Real estate management, and real estate in general, is something that always looks easier from the outside. When you actually get into the business you find that you are facing competition from businesses that are much stronger and bigger than yours and your clientele is distracted by other real estate managers that are blatantly lying about what they will deliver. If you are also working with limited capital, that in itself will pose additional problems. Here are a few things that will help you establish not only a profitable business but also a solid reputation for yourself and your organization.
1. Mailing Still Works
In the digital era, people have forgotten all about traditional marketing techniques. Things like radio ads, newspaper ads, physically handing out brochures, and even mailing marketing material. Unsurprisingly, these things are still highly effective, but marketers aren’t using them. The overall real estate buyer demographic still consists of a lot of Baby Boomers, and these clients are quite receptive to traditional marketing. While digital marketing is important, it’s not reason enough to completely forego these strategies. This is a huge gap that you can fill.
2. Use Your Website Properly
Google has billions of visits every day and the trend is only rising. The important thing to note is that the bulk of those visitors is accessing the website from mobile phones. Naturally, if you have a website, you will also be getting a lot of mobile visitors and visitors from various platforms. You need to ensure that your property management marketing is catering to different viewing contexts. Consider adding different language options to your website, with the locations you get the most traffic from in mind. Optimize the page to handle different devices, and work on SEO to improve ranking and increase organic traffic to your website.
3. Social Media
Social media was largely used just for checking up on your friends and sharing something funny. Today, it is a lot more than that. What started off as a bit of commerce, some trading of used products, has turned into a multi-billion dollar economy within itself. Plus, it’s no longer just Facebook; there are many other platforms, and you need to be present on as many of them as you can. Even though you can recycle content across different platforms, you need to make sure it is designed and customized for that specific market. Investing in social media marketing is not just about how much money you spend on paid ads, but also how effectively your ads draw leads and generate sales.
4. Referrals are Critical
Even after the pandemic, with everyone working remotely, real estate continues to remain a very tight-knit industry. People still prefer to work with realtors, architects, developers, and even home repair staff that they know through a referral. There is no harm in reaching out to people in your network every month and just letting them know that you are available for business. As long as you can keep yourself visible, you give yourself a chance to take advantage of an opportunity as soon as it arises.
5. Get Listed
There are countless private real estate listings across the US that are still only accessible to registered realtors. Similarly, there are a number of online property portals where you can list yourself as a broker or developer or anything else and get people to notice you. Your business needs to be visible on both these platforms if you want to maximize sales. You should be working to get yourself verified on these portals and gain as much credibility as you can on these forums so that people can see you and your business and know that you are a reliable person to do business with. This will not only generate online sales, but it will give you a lot of local visibility in the region where you operate from.
6. Networking
Trade expos, real estate seminars, construction events, and many other events related to the real estate industry are coming back to life. After a long pause due to covid-19 the real estate market is starting to move again. These in-person networking events are a great way to meet new people in the industry and not only sell yourself, but also learn about new opportunities in the market. This is where you will develop connections that will give you the fuel you need for business growth in the future.
Real estate management covers a lot of basic services that nearly every manager provides. Today, customers are all about service quality, and they all have their own unique needs as well. To stand out from the crowd, you need to show potential customers that you have something extra to offer, something better to offer, something that they need. Essentially, you are trying to create a unique selling point, but you need to understand what your customers want in order to do this effectively. Get to know your clients, your markets, and your competitors to gain better insight into what your next step should be.
