7 Ways Offline and Online Techniques Improve Your Real Estate Marketing Program

7 Ways Offline and Online Techniques Improve Your Real Estate Marketing Program

Marketing real estate is an art and not a science. Finding your target prospects is challenging, but then you must educate them about the benefits and the features of your property. Finally, you must generate enough enthusiasm to get them to either make an offer to buy or rent your property close to your asking price. This requires a full basket of marketing skills and you can't afford to rely on just one method. Combining offline and online activities gives you the highest probability of success.
Logical Flow of Information - The basic elements of your property message should be communicated across several channels. For instance, you may speak to a feature of your property in a short ad you post on Craigslist that then sends the prospect to a website with your video on it. The website includes the property address and the prospect could decide to drive around the area to get a sense of the neighborhood. Flyers or brochures that you have available at the property need to relay consistent information with your website and your Craigslist ad. Information between these various online and offline destinations needs to be carefully coordinated.

Capture More Prospects By Casting a Wider Net - You never know how a viable prospect will see your marketing information. They might prefer to drive around in neighborhoods that they desire or they could search online. It is imperative for you to create a presence in all channels where prospects might see you so that you can funnel them into your marketing system. Then you can let the system work for you by channeling your prospect to your desired presentation area.

Channel Your Prospects from Offline to Online - You should expect that a good proportion of likely prospects will come to you from offline sources. Property signage is a very typical way prospects will first come in contact with your property. Make sure there is a clearly defined pathway from the sign information to the higher profile portion of your presentation such as you're your online video presentation. Focusing just on online tactics, you could well miss this critical linkage.

Automate Both Online and Offline Efforts - A properly constructed real estate marketing program should build in automated features that allow good prospects to get information without you having to be physically present. An 800 telephone line, a survey asking your prospects to respond to specific questions that reveal whether they are strong or weak candidates, or a website linked to a dedicated e-mail account are examples of automation. Look for ways to build in automation both online and offline to make your marketing more successful.

Pre-filtering Your Prospects as Much as Possible - Pre-filtering involves taking a prospect through a designed sequence to self determine if there is a good fit with your property. Start pre-filtering from the earliest stages such as forcing your prospect to listen to a 24/7 pre-recorded message. Make sure you get them online to watch a video about your property in order to answer most of their questions. Those unwilling to do this just saved you the time and effort that would have otherwise been wasted on a bad candidate. Allowing your candidate to first understand all there is to know about the property from your presentation before they have a chance to come over and view it is a classic form of filtering.

Prospects Expect Information Online and Offline - The best candidates for your property are likely to be diligent. They will want as much as information as possible to help them make a decision. They will appreciate information from offline sources as well as online sources. In fact, they probably expect relevant information about your property from just about anywhere they decide to seek it, so make sure you give it to them from every angle. Otherwise you may place yourself at a competitive disadvantage.

Blending Offline and Online Techniques Gives You the Best Opportunity for Success - In today's competitive environment, you must be prepared to compete across all available information channels. Print advertising, onsite signage and flyers, online aggregator presence, dedicated website, pre-recorded 800 telephone number, dedicated email and any other channel need to be properly coordinated in order to maximize the probability of successfully marketing your property.

A well thought out real estate marketing program will incorporate several features including automation, pre-filtering, excitement building as well as offer a broad presence in both the online and offline channels. Offline channels are no less important as online channels as they can generate a lot of valid prospects. You can't afford to ignore either channel. It is critical that offline and online marketing be closely choreographed so that they deliver a consistent and powerful message. This will maximize the chances of a successful sale or rental of your property.