Most real estate agents are not marketing experts. They didn’t go into real estate on the way to a lucrative career in marketing. In fact, many agents don’t know anything about marketing and therefore do things the way they’ve always been done. And the way that has always been done in real estate is with image advertising. It’s not new. This is an obvious fact that one can find by simply looking around and in one’s own mailbox.
One of the main aspects of picture advertising used by real estate agents is the large color photo of themselves. When I see these kinds of advertisements and signs, the agent’s photo being the most important thing, I wonder why I should care about their appearance. I know this will sound harsh to many of you who are currently using this type of advertising, but I don’t know how my realtor being photogenic will help them sell my house. I consider myself an average consumer. And as such, for me to pick up the phone and call the phone number out of any publicity, I need to see the benefit to me. I don’t see any benefit to me in these ads.
So if image advertising isn’t the solution, what is? Direct response advertising. With a direct response ad, you give people a reason to pick up the phone and call you. You can force people to log into a call capture hotline with a number of benefits for them. The key is that you offer them something of value like a coupon, a free report, or a free home appraisal. People are far more likely to call an agent who offers them a free report on “10 Tips to Sell Your Home Fast” than an agent who only offers them a nice smile.
The other important thing you can do in a direct response ad is to stand out from the competition. This type of marketing is perfect for yellow pages ads. If you look at the ads that are usually shown in the phone book, they all look the same. What’s going to make someone choose you over all the other agents out there? If you use the standard image advertising approach, there is no incentive for the consumer to pick up the phone and call you. However, if you have a direct response ad that immediately grabs their attention and tells the consumer what you’re going to offer them (a FREE report, for example) and how to get it (by calling your free 24-hour call capture hotline/ 24/7) you stand out from all the other agents in the book.
Direct response advertising also has another major advantage over image advertising. You cannot follow image advertising. Image advertising has its place and it’s in companies that have the time and resources to make people recognize their name or logo on sight. Real estate agents generally do not fall into this category. They work with tighter budgets and shorter deadlines. They need to know if the ads they are using are currently working, what their return on investment is, and which ads should be removed. All of this can be accomplished with direct response advertising. Direct response advertising, when done correctly, has a built-in call to action that, once activated, can be tracked using call capture technology. This allows real estate agents to really see what works for them and what doesn’t.
Most real estate agents are not marketing gurus. When they got their real estate license, they didn’t come with a degree in marketing. So it’s understandable that most agents do things the way they always have when it comes to advertising. Unfortunately, this is image advertising. If you want to get people to call you, stand out from your competition, and be able to track the results of your advertising efforts, direct response marketing is the way to go.
Real estate licenses and marketing degrees are two qualifications that are necessary for a successful career in real estate. With the rising demand for real estate professionals, having both of these qualifications can be invaluable for achieving success. But what if real estate licenses came with marketing degrees?
The idea of having both a real estate license and a marketing degree may seem unnecessary, but it could be incredibly useful in the world of real estate. With the addition of a marketing degree, real estate agents and brokers would have a more comprehensive understanding of the potential buyers and sellers they will be interacting with. Additionally, they would be better equipped to market their services, create effective promotions, and use marketing tools to find properties that best fit their needs.
Having a real estate license combined with a marketing degree will also help agents and brokers more easily understand their competition and what they need to do to succeed. This knowledge would help them to make wise decisions when it comes to pricing and selling their own properties, as well as how to target the best buyers and sellers for each property.
Real estate professionals would also benefit from having a marketing degree when it comes to understanding industry trends. With a better understanding of the current market trends, real estate agents and brokers would be able to better inform their clients about the decisions they should make.
Overall, having a real estate license with a marketing degree could prove to be invaluable for real estate professionals. It could give them a more comprehensive understanding of their clients, the competition, and industry trends so that they can make effective decisions when it comes to pricing and marketing their own properties. It could also help them stay ahead of the competition, given the ever-changing real estate market.