I don’t think anyone would disagree when I say that you, the real estate professional, have a lot to manage. Not only do you have to be working “in” the business, but each and every day you have to work “on” new business as well. Given the fact that the industry changes at lightning speed, it’s always important to evaluate your marketing to see if it accurately reflects the wants and needs to the current consumer.
Do You Think Your Real Estate Marketing Is All Wrong?
I’ve recently become fascinated by real estate marketing styles. I’m paying all sorts of attention to why I open the emails that I do, and why I look at specific flyers and postcards and throw others in the trash without a glance. According to facts set forth in The Power of Visual Storytelling (Walter and Gioglio), the human brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than text. Knowing that fact alone prompts me to consider not only my own text-heavy blogs, but also the ways in which we ought to be marketing to home buyers and home sellers. We’ve got to diminish the text-heavy nature of our marketing materials significantly.
Do You Trash Direct Mail?
As I mentioned, a very significant portion of the direct mail I receive gets thrown in the trash—usually unopened. Do you do the same thing? Or, do you actually open and read each piece of mail?
In a generation that prefers text messages to telephone calls and email to snail mail, real estate professionals need to be even more strategic than ever when it comes to attracting the attention of the consumer.
If your marketing materials are very text heavy, here are some products and services that can help you bridge the gap and make them a little less text heavy:
- Canva. I know that I wrote about Canva last week. In addition to making aesthetically-pleasing flyers, Canva also has templates for infographics. Infographics are an excellent way to attract visual readers. And, even if your piece is headed for the trash, you’ll know that someone is processing your visual along the way.
- Mailchimp. If you use Mailchimp for your email drip campaigns (and even if you do not), take a good look at all of the templates that they have to offer. The templates offered are very cutting edge and will help you to focus your materials and presentation in a less text-heavy manner. (If you have less than 2000 on your list, a Mailchimp account is absolutely free.)
- Corefact. If you haven’t checked out Corefact for direct mail, perhaps it is time that you do. Corefact (and a few of their competitors) offer a direct mail postcard that leads recipients to a website where they can login with a customized code and receive information about the value of their home (read: you get the lead in your email inbox). The thing about Corefact is that not only do you get the lead, but the postcards they offer are fairly cutting edge, with maps that resemble something that you might look at on your cell phone and large photos to attract the recipient.
There are many other products that assist real estate agents in trending towards more visual marketing. If you’ve got time this weekend, take a few minutes to assess your current marketing strategies. Are they very text heavy (like this blog post) or can they be processed at the speed of light?
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