Fundamentals of Real Estate Marketing
Your personal marketing program needs certain ingredients in
order to succeed. Chief among them -- research, focus, testing,
honesty and enthusiasm.
Fundamentals of research Effective marketing demands
thorough research, the more of it the better. In fact, I would
rank research in the top-three factors of successful marketing.
Before you can write a brochure to inform your audience ...
before you can write an advertisement to persuade your audience
... before you can write Web content to educate your audience
... you have to know everything about your audience.
You have to know what their days are like, how they define
success, what they worry about. Everything. Only then can you
begin to communicate to them effectively.
Fundamentals of focus
In marketing and communications, seduction lurks around every
corner. New ideas emerge during a prolonged campaign.
Distractions and side doors present themselves. "This is old,"
you might think. "I need to shake things up a little."
Focus and consistency bring benefits over the long haul, but it
takes patience. An ad-testing program, for example, could take
several months to start producing valuable insight. It takes
steady measurement. It takes long-term vision. It takes focus.
Fundamentals of testing
Eugene Schwartz, author of Breakthrough Advertising, said it
best: "There are no answers in direct mail except test answers.
You don't know whether something will work until you test it.
And you cannot predict test results based on past experience."
What he meant was, you can take an offer that has worked for
somebody else in your industry, apply it to your audience, and
have it flop.
Sure, there are "best practices" you can start with. And you can
learn a lot from the successes and failures of other marketers.
But to get the best possible ROI on your marketing investment,
there is no substitute for testing.
Think of it this way. Best practices will put you ahead of 75%
of your competition. Testing will help you surpass the other 25%.
Fundamentals of honesty
If you say "free," it better be free -- with no strings
attached. If you say "number one real estate company on the east
coast" ... you better be number one in some legitimate way.
Deceit and trickery only work the first time around.
Fundamentals of enthusiasm
Have you ever read an ad, article or website and found yourself
thinking, "Boy, this writer doesn't even care."?
If your designer, copywriter, webmaster -- or anyone else
involved with your marketing -- lacks enthusiasm for a
particular project, the project has already failed.
A wise marketing manager knows this and will take the necessary
steps to inspire his or her team. All this being said, it always
helps to have a superior or service. But that's another topic
entirely.