Direct Marketing

In our digital world, the essence of business and marketing get lost. Of course, I’m referring to actual human relationships and interactions.

To some, the act of actually having a conversation with an associate or lead is terrifying. Most owners hate the confrontation that is required to pitch your property to professional brokers and interested buyers alike.

In the marketing plan we have developed and executed time and time again with our clients, picking up the phone and knocking doors is a critical component of our overall success. In fact, it’s considered one of our key performance indicators in a marketing campaign.

Conversations are how sales are made. Even with the latest websites and apps, buying property is a major decision. In most cases, it’s one of the largest decisions the buyer and seller will have to make in their lives. That is why conversations are so important. Having meaningful conversations and keeping your word over a period of time creates trust. Trust and knowledge allow the buyer to feel confident with making a major purchase.

Direct marketing is solely about human-to-human contact. Whether that is knocking on a door and having a face-to-face conversation or a conversation over the phone, conversations give you the opportunity to tell them about the property and why it’s a great buy.

Here are a few methods of direct communication:

• – Neighborhood outreach – Door Knocking
• – Neighborhood outreach – Cold Calling
• – Real estate broker outreach – Recently Sold Nearby
• – Real estate broker outreach – Local City
• – Real estate broker outreach – Local State
• – Mortgage broker outreach
• – Potential Buyer outreach

Direct marketing should have specific actions and niches to focus on. This is due to the nuances of conversations. Each conversation is unique and the information that resonates with each group is slightly different.

Neighborhood Outreach

According to the National Realtor Association, 23% of homebuyers first learn about their home from a friend or relative who lives in the neighborhood. That’s almost a quarter of the buyers in the market place.

Whenever I begin talking to a For Sale by Owner, I ask them if everyone in the neighborhood knows that the house is for sale. Almost every time I ask the homeowner says, “a few neighbors might know about the sale but not EVERYONE.”

In most cases, the thought of marketing to the neighborhood never really crossed their minds. Some homeowners agreed that it should be on major websites but calling and door knocking the neighborhood with the listing flyer was too much effort. This mindset leaves a golden opportunity for you to maximize the exposure.

To start, dial up to 5,000 neighborhood phone numbers to discuss the new listing and invite them to the open house. You can purchase lists of homeowners online. Our professionals use a predictive dialer for most calls and we hand dial cellphones in order to comply with federal laws regarding telemarketing.

This amount of dials allows us to have hundreds of conversations about the property. When you combine these calls with door knocking you will see some amazing results.

Real Estate Broker Outreach

Serious buyers most likely have a real estate agent helping them manage their purchase. Referring back to the 4 types of buyers in earlier chapters, owner occupied retail buyers are the ideal prospects for your property.

You should reach these buyers by getting the attention of their real estate agent. The agent has most likely set up their property search and knows what it will take to get them to write an offer. After all, their agent has probably been working with them for a few weeks and has “primed” them to make a great offer when it’s the right fit.

The average agent will post a listing on the MLS and expect these buyer agents to stumble upon it during their search. This is a limited point of view and naive. Instead, target buyer agents with emails, digital ads and personal phone calls.

Ask for a list of all the recent sales within a few miles of your property and get the contact information for each of the agents involved in those sales. If they recently sold a home in the neighborhood they have likely met some potential buyers from that listing. Call each of these agents and invite them to an exclusive open house. It doesn’t hurt to bribe them with food and drinks, which we’ll talk about soon.