It’s finally springtime and markets are gearing towards more listings, viewings, open houses and closed deals. Homes are bought and sold all year round of course, but most agents try to update their marketing strategies in spring to get ready for a busy season ahead. These real estate marketing tips will help you make it through.
6 Real Estate Marketing Tips to Make Spring Your Best Season This Year
1) Research the market
While January is typically a slow month in real estate, February and March usually see a flood of inquiries from sellers. Most people want to list their homes in spring as there’s a common belief it’s the best season to do so.
While in most cases this is true, a good research never hurts. The two fundamental questions are when exactly to list and what the price is going to be.
- When to list? Most clients think listing in spring means a 100% probability of sale. Indeed, there are oftentimes much more buyers in spring than in other seasons of the year, but the competition is much tougher too, since everyone lists. So it might be wise not to list immediately, at least until the necessary home improvements are made (which should be handled in advance, of course).
- What’s the price? Your clients will always be afraid to under-price. But if you overprice, the property will sit on the market for months and your sellers will fail to find their best buyers. Again, by the time you set the price, all home improvements that create more value should be completed.
2) Check out your sales funnel
Many realtors believe spring is the hottest time to generate more business. One potentially untapped lead source is your clients who didn’t reach their real estate goals last year. You probably have a few dozen of such contacts in your real estate CRM. Spring is a good time to reach out to them once again and explain how the market is performing and what opportunities should be grasped.
When getting in touch with these leads, try to substantiate your offering with real numbers. You’re probably publishing market updates on your blog so it’s a good idea to send a quick comparison. For example, you can show how much better this year’s spring market is performing compared to winter, autumn or even last year’s spring.
3) Create a plan for existing listings
Spring is also a great time for updating your listing photos. More daylight means the shots are going to be nicer. Additionally, home improvements that sellers did to enhance their property will create a much better overall impression.
Living in a region where the weather can change several times a day can make this task tricky. It might make sense to snap the photos once the snow is gone and more sunshine is getting in. Typically, you’d want your photographer to decide on the best timing and what else can be done to get beautiful and compelling images.
[Related post: Real Estate Image Optimization 101]
4) Upgrade your real estate listing presentations
Next thing you can do is update your listing presentations to reflect on the new photos and home improvements. Ultimately, this does create a higher value and better impression.
Another item on your list should be updating your CMA (comparative market analysis) to showcase which market opportunities (or pitfalls?) to expect this spring season.
You might also want to upgrade the design and slides for your listing presentations if you feel they can look better.
[More on this: How to Give a Fantastic Listing Presentation]
Finally, you should dedicate some time to writing better listing copies – no need to enter the new season with old clichés. If you need some real-life examples of what to avoid, check out this post: How to Write Compelling Real Estate Listings That Evoke Trust.
5) Enhance your real estate newsletter
According to McKinsey, email is 40 times more effective in generating new leads than social media. A real estate newsletter is a great follow up tool because it’s less promotional and more educational and helpful for people.
It’s good to review and play around with emails from time to time so why not do it in spring? Some questions to ask yourself are:
- does my newsletter showcase my brand? does it contain brand images, logos and colors so people have a better idea of who’s addressing them and why?
- is it well-structured and nicely formatted?
- have I included my featured listings and placed them strategically? Remember that content is a priority;
- are my newsletters personalized?
- are subject lines good?
Should you need more advice, check out this post: 7 Steps to Crafting an Outstanding Real Estate Newsletter.
6) Update your content marketing strategy
New season means new opportunities and challenges for your clients. They’ve got a lot of questions to ask and they’re searching for the answers online. The better your blog is in featuring the most sought after advice, the higher the odds of gaining even more traffic and inquiries.
Make sure your blog posts laser target the most relevant info. Buyers are looking for market information, seasonal and local alike. Sellers want advice on how to prepare their property for sale in a quick and cost-effective way. Whatever your niche is, focus on the most pressing questions your audience has and feature them on your blog and newsletter.
Lastly, it’s a good idea to sum up the spring season in one of your blog posts once it’s over. If these few months were particularly successful for your brokerage, make sure to share the good news. Wrap it up with some figures and market performance stats. All in all, a brilliant idea to showcase your skills and expertise.
What’s next?
Spring season does offer plenty of new opportunities but they can slip through your fingers if you don’t do some prep work. Review your marketing strategy with these real estate marketing tips to get more listings and close more deals this spring.
