Figuring out how to market yourself as a realtor can be one of the industry’s biggest challenges.
After all, it’s not easy to convince someone to make the biggest purchase of their life and to work with you to do it.
So, how do you establish a business that not only brings you clientele to make money but brings you the right clientele?
And by right clientele, we mean the prospects who are serious about making their next big move. The ones who are ready to work with an agent (a.k.a. you).
Well, first you need a marketing strategy full of enticing ideas.
To make it easier on knowing what, specifically, to include in your strategy, we’ve compiled this list of the best 21 real estate marketing ideas.
1. Start a Resourceful SEO Blog
Your next real estate clients are a click away from filling out your contact form. One way to bring them right to you is through the help of a blog on your realtor website.
But we aren’t talking about a hobby blog that only your mom and grandma reads. No, your business blog is geared towards your prospects and built upon SEO strategies.
A live SEO blog can be your business greatest asset. All you need to do is know what it is your clients are struggling with, and then write a series of blogs addressing (and answering) their most-asked questions.
But, there’s a caveat to this method: your blogs have to provide value.
For instance, if a prospect goes to their search engine and types in “how to sell a house fast.” your blog post needs to actually answer this question. Not skirt around it.
Many realtors miss out on the business a high-quality SEO blog can bring because they view this tool as something that gives away their services for free.
But it doesn’t!
Instead, it makes you look like the expert you are and you start to see the following benefits from maintaining a consistent posting schedule:
- Increased website traffic
- A dedicated following for your brand
- More inquiries for services
- More closings (and $$$ for you)
2. Create a Realtor Website
Every realtor’s greatest marketing tool isn’t their social media platform, it’s their website.
That’s because your realtor website is the hub for all things clients need to know about your real estate farming area, the services you provide, your insight on the market, and how to contact you.
Plus, your realtor website is the perfect place to house your SEO blog!
But, like your blog, the caveat for this real estate marketing idea to work is to make sure it’s optimized for search engines.
In simpler terms, making sure your business is easily found for prospective clients.
Here’s how to set up a realtor website that’s optimized for search engines and includes everything you need to land more closings:
- Keywords (for example,” [Your Service Area] Realtor”).
- Contact form on the home page and contact page.
- A blog page.
- An about page that details who you are and who you help as a realtor.
- Testimonials that show successful client stories.
- Current property listings.
- Social media platform links.
3. Turn Most-Love Blog Posts Into Lead Magnets
After you’ve posted a myriad of SEO blog posts and track analytics, turn your most successful post into a converting lead magnet.
This is a fantastic marketing tactic since it repurposes your high-value content and rewards you with a prospect’s information in order to receive the download.
To make it even sweeter, generating the contact form to automatically sign the prospects up for your email marketing newsletter puts more content in front of their eyes.
4. Invest In Drone Photography and Video Walkthroughs
At the core of the industry, real estate thrives on visuals. With that in mind, your business should definitely include the highest quality of photos and videos of current listings.
As you gain more listings to showcase on your website, social media, or third-party platforms, make sure you invest in drone photography to capture a luxurious feel of your properties.
These high-quality videos and images make the instant connection prospective buyers need to feel drawn to the property and reach out for the showing.
5. Utilize Helpful Software to Find Clients Directly
While there’s a lot of marketing to be done in order to promote your services indirectly, every realtor should have a marketing strategy that reaches out to clients directly.
Door-knocking is still an effective strategy for realtors, but in order for this tactic to be successful, you need to know the right homes to target.
With helpful software like Cole Information’s Realty Resource, you’re able to customize a search based on specific criteria to find homeowners in your area who line up with your marketing campaign.
You’ll unlock addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and more within a matter of seconds to find prospects that align with your campaign so you can (hopefully) see a higher conversion rate.
6. Establish a Social Media Presence
While door-knocking is still profitable, there’s no denying the power of social media marketing.
Social media marketing is a must for realtors and can be one of your greatest tools for gaining new clients.
Plus, it can be extremely cost-effective, depending on how you use the platforms.
You can set up free accounts on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X (Twitter), TikTok, and YouTube to promote photos or videos that attract a large audience in your area.
Just remember that once you start connecting with prospects, you take some time each day to respond to comments or direct messages to stay engaged with your audience.
7. Start an Educational Podcast
As we’ve mentioned, for clients, real estate is a hefty investment. What better way to showcase your expertise and make prospects feel comfortable enough to work with you than with an educational podcast?
Granted, this marketing idea is very time consuming with filming and editing, but it can be an effective tool to grow your business. It’s also an excellent route to showcase your industry expertise and educate your audience on the homebuying and selling process.
8. Experiment With Paid Social Media Ads
Even though social media offers free accounts for marketing, it’s a good idea to play around with their paid advertisements for better engagement and reach. Especially since they function slightly differently from each other.
Free social media marketing is great for building a long-term connection and following with your audience. Paid ads are better for reaching a broader audience and targeting specific demographics in your campaign.
Plus, paid advertisements come with analytics tracking and performance metrics so you can review and modify campaigns in the future.
9. Start an Email Newsletter
Email newsletters can be a powerful marketing tool for all realtors since it keeps your audience in the loop of everything that’s happening whether it’s with your business or the industry itself.
Best of all, an email newsletter is easy to integrate with other marketing channels so you stay fresh in your audience’s mind.
