagement rates
• Click-through rate

Pro tip: Once you’ve got your marketing plan up and running, use tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Ads Manager, and your CRM analytics tools to monitor how effective your marketing is. Conversion rates will give you a lot of information about your return on investment. But also look at the length of time for conversions to get a better view of your overall marketing effectiveness. Remember to adjust your marketing efforts based on what your metrics tell you.

Why Is a Marketing Strategy Important? 

Working in real estate sales is just as much about marketing as it is about the properties we sell and the relationships we build. To keep your pipeline full, you need to have a plan in place, which is where your real estate agent marketing plan comes in. 

Here are some key reasons why it’s important to focus on your marketing strategy:

• Client nurturing: It’s important to stay in touch with clients throughout the year. Building and maintaining relationships is a key element of being a real estate agent. 
• Community involvement: Showing your business is a part of the community, not just working in it, will help strengthen your brand image.
• Pipeline preparation: Getting in front of existing and prospective clients could help position you as a go-to resource in your community. 
• Brand awareness: The more familiar people are with you and your business, the more likely they’ll think of you when it’s time to buy or sell.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Your Take

Now that you’ve learned different real estate marketing techniques and how to implement them, you’re ready to hit the ground running. Use this guide to build a marketing plan that’s as dynamic as your business, revisiting and refining it every quarter to stay ahead. Don’t forget to download our real estate marketing plan template to streamline your path to growth. 

Have you used a marketing plan for your real estate business? Let me know in the comments.

The post The Ultimate Real Estate Marketing Plan: Template & How to Create appeared first on The Close.

The Ultimate Real Estate Marketing Plan: Template & How to Create

Think of your real estate marketing plan as a roadmap leading you to your destination. Achieving success as a real estate agent takes focus and strategy, and your plan is essential for setting off in the right direction. 

This guide will break down the elements of an effective marketing plan and demonstrate how it can help you optimize your budget while planning your business strategies for maximum impact in your community. Plus, you’ll get access to a downloadable plan to start using as soon as today.

Download Your Real Estate Marketing Plan Template

How to Create Your Real Estate Marketing Plan

Your marketing plan should include details about your activities for the year, including budget, lead gen efforts, and social media outreach. Although, you’ll likely need to make adjustments throughout the year. Creating a strong initial plan will give you a solid foundation to start from, allowing you to modify as you see fit for your business. 

Step 1: Conduct a Market Analysis 

To effectively complete your real estate marketing plan template, it’s crucial to understand your market. Knowing how quickly homes sell in your area and identifying who is buying them will guide your marketing efforts and help determine your target market. 

To gather this information, conduct a thorough market analysis. During this phase, your goal is to: 

• Understand your demographics: Learn who lives in your area to figure out how to talk to your prospects, appeal to their interests, and make valuable connections to prospects considering purchasing in your market.
• Know your competitors: Audit agents sending flyers, using social media in your city, investing in signs, bus benches, billboards, and anything else you see in your community. Study who they are and how they’re marketing themselves.
• Narrow down your geographic farm area: This will tell you where you should focus your business, the clientele you’ll be marketing to, and what methods you should utilize to reach your target audience.
• Learn the market stats: Understand the average days on market (DOM), absorption rates, median home prices, and home sizes, including local amenities. This will tell you what homes are selling, how fast, and for how much. Knowing this lets you effectively discuss your market with prospects.

Pro tip: Research your local community starting with your local MLS. You have access to your community’s data, so dive in and start researching your target market. Utilize other sources, like Realtors Property Resource (RPR), realtor.com, Homes.com, and even Zillow, to learn as much as possible about your area.

Step 2: Create Your Mission, Vision & Values Statement

Your mission, vision, and values (MVV) statement outlines where you want your real estate business to be in the future, how you’ll get there, and the values that drive you. It will help you clearly articulate your business philosophy, differentiate yourself in a competitive market, and build a strong and trustworthy brand that resonates with your ideal clients.

Here’s an overview of what each statement means, as well as an example of what it looks like. For more details, check our guide to crafting your own real estate MVV statement.

Pro tip: Now that you have all the elements to create your mission, vision, and values, print them and post them in your office so you can visualize them daily. These statements will drive every decision you make in your business.

Step 3: Discover Your Ideal Client 

Developing your client personas for buyers and sellers helps you build a brand that attracts your ideal clients. You need to understand who they are, their pain points, their goals, and the obstacles they face. Start by gathering as much data as possible about your geographic real estate farm area’s potential buyers and sellers. 

Here are some data points to consider: 

• Age
• Income
• Family size
• Own or rent? How long?
• Personal buying/selling history
• Tech savviness
• Education level
• Values
• Hobbies
• Interests

Pro tip: If you’ve sold any homes, your ideal client most likely lives in your current sphere of influence (SOI). You can use polls and questions on your social media pages to stay engaged with your network and learn more about how your SOI sees you. Learn more tips on how to build your SOI.

Step 4: Learn Different Real Estate Marketing Strategies

Your marketing plan for real estate gives you many options to show off your expertise, adaptability, and knowledge of the real estate market. That said, a smart marketing strategy utilizes various marketing methods to create more than one lead gen system. Choose the channels that make the most sense for you and your target market.

Digital Marketing

• Online presence: Create your online profiles that allow you to be found online. Set up a system to ask clients to give you reviews.
• Social media: Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn allow you to interact with your clients, sphere of influence, and future clients with engaging content.
• Email marketing: One of the most efficient ways to connect with your database. Time spent building and nurturing your email list is time well spent.
• Website: One of the first things your potential clients will do is look for you online. Make sure they can find your beautifully designed website that gives them more information about who you are and who you serve.

Don’t feel the need to DIY your own site. Trust one of the expert real estate website builders we recommend, like Agent Fire, to design it for you. They will ensure you’re SEO-ready with an elegant, professional site that shows off all that you offer to the clients that work with you.

Traditional Marketing

• Direct mail: Direct email marketing campaigns are an excellent and cost-effective way to reach your specific neighborhoods with your marketing message.
• Print advertising: Real estate print advertising includes magazines, flyers, and brochures for your listings and brokerage.
• Community engagement: Networking events and experiential marketing, combined with open houses are amazing ways to stay connected in person with your community.

Emerging Trends

• Virtual reality tours: Augmented reality technologies and virtual reality tours can expand your reach and put you at the forefront of certain demographics.
• Collaboration: Working with influencers is awesome for cross-pollinating databases and expanding your connections. Use influencers to grow your email list fast.

Step 5: Get Clear on Your Unique Selling Proposition

Your unique selling proposition (USP) is what makes you different from everyone else. To identify your USP, conduct a SWOT analysis on yourself, considering your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. After you’ve completed your SWOT analysis, you will identify what makes you unique and be able to market yourself in the most effective way.

Here are some examples: 

• Example 1: Leveraging over 20 years of unmatched local expertise to navigate the luxury market, ensuring every client achieves their real estate dreams with unparalleled personal service and insider knowledge.
• Example 2: Bringing fresh energy and cutting-edge digital marketing strategies to the real estate market, I empower first-time homebuyers to navigate the buying process with confidence and ease.

Pro tip: It can be hard to conduct an audit on ourselves and our own business. Seek feedback from friends, family, colleagues, and past clients if you’re struggling to get started.

Step 6: Formulate a Budget for Your Marketing Plan

Several factors influence how much money you’ll spend on marketing and which channels you’ll use. However, a general guideline is to allocate around 10% of your monthly income for marketing expenses. Ultimately, it often depends on your target audience and where they are showing up. 

To get started, it’s important to establish some initial figures. Then, once you’ve put your plan into action, return to it after a few months and analyze your results. 

Step 7: Utilize Free Resources 

If you’re newer to the biz and don’t have much for a marketing budget at the moment, utilize some or all of these cost-saving strategies. This will help you keep more money in your pocket while getting the maximum exposure for your real estate business.

Step 8: Set Your Goals & Timeline

A crucial part of creating a marketing plan is establishing goals and timelines to help you achieve what you want in your business. This not only helps hold you accountable but also keeps you motivated. So, let’s get started building your dream business by writing down those goals and giving them deadlines. 

• Short-term Goal: Consider your annual, monthly, quarterly, and weekly goals. This should encompass the gross commission income (GCI) and the number of transactions you’d like to achieve by the end of the year. Then, break down your annual goal into smaller quarterly goals.
• Long-term Goals: Consider where would you like your real estate business to be within the first five years. Then, look further out and consider what you want to accomplish in your real estate business within 10 years.

Pro tip: Reverse-engineer the results you want to achieve and draft action steps to help you get there. Plan out your perfect day by breaking up your day into blocks dedicated to completing certain tasks. Plan out how many phone calls you will make daily, how many emails you will send, etc. Your success lies in the details you set and implement to create your roadmap to get there.

Step 9: Create a Marketing Calendar 

Being hyper-aware of how you spend your time is one of the keys to success in real estate. That’s why creating a calendar is crucial to staying on top of your marketing efforts. Start by creating a month’s worth of content, then decide from there if you want to look ahead six months. 

This calendar can include: 

• Newsletters
• Social media content
• Direct mail campaigns
• Pop-bys
• Holiday marketing

Pro tip: When you get a listing, you’ll need to tackle that marketing as it comes up. Plan open houses and any marketing to promote it at the time of your signed listing contract. To maximize its impact, send postcards such as, Just Listed and Just Sold.

Step 10: Implement Your Marketing Plan

Now that you’ve created your marketing strategy, it’s time to launch it and start bringing in more business. Each piece of content you deliver will boost your reputation in your area. Soon, you’ll see engagement on your posts, people in your DMs, and texts and phone calls from people in your community asking to meet for a cup of coffee to talk about listing their homes. 

• Here are some goals to keep in mind:
• Set aside some time to build out your social media content.
• Set up any print advertising you have on your real estate agent marketing plan and get everything ready to deploy.
• Make sure you have your landing pages set up to capture leads as they come in.
• Don’t forget to automate responses to leads once they are entered into your CRM.
• Make sure everything is running smoothly and make any corrections necessary.

Step 11: Track Your Progress

Congratulations! Your real estate agent marketing plan is up and running. Now you just need to monitor your progress and make adjustments when needed. Don’t panic if you don’t see a lot of leads come in initially. It takes time to develop that know, like, and trust factor. The more people who see you, your posts, and your marketing materials, the more they will feel like they know you. 

Tracking your metrics will give you a good idea of where your traffic is coming from and how well you or your team are converting. The more you know about your leads and your success at converting those leads, the more success you will achieve. 

Here is a short list of some of the most important metrics to track once you’ve implemented your real estate marketing plan:

• Website traffic
• Lead capture rate
• Conversion rate
• Response rate
• Cost per lead
• Cost per client
• Lifetime customer value
• Referral rates
• Engagement rates
• Click-through rate

Pro tip: Once you’ve got your marketing plan up and running, use tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Ads Manager, and your CRM analytics tools to monitor how effective your marketing is. Conversion rates will give you a lot of information about your return on investment. But also look at the length of time for conversions to get a better view of your overall marketing effectiveness. Remember to adjust your marketing efforts based on what your metrics tell you.

Why Is a Marketing Strategy Important? 

Working in real estate sales is just as much about marketing as it is about the properties we sell and the relationships we build. To keep your pipeline full, you need to have a plan in place, which is where your real estate agent marketing plan comes in. 

Here are some key reasons why it’s important to focus on your marketing strategy:

• Client nurturing: It’s important to stay in touch with clients throughout the year. Building and maintaining relationships is a key element of being a real estate agent. 
• Community involvement: Showing your business is a part of the community, not just working in it, will help strengthen your brand image.
• Pipeline preparation: Getting in front of existing and prospective clients could help position you as a go-to resource in your community. 
• Brand awareness: The more familiar people are with you and your business, the more likely they’ll think of you when it’s time to buy or sell.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Your Take

Now that you’ve learned different real estate marketing techniques and how to implement them, you’re ready to hit the ground running. Use this guide to build a marketing plan that’s as dynamic as your business, revisiting and refining it every quarter to stay ahead. Don’t forget to download our real estate marketing plan template to streamline your path to growth. 

Have you used a marketing plan for your real estate business? Let me know in the comments.

