This year’s real estate market has been strong, with high interest in housing across all regions of the country. The strengthening economy and a demographic shift are fueling this growth — and millennials reaching their peak homebuying years have led to increased demand for homes nationwide.
However, there’s another major trend in today’s market: housing inventory is at an all-time low. Simply put — there aren’t enough homes for everyone, so housing prices are skyrocketing and competition is fierce.
Low mortgage rates combined with an increase in work-from-home opportunities due to the Pandemic have fueled greater demand for suburban houses — and buyers are buying up these properties quickly as they come onto the market. Some buyers make offers without even seeing the property in person or including contingencies in their bids, just to win a bidding war with other eager homebuyers.
There’s also an increase in demand among millennials due to the historically low mortgage rates; however, many of them can’t find what they need within their budget. The drastically rising home prices are making affordable housing scarce.
Despite the increasing number of sellers due to increasing home prices and low-interest rates, limited construction activity earlier due to COVID-19 and high lumber prices, and pent-up demand for housing, housing demand is still drastically outpacing supply. So competition continues to be fierce for new homes hitting the market (or being sold off-market) making retail seller leads more elusive — and more valuable — than ever.
These numbers are, of course, offset by the looseness of the definition of “active,” as well as the fact that some real estate agents help to sell homes, while many are purely focused on buyers or simply have an active, but unused, license.
Additionally, we could potentially see over a million evictions in the coming months, while at the same time giving millions of people the means to get into a home. This is fueled by:
The passing of President Biden’s first-time homebuyer credit. This first down payment tax credit “will help families offset the costs of home buying and help millions of families lay down roots for the first time,” according to President Biden’s campaign website.
What does this mean for real estate agents today?
It means that every lead and listing counts and the real estate agents who succeed are the ones that consistently market, generate leads, follow-up, and build high-flying reputations in the area(s) where they operate.
Don’t get us wrong. Today, inventory is low and competition is high. But the market has been through many similar fluctuations in the past and there are no indications that the market won’t balance back out. In other words, you’re in a good industry.
Here’s how, at Carrot, we’re helping real estate agents stand out in their markets and snag listings.
The Carrot Solution
Since CEO Trevor Mauch started Carrot, we’ve made it our mission to always innovate and evolve our software to stay ahead of the real estate market and anticipate our members’ future needs to help Carrot members see success.
It’s the foundation of our company vision — to “inspire and empower real estate professionals to gain true freedom and make a greater impact with their businesses.”
That means building awesome software that helps real estate professionals build authority online today while always staying a step ahead of your online lead generation needs in the future.
One recent innovation inspired by current market trends that we are super excited to launch is our all-new Carrot Agent Seller Site Template that’s designed to help today’s agents attract and convert more retail seller leads.
Our new site features fresh seller-focused content built from top-performing Carrot Agent sites, a modern design to help you stand out online, and — of course — Carrot’s proven SEO and conversion methodologies to attract and convert more seller leads in today’s highly competitive, low inventory real estate market.
How do we know it works?
Because the all-new content strategy is cultivated directly from our highest performing Agent members’ websites…
These sites received astronomically more traffic than the average agent site — across all channel groupings. The average agent site received 664 visitors in Q2. The top-performing Agent sites had 10X more visitors.
These sites converted all traffic between 2X to 5X better than the average agent site.
These sites converted organic traffic 215% better than the average agent site.
And we ensured the new design put you as the Agent at the forefront to help you strengthen your personal brand in your local market and build credibility with more social proof and happy client testimonials.
So we figured… If it works for them, it could work for you!
Check out a screenshot of the image below!
How does it work? Sellers opt-in, you get notified, you call them and do what you do best… voila!
Cool, right?
But that’s just one example of how we’re making it easier for agents to find listings.
Carrot members also get…
Tons of other tools that will help you drive traffic and generate leads in your specific market — UTM builder, SEO Keyword Rank Tracker, SEO Checker, and more!
Access to industry-leading trainings, support, and strategy from our team of product and real estate experts!
But you don’t have to take our word for it!
