Week 11 Online Advertising
Since I am new to the real
estate business, I need to build my customer base. Considering that I have the
most activity on Facebook, I would start there with creative, engaging, and
interesting ads. My main focus is to decide who my target audience is by age,
demographics, location, occupation, relationship status, their likes and
interests. Next consideration, regrettably, with a salary that’s based on
commissions only, I have a very limited budget for advertising. Until I make the
big bucks, I would choose a Pay Per Click (PPC) plan. Now, I want to be
likeable, authentic, and not annoy my potential customers, so I believe monthly
ads would be appropriate so I don’t get the reaction – Who is this “stalker”?
To set the tone of being
friendly and caring, I would start with an ad to wish my friends and their
friends (Friends of Connections ad) a “Happy Birthday” and ask them to connect/like
my Facebook page. I would offer them a free cupcake or gift card at their
nearest “Sprinkles Cupcake” store.
As I build my customer base
-- “listen” and get to know them better to establish a good connection with
them. I would send a variety of ads from open houses, event reminders, thank
you/congratulations (pay attention to what’s going on in their lives),
introductions to real estate or mortgage products/services, home improvement
ideas, intriguing questions to unsponsored stories of interest.
Who doesn’t love freebies? In
the ads, occasionally, I would offer a discount on my commission rate, a
discounted appraisal fee, raffle contests for free airfare to a city in
California, a local weekend hotel stay, or a nice restaurant.
I would post creative ads
that are engaging and interesting to generate a “like” or a new follower.
Adding keywords and photos would help make the ad more appealing.
As I become profitable,
successful, and savvy about social media, I may consider a LinkedIn ad to
target professionals. Under each LinkedIn ad there is a link to my profile,
which is a direct way of getting to know who I am. Also creating a Twitter ad using
keywords will lead followers to me who share similar interests. All this starts
the “conversation” then from there it’s up to me to follow up to make them
aware of my services, educate them on buying or selling their home, engage them
on how I can help them find their dream home, make a sale at the best price for
them, and hope they will refer me to others and be a repeat customer.
You have a well thought out plan going here! It appears that your primary goal in advertising this way would be to build connections and relationships which would then translate to sales. I like that tactic. I think it is important to get to know your agent as you are working with them for one of the biggest purchases/investments that a person will make in their lifetime. Repeat customers are rare since people don't usually buy many, but building those relationships will also help with referrals and word of mouth in the neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteHi Dorothy, who doesn't like to get a Birthday card? Good Idea. Another thing you might try is a Yelp account. I know that we aren't really talking about this in our class, but I often use Yelp to find business services that I need and am interested in how they are perceived from the public. I usually base my decision on who to go with by reading the Yelp reviews.
ReplyDeleteDorothy,
ReplyDeleteYour cupcake idea was great! It’s a really good idea of being personal while advertising a real state business. Cupcakes and real state don’t match but it is a way of grabbing people’s attention and it is not boring.
I thought you ideas so far were all great for networking in your industry. I really liked your idea for creating an emotional connection to your followers through a personal happy birthday or thank you post.
ReplyDelete