The post The Ultimate Real Estate Marketing Plan: Template & How to Create appeared first on The Close.

The Ultimate Real Estate Marketing Plan: Template & How to Create

Think of your real estate marketing plan as a roadmap leading you to your destination. Achieving success as a real estate agent takes focus and strategy, and your plan is essential for setting off in the right direction. 

This guide will break down the elements of an effective marketing plan and demonstrate how it can help you optimize your budget while planning your business strategies for maximum impact in your community. Plus, you’ll get access to a downloadable plan to start using as soon as today.

Download Your Real Estate Marketing Plan Template

How to Create Your Real Estate Marketing Plan

Your marketing plan should include details about your activities for the year, including budget, lead gen efforts, and social media outreach. Although, you’ll likely need to make adjustments throughout the year. Creating a strong initial plan will give you a solid foundation to start from, allowing you to modify as you see fit for your business. 

Step 1: Conduct a Market Analysis 

To effectively complete your real estate marketing plan template, it’s crucial to understand your market. Knowing how quickly homes sell in your area and identifying who is buying them will guide your marketing efforts and help determine your target market. 

To gather this information, conduct a thorough market analysis. During this phase, your goal is to: 

• Understand your demographics: Learn who lives in your area to figure out how to talk to your prospects, appeal to their interests, and make valuable connections to prospects considering purchasing in your market.
• Know your competitors: Audit agents sending flyers, using social media in your city, investing in signs, bus benches, billboards, and anything else you see in your community. Study who they are and how they’re marketing themselves.
• Narrow down your geographic farm area: This will tell you where you should focus your business, the clientele you’ll be marketing to, and what methods you should utilize to reach your target audience.
• Learn the market stats: Understand the average days on market (DOM), absorption rates, median home prices, and home sizes, including local amenities. This will tell you what homes are selling, how fast, and for how much. Knowing this lets you effectively discuss your market with prospects.

Pro tip: Research your local community starting with your local MLS. You have access to your community’s data, so dive in and start researching your target market. Utilize other sources, like Realtors Property Resource (RPR), realtor.com, Homes.com, and even Zillow, to learn as much as possible about your area.

Step 2: Create Your Mission, Vision & Values Statement

Your mission, vision, and values (MVV) statement outlines where you want your real estate business to be in the future, how you’ll get there, and the values that drive you. It will help you clearly articulate your business philosophy, differentiate yourself in a competitive market, and build a strong and trustworthy brand that resonates with your ideal clients.

Here’s an overview of what each statement means, as well as an example of what it looks like. For more details, check our guide to crafting your own real estate MVV statement.

Pro tip: Now that you have all the elements to create your mission, vision, and values, print them and post them in your office so you can visualize them daily. These statements will drive every decision you make in your business.

Step 3: Discover Your Ideal Client 

Developing your client personas for buyers and sellers helps you build a brand that attracts your ideal clients. You need to understand who they are, their pain points, their goals, and the obstacles they face. Start by gathering as much data as possible about your geographic real estate farm area’s potential buyers and sellers. 

Here are some data points to consider: 

• Age
• Income
• Family size
• Own or rent? How long?
• Personal buying/selling history
• Tech savviness
• Education level
• Values
• Hobbies
• Interests

Pro tip: If you’ve sold any homes, your ideal client most likely lives in your current sphere of influence (SOI). You can use polls and questions on your social media pages to stay engaged with your network and learn more about how your SOI sees you. Learn more tips on how to build your SOI.

Step 4: Learn Different Real Estate Marketing Strategies

Your marketing plan for real estate gives you many options to show off your expertise, adaptability, and knowledge of the real estate market. That said, a smart marketing strategy utilizes various marketing methods to create more than one lead gen system. Choose the channels that make the most sense for you and your target market.

Digital Marketing

• Online presence: Create your online profiles that allow you to be found online. Set up a system to ask clients to give you reviews.
• Social media: Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn allow you to interact with your clients, sphere of influence, and future clients with engaging content.
• Email marketing: One of the most efficient ways to connect with your database. Time spent building and nurturing your email list is time well spent.
• Website: One of the first things your potential clients will do is look for you online. Make sure they can find your beautifully designed website that gives them more information about who you are and who you serve.

Don’t feel the need to DIY your own site. Trust one of the expert real estate website builders we recommend, like Agent Fire, to design it for you. They will ensure you’re SEO-ready with an elegant, professional site that shows off all that you offer to the clients that work with you.

Traditional Marketing

• Direct mail: Direct email marketing campaigns are an excellent and cost-effective way to reach your specific neighborhoods with your marketing message.
• Print advertising: Real estate print advertising includes magazines, flyers, and brochures for your listings and brokerage.
• Community engagement: Networking events and experiential marketing, combined with open houses are amazing ways to stay connected in person with your community.

Emerging Trends

• Virtual reality tours: Augmented reality technologies and virtual reality tours can expand your reach and put you at the forefront of certain demographics.
• Collaboration: Working with influencers is awesome for cross-pollinating databases and expanding your connections. Use influencers to grow your email list fast.

Step 5: Get Clear on Your Unique Selling Proposition

Your unique selling proposition (USP) is what makes you different from everyone else. To identify your USP, conduct a SWOT analysis on yourself, considering your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. After you’ve completed your SWOT analysis, you will identify what makes you unique and be able to market yourself in the most effective way.

Here are some examples: 

• Example 1: Leveraging over 20 years of unmatched local expertise to navigate the luxury market, ensuring every client achieves their real estate dreams with unparalleled personal service and insider knowledge.
• Example 2: Bringing fresh energy and cutting-edge digital marketing strategies to the real estate market, I empower first-time homebuyers to navigate the buying process with confidence and ease.

Pro tip: It can be hard to conduct an audit on ourselves and our own business. Seek feedback from friends, family, colleagues, and past clients if you’re struggling to get started.

Step 6: Formulate a Budget for Your Marketing Plan

Several factors influence how much money you’ll spend on marketing and which channels you’ll use. However, a general guideline is to allocate around 10% of your monthly income for marketing expenses. Ultimately, it often depends on your target audience and where they are showing up. 

To get started, it’s important to establish some initial figures. Then, once you’ve put your plan into action, return to it after a few months and analyze your results. 

Step 7: Utilize Free Resources 

If you’re newer to the biz and don’t have much for a marketing budget at the moment, utilize some or all of these cost-saving strategies. This will help you keep more money in your pocket while getting the maximum exposure for your real estate business.

Step 8: Set Your Goals & Timeline

A crucial part of creating a marketing plan is establishing goals and timelines to help you achieve what you want in your business. This not only helps hold you accountable but also keeps you motivated. So, let’s get started building your dream business by writing down those goals and giving them deadlines. 

• Short-term Goal: Consider your annual, monthly, quarterly, and weekly goals. This should encompass the gross commission income (GCI) and the number of transactions you’d like to achieve by the end of the year. Then, break down your annual goal into smaller quarterly goals.
• Long-term Goals: Consider where would you like your real estate business to be within the first five years. Then, look further out and consider what you want to accomplish in your real estate business within 10 years.

Pro tip: Reverse-engineer the results you want to achieve and draft action steps to help you get there. Plan out your perfect day by breaking up your day into blocks dedicated to completing certain tasks. Plan out how many phone calls you will make daily, how many emails you will send, etc. Your success lies in the details you set and implement to create your roadmap to get there.

Step 9: Create a Marketing Calendar 

Being hyper-aware of how you spend your time is one of the keys to success in real estate. That’s why creating a calendar is crucial to staying on top of your marketing efforts. Start by creating a month’s worth of content, then decide from there if you want to look ahead six months. 

This calendar can include: 

• Newsletters
• Social media content
• Direct mail campaigns
• Pop-bys
• Holiday marketing

Pro tip: When you get a listing, you’ll need to tackle that marketing as it comes up. Plan open houses and any marketing to promote it at the time of your signed listing contract. To maximize its impact, send postcards such as, Just Listed and Just Sold.

Step 10: Implement Your Marketing Plan

Now that you’ve created your marketing strategy, it’s time to launch it and start bringing in more business. Each piece of content you deliver will boost your reputation in your area. Soon, you’ll see engagement on your posts, people in your DMs, and texts and phone calls from people in your community asking to meet for a cup of coffee to talk about listing their homes. 

• Here are some goals to keep in mind:
• Set aside some time to build out your social media content.
• Set up any print advertising you have on your real estate agent marketing plan and get everything ready to deploy.
• Make sure you have your landing pages set up to capture leads as they come in.
• Don’t forget to automate responses to leads once they are entered into your CRM.
• Make sure everything is running smoothly and make any corrections necessary.

Step 11: Track Your Progress

Congratulations! Your real estate agent marketing plan is up and running. Now you just need to monitor your progress and make adjustments when needed. Don’t panic if you don’t see a lot of leads come in initially. It takes time to develop that know, like, and trust factor. The more people who see you, your posts, and your marketing materials, the more they will feel like they know you. 

Tracking your metrics will give you a good idea of where your traffic is coming from and how well you or your team are converting. The more you know about your leads and your success at converting those leads, the more success you will achieve. 

Here is a short list of some of the most important metrics to track once you’ve implemented your real estate marketing plan:

• Website traffic
• Lead capture rate
• Conversion rate
• Response rate
• Cost per lead
• Cost per client
• Lifetime customer value
• Referral rates
• Engagement rates
• Click-through rate

Pro tip: Once you’ve got your marketing plan up and running, use tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Ads Manager, and your CRM analytics tools to monitor how effective your marketing is. Conversion rates will give you a lot of information about your return on investment. But also look at the length of time for conversions to get a better view of your overall marketing effectiveness. Remember to adjust your marketing efforts based on what your metrics tell you.

Why Is a Marketing Strategy Important? 

Working in real estate sales is just as much about marketing as it is about the properties we sell and the relationships we build. To keep your pipeline full, you need to have a plan in place, which is where your real estate agent marketing plan comes in. 

Here are some key reasons why it’s important to focus on your marketing strategy:

• Client nurturing: It’s important to stay in touch with clients throughout the year. Building and maintaining relationships is a key element of being a real estate agent. 
• Community involvement: Showing your business is a part of the community, not just working in it, will help strengthen your brand image.
• Pipeline preparation: Getting in front of existing and prospective clients could help position you as a go-to resource in your community. 
• Brand awareness: The more familiar people are with you and your business, the more likely they’ll think of you when it’s time to buy or sell.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Your Take

Now that you’ve learned different real estate marketing techniques and how to implement them, you’re ready to hit the ground running. Use this guide to build a marketing plan that’s as dynamic as your business, revisiting and refining it every quarter to stay ahead. Don’t forget to download our real estate marketing plan template to streamline your path to growth. 

Have you used a marketing plan for your real estate business? Let me know in the comments.

The post The Ultimate Real Estate Marketing Plan: Template & How to Create appeared first on The Close.

The Ultimate Real Estate Marketing Plan: Template & How to Create

Think of your real estate marketing plan as a roadmap leading you to your destination. Achieving success as a real estate agent takes focus and strategy, and your plan is essential for setting off in the right direction. 

This guide will break down the elements of an effective marketing plan and demonstrate how it can help you optimize your budget while planning your business strategies for maximum impact in your community. Plus, you’ll get access to a downloadable plan to start using as soon as today.

Download Your Real Estate Marketing Plan Template

How to Create Your Real Estate Marketing Plan

Your marketing plan should include details about your activities for the year, including budget, lead gen efforts, and social media outreach. Although, you’ll likely need to make adjustments throughout the year. Creating a strong initial plan will give you a solid foundation to start from, allowing you to modify as you see fit for your business. 

Step 1: Conduct a Market Analysis 

To effectively complete your real estate marketing plan template, it’s crucial to understand your market. Knowing how quickly homes sell in your area and identifying who is buying them will guide your marketing efforts and help determine your target market. 

