Blog / Real Time and Right Time Marketing Techniques

Real Time and Right Time Marketing Techniques

Jun 15, 2017   •   5 min read   •   Marketing Ideas

Real estate agents and brokers who use “just listed” and “just sold” communications to market their services are already familiar with real time marketing, which leverages a timely event as the basis for marketing communications. Right time marketing tactics can create a sense of urgency in buyers and sellers, as well as increase the relevance of communications through timeliness. However, right time marketing, in which communications are based on a target’s typical home buying cycle, is also an effective method for lead generation. 

Real estate agents who want to optimize their marketing will use both real time and right time marketing techniques to nurture relationships with existing clients and connect with prospects.  


Real Time Marketing

Real time marketing is the practice of using of-the-moment events to trigger communications with your target audiences. 
Some common events around which real time marketing can be designed for real estate agents include:

Additionally, user-generated events, such as actions on a web page, can also be used to trigger communications with a prospect or client. For example, if a known user visits your web page, s/he can be targeted to receive ads later on in Facebook to keep your business top of mind. While some technology setup is required to enable these types of user-driven triggers, they can be quite effective at converting leads into new clients. 


Right Time Marketing 

As the name suggests, right time marketing involves connecting with targets at the “right times” in their buyer or seller journey. Right time marketing necessitates using your understanding of common buyer and seller needs and motivations and how those needs and motivations are affected by elements such as time of year. Whereas real time marketing is triggered by a recent event, right time marketing leverages historical data and insights to predict buyer and seller needs and interests as the basis of content planning. For example, knowing spring is buying season, content can be planned ahead to educate prospects regarding making the most of the season. 
Some common themes around which right time marketing can be designed might include:

  • Preparing homes for sale in the lead up to spring home buying season
  • Standing out from the crowd (as a buyer or seller) in competitive buying and selling seasons
  • “Last minute” tips for sellers looking to close before the end of the summer season
  • Marketing homes effectively to increase interest in the slow holiday season
  • First time buyer tips and tricks

Right time marketing should consider any unique trends related to the market or specific neighborhoods you represent, as well as any particular characteristics of your target clients.  


Making the Most of Your Marketing Communications

Whether using real time or right time marketing tactics, keep the following in mind as you plan your campaigns:
Audience targeting - Your audience should be at the center of all of your marketing. Understanding your audience characteristics - their demographics, historical buying trends, etc. - will help you better understand your audience needs, and therefore what kind of content is most likely to resonate.

  • Message relevance - Just because you’re excited that you’ve sold a home doesn’t mean your prospects will be. Ensure your marketing messages take into account your audience point of view. For example, consider combining a just sold message with information regarding days on the market for homes you’ve listed, above average home sale prices, or any other statistics that help position your experience as a benefit to buyers or sellers.
  • Channel preference - Does your target engage most with your content in social media? Via your newsletter? Through direct mail? Send communications through the channels that offer the best response rates.
  • Measurement  - Continually track and review performance metrics including content engagement, lead generation and close rates at both the content and channel level and review regularly. Such tracking will help you understand which messages, offers, content types and communication channels work best with your targets, and will help you optimize your marketing over time. 


Direct Mail for Right Time and Real Time Marketing

Due to its targeting capabilities, prospecting strategies that leverage direct mail marketing are highly effective and consistently drive high response rates. QuantumDigital offers products that simplify and automate both real time marketing and right time marketing tactics.

Real Time Marketing with QuantumDigital: Based on your MLS listings, QuantumDigital’s TriggerMarketing automates campaigns for new listings, open houses and home sales, including lead tracking via personalized user landing pages and re-marketing through Facebook advertising. 

Right Time Marketing with QuantumDigital: Services like AutoMail allow you to schedule recurring farming campaigns designed to connect with prospects and clients at key points in the year.

By using direct mail to implement your right time and real time tactics, you improve your chances of reaching your prospective buyer or seller at the perfect moment.

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