Check out some of the testimonials below from real estate agents using our software…
“This is much more than a web hosting company…it’s a complete marketing and training program. Carrot has helped our Real Estate Team develop a complete marketing strategy. For the first time…ever…we can see how all the pieces fit together in a cohesive marketing strategy. The results have been an increase in exposure, online leads, and the ability to measure ROI! The training, support, coaching, and customer service have been amazing.” – Tom Townsend
“Carrot has impacted my business so positively! I love the property websites, landing pages, SEO rankings, blog, and overall design of the site. I also love the landing pages that I use to drive traffic from ads that I run. And my favorite is to watch the increase in Google rankings with the more relevant content we produce. Really great web host!” – Shemeika Fox
That’s all for now!
We’ll let you know when we’ve got more cool innovations to share that’ll help you grow your business in a scalable and realistic way.
To your success!
Want to learn more about our new seller site? Check out here.
Unlock Our Newest Agent Site Template
Join Carrot and Access Our Brand New Agent Seller Site Template Today
“The only way to build authority is through content.”
If you’re serious about generating leads, real estatetestimonials can be a key content element because they are unbiased comments that prompt visitors to give you their contact information.
Key Takeaways
Quality testimonials establish trust and authority when formatted correctly with real names, photos, and specific details rather than vague statements or just initials.
Video testimonials represent the highest level of effectiveness as they capture nonverbal communication and emotions that text alone cannot convey.
Ask strategic questions like “What problem did you need to solve?”, “Why did you choose us?”, and “What surprised you?” to gather compelling testimonial content that addresses prospect concerns.
Even a slight increase in conversion rates through properly formatted testimonials could mean thousands of additional dollars in monthly revenue for your real estate business.
Key takeaway: 123% increase in leads for sites with personalization.
We compared a batch of our CSU member’s motivated seller sites over 6 months to see the difference in the lead count.
Now, there are, of course, other factors that play into site conversion. It’s also a great reminder that great-looking sites still need the personalization element to round out.
We compared member sites WITHOUT personalization on the homepage (no testimonials, photos of the member, etc.) and homepages CONTAINING testimonials (1-3) and a personal photo in the about section.
The result?
PROOF: 123% increase in leads for sites with personalization!
Our most engaged members create the most content and get the most leads.
Using real estate testimonials on your site in text or video, you introduce content that will authoritatively promote your business.
You should be using real estate testimonials to help establish credibility and authority. Quality testimonials increase conversions because they aren’t looked upon as sales pitches. If they come across in an unbiased voice, they will build trust. You’re using real people to show success in your service.
In the end, your testimonials will convert more visitors into buyers and sellers if you use them correctly.
According to a study… “Testimonials and case studies are considered the most effective content marketing tactics.” In short, in a crowded market like today, great testimonials for real estate agents and investors formatted correctly can boost your leads and deals. They help add credibility to an untrusting world.
Additionally, as those values go vertical, many aspiring wholesalers start flipping houses, making for increasingly saturated online spaces.
But before panic sets in, breathe. It’s not as bad as it sounds… well, but it’s also an opportunity. It’s a chance to flex your real estate muscles, to stand head and shoulders above that semi-debilitating clutter, to be the solution rather than contribute to the problem.
What I will teach you will apply whether you’re an investor, buyer, seller, or agent.
I will teach you how to build credibility by leveraging testimonials that shine.
Let’s dive in!
What is a Real Estate Testimonial?
A real estate testimonial relays a story from a current to a potential client. The shorter, the better (unless you sacrifice quality). You don’t want an hour-long testimonial.
When a client has a great experience, let them share it. Get real testimonials. Potential clients experience shopping anxiety — you know, that feeling before buying something that says, “It costs too much. It’s not good enough. How do you know it’s what you want?” — and testimonials are one way of shooting down this discouraging devil.
The testimonial says, “Other people have worked with this company and had a good experience. I probably will, too.”
Here are some examples from one of our member sites:
Example Real Estate Testimonials
Why are high-quality testimonials such a big deal?
If used correctly, testimonials for real estate agents and investors are important for website visitors (and your conversion rate).
They can…
Completely eradicate concerns that prospects had about working with your business.
Build immediate trust for who you are and what you do.