To gather this information, conduct a thorough market analysis. During this phase, your goal is to: 

• Understand your demographics: Learn who lives in your area to figure out how to talk to your prospects, appeal to their interests, and make valuable connections to prospects considering purchasing in your market.
• Know your competitors: Audit agents sending flyers, using social media in your city, investing in signs, bus benches, billboards, and anything else you see in your community. Study who they are and how they’re marketing themselves.
• Narrow down your geographic farm area: This will tell you where you should focus your business, the clientele you’ll be marketing to, and what methods you should utilize to reach your target audience.
• Learn the market stats: Understand the average days on market (DOM), absorption rates, median home prices, and home sizes, including local amenities. This will tell you what homes are selling, how fast, and for how much. Knowing this lets you effectively discuss your market with prospects.

Pro tip: Research your local community starting with your local MLS. You have access to your community’s data, so dive in and start researching your target market. Utilize other sources, like Realtors Property Resource (RPR), realtor.com, Homes.com, and even Zillow, to learn as much as possible about your area.

Step 2: Create Your Mission, Vision & Values Statement

Your mission, vision, and values (MVV) statement outlines where you want your real estate business to be in the future, how you’ll get there, and the values that drive you. It will help you clearly articulate your business philosophy, differentiate yourself in a competitive market, and build a strong and trustworthy brand that resonates with your ideal clients.

Here’s an overview of what each statement means, as well as an example of what it looks like. For more details, check our guide to crafting your own real estate MVV statement.

Pro tip: Now that you have all the elements to create your mission, vision, and values, print them and post them in your office so you can visualize them daily. These statements will drive every decision you make in your business.

Step 3: Discover Your Ideal Client 

Developing your client personas for buyers and sellers helps you build a brand that attracts your ideal clients. You need to understand who they are, their pain points, their goals, and the obstacles they face. Start by gathering as much data as possible about your geographic real estate farm area’s potential buyers and sellers. 

Here are some data points to consider: 

• Age
• Income
• Family size
• Own or rent? How long?
• Personal buying/selling history
• Tech savviness
• Education level
• Values
• Hobbies
• Interests

Pro tip: If you’ve sold any homes, your ideal client most likely lives in your current sphere of influence (SOI). You can use polls and questions on your social media pages to stay engaged with your network and learn more about how your SOI sees you. Learn more tips on how to build your SOI.

Step 4: Learn Different Real Estate Marketing Strategies

Your marketing plan for real estate gives you many options to show off your expertise, adaptability, and knowledge of the real estate market. That said, a smart marketing strategy utilizes various marketing methods to create more than one lead gen system. Choose the channels that make the most sense for you and your target market.

Digital Marketing

• Online presence: Create your online profiles that allow you to be found online. Set up a system to ask clients to give you reviews.
• Social media: Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn allow you to interact with your clients, sphere of influence, and future clients with engaging content.
• Email marketing: One of the most efficient ways to connect with your database. Time spent building and nurturing your email list is time well spent.
• Website: One of the first things your potential clients will do is look for you online. Make sure they can find your beautifully designed website that gives them more information about who you are and who you serve.

Don’t feel the need to DIY your own site. Trust one of the expert real estate website builders we recommend, like Agent Fire, to design it for you. They will ensure you’re SEO-ready with an elegant, professional site that shows off all that you offer to the clients that work with you.

Traditional Marketing

• Direct mail: Direct email marketing campaigns are an excellent and cost-effective way to reach your specific neighborhoods with your marketing message.
• Print advertising: Real estate print advertising includes magazines, flyers, and brochures for your listings and brokerage.
• Community engagement: Networking events and experiential marketing, combined with open houses are amazing ways to stay connected in person with your community.

Emerging Trends

• Virtual reality tours: Augmented reality technologies and virtual reality tours can expand your reach and put you at the forefront of certain demographics.
• Collaboration: Working with influencers is awesome for cross-pollinating databases and expanding your connections. Use influencers to grow your email list fast.

Step 5: Get Clear on Your Unique Selling Proposition

Your unique selling proposition (USP) is what makes you different from everyone else. To identify your USP, conduct a SWOT analysis on yourself, considering your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. After you’ve completed your SWOT analysis, you will identify what makes you unique and be able to market yourself in the most effective way.

Here are some examples: 

• Example 1: Leveraging over 20 years of unmatched local expertise to navigate the luxury market, ensuring every client achieves their real estate dreams with unparalleled personal service and insider knowledge.
• Example 2: Bringing fresh energy and cutting-edge digital marketing strategies to the real estate market, I empower first-time homebuyers to navigate the buying process with confidence and ease.

Pro tip: It can be hard to conduct an audit on ourselves and our own business. Seek feedback from friends, family, colleagues, and past clients if you’re struggling to get started.

Step 6: Formulate a Budget for Your Marketing Plan

Several factors influence how much money you’ll spend on marketing and which channels you’ll use. However, a general guideline is to allocate around 10% of your monthly income for marketing expenses. Ultimately, it often depends on your target audience and where they are showing up. 

To get started, it’s important to establish some initial figures. Then, once you’ve put your plan into action, return to it after a few months and analyze your results. 

Step 7: Utilize Free Resources 

If you’re newer to the biz and don’t have much for a marketing budget at the moment, utilize some or all of these cost-saving strategies. This will help you keep more money in your pocket while getting the maximum exposure for your real estate business.

Step 8: Set Your Goals & Timeline

A crucial part of creating a marketing plan is establishing goals and timelines to help you achieve what you want in your business. This not only helps hold you accountable but also keeps you motivated. So, let’s get started building your dream business by writing down those goals and giving them deadlines. 

• Short-term Goal: Consider your annual, monthly, quarterly, and weekly goals. This should encompass the gross commission income (GCI) and the number of transactions you’d like to achieve by the end of the year. Then, break down your annual goal into smaller quarterly goals.
• Long-term Goals: Consider where would you like your real estate business to be within the first five years. Then, look further out and consider what you want to accomplish in your real estate business within 10 years.

Pro tip: Reverse-engineer the results you want to achieve and draft action steps to help you get there. Plan out your perfect day by breaking up your day into blocks dedicated to completing certain tasks. Plan out how many phone calls you will make daily, how many emails you will send, etc. Your success lies in the details you set and implement to create your roadmap to get there.

Step 9: Create a Marketing Calendar 

Being hyper-aware of how you spend your time is one of the keys to success in real estate. That’s why creating a calendar is crucial to staying on top of your marketing efforts. Start by creating a month’s worth of content, then decide from there if you want to look ahead six months. 

This calendar can include: 

• Newsletters
• Social media content
• Direct mail campaigns
• Pop-bys
• Holiday marketing

Pro tip: When you get a listing, you’ll need to tackle that marketing as it comes up. Plan open houses and any marketing to promote it at the time of your signed listing contract. To maximize its impact, send postcards such as, Just Listed and Just Sold.

Step 10: Implement Your Marketing Plan

Now that you’ve created your marketing strategy, it’s time to launch it and start bringing in more business. Each piece of content you deliver will boost your reputation in your area. Soon, you’ll see engagement on your posts, people in your DMs, and texts and phone calls from people in your community asking to meet for a cup of coffee to talk about listing their homes. 

• Here are some goals to keep in mind:
• Set aside some time to build out your social media content.
• Set up any print advertising you have on your real estate agent marketing plan and get everything ready to deploy.
• Make sure you have your landing pages set up to capture leads as they come in.
• Don’t forget to automate responses to leads once they are entered into your CRM.
• Make sure everything is running smoothly and make any corrections necessary.

Step 11: Track Your Progress

Congratulations! Your real estate agent marketing plan is up and running. Now you just need to monitor your progress and make adjustments when needed. Don’t panic if you don’t see a lot of leads come in initially. It takes time to develop that know, like, and trust factor. The more people who see you, your posts, and your marketing materials, the more they will feel like they know you. 

Tracking your metrics will give you a good idea of where your traffic is coming from and how well you or your team are converting. The more you know about your leads and your success at converting those leads, the more success you will achieve. 

Here is a short list of some of the most important metrics to track once you’ve implemented your real estate marketing plan:

• Website traffic
• Lead capture rate
• Conversion rate
• Response rate
• Cost per lead
• Cost per client
• Lifetime customer value
• Referral rates
• Engagement rates
• Click-through rate

Pro tip: Once you’ve got your marketing plan up and running, use tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Ads Manager, and your CRM analytics tools to monitor how effective your marketing is. Conversion rates will give you a lot of information about your return on investment. But also look at the length of time for conversions to get a better view of your overall marketing effectiveness. Remember to adjust your marketing efforts based on what your metrics tell you.

Why Is a Marketing Strategy Important? 

Working in real estate sales is just as much about marketing as it is about the properties we sell and the relationships we build. To keep your pipeline full, you need to have a plan in place, which is where your real estate agent marketing plan comes in. 

Here are some key reasons why it’s important to focus on your marketing strategy:

• Client nurturing: It’s important to stay in touch with clients throughout the year. Building and maintaining relationships is a key element of being a real estate agent. 
• Community involvement: Showing your business is a part of the community, not just working in it, will help strengthen your brand image.
• Pipeline preparation: Getting in front of existing and prospective clients could help position you as a go-to resource in your community. 
• Brand awareness: The more familiar people are with you and your business, the more likely they’ll think of you when it’s time to buy or sell.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Your Take

Now that you’ve learned different real estate marketing techniques and how to implement them, you’re ready to hit the ground running. Use this guide to build a marketing plan that’s as dynamic as your business, revisiting and refining it every quarter to stay ahead. Don’t forget to download our real estate marketing plan template to streamline your path to growth. 

Have you used a marketing plan for your real estate business? Let me know in the comments.

The post The Ultimate Real Estate Marketing Plan: Template & How to Create appeared first on The Close.

The Ultimate Real Estate Marketing Plan: Template & How to Create

Think of your real estate marketing plan as a roadmap leading you to your destination. Achieving success as a real estate agent takes focus and strategy, and your plan is essential for setting off in the right direction. 

This guide will break down the elements of an effective marketing plan and demonstrate how it can help you optimize your budget while planning your business strategies for maximum impact in your community. Plus, you’ll get access to a downloadable plan to start using as soon as today.

Download Your Real Estate Marketing Plan Template

How to Create Your Real Estate Marketing Plan

Your marketing plan should include details about your activities for the year, including budget, lead gen efforts, and social media outreach. Although, you’ll likely need to make adjustments throughout the year. Creating a strong initial plan will give you a solid foundation to start from, allowing you to modify as you see fit for your business. 

Step 1: Conduct a Market Analysis 

To effectively complete your real estate marketing plan template, it’s crucial to understand your market. Knowing how quickly homes sell in your area and identifying who is buying them will guide your marketing efforts and help determine your target market. 

To gather this information, conduct a thorough market analysis. During this phase, your goal is to: 

• Understand your demographics: Learn who lives in your area to figure out how to talk to your prospects, appeal to their interests, and make valuable connections to prospects considering purchasing in your market.
• Know your competitors: Audit agents sending flyers, using social media in your city, investing in signs, bus benches, billboards, and anything else you see in your community. Study who they are and how they’re marketing themselves.
• Narrow down your geographic farm area: This will tell you where you should focus your business, the clientele you’ll be marketing to, and what methods you should utilize to reach your target audience.
• Learn the market stats: Understand the average days on market (DOM), absorption rates, median home prices, and home sizes, including local amenities. This will tell you what homes are selling, how fast, and for how much. Knowing this lets you effectively discuss your market with prospects.

Pro tip: Research your local community starting with your local MLS. You have access to your community’s data, so dive in and start researching your target market. Utilize other sources, like Realtors Property Resource (RPR), realtor.com, Homes.com, and even Zillow, to learn as much as possible about your area.

Step 2: Create Your Mission, Vision & Values Statement

Your mission, vision, and values (MVV) statement outlines where you want your real estate business to be in the future, how you’ll get there, and the values that drive you. It will help you clearly articulate your business philosophy, differentiate yourself in a competitive market, and build a strong and trustworthy brand that resonates with your ideal clients.

Here’s an overview of what each statement means, as well as an example of what it looks like. For more details, check our guide to crafting your own real estate MVV statement.

Pro tip: Now that you have all the elements to create your mission, vision, and values, print them and post them in your office so you can visualize them daily. These statements will drive every decision you make in your business.

Step 3: Discover Your Ideal Client 

Developing your client personas for buyers and sellers helps you build a brand that attracts your ideal clients. You need to understand who they are, their pain points, their goals, and the obstacles they face. Start by gathering as much data as possible about your geographic real estate farm area’s potential buyers and sellers. 

