What Is Direct Marketing? (And How to Do It Right as a Real Estate Agent)
As a real estate agent, you have to wear multiple hats on the job. Not only do you have to know how to negotiate real estate transactions, but you also have to have enough business acumen to keep yourself afloat, and enough marketing know-how to make sure that you always have a steady flow of clients. With that in mind, we’ve created a guide to one of the most important marketing concepts you’ll use as a real estate agent. Keep reading to learn what direct marketing is and how to make it work for you.
What is direct marketing?
As the name suggests, direct marketing involves any type of marketing where the communication is shared directly with the consumer rather than being distributed through a third-party provider. Direct marketing presents the product or service directly to a potential consumer who has been determined to be in the target audience by the service provider. Some common examples of direct marketing efforts are mailing and emailing campaigns, pay-per-click advertising, and SMS messaging.
It can be easiest to think of direct marketing in contrast to what it is not. The other form of marketing is known as “indirect marketing” and it is a more subtle approach to putting your brand’s message out in the world. Rather than explicitly offering a product or service, indirect marketing aims to grow brand familiarity and nurture relationships with consumers. Direct marketing, on the other hand, explicitly offers the product or service.
How does direct marketing work?
Since direct marketing is often so upfront with its intentions, many people make the mistake of assuming that there’s no science behind it. However, there are quite a few things that you can do to ensure that your direct marketing efforts are as successful as possible. We’ve included them below for your review. Look them over so that you understand how to make your next direct marketing campaign your best one yet.
Create targeted lists
Too often, when people get started with direct marketing, they assume that they should try to reach the largest audience possible. Truthfully, though, sending your advertisement to the wrong people may do more to harm your brand. It may annoy those who are not currently interested in your real estate services and turn them off from using you in a future transaction.
Instead, it’s better to create targeted lists. For example, you could decide to target all of the homeowners who live within one mile of your recently sold listing. Alternatively, you might choose to target current condo owners who fall within a certain price range. The more specific you can get with your list, the more likely it is that you’ll be able to reach someone interested in buying or selling a home.
Personalize your content
If you can, take steps to personalize your content. For example, if you’re sending out a text message campaign, you can think about adding the recipient’s name to the text. In addition, if you’re targeting a specific planned unit development (PUD), you can use the name of the community to increase engagement on the part of the recipients. While personalizing your content in a direct marketing campaign is not always easy, it is often worth the extra effort.
Add a call to action
Your direct marketing campaign should also always include a call to action. In marketing, a call to action is simply another name for a directive. It lets your potential clients know the best next step to take if they want to buy or sell their homes. Keep in mind that calls to action should not be complicated. In fact, straightforward language often works best in this type of marketing scenario.
For instance, you might say, “Call me to see how much your home is worth” on a postcard that talks about a recently sold listing. On the other hand, you might use the phrase, “Set up a showing online today” in an email that goes out to a list of local real estate agents.
The bottom line on direct marketing in real estate
Direct marketing is an extremely important concept in real estate. Whether you’re sending out postcards, emails, or text messages, it’s up to you to make sure that your efforts are successful. To that end, use this post as a quick guide to the main principle of direct marketing. Armed with this knowledge, you should have a much better idea of what you need to do to make sure that your direct marketing campaigns lead to new clients.