Convince prospects to give you their information via an opt-in form or call you on the phone directly).
Consider that 88% of consumers claim that they read at least 10 reviews before deciding whether they can trust a company or not (and they have to trust you if they’re going to work with you) or that 88% of people trust online testimonials just as much as personal recommendations from a friend.
To prove just how powerful testimonials can be (at least the conversion rate side of things), Unbounce reported on an A/B test. Ideal for testing, Version A and Version B are identical save for one difference: Version B includes a testimonial above the website’s opt-in form.
In the end, Version B increased the conversion rate by 34%.
Let’s put that in perspective for a wholesaler’s website.
Imagine you drive 1,000 website visits every month, generating 100 leads per month on your website (a 10% conversion rate — typical for Carrot websites), and you close 1 in 25 leads. That means you’re doing about 4 deals per month at, let’s assume, $10,000 profit per deal.
Boom — you add a glowing testimonial to your website and increase your conversion rate by 34%, from 10% to 13.4%.
Now, you will get more than 130 leads per month with the same amount of traffic (1,000 website visits). And since you close 1 in 15 to 25 leads, you’ll now do more than 5 deals monthly with the same amount of website traffic.
By putting a testimonial on your website, you added $10,000 in monthly wholesale fees (from $40,000 to $50,000 per month).
And the same goes for real estate agents. You can increase your conversion rate and monthly income by adding excellent real estate testimonials to your website.
Of course, I’m not promising that you’ll get exactly those results. I’m just trying to illustrate how powerful a slight boost in your website’s conversion rate can be on your business revenue (at Carrot, we provide high-converting websites out-of-the-box for our members)… and that testimonials can help you achieve that slight, powerful boost.
But… all of this depends on using high-quality testimonials.
You Might Be Doing It Wrong
Most people have testimonials helpful in taking up website canvas, but little else.
To avoid spitting lousy devil killers, I will walk you through the four levels of a quality real estate testimonial. Unfortunately, most people are stuck in levels one and two.
Level 1: The Basic Real Estate Testimonial
The first level is your most basic testimonial:
“Hey, Mark was great to work with. – J.K.”
If a level one testimonial is on your website, it’s best to take it down. It’s not helping. There are no specifics. It doesn’t say what Mark did for you that was so great. It doesn’t say how Mark did it.
It doesn’t end there if this lack of context isn’t enough. The signature says, “J.K.,” the client’s initials. Although the testimonial is made a joke by the initials J.K. (if someone has these initials, don’t even get their testimonial…), initials, even without such inconvenient letters, are impersonal and potentially create distrust in the viewer.
A testimonial doesn’t always help your reputation. Level one testimonials, particularly, can damage it.
Level 2: Be Specific
Level two is better, but still in the sad zone 😢
Do not use painfully vague real estate testimonials.
“Mark did what he said he’d do, closed on time, and I refer him to friends. – John Kennedy”
It says Mark is reliable, timely, and good enough to get a referral. Level two is getting more specific.
When a testimonial is ambiguous, it can work against building trust for your business and create unease in the prospect’s mind. If this testimonial is real, why isn’t it more specific?
Notice, also, that the testimonial used the person’s name, John Kennedy, not his initials. However, skeptics abound even with a real name and an honest, mildly-specific testimonial. The more specific, the better… and fewer critics.
Here’s a sample of a good review for a real estate investor:
“Best Decision I’ve Ever Made!!! I was in a situation where I needed to get out of my house ASAP and Colby came through for Me!!! Nobody else will ever beat his services and I’m relieved I don’t have the financial stress any longer!!! I will forever be grateful for what he did for me!!!”
But specificity isn’t all that counts toward your level. Even if your testimonial is true, you must convince people it’s true. It’s all thanks to that crowded real estate space with no shortage of lies and deceit.
Level 3: Be Real
Unfortunately, being authentic isn’t enough in our world of “alternative facts” and reality television.
It’s tempting just to write your real estate testimonial under an alias name and throw it on your website to increase the conversion rate. It sure would take a lot less time, and it might even boost your conversion rate if you’re a great writer.