Here are some data points to consider: 

• Age
• Income
• Family size
• Own or rent? How long?
• Personal buying/selling history
• Tech savviness
• Education level
• Values
• Hobbies
• Interests

Pro tip: If you’ve sold any homes, your ideal client most likely lives in your current sphere of influence (SOI). You can use polls and questions on your social media pages to stay engaged with your network and learn more about how your SOI sees you. Learn more tips on how to build your SOI.

Step 4: Learn Different Real Estate Marketing Strategies

Your marketing plan for real estate gives you many options to show off your expertise, adaptability, and knowledge of the real estate market. That said, a smart marketing strategy utilizes various marketing methods to create more than one lead gen system. Choose the channels that make the most sense for you and your target market.

Digital Marketing

• Online presence: Create your online profiles that allow you to be found online. Set up a system to ask clients to give you reviews.
• Social media: Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn allow you to interact with your clients, sphere of influence, and future clients with engaging content.
• Email marketing: One of the most efficient ways to connect with your database. Time spent building and nurturing your email list is time well spent.
• Website: One of the first things your potential clients will do is look for you online. Make sure they can find your beautifully designed website that gives them more information about who you are and who you serve.

Don’t feel the need to DIY your own site. Trust one of the expert real estate website builders we recommend, like Agent Fire, to design it for you. They will ensure you’re SEO-ready with an elegant, professional site that shows off all that you offer to the clients that work with you.

Traditional Marketing

• Direct mail: Direct email marketing campaigns are an excellent and cost-effective way to reach your specific neighborhoods with your marketing message.
• Print advertising: Real estate print advertising includes magazines, flyers, and brochures for your listings and brokerage.
• Community engagement: Networking events and experiential marketing, combined with open houses are amazing ways to stay connected in person with your community.

Emerging Trends

• Virtual reality tours: Augmented reality technologies and virtual reality tours can expand your reach and put you at the forefront of certain demographics.
• Collaboration: Working with influencers is awesome for cross-pollinating databases and expanding your connections. Use influencers to grow your email list fast.

Step 5: Get Clear on Your Unique Selling Proposition

Your unique selling proposition (USP) is what makes you different from everyone else. To identify your USP, conduct a SWOT analysis on yourself, considering your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. After you’ve completed your SWOT analysis, you will identify what makes you unique and be able to market yourself in the most effective way.

Here are some examples: 

• Example 1: Leveraging over 20 years of unmatched local expertise to navigate the luxury market, ensuring every client achieves their real estate dreams with unparalleled personal service and insider knowledge.
• Example 2: Bringing fresh energy and cutting-edge digital marketing strategies to the real estate market, I empower first-time homebuyers to navigate the buying process with confidence and ease.

Pro tip: It can be hard to conduct an audit on ourselves and our own business. Seek feedback from friends, family, colleagues, and past clients if you’re struggling to get started.

Step 6: Formulate a Budget for Your Marketing Plan

Several factors influence how much money you’ll spend on marketing and which channels you’ll use. However, a general guideline is to allocate around 10% of your monthly income for marketing expenses. Ultimately, it often depends on your target audience and where they are showing up. 

To get started, it’s important to establish some initial figures. Then, once you’ve put your plan into action, return to it after a few months and analyze your results. 

Step 7: Utilize Free Resources 

If you’re newer to the biz and don’t have much for a marketing budget at the moment, utilize some or all of these cost-saving strategies. This will help you keep more money in your pocket while getting the maximum exposure for your real estate business.

Step 8: Set Your Goals & Timeline

A crucial part of creating a marketing plan is establishing goals and timelines to help you achieve what you want in your business. This not only helps hold you accountable but also keeps you motivated. So, let’s get started building your dream business by writing down those goals and giving them deadlines. 

• Short-term Goal: Consider your annual, monthly, quarterly, and weekly goals. This should encompass the gross commission income (GCI) and the number of transactions you’d like to achieve by the end of the year. Then, break down your annual goal into smaller quarterly goals.
• Long-term Goals: Consider where would you like your real estate business to be within the first five years. Then, look further out and consider what you want to accomplish in your real estate business within 10 years.

Pro tip: Reverse-engineer the results you want to achieve and draft action steps to help you get there. Plan out your perfect day by breaking up your day into blocks dedicated to completing certain tasks. Plan out how many phone calls you will make daily, how many emails you will send, etc. Your success lies in the details you set and implement to create your roadmap to get there.

Step 9: Create a Marketing Calendar 

Being hyper-aware of how you spend your time is one of the keys to success in real estate. That’s why creating a calendar is crucial to staying on top of your marketing efforts. Start by creating a month’s worth of content, then decide from there if you want to look ahead six months. 

This calendar can include: 

• Newsletters
• Social media content
• Direct mail campaigns
• Pop-bys
• Holiday marketing

Pro tip: When you get a listing, you’ll need to tackle that marketing as it comes up. Plan open houses and any marketing to promote it at the time of your signed listing contract. To maximize its impact, send postcards such as, Just Listed and Just Sold.

Step 10: Implement Your Marketing Plan

Now that you’ve created your marketing strategy, it’s time to launch it and start bringing in more business. Each piece of content you deliver will boost your reputation in your area. Soon, you’ll see engagement on your posts, people in your DMs, and texts and phone calls from people in your community asking to meet for a cup of coffee to talk about listing their homes. 

• Here are some goals to keep in mind:
• Set aside some time to build out your social media content.
• Set up any print advertising you have on your real estate agent marketing plan and get everything ready to deploy.
• Make sure you have your landing pages set up to capture leads as they come in.
• Don’t forget to automate responses to leads once they are entered into your CRM.
• Make sure everything is running smoothly and make any corrections necessary.

Step 11: Track Your Progress

Congratulations! Your real estate agent marketing plan is up and running. Now you just need to monitor your progress and make adjustments when needed. Don’t panic if you don’t see a lot of leads come in initially. It takes time to develop that know, like, and trust factor. The more people who see you, your posts, and your marketing materials, the more they will feel like they know you. 

Tracking your metrics will give you a good idea of where your traffic is coming from and how well you or your team are converting. The more you know about your leads and your success at converting those leads, the more success you will achieve. 

Here is a short list of some of the most important metrics to track once you’ve implemented your real estate marketing plan:

• Website traffic
• Lead capture rate
• Conversion rate
• Response rate
• Cost per lead
• Cost per client
• Lifetime customer value
• Referral rates
• Engagement rates
• Click-through rate

Pro tip: Once you’ve got your marketing plan up and running, use tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Ads Manager, and your CRM analytics tools to monitor how effective your marketing is. Conversion rates will give you a lot of information about your return on investment. But also look at the length of time for conversions to get a better view of your overall marketing effectiveness. Remember to adjust your marketing efforts based on what your metrics tell you.

Why Is a Marketing Strategy Important? 

Working in real estate sales is just as much about marketing as it is about the properties we sell and the relationships we build. To keep your pipeline full, you need to have a plan in place, which is where your real estate agent marketing plan comes in. 

Here are some key reasons why it’s important to focus on your marketing strategy:

• Client nurturing: It’s important to stay in touch with clients throughout the year. Building and maintaining relationships is a key element of being a real estate agent. 
• Community involvement: Showing your business is a part of the community, not just working in it, will help strengthen your brand image.
• Pipeline preparation: Getting in front of existing and prospective clients could help position you as a go-to resource in your community. 
• Brand awareness: The more familiar people are with you and your business, the more likely they’ll think of you when it’s time to buy or sell.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Your Take

Now that you’ve learned different real estate marketing techniques and how to implement them, you’re ready to hit the ground running. Use this guide to build a marketing plan that’s as dynamic as your business, revisiting and refining it every quarter to stay ahead. Don’t forget to download our real estate marketing plan template to streamline your path to growth. 

Have you used a marketing plan for your real estate business? Let me know in the comments.

The post The Ultimate Real Estate Marketing Plan: Template & How to Create appeared first on The Close.

The Ultimate Real Estate Marketing Plan: Template & How to Create

Think of your real estate marketing plan as a roadmap leading you to your destination. Achieving success as a real estate agent takes focus and strategy, and your plan is essential for setting off in the right direction. 

This guide will break down the elements of an effective marketing plan and demonstrate how it can help you optimize your budget while planning your business strategies for maximum impact in your community. Plus, you’ll get access to a downloadable plan to start using as soon as today.

Download Your Real Estate Marketing Plan Template

How to Create Your Real Estate Marketing Plan

Your marketing plan should include details about your activities for the year, including budget, lead gen efforts, and social media outreach. Although, you’ll likely need to make adjustments throughout the year. Creating a strong initial plan will give you a solid foundation to start from, allowing you to modify as you see fit for your business. 

Step 1: Conduct a Market Analysis 

To effectively complete your real estate marketing plan template, it’s crucial to understand your market. Knowing how quickly homes sell in your area and identifying who is buying them will guide your marketing efforts and help determine your target market. 

To gather this information, conduct a thorough market analysis. During this phase, your goal is to: 

• Understand your demographics: Learn who lives in your area to figure out how to talk to your prospects, appeal to their interests, and make valuable connections to prospects considering purchasing in your market.
• Know your competitors: Audit agents sending flyers, using social media in your city, investing in signs, bus benches, billboards, and anything else you see in your community. Study who they are and how they’re marketing themselves.
• Narrow down your geographic farm area: This will tell you where you should focus your business, the clientele you’ll be marketing to, and what methods you should utilize to reach your target audience.
• Learn the market stats: Understand the average days on market (DOM), absorption rates, median home prices, and home sizes, including local amenities. This will tell you what homes are selling, how fast, and for how much. Knowing this lets you effectively discuss your market with prospects.

Pro tip: Research your local community starting with your local MLS. You have access to your community’s data, so dive in and start researching your target market. Utilize other sources, like Realtors Property Resource (RPR), realtor.com, Homes.com, and even Zillow, to learn as much as possible about your area.

Step 2: Create Your Mission, Vision & Values Statement

Your mission, vision, and values (MVV) statement outlines where you want your real estate business to be in the future, how you’ll get there, and the values that drive you. It will help you clearly articulate your business philosophy, differentiate yourself in a competitive market, and build a strong and trustworthy brand that resonates with your ideal clients.

Here’s an overview of what each statement means, as well as an example of what it looks like. For more details, check our guide to crafting your own real estate MVV statement.

Pro tip: Now that you have all the elements to create your mission, vision, and values, print them and post them in your office so you can visualize them daily. These statements will drive every decision you make in your business.

Step 3: Discover Your Ideal Client 

Developing your client personas for buyers and sellers helps you build a brand that attracts your ideal clients. You need to understand who they are, their pain points, their goals, and the obstacles they face. Start by gathering as much data as possible about your geographic real estate farm area’s potential buyers and sellers. 

Here are some data points to consider: 

• Age
• Income
• Family size
• Own or rent? How long?
• Personal buying/selling history
• Tech savviness
• Education level
• Values
• Hobbies
• Interests

Pro tip: If you’ve sold any homes, your ideal client most likely lives in your current sphere of influence (SOI). You can use polls and questions on your social media pages to stay engaged with your network and learn more about how your SOI sees you. Learn more tips on how to build your SOI.

Step 4: Learn Different Real Estate Marketing Strategies

Your marketing plan for real estate gives you many options to show off your expertise, adaptability, and knowledge of the real estate market. That said, a smart marketing strategy utilizes various marketing methods to create more than one lead gen system. Choose the channels that make the most sense for you and your target market.

Digital Marketing

• Online presence: Create your online profiles that allow you to be found online. Set up a system to ask clients to give you reviews.
• Social media: Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn allow you to interact with your clients, sphere of influence, and future clients with engaging content.
• Email marketing: One of the most efficient ways to connect with your database. Time spent building and nurturing your email list is time well spent.
• Website: One of the first things your potential clients will do is look for you online. Make sure they can find your beautifully designed website that gives them more information about who you are and who you serve.

Don’t feel the need to DIY your own site. Trust one of the expert real estate website builders we recommend, like Agent Fire, to design it for you. They will ensure you’re SEO-ready with an elegant, professional site that shows off all that you offer to the clients that work with you.

