ADVERTISING YOUR REAL ESTATE BUSINESS

The goal of every business is to make a profit. The more sales you execute, the more profit you are likely to make. What advertising does is help you reach more clients and reveal a part of your business that was not previously well known. This, in turn, increases your chances of making a profit. It might be hard to measure the exact impact advertising has on your business, but your business will do better without it.

Common examples of media used for advertising include print media, social media, word of mouth, local listings, etc.

1. Social media and the internet

The world has become a global village where you can reach anyone anywhere immediately. This means that if people want a particular piece of information, they would call on their electronic devices (phone, tablet, computer, etc.) and search if this information is available online before they even try to make a phone call or visit an office. If they can get to another business that meets their needs from there, that is one less client for you. The real estate business is a competitive one; you want your product to get in front of as many clients as possible. Social media is a tool that makes you visible to the entire world; it is not very wise not to use it.

Once you decide to use social media, you should use a professional to transfer your image effectively onto your profile. Your fancy real estate logo becomes a real estate Facebook cover; you have your listings all over your Instagram page, and your Twitter page is buzzing.

Then you would get a ton of potential clients whose interests would be piqued before they even meet you in person. Also, you can go further to execute sales on the internet using the relevant websites available, although it is advisable to have a website customized for your business. Doing a real estate business like this is easy. You can leave a “book an appointment with a realtor today” button on the webpage, and you have people come over to inspect properties from there.

If a person is looking for property, and goes online and finds you, something as simple as a professional real estate Facebook cover page can help you convert a lead.

2. Print media

This is the oldest form of advertising, and even though it has evolved, it is still widely in use today. Your real estate business can reach clients within a narrower, but more likely for conversion, perimeter, using print media. It might be in the form of advertisements in a real estate column in a local newspaper, flyers, professionally designed real estate banners, posters, or even real estate door hangers. 

Although for the door hangers, you might want to check with local authorities to make sure you are not breaking any laws.

While electronic media seems to have taken over, a well-designed flyer or real estate door hanger is impossible to resist. It makes for a beautiful sight. It can also serve the purpose of reminding the client of your content on electronic media. The idea is for your potential clients to be constantly, and as proximally as possible, reminded of what you are offering.

Print media should complement electronic media because it is easier. It is technically the same content from electronic media, but now on paper.

3. Local listings

Some clients are old school and would visit your office and hear and see for themselves; they believe the media exaggerates. Clients in this category would prefer to reach the realtors themselves the first time or look up the local brochure from the realtors’ association office for listings. Sometimes, these are big clients; you want to make sure your service can reach them too. If you are into the services business, and not just buying and selling, this is particularly useful for you, as there are some people that print media still will not reach. Subscribing to a local listing as a seller or a service provider is a good way to close that gap. People can go to the office and see what services you offer; electrical, plumbing, HVAC, accessories, etc., even outside your current coverage areas.

4. Radio and television

This is another part of electronic media, although it is fading away. But if properly utilized, a simple advert here can reach a wider range of clients. What makes it different is that the audience might not necessarily be looking for what you’re offering when the advert gets to them, but it will remind them of the need your business can meet when it does. So you want to make sure that the content leaves a good impression on them.

This is a particularly efficient medium if you have sales ongoing. People will subconsciously realize they could benefit from the price slash, or see value where they previously did not see any. Asides from reaching a wider audience, this has been known to have a more stimulating effect.

The subject of advertising is inexhaustible. How far you go with it depends on how much you are willing to spend and how wide an area you wish to reach. However, advertising is a regulated business, and there are several laws for several kinds and contents of advertisements. Hiring an expert would ensure you get the most value on every penny spent on it and save you unnecessary legal and regulatory troubles.

In all advertisements, including real estate, what is most important is the content of your advert. Once that is settled, it will prompt the choice of the media to use, and then it’s just replication or compression of content from there.

Finally, an advertisement is a waste of resources if you’re not meeting a need or do not have a strong product. It will get customers to your door, but the product or the service you’re offering is what they still have to pay for. You cannot escape that.