But chances are, the testimonial you’ll receive from someone who authentically loves your service will be far more powerful (and conversion-boosting) than something you throw together yourself. Plus, people can usually tell when a testimonial is fake.
You have to convince people you’re authentic.
How?
Well, levels three and level four testimonials seem more believable simply because they include a visual and they’re a bit more specific:
“I inherited a house and couldn’t sell it, but found Mark online. I was skeptical, but their offer was fair, we closed on time, and I’d work with him again. – John Kennedy – Tampa Seller”
Viewers will look at an image or video, and immediately, the dud of a testimonial becomes impactful.
The image could be a picture of you and the prospect at the closing table or their face. It could be you shaking their hand or a short video of them discussing the process.
Your only goal is to make it real, to make it believable. Don’t forget to include a short bio for the testimonial giver; tell the viewer who’s recommending you. Even something as short as “John Kennedy, Tampa seller.”
Here is an example of a good testimonial with an image of the client and the investor:
“Thank you for all your help and walking me through the mess I got stuck with. You explained everything and went over the contract step by step; never once did your answers change. You gave us all the information we needed and we could see you were serious about what you do. If someone asks if I know who could help them, I would not hesitate to name you as a reference as you are an honest person. Once again, thank you so much.” – Louise R. Friel
Level 4: Record Video Real Estate Testimonials
If you want to climb to the testimonial pinnacle, make a video. Record a video of the whole process of your client, recommending you, emotions, and all.
Video captures something text cannot: the human ability to communicate nonverbally. And that’s a powerful prospect.
Here are a few examples of good “real” written testimonials:
2nd Chance Investment Group
“Like many others in this unstable economy, and after looking into other organizations, such as Keep Your Home California, I exercised my options by contacting Second Chance Investment Group in Chino Hills, CA. It was the best phone call I could have made. Now I am doing better than ever – free of debt. And moving forward with a clear mind. Thanks, Ray Foster and Second Chance. Keep up the good work.” – Sheryl Brown-Pearce
Townsend Realty Group
“Townsend Realty Group has been the finest company to work with as we sell our home in Canton. We have sold several homes and have never had such a professional and compassionate company guide us through the process. Their realtors are always a phone call away and are readily available to help in any way. Their team made some great recommendations for selling our home, and they also helped us avoid pouring lots of money into getting the home ready for the market!” – Ray and Patricia Massengale
Florida Cash Home Buyers
“Thanks to all the fine people I have dealt with in the past 2 to 3 weeks. I especially like to thank Annette with the law firm. She was very helpful in processing the closing paperwork. Alejandro kept me aware of my need to show the property to various people. Thanks again to all that helped with the sale and closing.” – Glenda Skaggs
Video Real Estate Testimonial Examples
Here are a few examples of good “real” video testimonials:
Let me end with one final tip…
You Need to Ask Good Questions
Don’t forget to set yourself up for success at the gate. You must ask the right questions to get a high-quality real estate testimonial.
Here are some questions to ask to get POWERFUL testimonials:
What problem did you need to solve,and did we solve it as you expected? — You want to pull out the pain they were experiencing before working with you. What were they going through? Could they even sleep at night? What was the emotional pain like? How stressful was the situation?
Why did you choose to work with us? — You want to understand better what made them decide to solve their stressful situation by working with you. What was going through their head? What was the final straw that made them give you a call?
Why did you choose us instead of some other company? — Why not somebody else? This question will help illustrate your USP and what sets you apart from competitors in your market.
What was your favorite part about working with us? — Being on the other side of that stressful situation, what was the client most enjoyed most during the time they worked with you? It could be how fast you closed or how easy it was.
What surprised you about working with us? — Asking this question can get the client talking about the thing they loved about working with you that was the most unexpected (i.e., how you went above and beyond for them).
Elements of an Effective Real Estate Testimonial
To recap, these are the elements necessary for a killer testimonial. Check these off your list before posting.