Traditional Marketing

• Direct mail: Direct email marketing campaigns are an excellent and cost-effective way to reach your specific neighborhoods with your marketing message.
• Print advertising: Real estate print advertising includes magazines, flyers, and brochures for your listings and brokerage.
• Community engagement: Networking events and experiential marketing, combined with open houses are amazing ways to stay connected in person with your community.

Emerging Trends

• Virtual reality tours: Augmented reality technologies and virtual reality tours can expand your reach and put you at the forefront of certain demographics.
• Collaboration: Working with influencers is awesome for cross-pollinating databases and expanding your connections. Use influencers to grow your email list fast.

Step 5: Get Clear on Your Unique Selling Proposition

Your unique selling proposition (USP) is what makes you different from everyone else. To identify your USP, conduct a SWOT analysis on yourself, considering your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. After you’ve completed your SWOT analysis, you will identify what makes you unique and be able to market yourself in the most effective way.

Here are some examples: 

• Example 1: Leveraging over 20 years of unmatched local expertise to navigate the luxury market, ensuring every client achieves their real estate dreams with unparalleled personal service and insider knowledge.
• Example 2: Bringing fresh energy and cutting-edge digital marketing strategies to the real estate market, I empower first-time homebuyers to navigate the buying process with confidence and ease.

Pro tip: It can be hard to conduct an audit on ourselves and our own business. Seek feedback from friends, family, colleagues, and past clients if you’re struggling to get started.

Step 6: Formulate a Budget for Your Marketing Plan

Several factors influence how much money you’ll spend on marketing and which channels you’ll use. However, a general guideline is to allocate around 10% of your monthly income for marketing expenses. Ultimately, it often depends on your target audience and where they are showing up. 

To get started, it’s important to establish some initial figures. Then, once you’ve put your plan into action, return to it after a few months and analyze your results. 

Step 7: Utilize Free Resources 

If you’re newer to the biz and don’t have much for a marketing budget at the moment, utilize some or all of these cost-saving strategies. This will help you keep more money in your pocket while getting the maximum exposure for your real estate business.

Step 8: Set Your Goals & Timeline

A crucial part of creating a marketing plan is establishing goals and timelines to help you achieve what you want in your business. This not only helps hold you accountable but also keeps you motivated. So, let’s get started building your dream business by writing down those goals and giving them deadlines. 

• Short-term Goal: Consider your annual, monthly, quarterly, and weekly goals. This should encompass the gross commission income (GCI) and the number of transactions you’d like to achieve by the end of the year. Then, break down your annual goal into smaller quarterly goals.
• Long-term Goals: Consider where would you like your real estate business to be within the first five years. Then, look further out and consider what you want to accomplish in your real estate business within 10 years.

Pro tip: Reverse-engineer the results you want to achieve and draft action steps to help you get there. Plan out your perfect day by breaking up your day into blocks dedicated to completing certain tasks. Plan out how many phone calls you will make daily, how many emails you will send, etc. Your success lies in the details you set and implement to create your roadmap to get there.

Step 9: Create a Marketing Calendar 

Being hyper-aware of how you spend your time is one of the keys to success in real estate. That’s why creating a calendar is crucial to staying on top of your marketing efforts. Start by creating a month’s worth of content, then decide from there if you want to look ahead six months. 

This calendar can include: 

• Newsletters
• Social media content
• Direct mail campaigns
• Pop-bys
• Holiday marketing

Pro tip: When you get a listing, you’ll need to tackle that marketing as it comes up. Plan open houses and any marketing to promote it at the time of your signed listing contract. To maximize its impact, send postcards such as, Just Listed and Just Sold.

Step 10: Implement Your Marketing Plan

Now that you’ve created your marketing strategy, it’s time to launch it and start bringing in more business. Each piece of content you deliver will boost your reputation in your area. Soon, you’ll see engagement on your posts, people in your DMs, and texts and phone calls from people in your community asking to meet for a cup of coffee to talk about listing their homes. 

• Here are some goals to keep in mind:
• Set aside some time to build out your social media content.
• Set up any print advertising you have on your real estate agent marketing plan and get everything ready to deploy.
• Make sure you have your landing pages set up to capture leads as they come in.
• Don’t forget to automate responses to leads once they are entered into your CRM.
• Make sure everything is running smoothly and make any corrections necessary.

Step 11: Track Your Progress

Congratulations! Your real estate agent marketing plan is up and running. Now you just need to monitor your progress and make adjustments when needed. Don’t panic if you don’t see a lot of leads come in initially. It takes time to develop that know, like, and trust factor. The more people who see you, your posts, and your marketing materials, the more they will feel like they know you. 

Tracking your metrics will give you a good idea of where your traffic is coming from and how well you or your team are converting. The more you know about your leads and your success at converting those leads, the more success you will achieve. 

Here is a short list of some of the most important metrics to track once you’ve implemented your real estate marketing plan:

• Website traffic
• Lead capture rate
• Conversion rate
• Response rate
• Cost per lead
• Cost per client
• Lifetime customer value
• Referral rates
• Engagement rates
• Click-through rate

Pro tip: Once you’ve got your marketing plan up and running, use tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Ads Manager, and your CRM analytics tools to monitor how effective your marketing is. Conversion rates will give you a lot of information about your return on investment. But also look at the length of time for conversions to get a better view of your overall marketing effectiveness. Remember to adjust your marketing efforts based on what your metrics tell you.

Why Is a Marketing Strategy Important? 

Working in real estate sales is just as much about marketing as it is about the properties we sell and the relationships we build. To keep your pipeline full, you need to have a plan in place, which is where your real estate agent marketing plan comes in. 

Here are some key reasons why it’s important to focus on your marketing strategy:

• Client nurturing: It’s important to stay in touch with clients throughout the year. Building and maintaining relationships is a key element of being a real estate agent. 
• Community involvement: Showing your business is a part of the community, not just working in it, will help strengthen your brand image.
• Pipeline preparation: Getting in front of existing and prospective clients could help position you as a go-to resource in your community. 
• Brand awareness: The more familiar people are with you and your business, the more likely they’ll think of you when it’s time to buy or sell.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Your Take

Now that you’ve learned different real estate marketing techniques and how to implement them, you’re ready to hit the ground running. Use this guide to build a marketing plan that’s as dynamic as your business, revisiting and refining it every quarter to stay ahead. Don’t forget to download our real estate marketing plan template to streamline your path to growth. 

Have you used a marketing plan for your real estate business? Let me know in the comments.

The post The Ultimate Real Estate Marketing Plan: Template & How to Create appeared first on The Close.

The Ultimate Real Estate Marketing Plan: Template & How to Create

Think of your real estate marketing plan as a roadmap leading you to your destination. Achieving success as a real estate agent takes focus and strategy, and your plan is essential for setting off in the right direction. 

This guide will break down the elements of an effective marketing plan and demonstrate how it can help you optimize your budget while planning your business strategies for maximum impact in your community. Plus, you’ll get access to a downloadable plan to start using as soon as today.

Download Your Real Estate Marketing Plan Template

How to Create Your Real Estate Marketing Plan

Your marketing plan should include details about your activities for the year, including budget, lead gen efforts, and social media outreach. Although, you’ll likely need to make adjustments throughout the year. Creating a strong initial plan will give you a solid foundation to start from, allowing you to modify as you see fit for your business. 

Step 1: Conduct a Market Analysis 

To effectively complete your real estate marketing plan template, it’s crucial to understand your market. Knowing how quickly homes sell in your area and identifying who is buying them will guide your marketing efforts and help determine your target market. 

To gather this information, conduct a thorough market analysis. During this phase, your goal is to: 

• Understand your demographics: Learn who lives in your area to figure out how to talk to your prospects, appeal to their interests, and make valuable connections to prospects considering purchasing in your market.
• Know your competitors: Audit agents sending flyers, using social media in your city, investing in signs, bus benches, billboards, and anything else you see in your community. Study who they are and how they’re marketing themselves.
• Narrow down your geographic farm area: This will tell you where you should focus your business, the clientele you’ll be marketing to, and what methods you should utilize to reach your target audience.
• Learn the market stats: Understand the average days on market (DOM), absorption rates, median home prices, and home sizes, including local amenities. This will tell you what homes are selling, how fast, and for how much. Knowing this lets you effectively discuss your market with prospects.

Pro tip: Research your local community starting with your local MLS. You have access to your community’s data, so dive in and start researching your target market. Utilize other sources, like Realtors Property Resource (RPR), realtor.com, Homes.com, and even Zillow, to learn as much as possible about your area.

Step 2: Create Your Mission, Vision & Values Statement

Your mission, vision, and values (MVV) statement outlines where you want your real estate business to be in the future, how you’ll get there, and the values that drive you. It will help you clearly articulate your business philosophy, differentiate yourself in a competitive market, and build a strong and trustworthy brand that resonates with your ideal clients.

Here’s an overview of what each statement means, as well as an example of what it looks like. For more details, check our guide to crafting your own real estate MVV statement.

Pro tip: Now that you have all the elements to create your mission, vision, and values, print them and post them in your office so you can visualize them daily. These statements will drive every decision you make in your business.

Step 3: Discover Your Ideal Client 

Developing your client personas for buyers and sellers helps you build a brand that attracts your ideal clients. You need to understand who they are, their pain points, their goals, and the obstacles they face. Start by gathering as much data as possible about your geographic real estate farm area’s potential buyers and sellers. 

Here are some data points to consider: 

• Age
• Income
• Family size
• Own or rent? How long?
• Personal buying/selling history
• Tech savviness
• Education level
• Values
• Hobbies
• Interests

Pro tip: If you’ve sold any homes, your ideal client most likely lives in your current sphere of influence (SOI). You can use polls and questions on your social media pages to stay engaged with your network and learn more about how your SOI sees you. Learn more tips on how to build your SOI.

Step 4: Learn Different Real Estate Marketing Strategies

Your marketing plan for real estate gives you many options to show off your expertise, adaptability, and knowledge of the real estate market. That said, a smart marketing strategy utilizes various marketing methods to create more than one lead gen system. Choose the channels that make the most sense for you and your target market.

Digital Marketing

• Online presence: Create your online profiles that allow you to be found online. Set up a system to ask clients to give you reviews.
• Social media: Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn allow you to interact with your clients, sphere of influence, and future clients with engaging content.
• Email marketing: One of the most efficient ways to connect with your database. Time spent building and nurturing your email list is time well spent.
• Website: One of the first things your potential clients will do is look for you online. Make sure they can find your beautifully designed website that gives them more information about who you are and who you serve.

Don’t feel the need to DIY your own site. Trust one of the expert real estate website builders we recommend, like Agent Fire, to design it for you. They will ensure you’re SEO-ready with an elegant, professional site that shows off all that you offer to the clients that work with you.

Traditional Marketing

• Direct mail: Direct email marketing campaigns are an excellent and cost-effective way to reach your specific neighborhoods with your marketing message.
• Print advertising: Real estate print advertising includes magazines, flyers, and brochures for your listings and brokerage.
• Community engagement: Networking events and experiential marketing, combined with open houses are amazing ways to stay connected in person with your community.

Emerging Trends

• Virtual reality tours: Augmented reality technologies and virtual reality tours can expand your reach and put you at the forefront of certain demographics.
• Collaboration: Working with influencers is awesome for cross-pollinating databases and expanding your connections. Use influencers to grow your email list fast.

Step 5: Get Clear on Your Unique Selling Proposition

Your unique selling proposition (USP) is what makes you different from everyone else. To identify your USP, conduct a SWOT analysis on yourself, considering your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. After you’ve completed your SWOT analysis, you will identify what makes you unique and be able to market yourself in the most effective way.

Here are some examples: 

• Example 1: Leveraging over 20 years of unmatched local expertise to navigate the luxury market, ensuring every client achieves their real estate dreams with unparalleled personal service and insider knowledge.
• Example 2: Bringing fresh energy and cutting-edge digital marketing strategies to the real estate market, I empower first-time homebuyers to navigate the buying process with confidence and ease.

Pro tip: It can be hard to conduct an audit on ourselves and our own business. Seek feedback from friends, family, colleagues, and past clients if you’re struggling to get started.

