Top 3 Most Important Real Estate Farming Materials
As a real estate agent, it’s likely that you use the start of a new year to plan your farming efforts. It’s assumed by now that you’re regularly utilizing one or more digital strategies such as social media, a great website, and email newsletters to connect with prospects. So what about tangible, brand-building materials?
Physical materials are still a crucial part of your marketing strategy. And for real estate farming, in particular, they’re necessary for establishing yourself and building brand recognition over time. Whether you’re in the process of selecting your farming neighborhood or have made your selections and are getting ready to dive in with marketing, fresh materials will ensure you’re connecting with prospects in an engaging way.
Here are the top three marketing materials you need for solid real estate farming efforts this year:
Handouts
If you’re farming a new area and are going door to door introducing yourself, or simply running into a few prospects while you’re out and about, there’s nothing easier than whipping out a business card or small brochure to share a bit about yourself and give your prospect something to take home with them.
In combination with an in-person meeting, a handout builds retention, even if all the prospect does is glance at it and throw it away -- the connection has been made and will aid in brand recall over time.
If you’re already using business cards, flyers, and brochures, consider revisiting them to assess if they’re as effective as they could be:
- Have they been updated within the last several years with fresh designs and branding?
- Does your marketing collateral contain a clear call to action?
- Are there multiple methods of contact listed, including your website and social channels as well as your phone number and email address?
If necessary, re-work your collateral before each year’s farming season gets in full swing to be sure you’re fully prepared for a new year of farming.
Mailers
We’ve discussed direct mail’s continued effectiveness for real estate agents -- and farming is an area where direct mail really shines. It’s an easy way to introduce yourself to a new neighborhood, or remind your neighborhood of your face and name if you’ve already been farming the area.
Real estate farming postcards -- sent consistently over a period of time -- help to build brand recognition, making you the memorable agent in your target neighborhood. And because direct mail garners the highest response rate of any medium, all agents would do well to make it a key part of their farming strategy each year.
But as you may already know, planning and executing a direct mail campaign takes time. And if you don’t already have your neighborhood’s mailing list, it can be daunting to get the names and addresses of everyone in your farming area.
However, automated direct mail systems such as QuantumDigital’s AutoMail make the whole process easier by allowing you to schedule real estate farming postcards for the entire year. Once you’ve scheduled your postcards, you don’t have to think about them again unless you’d like to edit your campaign.
You can use your own designs or go with one of QuantumDigital’s pre-made postcard designs. AutoMail even provides targeted neighborhood mailing lists so you can reach your ideal prospects without needing to source addresses yourself.
The best part is that AutoMail is fully trackable. Each card includes a unique link that, when clicked on, sends information to an online market report that gathers the prospect’s contact information and delivers it to you in real time. This allows you to follow up and start building relationships that convert to new clients.
Branded Swag
Another smart farming idea is to attend neighborhood get-togethers, such as block parties or sports events, to get to know the community and establish your business. It’s never a bad idea to take useful branded materials such as pens, sticky pads, or calendars with you to pass around.
As your farming efforts reap rewards and you earn new clients, be sure to give them some useful branded swag, too. This type of swag could include flashlights, keychains, coffee mugs, and other things they would continue to use long after the sale. These materials will be visible to friends, family, and coworkers and perhaps encourage them to call you the next time they need to list their property. It’s a fun, memorable way to build your brand.
As you prepare your real estate farming strategies year after year, don’t discount the value of physical marketing materials -- especially since real estate is an in-person, relationship-based business. In combination with digital marketing strategies, they’ll help you become and remain the primary agent in your farming area.
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