Ignite your marketing with strategic planning, niche focus, personalized messaging, and effective leveraging of technology.
In a world flooded with real estate marketing tools and tactics, it’s easy for real estate professionals to feel overwhelmed. However, some clear strategies and approaches can help agents stand out and make meaningful connections with their clients.
Let’s dive into insights from real estate experts Dalip Jaggi, co-founder of prop-tech company Revive Real Estate, and Shayan Hamidi, founder and CEO of Rechat, who spoke to Craig Rowe of Inman about how agents can differentiate themselves in the market.
Understanding the Fundamentals of Marketing
Dalip Jaggi emphasizes the importance of understanding the customer journey and integrating marketing efforts seamlessly into existing tech stacks. For Dalip, whose company uses HubSpot, it’s crucial to leverage tools that provide valuable data insights and meet customers at various stages of their journey. He also advises against over-systematizing the process, ensuring that messaging remains personalized and relevant. You don’t want to send the wrong thing to the wrong customer!
According to Shayan Hamidi, the 2023 Best of Proptech Award Winner by Inman, the low-hanging fruits in real estate marketing are lead generation and brand creation. He highlights the need for agents to clarify their value proposition and deliver ongoing value to clients beyond mere transactions. That means figure out what you’re really good at, consider how to improve your clients’ real estate journeys, and communicate that.
Adopt integrated martech solutions
Shayan underlines the role of AI in personalizing messaging and staying connected with clients throughout their real estate journey. He says the prevalence of AI and the many changes happening in the real estate industry today make it “important to start thinking of ourselves as consultants – as lifetime consultants – and to do that, you have to be part of that journey with them whether they’re in the market or not.”
Sharing unique information about their market or delivering analytics on their property are examples of things that can add value. These can lead to referrals or having them return to you when the time is right. Then you get to the tools, he says. Martech (where marketing and technology come together to enhance your marketing plan by generating better data and better information for creating better content and retargeting, etc.) is now an ecosystem of solutions including social media, analyzing click-throughs on emails, and retargeting ads. However, Shayan says they must be integrated.
Getting Through the Noise
Dalip suggests that agents differentiate themselves through their brand rather than solely relying on technology. He encourages agents to specialize in unique aspects of the real estate transaction, making themselves memorable and recognizable to clients through, for example, creating your niche in renovations or supporting people buying second homes. “Businesses win when they have something nobody else has or they have something that is memorable or recognizable,” he says.
Shayan echoes this sentiment, highlighting the importance of specialization and niche focus. He also advises agents to personalize their messaging and leverage AI-based tools to effectively identify and serve specific audience segments.
Building Inventory and Referrals
In a market characterized by low inventory, Dalip proposes a proactive approach to building inventory through client consultations. Agents can manufacture inventory and generate referrals from their existing client base by engaging in meaningful conversations and providing valuable insights.
Meanwhile, Shayan highlights the role of AI-based predictive analytics in identifying who agents should focus on to create opportunities to play on their strengths through strategic planning and leveraging technology.
Long-Term Strategies
Looking beyond immediate transactions, Craig flags the importance of long-term planning and value-driven marketing efforts. He suggests focusing on educational products, creative marketing solutions, and analytics tools to deliver value consistently over time.
Dalip notes the marketing fundamentals of awareness, consideration, and conversion, urging agents to strategically deploy tools at each stage of the customer journey. The importance of curiosity-driven marketing tactics to engage clients effectively cannot be underestimated.
Finally, Shayan says, “Pick tools that will keep you in the game all the time. As an agent, you should be constantly active. Nurture past clients, give value to your circle, and don’t worry about what leads you can get today. That’s very transactional. See where you can add value.”
By understanding marketing fundamentals and adopting a proactive approach, agents can cut through the noise and establish a lasting presence in the market.
Photo credits: DilokaStudio on Freepik, Instagram, and LinkedIn