Step 6: Formulate a Budget for Your Marketing Plan

Several factors influence how much money you’ll spend on marketing and which channels you’ll use. However, a general guideline is to allocate around 10% of your monthly income for marketing expenses. Ultimately, it often depends on your target audience and where they are showing up. 

To get started, it’s important to establish some initial figures. Then, once you’ve put your plan into action, return to it after a few months and analyze your results. 

Step 7: Utilize Free Resources 

If you’re newer to the biz and don’t have much for a marketing budget at the moment, utilize some or all of these cost-saving strategies. This will help you keep more money in your pocket while getting the maximum exposure for your real estate business.

Step 8: Set Your Goals & Timeline

A crucial part of creating a marketing plan is establishing goals and timelines to help you achieve what you want in your business. This not only helps hold you accountable but also keeps you motivated. So, let’s get started building your dream business by writing down those goals and giving them deadlines. 

• Short-term Goal: Consider your annual, monthly, quarterly, and weekly goals. This should encompass the gross commission income (GCI) and the number of transactions you’d like to achieve by the end of the year. Then, break down your annual goal into smaller quarterly goals.
• Long-term Goals: Consider where would you like your real estate business to be within the first five years. Then, look further out and consider what you want to accomplish in your real estate business within 10 years.

Pro tip: Reverse-engineer the results you want to achieve and draft action steps to help you get there. Plan out your perfect day by breaking up your day into blocks dedicated to completing certain tasks. Plan out how many phone calls you will make daily, how many emails you will send, etc. Your success lies in the details you set and implement to create your roadmap to get there.

Step 9: Create a Marketing Calendar 

Being hyper-aware of how you spend your time is one of the keys to success in real estate. That’s why creating a calendar is crucial to staying on top of your marketing efforts. Start by creating a month’s worth of content, then decide from there if you want to look ahead six months. 

This calendar can include: 

• Newsletters
• Social media content
• Direct mail campaigns
• Pop-bys
• Holiday marketing

Pro tip: When you get a listing, you’ll need to tackle that marketing as it comes up. Plan open houses and any marketing to promote it at the time of your signed listing contract. To maximize its impact, send postcards such as, Just Listed and Just Sold.

Step 10: Implement Your Marketing Plan

Now that you’ve created your marketing strategy, it’s time to launch it and start bringing in more business. Each piece of content you deliver will boost your reputation in your area. Soon, you’ll see engagement on your posts, people in your DMs, and texts and phone calls from people in your community asking to meet for a cup of coffee to talk about listing their homes. 

• Here are some goals to keep in mind:
• Set aside some time to build out your social media content.
• Set up any print advertising you have on your real estate agent marketing plan and get everything ready to deploy.
• Make sure you have your landing pages set up to capture leads as they come in.
• Don’t forget to automate responses to leads once they are entered into your CRM.
• Make sure everything is running smoothly and make any corrections necessary.

Step 11: Track Your Progress

Congratulations! Your real estate agent marketing plan is up and running. Now you just need to monitor your progress and make adjustments when needed. Don’t panic if you don’t see a lot of leads come in initially. It takes time to develop that know, like, and trust factor. The more people who see you, your posts, and your marketing materials, the more they will feel like they know you. 

Tracking your metrics will give you a good idea of where your traffic is coming from and how well you or your team are converting. The more you know about your leads and your success at converting those leads, the more success you will achieve. 

Here is a short list of some of the most important metrics to track once you’ve implemented your real estate marketing plan:

• Website traffic
• Lead capture rate
• Conversion rate
• Response rate
• Cost per lead
• Cost per client
• Lifetime customer value
• Referral rates
• Engagement rates
• Click-through rate

Pro tip: Once you’ve got your marketing plan up and running, use tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Ads Manager, and your CRM analytics tools to monitor how effective your marketing is. Conversion rates will give you a lot of information about your return on investment. But also look at the length of time for conversions to get a better view of your overall marketing effectiveness. Remember to adjust your marketing efforts based on what your metrics tell you.

Why Is a Marketing Strategy Important? 

Working in real estate sales is just as much about marketing as it is about the properties we sell and the relationships we build. To keep your pipeline full, you need to have a plan in place, which is where your real estate agent marketing plan comes in. 

Here are some key reasons why it’s important to focus on your marketing strategy:

• Client nurturing: It’s important to stay in touch with clients throughout the year. Building and maintaining relationships is a key element of being a real estate agent. 
• Community involvement: Showing your business is a part of the community, not just working in it, will help strengthen your brand image.
• Pipeline preparation: Getting in front of existing and prospective clients could help position you as a go-to resource in your community. 
• Brand awareness: The more familiar people are with you and your business, the more likely they’ll think of you when it’s time to buy or sell.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Your Take

Now that you’ve learned different real estate marketing techniques and how to implement them, you’re ready to hit the ground running. Use this guide to build a marketing plan that’s as dynamic as your business, revisiting and refining it every quarter to stay ahead. Don’t forget to download our real estate marketing plan template to streamline your path to growth. 

Have you used a marketing plan for your real estate business? Let me know in the comments.

The post The Ultimate Real Estate Marketing Plan: Template & How to Create appeared first on The Close.

How to Write Creative Real Estate Listing Descriptions (+ Examples)

Writing listing descriptions isn’t something real estate agents should stress about. After all, it’s an opportunity to put a spotlight on the property’s best features. A well-crafted description should generate interest and increase leads on your listings. But how do you do it right? 

In this article, I tackle the five elements of great listing descriptions, six tips for writing better property descriptions, and creative real estate listing examples for inspiration. Let’s get started!

5 elements of great listing descriptions

Crafting real estate listing descriptions isn’t rocket science, but it takes more than just listing the property’s key features. So, what comprises a description that captures the reader’s attention? Let’s break it down.

1. A catchy opening line

The most creative real estate listing description examples kick off with a one-sentence-or-less, punchy title. Writing a catchy “brand” for your listing will draw people in and help them see it as a home and not just another set of pictures on the internet.

2. The property’s selling points

After your title, the next section of your listing description should be a two- or three-sentence pitch of the home’s best features. This should be a narrative description, not just a list of features or, God forbid — a bulleted list! Homebuyers aren’t shopping for groceries; they don’t need a checklist of your listing’s features.

3. Location and neighborhood appeal

Pitch the benefits of the home’s location and neighborhood. If these elements aren’t outstanding, try to find a silver lining. For example, if the house is on a noisy street with many bars open late, talk about the nightlife access. If it’s in a not-so-great neighborhood, but on a pretty block or near a new development area, mention those perks instead.

4. All caveats worth mentioning

While I never suggest agents write a “warts and all” listing description, you should still alert potential buyers to any vital information. A house hunter might forgive you for not mentioning the noisy street or less-than-perfect driveway. Still, they likely won’t forgive you if you leave out a dealbreaker — like the property’s leaky roof. Being upfront about these key details helps you avoid surprises later.

5. A compelling Call to Action (CTA)

The best home listing description examples have CTAs.  These CTA’s encourage buyers to contact you, schedule a showing, or attend your soon-to-be-announced open house. For instance, something as simple as “This rare gem won’t last long—call now for a private tour!” can entice buyers and encourage them to take that next step.

Writing the best listing description: Tips from a professional writer

Besides your cleverly placed real estate ads and high-quality listing photos, your listing description is key to attracting buyers. Consider these tips, along with some creative real estate listing description examples to inspire you:

Step 1: Write for the buyers you want to attract

Begin with a headline that’ll hook buyers. To sell a luxury home, you must speak directly to high-end buyers using real estate words that evoke exclusivity. If you’re targeting first-time homebuyers, focus on the neighborhood and lifestyle benefits that owning the property would offer.

Here are two creative real estate listing descriptions examples that target the right audience:

“Conveniently located minutes from the prestigious Beverly Hills Hotel and just 20 minutes from Van Nuys private airport, this estate is accessible only through private, gated streets. Discover a life of unparalleled luxury and serenity at the Crestview Manor, where timeless elegance and modern convenience blend seamlessly in the heart of Beverly Hills.” (Source: 2571 Wallingford Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210 on Zillow)

“Located in a gated community with 24/7 security, you’ll enjoy peace of mind while living in this well-maintained environment. The monthly HOA fee of 1,690 covers property taxes, security, and maintenance of the common areas, making for worry-free living. The owner is responsible for gas, electric, and water.” (Source: 361-K Skyline Dr, Staten Island, NY 10304 on Zillow)

Step 2: Showcase how it feels to live in that property

One of the first rules of copywriting? Sell the benefits and experience. Every famous copywriter, from David Ogilvy to Joseph Sugarman, agrees. Instead of telling your audience the listing has a big backyard, tell them how much fun they could have playing touch football with their family in the yard or the privacy it offers. Remember, your goal is to create a hook that makes potential buyers feel like they’re already stepping inside the property.

Check out this example of an inviting property listing description:

“Spend your days in one of the three living rooms, playing games, or watching films in the theater room. The 2.5-acre saltwater lagoon is an inviting escape, complete with paddle boards and kayaks for added fun. Located near stunning national parks, Paradise Shores allows you to explore and unwind in beautiful St. George while creating lasting memories with family and friends.” (Source: 5367 S Cyan Ln, Saint George, UT 84790 on Realtor.com)

Step 3: Keep it concise

Despite our hard work and clever content flourishes, the sad reality is that most people skim content online these days. Very few will take the time to read every word you write, even for a relatively short property description. So make sure to hit the key selling points of your listing early on and avoid overly lengthy, wordy descriptions.

Here’s an excellent home description example:

“Step into an open space defined by redwood, concrete, glass, and a sculptural butterfly roof framing sweeping mountain views. A brick fireplace acts as the focal point in the living, while a minimalist Poliform kitchen furnished with Gaggenau appliances and updated details throughout further enhances the experience.” (Source: 7316 Caverna Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90068 on Zillow)

Step 4: Use storytelling that’s honest and relatable

Never oversell or exaggerate. Trust me; buyers hate it when they show up to your house tour expecting a dream home only to find something completely different. 

Instead of stretching the truth, highlight the property’s best features authentically. If some parts of the house still need rework or an update, position it as an opportunity. You can say, “Bring your vision to life in this space,” or “There’s endless potential to customize this room.”

Take a look at these real estate description examples that are authentic and engaging without exaggeration:

“Whether you want to grow your own vegetables or create a peaceful outdoor retreat, this large lot gives you the flexibility to do it all. With charming curb appeal and an unbeatable location close to everything Tennyson Street has to offer, this bungalow is the perfect place to enjoy the best of Denver living.” (Source: 3930 Sheridan Boulevard, Denver, CO 80212 on Zillow)

“Now is the time to relax and enjoy sun bathing, swimming, and boating at your very own lake house! There is a septic tank on the property and public water is currently used for the home (there’s a well that could be used for gardening). Seller will pay to repair driveway but is selling the home as-is.” (Source: 1010 Flymm Smith Rd, Waterloo, SC 29384 on Zillow)

Step 5: Optimize for mobile without losing personality

Nowadays, most buyers scroll through listings on their phones. Big blocks of text are a big no-no, so listing descriptions must be easy to read. Break paragraphs, keep sentences short, and maintain natural flow throughout so it’s easy to skim.

Ensure your listing descriptions are easy to read on mobile (Source: Zillow)

Step 6: Proofread, proofread, proofread

One of the trickiest parts of writing anything is getting out of your head. It’s too easy to fall in love with your writing or miss your errors. Typos, incorrect grammar, and awkward phrasing can make the most luxurious listing look unprofessional — and you will lose the immediate trust of the buyer. 

Once you’ve written your listing description, read it aloud to identify areas that need improvement. Also, having a second set of eyes go over the listing can help ensure that your final version is polished and error-free.