Did you just post an insightful blog about the latest market trends? Send a newsletter out to your subscribers with the link directing them to the post on your site.
Recently upload a video walkthrough of a must-see listing to your YouTube channel? Send a newsletter out informing subscribers with a link to this page.
Just sold a house for a happy client? Share the case study on your blog with those who read your newsletter.
10. Host a Free Webinar
Like we’ve already mentioned, real estate can be scary and intimidating for homeowners who don’t understand the market or home-buying and selling process. Make information understandable for prospects while building brand awareness and trust by hosting a free webinar.
This marketing idea works by giving prospects a risk-free opportunity to learn more about the industry and who you are as a realtor. Then, once they’re ready to begin their real estate journey, they’ll know who to contact.
11. Star In Your Own YouTube Videos
YouTube is another powerful real estate marketing idea not to leave out of your brand-growing strategy. That’s because the platform allows for many content ideas all while optimizing your videos for search engines.
Pictures only tell half the story, so it’s up to you as a realtor to take advantage of YouTube for telling (and showing) the other half.
Here are some video ideas to film for your realtor YouTube channel:
- Property walkthroughs
- In-depth Q&As for prospects
- Video client testimonials
- Explaining market updates and conditions
- Detailing the home-buying and selling process
- Providing home maintenance tips
- Showing off fabulous neighborhoods and nearby attractions
- A meet-the-realtor introduction
- Behind-the-scenes look at your business (what you do in a day)
12. Partner With Other Local Businesses for Giveaways
One great way to build your brand in your local market is to partner with other local businesses for fun giveaways! Whether it’s a local clothing boutique, coffee shop, bakery, interior design studio, or other small business, ask if they’d like to partner with you in an open-house or community event for a fun giveaway.
Not only does this give you a chance to connect with other business owners in your area who might send you referrals later on, it also entices homeowners in the area to show up since a reward is involved.
13. Have Business Cards Handy
As a realtor, you never know when your next business opportunity is going to strike. That’s why it’s best to carry around business cards with you at all times, even when you’re not networking or attending real estate-centered events.
Business cards set a first impression for those you hand them out to and they provide essential contact information for the recipient. Sure, it might be months or even a year down the road before they give you a call, but you never know how fast your phone will ring. So trust us, it’s worth it to invest in a set of professional, on-brand business cards!
14. Advertise Open Houses
Planning an upcoming open house? One real estate marketing idea that will never go out of style is advertising your open houses.
And, since there are plenty of channels to use to market your event, remember to utilize all avenues such as social media, your email newsletter, and direct mail.
15. Don’t Knock Print Marketing
Even though digital marketing gets all the love these days for marketing, that doesn’t mean print marketing is completely dead. Print marketing still has a place for realtors, and can even be a fun campaign.
It is important to note that print marketing does come with a higher expense than the digital route, but it can be an investment that’s worth it in the long-run. Billboards, benches, direct mailers, or road signs can still be a memorable way to promote yourself as a professional that leads clients to you.
16. Hand Out Brand Swag
Who doesn’t love free stuff? One excellent real estate marketing idea to add to your list is investing in branded swag to pass out at events or when you network. Think functional items like coffee mugs, pens, keychains, or bags that people can use instead of collecting dust.
17. Leverage Happy Testimonials
You should always, always, always market yourself by showing happy testimonials from previous clients. Why? Because it gives prospects the social proof that they can trust you for the same results.
Invite current clients or reach back out to previous ones to participate in a survey that allows them to comment on how helpful your service was. Then, once it’s turned in, use these testimonials to market your brand and bring in more clientele.
18. Create Local Guides
Whether you have an established real estate farm or not, homeowners in the area (and the ones moving in) look to you as the know-all for the area. What better way to get those accustomed to the environment than with a local guide?
Create a guide about the neighborhoods, town, and local amenities to help prospects make an informed decision about moving into the area. These guides work exceptionally well as a lead magnet on your site that you can use to collect names, emails, and phone numbers in exchange for the download so you have people to contact about your business.
19. Sponsor Local Youth Teams
Sponsoring local youth teams can be a valuable way to market your business since it gives you more visibility. When you sponsor a team, they’ll advertise your brand’s logo on banners, flyers, and more that put your services in front of those in your area.
20. Secure a Google Business Profile
Become easier to find and enhance the reputation of your business by setting up a Google business profile! While this marketing tactic doesn’t promote your services like social media platforms or direct mailers, it markets indiscreetly once your business is found during a Google search.
This real estate marketing idea is really all about advertising your credibility, especially since past clients can leave reviews under your profile.
21. Have an FAQ Section On Your Site
As you finish setting up your realtor website, don’t forget to include an FAQ section either on its own page or at the bottom of another one. An FAQ section can help you close deals by persuading prospects to work with you since you’re addressing some of the most-asked questions like:
- How many homes have you sold?
- What’s the buying and selling process like?
- How do your fees work?
This is a great section to build more trust and credibility for those interested in your services since it shows your expertise and understanding in some of the most intimidating parts of real estate.
The Bottom Line
Like any business, marketing your services as a realtor requires investing time and money in order to see growth. But while these 21 real estate marketing ideas can produce incredible conversions, they only work if you stay consistent in your efforts and constantly promote yourself to your audience.
