For an estate agency or letting agency to be successful, a carefully orchestrated and diverse marketing strategy is essential.
Planning Your Marketing Strategy
Whether you’re running or managing a new estate or letting agency, or you’ve been in the business a while and need to revitalise your fortunes, the most important thing is to have a plan and then act on it.
A well-balanced marketing strategy covers both sides of the equation – your vendor and/or landlord clients and prospective applicants. If you’re already established, it’s a good idea to take stock of where your marketing strengths and weaknesses currently lie, and adjust your strategy accordingly.
First and foremost, you want to increase the number of people who A) Know of your existence, B) understand what you can offer them, and C) trust you. To do these three things a varied marketing strategy is essential. Potential marketing channels include:
* Local press – ads in newspapers, on the radio, and possibly even on regional TV
* Online – Your own website, pay-per-click ads on Google and other search engines, listings directories, banner advertising on relevant third party websites, social media etc. Search engine optimisation (SEO) is also essential to ensure that your website ranks highly in the organic search results.
* Branded sponsorship, of local sports teams for example
* Business networking events, such as breakfast meetings and trade shows
* Setting up and hosting your own events to give potential clients the chance to get to know you and trust you
The latter two can be particularly powerful methods of marketing yourself, as they are face-to-face and proactive. Nothing is more memorable than actually having a conversation with someone. And when an honest and sincere personal encounter is followed up with a professionally-printed business card or other promotional material, the cumulative effect can be highly effective in converting interested parties into new clients.
Training & Consultancy To Reinvigorate Your Marketing Strategy
You can also explore specialist training courses and consultancy for your agency that don’t just show you the marketing ropes, but help you develop a comprehensive strategy for growing your business.
Such marketing assistance is aimed specifically at helping you to increase the amount of interest in your business from potential clients, the number of client enquiries you receive, plus the number of actual instructions and subsequent lets achieved.
As well as an introduction to the basics of marketing, such an approach will help you to identify the all-important ‘unique selling points’ of your business, and incorporating these into a balanced marketing strategy.