Why listing descriptions are essential

A compelling real estate listing description is a strategic tool for turning a basic listing into a must-see property. It turns a buyer’s interest into action. Here’s why your property listing descriptions matter:

• Clever listing descriptions add depth to the property’s photos. While professional-looking photos grab attention, strong wording helps buyers visualize themselves living there. Using the right words and phrases offers details to a property that photos can’t fully capture.
• Listing descriptions can drive a sense of urgency. Your description should have a call to action that makes the buyers feel they need to act fast. By including phrases like “highly coveted” or “ultra rare property,” you’re urging buyers to move quickly before someone else snatches it up.
• Creative listing descriptions highlight hidden selling points. Some of the home’s key features — like energy-efficient windows and doors, eco-friendly paints, and green roofs — aren’t obvious in photos. A well-written description brings these details to light.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Bringing it all together

I hope you’ve picked something up from these real estate description examples. Remember, the best examples of home descriptions are always honest and straightforward and vividly describe a potential homeowner’s lifestyle after purchasing the property.

Got any questions about realtor property descriptions? Do you have any tricks you’d like to share with fellow agents? Let me know in the comments!

The post How to Write Creative Real Estate Listing Descriptions (+ Examples) appeared first on The Close.

18 Clever Real Estate Marketing Ideas

It’s 2025, and the strategies in real estate marketing are evolving faster than ever. What worked last year might not cut it today, so staying ahead of the curve is key. The good news is you don’t have to reinvent the wheel — you’ll only have to tweak your approach and focus on what works. 

I’ve updated our list of strategies to improve your marketing. So, grab your coffee and dig into our best real estate marketing ideas.

Brand and engagement marketing ideas

Creating your brand story is one of the most important steps in establishing authority in your market area. Your brand should reflect who you are authentically to give your target audience a way to make an emotional connection to you.

1. Create a personal brand rooted in your values

Start your real estate journey by creating a personal brand that resonates with your target audience. A solid brand does something that a website or glossy headshot never will — it helps you build a unique selling proposition. Every agent has access to the same marketing tools, from artificial intelligence (AI) to gorgeous templates, so what sets you apart? Your brand.

To start defining your brand, consider what your clients need and what you bring to the table that others don’t. Define your brokerage’s mission, vision, and core values to guide your marketing strategy. Your branding should reflect your values and align with the people you want to attract. So think about why you got into real estate (besides the potential of making gobs of money). 

Remember, don’t try to be something you’re not. The right client will connect with you for the right reasons.

Pro-tip: Jump on the fast lane to success and hire experts to create your brand. Agent Image focuses on high-quality design and award-winning service, allowing you to scale your business smoothly to the next level. Use our link to sign up for 20% off any website package!

2. Create a compelling slogan

Once you’ve defined your mission, vision, and core values, you should clearly understand your real estate brand. The next step is creating a memorable slogan summarizing your value proposition. Think of it as your one-sentence elevator pitch.

Summing up your value prop in one short sentence isn’t easy, but a compelling real estate slogan can significantly boost brand recognition. It helps communicate who you are and who you work with and creates a personal connection with your audience.

3. Generate referrals from local businesses

Experienced agents know that local business owners can be a sweet referral source. Who else is as plugged into your community as the local salon owner, restaurateur, or florist? They know when people are getting married, divorced, or making other life changes that might lead to a transaction. So, if you want to generate motivated referrals, you can’t go wrong building these relationships.

You’re probably already working with several types of businesses, like photographers, movers, contractors, staging companies, home inspectors, insurance agents, etc. You might consider hosting an event together. Try some of these ideas:

• Host a workshop with a qualified home inspector to educate potential military homebuyers about the VA inspection process.
• Invite a lender to a first-time homebuyers event to help boost the prospecting potential. They can help answer questions about how to get started.

These work equally well as in-person events or online webinars. Creating an informational event around a specific real estate topic is easy, but you need a strategic marketing strategy to get a good turnout. Use Facebook Events, print marketing, organic social media posts, and emails to get the word out.

Looking for a free referral network to boost your lead gen efforts? Sold.com delivers high-quality buyer and seller leads that convert easily. And you don’t pay for any leads until they close!

Visit Sold.com

4. Get real results from freelance designers

As you scale your business, it’s important to find ways to continue creating content and marketing materials while being able to focus on serving your clients. This is why learning to hire and work with freelance designers is one of agents’ most essential marketing skills. Here are four tips for getting the most out of your consultation with design professionals:

1. Share your mission, vision, and values statement so they understand your brand.
2. Decide on fonts, brand colors, and style before hiring a designer.
3. Find a designer who fits your needs and budget.
4. Don’t rush feedback — take time to absorb the work before requesting changes.

Apps like Canva and Adobe Express offer great templates for DIY-ers — but you’ll want to work with a pro at some point, especially if you want your marketing materials to hit the mark. Even using services like Tailor Brands for logo design requires knowing what you want and how to communicate it.

Looking to elevate your real estate branding? Fiverr connects you with freelance designers who can create custom logos, business cards, social media posts, and other real estate marketing materials tailored to your style. With so many budget-friendly options, you can get quality designs without breaking the bank!

Marketing real estate ideas for social media

There’s no denying that you must have an online presence for people to build trust in you. Use some of these creative real estate marketing strategies to help save time, stress, and frustration in building your social media marketing strategy.

5. Master social media content creation

You must post often to scale your social media and generate leads. However, quality matters as much as quantity, so creating high-quality content that fits your brand and works for all social media platforms you use is essential.

An easy way to stay consistent is to use real estate templates from companies like Coffee & Contracts, LabCoat Agents Marketing Center, and Agent Crate. These providers offer social media content, real estate marketing ideas, and professionally designed templates.

Here’s my take on the best resources for social media content creation, plus links to our in-depth reviews if you want to dive deeper:

Platform	Best for	Review	Learn more
	Increasing engagement on social media and email	Coffee and Contracts review	Visit Coffee and Contracts
	Those on a budget who want automated social media posting	Agent Crate review	Visit Agent Crate
	Teams who want an easy-to-use mobile app with a design studio and direct mail feature	LabCoat Agents Marketing Center	Visit LabCoat Agents Marketing Center
	Editing real estate videos using its Wix Video Maker	No review yet	Visit Wix.com
	Hiring freelancers who can create and edit all types of content for agents	No review yet	Visit Fiverr

6. Adopt social media strategies from top influencers

To generate more leads through social media marketing, learn from the most successful real estate influencers and marketers and adapt their strategies to fit your style. As Tony Robbins says, “If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do.” 

Follow real estate influencers you resonate with and see which topics get the most engagement. Share your perspective on those topics, add them to your marketing calendar, and stay consistent. Make sure to put your personality and unique ideas on their strategies, and don’t copy them directly. Not only is copying exact content unethical, but it won’t be authentic to your brand.

The more consistent you are, the more the algorithm works in your favor. Here are five real estate influencers to follow on Instagram:

• Taya DiCarlo (@tayadicarlo) for fun and educational reels
• Leigh Brown (@leighthomasbrown) for humor and actionable advice for buyers
• Glennda Baker (@glenndabaker) for no-nonsense advice for buyers and sellers
• Chelsea Peitz (@chelsea.peitz) for real estate social media advice and lifestyle content
• The Broke Agent (@thebrokeagent) for real estate humor and viral memes

7. Use Facebook Messenger ads to boost open rates

If you’re looking for smarter marketing ideas for real estate agents, try Facebook Messenger ads. Unlike crowded news feeds, Messenger feels more personal. It’s a great way to connect with many Facebook Messenger users over 45 — the same demographic as home sellers.

Here are six steps to get you started:

• Set up an Ads Manager account in Meta.
• Choose the engagement objective.
• Set the engagement option to “Messaging apps” and select Messenger or Instagram.
• Set your ad duration, designate your audience, and choose your ad format.
• Customize the greeting people see after clicking on your ad.
• Review, edit, and publish your ad.

Once you start receiving leads through your ads, use LionDesk’s customer relationship manager (CRM) to automate texts and keep prospects engaged. If you’re unsure about signing up for its services, LionDesk offers a 14-day free trial!

Marketing ideas for more real estate referrals

Well-established real estate agents know the secret to success is getting referrals. Use some of these real estate agent marketing ideas to help generate more referrals and grow your business exponentially.

8. Automate your review-collecting process 

If you don’t ask for client reviews, you leave money on the table. But let’s be honest — agents get busy, forget, or feel awkward bringing it up. The longer you wait, the more challenging it is to reconnect with past clients.

Instead of manually chasing down past clients, savvy agents automate their review-gathering process with reputation management platforms like Birdeye. These platforms have tools that reach out to your clients to ask for testimonials. There is less friction and awkwardness, so you get more reviews on more websites.

9. Build social proof with video testimonials

A few years ago, a handful of 5-star Zillow reviews was all a realtor needed. While they are still a crucial part of your online presence, they are simply not enough. With fake reviews everywhere, people are growing skeptical of written real estate client testimonials. They’re just too easy to fake.

Video testimonials, on the other hand, naturally feel more authentic and are nearly impossible to fabricate. They can be used in your realtor marketing across social media, emails, landing pages, websites, and YouTube. Here are a few quick best practices to help your video testimonials shine this year: 

• Keep them short: Shorter videos are more likely to be watched to the end, a vital engagement signal for most social media platforms.
• Shoot vertical videos: This will make them easier to share on Instagram Stories, Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts.
• Send questions in advance: Make it easy for clients to think of responses, and they will be less nervous on the shoot day.
• Done is better than perfect: No need to make a big production out of your testimonial videos! Sometimes, candid videos shot on your phone work better.

10. Engage past clients with experiential marketing

As any seasoned agent will tell you, five minutes of in-person engagement is worth hours of online engagement. That’s why many top-producing agents invest in experiential marketing — exclusive client events like dinners, wine tastings, educational seminars, and charity drives.

Take annual holiday parties, for example. These parties bring together past clients, friends, and vendors, keeping people talking for months. The best part? These events often lead to new transactions.

11. Give memorable closing gifts

While closing gifts are an excellent way to encourage referrals, most realtors miss the mark by focusing on self-promotion instead of what clients actually want. The best gifts should feel personal and useful — not just another mug with your brokerage logo.

Think about what would make their first day in a new home easier. Moving into a house while everything is still in boxes is difficult. A gift basket with essentials like kitchen towels, a bottle of champagne with flutes, an Echo Dot, or even a pancake mix for breakfast can go a long way. Thoughtful and practical gifts show you care about your clients, while also keeping you top of mind.

Marketing ideas for real estate listings

These ideas, from enhancing curb appeal to crafting creative listing descriptions, will help you market your listings more effectively.

12. Improve curb appeal on a shoestring budget

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), most Realtors recommend improving curb appeal before listing a property for sale. Curb appeal is essential for attracting prospective buyers. It’s the first and last thing people see when driving to the property, and great curb appeal also attracts those who drive by. A well-kept exterior signals that a home is cared for, making buyers more curious to see what’s inside.

Here are some simple low- or no-cost curb appeal fixes to try with your listing.

• Create an inviting seating area on the porch
• Perk up drab brown grass with lawn paint
• Replace the mailbox and house numbers
• Decorate the entrance with potted plants and flowers
• Upgrade porch lighting
• Tidy up hedges and replace dead or scraggly ones
• Add fresh mulch to the flowerbeds
• Powerwash the exterior of the home

For more ideas, check out our curb appeal strategy guide.

13. Create effective listing marketing plans with AI

“Those who list, last” is a well-worn real estate cliche because most successful agents regularly list properties rather than exclusively represent buyers. Whether you’re a seasoned listing agent or still working on getting your first seller client, a detailed marketing plan is your key to success.

Your marketing plan is one of the most powerful tools you have to land listings. Homeowners hire agents for their marketing expertise, so having a detailed plan to showcase during your listing presentation can set you apart. Some essential features of a marketing plan include:

• A strategy for overcoming common objections
• Unique selling features of the new listing
• A thorough and accurate comparative market analysis (CMA)
• High-quality visuals — photos, video walkthroughs, aerial footage, and a 3D tour
• A compelling listing description
• A multi-channel promotion strategy

While your marketing plan sets the foundation, artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT and Grammarly can take your listing descriptions to the next level. These apps help agents create listing descriptions, refine marketing copy, and brainstorm topics. Think of it as the editor you never had. However, keep in mind that AI shouldn’t replace your expertise.

