We hear a lot of doom and gloom about the Real Estate business and I wonder how Realtors in the U.S. are tweaking their marketing strategies to respond to the changes. I have advised my clients that they need to reconnect with their sphere of influence and start working with buyers. We put a lot more emphasis on direct mail, keeping in touch by phone and email and educating clients.
QuantumDigital an online service provider for direct mail, on-demand digital printing and eMarketing solutions commissioned a survey of 10,000 real estate professionals comprised of a variety of real estate professionals.
The purpose of the survey, titled “Real Estate Marketing Survey,” was to understand the following:
- How real estate professionals are currently spending their marketing dollars;
- How much they are spending;
- How their marketing mix is structured;
- What online and offline channels they are using to communicate with prospective clients, existing clients and other professionals in the business.
The top ten core themes of the findings include:
1. Direct mail, newsprint, email and online marketing are the defacto marketing channels for real estate professionals.
2. On average, agents and brokers typically spend 10 percent of their gross commissionable income (GCI) a year on marketing – 4 percent of which is allocated to direct mail and six percent to online/web/email channels.
3. Sphere of influence is still the number one way to get new business. (Read my post Referrals and Your Sphere of Influence)
4. Email is used for customer retention and follow-up while direct mail and online marketing are used for customer acquisition. (Check out my company inboxFX Email Stationery)
5. Sixty-seven percent of real estate professionals are now part of an online social network.
6. LinkedIn and Facebook are the top two networking/social platforms.
7. ActiveRain.com and RealTown.com are the top two cited real estate blogs.
8. Realtor.com, Craigslist and corporate/brokerage Web sites are the three most popular listing sites.
9. Whether mailing or emailing, real estate professionals typically hit 200-400 local contacts.
10. Real estate professionals need to touch their market at least 18 times per year to forge solid memory of their names and faces.
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