What is the real estate world coming to? Today we have everything from first time home buyers, millennials purchasing homes for nesting, investors, vacation home buyers, and those looking for retirement homes. What is going to catch all of their attention? It's not like you can talk to a young person today like you can talk to someone who is retiring...they each have their own norm, so it is up to us as real estate agent to catch on to the latest trends and apply them to both ends of the spectrum so that we are connecting with every potential buyer. I have done some research and discovered some interesting marketing tools to make sure that we are connecting with those buyers.

1. Three Sentence Draw

Three Sentence Draw

The three-sentence draw is one of the best marketing tools because it will be the most effective for the millennials, the retirees, and everyone in between. In today's society, people are getting hit with a lot of information...a lot of sales speak! They are so immune to it that they mentally skip over it without blinking an eye. The trick is to say something that will catch their attention, create a feeling, and relay a message in just three sentences. Once the person reading your marketing material hits the three sentence mark the chances that they are going to move onto something else increases. It is important that you catch them before they get the chance to move on. The best way to do this if you are in real estate is to give them something to think about. For example, you could begin by telling them something they didn't know like "We do not sell homes on the Russian River, we sell a lifestyle." This will cause a reader to say "What? they are real estate agents and they don't sell homes? You have already caught their attention and created an emotion...curiosity. Now that you have their attention you have to keep it! Follow it up by creating more emotion and appealing to their curiosity. " If you need an escape from the hustle and the bustle of the city, come on out to the River and sip your champagne, while you float in your raft." This sentence is evoking the crazy sounds of the city and putting it in direct contrast to the serenity of floating down the river. Now your reader is thinking...you have given their mind something to do. It is vitally important that they don't get bored or you will lose them. Your next sentence needs to wrap it up. "If this is what you need in your life call today and let me help you to relax!" You have barely said anything about selling homes! How are they going to know that you are the top selling agent in your area or that you have sold over 30 houses just this year! How are they going to know that you are there to listen to them and that you are the best agent to find them a home? The short answer is that they don't need to know. In just three sentences you have told them that you are different, that you care, and that you want to help. You have given them a call to action and created a feeling that you are there for them. People don't care what you have to say...they care how you make them feel!

2. Customized Email Marketing

Dare To Be Different

Potential buyers, no matter what age they are, do NOT want to see cookie cutter email marketing campaigns that have been adopted by some mass producing site like Market Leader. Now, that is not to say that email campaigns have no place in catching potential buyers or sellers for the real estate market...I really think they do...but if they are not done right then you are looking at a lot of wasted time and very few, if any, results. In most platforms, you can adopt an email marketing campaign and personalize each email. Make sure to go in and re-write the content in your own words or come up with some new content to put in its place. Replace each of the photos with one that you have either created on a site such as Canva or taken yourself with a camera...either way you want to make sure that your content belongs to you and that it is unique to you. Anyone who is looking for a local real estate agent to help them buy or sell a home will want to know that person, by creating your own marketing that is a reflection of yourself you are helping the potential client to get to know you before they actually meet you!

3. Lights! Camera! Action!

Get in front of the camera

Stop the quotes on social media! Everyone everywhere is over the quotations all over every social media platform. They are barely even looking at pictures anymore and tons of type is a thing of the past! The media catching the attention of potential first time home buyers, millennials, retirees, investors and actually other real estate agents too, is Video! When someone sees you in a video then they begin to get to know you and when that happens then they feel like they can talk to you. No one really wants to go in a strangers car to look at homes, and no one wants to invite a stranger over to their home to find out what it's worth and finally agent don't want to refer their clients to some stranger that they have no idea about. You have to introduce yourself...become someone that they can relate to so that they actually feel like they know you. The best thing to do is to lose the self-conscious thoughts, throw caution to the wind, and begin filling your social media platforms, YouTube, website and email marketing with cool videos featuring You! Provide tons of original content and show the people you are marketing to that you are not a stranger...that you are a nice guy/woman that they can trust!

4. Be A Social Butterfly

Social Media Butterfly

These days every agent has a "Social Media Strategy." The problem is that social media is NOT a strategy! If you are still looking at social media as a "strategy" then you are probably not getting very many deals out of it. Social media is something that you have to be committed to. You have to not only get likes or connections on your pages but you must also nurture each connection. You have to become everyone's new best friend on social media so that they can begin to relate to you on a human level and stop relating to you on just a professional level. Don't just post properties on your pages...make sure that you are posting information about your area, links, blogs, news, pictures, and of course video. Make sure that you are holding conversations with your "Friends" and building relationships so that when it comes time to buy or sell a home they go to their new bestie on Facebook and not your competitor down the street! People of all ages have taken to Facebook and other social media platforms so if you are looking to cast a wide net to all potential buyers and sellers this is the way to do it.

5. Step Away From The Desktop

Be Mobile Friendly

In 2015 studies show that 66% of all emails that were opened were done so on a phone or tablet! This is a staggering number. The world we are living in today is quite different than it used to be. People no longer take time to sit down at a computer...they check their email, social media, and browse the internet on the go...on a mobile device. Facebook has more than 650 Million users that are solely on a mobile device, and studies show that the average person spends about 5.6 hours a day on the web and 3.8 of those hours are on a mobile device. If your site is not mobile friendly then you are cutting out a lot of hours that people could spend on your site and eliminating anyone who gets annoyed with a site that is not mobile friendly. To clarify, a mobile-friendly site looks great on a desktop but also has formatting for any mobile device so that if it is opened on a mobile all of the formatting adjusts to fit the screen. This is one of the most important tools because if the trends continue at the rate they have been then pretty soon almost everyone will be surfing the web on mobile devices.

 To sum it up make sure that you are using a three-sentence draw...don't let your readers get bored! Be a social butterfly, get in front of the camera and make sure you are mobile friendly! If you enjoyed this blog let us know what your best marketing tools for 2016 are in the comments below and remember that real estate should be fun!