Here are four AI tools you can use to write better real estate marketing copy this year:

AI copywriting tool	Best for	Starting monthly price	Learn more
	Everything from short marketing copy to e-books, lead magnets, and listing descriptions	Free	Visit ChatGPT
	Copywriting templates so you don’t have to start from scratch	$39 per seat	Visit Jasper.ai
	Creating workflows where agents can automate large-scale content creation and tasks	Free	Visit Copy.ai
	Cleaning up all writing, including emails, listing descriptions, social media captions	Free	Visit Grammarly

14. Enhance listings with virtual staging & VR tours

If you’re selling an empty home, consider virtual staging to help buyers visualize its potential. A spare room can be transformed into a kid’s room with bunk beds or as a home office. It’s one of the simplest yet most powerful real estate marketing ideas that can make a big impact.Besides that, using virtual reality (VR) in real estate can enhance listings further by letting buyers explore properties remotely through immersive 3D tours. Many tools, like Zillow, are available today to create interactive virtual tours that make potential buyers feel they’re walking through your listings.

Give your listings an edge with Zillow 3D Home tours, which let buyers visually explore properties from anywhere. This feature will make your listing stand out in Zillow search results. Best of all, creating a 3D tour is free with the Zillow app!

Real estate marketing ideas to boost visibility and communication

The more accessible you are online, the easier it is for your audience to connect with you and develop trust. Try implementing some of these additional realtor marketing techniques to increase your exposure.

15. Create a buyer presentation

Successful agents know that buyer presentations are just as important as listing presentations. Especially in the wake of the NAR settlements, you must try to go through a proper buyer presentation with your leads. According to the NAR, most buyers interview just one agent before deciding — so creating and practicing an informative buyer presentation is key to attracting more this year and beyond.

Here are tips for delivering the perfect buyer presentation:

• Break the ice with small talk
• Tell them exactly how long the presentation will take
• Ask specific and open-ended questions to build a buyer profile
• Don’t mislead your clients — ensure they understand the commission structure and their responsibilities along with yours
• Let your buyer do most of the talking
• Role-play your presentation with another agent before doing it live

16. Write scripts & pre-record videos for text messaging

Text messaging is one of the fastest ways to connect with leads. Most people open text messages within five minutes, which is way faster than an email. If you’re using it in your real estate marketing, you need to be ready to respond quickly.

The good news? Many CRMs, like Wise Agent and BombBomb, let you save text templates and send pre-recorded video messages. Your text messaging scripts don’t need to be perfect — just ensure they are clear, friendly, and to the point, much like our recommended text messaging scripts.

Stay connected with your leads using Wise Agent’s built-in text messaging feature. Quickly follow up with leads, send appointment reminders, and keep conversations going — all from one easy-to-use CRM.

17. Launch a real estate podcast

Starting a real estate podcast is an incredibly effective way to showcase your communication skills, personality, and local area knowledge. Use your podcast to spotlight local businesses, interview other adjacent business owners (think vendors, like local lenders or photographers), or spew some of your market wizardry and real estate expertise.

Invite expert guests on your podcast to boost your credibility and build your audience quickly. If you’re lucky enough to have a local influencer with a decent following in your area, seek them out and offer to work with them. Consider being a guest on someone else’s podcast too, where you answer questions about your area’s current real estate market.

For some inspiration, check out our roundup of the best podcasts for real estate agents — these could give some structure on how to approach creating yours.

18. Create neighborhood spotlight videos

Make videos highlighting specific neighborhoods or communities in your market area. Showcase any unique features, amenities, schools, and local businesses that stand out to give your potential buyers a wide-lens view of what it’s like to live in the neighborhood.

Neighborhood videos can be simple and made in either long or short form. A great strategy is to post long-form videos on YouTube and break them into shorter clips for your social media pages. Using real estate hashtags and geotags can help boost visibility and attract more leads.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Your take

With the endless variety of marketing tools out there claiming to do everything except wash your dishes, figuring out what works for your business can take a lot of work. Worse, many agents chase the latest fads and waste time learning the ins and outs of the latest shiny object. If you want to make real gains in marketing this year, you need to think strategically about the marketing strategies you use for your business.

Do you have any killer marketing ideas for real estate that our readers should know about? Let us know in the comments.

The post 18 Clever Real Estate Marketing Ideas appeared first on The Close.

12 Real Estate Valentine’s Day Ideas to Spark Some Client Love

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, presenting a prime opportunity to connect with your clients that you shouldn’t miss. The challenge? Standing out in the sea of generic promotions. But here’s the good news: you don’t need to overthink it. 

When it comes to real estate valentines, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Simply aim to put your own spin on tried-and-true ideas so that they reflect the uniqueness of your brand. Below are 12 imaginative, simple, and effective ways to market your business with a Valentine’s Day twist that’ll spark some love from your clients—and keep you top of mind long after the flowers have wilted.

1. Remember Those Without a Significant Other

Last year, a reader of The Close, Bruce Parker, commented that for his real estate valentines, he delivered 100 boxes of chocolate to seniors without spouses. I think this is an amazing idea because it reflects everything about what it means to build authentic, caring relationships. I’m willing to bet that the goodwill he built was off the charts! 

You can do what Bruce did or mix it up by offering a different gift, like a single red rose, or selecting a different group, like unmarried homeowners or renters. You could even celebrate your clients’ children, who will be made to feel extra special and important.

2. Plan an Afternoon of Pop-Bys

Either the weekend before or after Valentine’s Day, take a few hours to pop by your clients’ homes with a small holiday-themed gift. There are a ton of inspired ideas to choose from—but the best Realtor^® valentines express your gratitude while reminding clients that their referrals are “the heart” of your business. 

For instance, consider supporting a local bakery by ordering heart-shaped cookies in bags and adding a real estate Valentine’s Day tag. For more ideas, check out The Close’s collation of the best pop-by gifts you can give.

3. Help Local Businesses Spread the Love

Valentine’s Day is consistently one of the top three days of the year for dining out according to the National Restaurant Association. You can show off your local expertise by sharing a list of the best romantic restaurants in your area through your newsletter or social media.

For a creative twist, record an engaging video to attract hyperlocal engagement on Instagram or YouTube. You can also interview restaurant owners about their special menus or ask locals about their favorite date-night spots to really up the authenticity.

Of course, restaurants aren’t your only option—highlighting spas, florists, specialty gift shops, or even a local chocolatier (if you have one) could provide just as much value to your audience.

4. Post Valentine’s Day Real Estate Memes

You know you need to maintain an active social media presence, but it can feel overwhelming at times. One simple and fun way to engage your social media followers—and entertain them during Valentine’s Day—is to post real estate memes. Besides humor, these can be educational and showcase a bit about your business and personality. If you’re a DIY sort of person and can put aside 20 or 30 minutes, you can easily fashion real estate memes with any of the free tools you’ll find online. 

It understandably takes a lot to manage your social media presence, so you should consider working with an experienced provider. ReminderMedia, for instance, is one of The Close’s recommended real estate marketing companies—and it can help automate your social media marketing.

5. Share Your Valentine’s Day Plans

Going on the theme of using social media—authenticity rules the day when it comes to posting on these platforms. And what better way is there to show authenticity than by giving your followers a peek into your life beyond real estate and sharing what you’ve arranged for the day in a Facebook post or Instagram Story! Take pictures or make a reel, and encourage engagement by asking others to share their plans and images. 

6. Text a Laugh-Provoking Message

Similar to sharing a real estate Valentine’s Day meme, sending a text message with a real estate joke can give someone a moment of levity as they enjoy a chuckle. You could go a step further and tell your joke in a video text message or even make sending one on Valentine’s Day or any other holiday your thing. 

You can use one of The Close’s best text message scripts for easy typing. But if a text message isn’t your preference, simply add a dad joke to your email signature line or post it for your followers to enjoy and share!

7. Mail Handwritten Real Estate Valentine’s Day Cards

I know you’re busy, which is precisely why I’m suggesting that you send your clients handwritten cards. As the “opportunity connector” Donovin Lindsay put it, “Unlike the fleeting nature of electronic messages, a physical card serves as a tangible reminder of the time and effort invested in reaching out.” Such care serves as a “beacon of authenticity and connection,” working to strengthen your relationships with your clients.

A bulk box of Valentine’s Day cards is a cheap investment—and sending one with your thanks costs only the price of a stamp. You can use a Thank You note template to make drafting your message a little easier. To make your card especially memorable, create a custom card that includes the photo you took of your clients in front of their new home on the day they closed.

8. Use an E-Card

Then again, if you truly cannot find the time to handwrite cards, you could send an animated e-card, which is always fun to receive! You can use Fiverr to hire a freelancer who will design and create one for you, or purchase a subscription to a platform like JibJab for access its e-cards, shorties, and videos. One of its standout features lets you upload a photo of yourself and insert it into an animated e-card, bringing your character to life as it moves to popular music.

9. Mail Postcards to Your Farm

Postcards are probably one of the most affordable ways to tell someone you’re thinking of them on Valentine’s Day, and there are many ways to use them in your real estate marketing campaign—from sending a colorful Valentine’s Day “Just Sold” to the neighborhood to a general cute Valentine like the one above. Some postcard design and delivery services offer Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) to ensure your mailers are delivered.

For pennies per card, you can run a lead-generating postcard campaign that sends a touchpoint to your entire farm. If you need help with designs, here are some real estate postcard templates you can use that will help generate leads.

10. Send a Valentine’s Day Real Estate Email

Yes, your list of contacts receives a ton of emails, but there are a number of actions you can take to help make sure that yours stands out. Jay Schwedelson is the founder of GURU Media Hub and the mastermind behind SubjectLine.com (a free subject line rating tool), and during a recent Stay Paid podcast episode, he provided a litany of tactics that agents can use to improve their subject lines and content.

Try two or three of his strategies to craft a real estate Valentine’s Day email to send to your database—and then utilize a platform that handles a/b testing to find which subject lines garner the most clicks.

11. Host a Valentine’s Day Giveaway That’ll Win You Leads and Loyalty

A giveaway can spark engagement while building your database of leads. But here’s the key: don’t just post about it on social media. Maximize your reach by including it in your email newsletter, sending a dedicated email blast, and featuring it on your website. 

The best part? There’s an idea for every budget. Here are some creative options to help get you thinking.

Idea	What’s Included
Dinner for Two	Partner with a local restaurant to offer a romantic dinner—negotiate a discount or set menu to make it special.
Romantic Date Kit	Put together a cozy package with scented candles, chocolates, a soft blanket, and a romantic-comedy movie.
Weekend Getaway	Offer a stay at a charming bed and breakfast or luxury retreat. If a full weekend isn’t feasible, an overnight trip works too.
Spa Day for Couples	Provide a couples’ spa experience by teaming up with a local spa for a discounted package.
Winery or Brewery Tour	Get together with a local winery or brewery to offer an exclusive tasting experience.
Hot-Air Balloon Ride	Award one lucky couple a sky-high romantic adventure they’ll never forget.
Theater Night	Score tickets to a movie, play, or concert, and let the winners enjoy a special night out.
Couples Cooking Class	Find an in-person or virtual class through a culinary school, local restaurant, or online provider.
Professional Photoshoot	Offer a session for couples, families, or individuals with a local photographer.
Gift Certificate for an Experience	A candy shop, museum, or unique tour makes for a fun and memorable outing.
Customizable Jewelry	An engraved necklace or charm bracelet is always a thoughtful keepsake.

Whatever prize you choose, make sure your entry process is clear and simple. And don’t forget to check the rules regarding contests and giveaways in your location and on the social media platforms you use. 

12. Ship Promotional Items

Depending on your budget, there are hundreds of promotional items you can choose from to let clients know you’re thinking of them, any of which you can add your branding to. VistaPrint can set you up with gifts that won’t break the bank, from pens, notepads, water bottles, dry-erase boards, and canvas tote bags to tech devices like USB drives, charging cables, power banks and pads, and phone stands. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Your Take

I enjoy Valentine’s Day because it’s an extra opportunity to let my wife know what she means to me and how much I appreciate her—and you can do the same with your clients. This year, use one or more of the ideas I’ve suggested above to let them know that you’re grateful for their trust and referrals. If you do something special for them that you’d like to share with others, share it in the comments below.

The post 12 Real Estate Valentine’s Day Ideas to Spark Some Client Love appeared first on The Close.