Be specific
Be authentic
Be thorough
Emphasize benefits
Include a picture of a face, or better yet, record a short video
Short bio
Ask good questions
Where to Place Testimonials on Your Website
There are several options for placing testimonials on your website. Some investors dedicate an entire page to reviews or testimonials, while others prefer to sprinkle one or two on their homepage and other landing pages. However, it’s important to remember that buyers and sellers researching and wanting to know you better are more likely to visit your reviews page, “How it works” page, or “Our company” page.
Placing testimonials on your reviews page can be especially powerful, as this is where potential customers will go to read about the experiences of others who have used your products or services. You may also want to consider creating YouTube videos showcasing your business on your homepage and city landing pages, as this has been shown to increase search engine rankings correctly.
While you may not see many people watching these videos on your landing pages, once they are shared on your reviews page and other platforms, they can be highly effective in building trust and credibility with potential customers.
Here are a couple of examples of how Carrot members use testimonials:
Kind House Buyers – Reviews Page (scroll on the image to see the full page)
Simply Sold Testimonials Page (scroll on the image to see the full page)
Suppose you’re uncomfortable on video, email past clients the questions above and ask for their answers. Call a friend and ask them to vouch for your character if you can’t think of any clients who’d give you a testimonial.
As your business grows, you’ll get better real estate testimonials, improving your conversion rate even further. But it’s a process.
Testimonials can increase conversion rates if you use them correctly, and there are very few instances where a testimonial would hurt your conversion rate.
So work with what you have.
So embrace it; get some testimonials and add them to your website. Remember, a slight increase in conversion could mean thousands of dollars per month for your business.
You’ll agree that sifting through endless real estate agent marketing ideas is challenging. It’s tough to determine which tactics will generate the highest volume of quality leads while keeping your sanity.
When people think of buying or selling a home, you want them to think of your name. You want them to give you a call. And you want them to work with YOU.
Of course, that’s easier said than done.
Many other real estate agents in the area are fighting for the same attention.
Fortunately, you don’t have to win all the attention to dominate your market – just most of it.
And the best part is…
You don’t even have to leave your computer to get started.
30 Real Estate Agent Marketing Ideas to Win More Deals
I will show 30 real estate agent marketing ideas for dominating your online market in this article.
Instagram is an incredible place to share your listings and get noticed! For real estate agents, Instagram provides a whole new world of opportunity.
With over one billion monthly active users on the platform, there’s no better time than now for you to join in with all these people looking at beautiful pictures daily.
Whether showcasing properties or providing helpful content like tips for staging homes, something here is suited ideally for you!
Most real estate agents become a part of the online “clutter” in their markets when they toss up a website that gets lost in the shuffle. Building a focused and optimized website will help you cut through that clutter with content marketing and adding your industry expertise.
A website will attract more of your favorite clients by using it as an Evergreen Marketing tool.
You can reduce or eliminate relying on cold calling, direct mail, Zillow, and the marketing that’s burning you out when done right.
Service as an educational tool. Add community resources, FAQ, and contact information. Educating buyers or sellers and explaining how real estate agents provide their services can build trust and rapport and earn more business.
Facebook’s LIVE video feature is useful for more than recording your kid’s birthday party. You can also use it to do a LIVE walkthrough of house listings you’re trying to get attention for.
After all, one of the most time-consuming parts of your day is house showings, so why not show a house to your entire Facebook audience with a single LIVE video?
Plus, 70% of homeowners want to list with a real estate agent who does some video marketing to sell their home. This might be your dead-simple, don’t-have-to-hire-a-professional way of integrating video marketing into your service.
Just create a healthy cadence and get in front of your social media audience more regularly.
The more people see your face online and hear you talk about their problems and your solutions, the more familiar your market will be with you.
Video is increasingly important in content marketing for social media. More people are choosing to consume information through video.
Here are some ideas for Facebook live videos to work into your real estate marketing:
Host virtual open houses.
Discuss your community market with a local specialist.
Livestream auctions.
Interview customers for success stories.
Interview a partner or someone you work with… such as an interior decorator.
According to the National Association of Realtors, social media has become a significant way to acquire clients and close deals. Here’s a snapshot of their report:
77% of realtors actively use social media for real estate in some capacity.
47% of real estate businesses say social media results in the highest quality leads vs. other sources.
99% of millennials and 90% of baby boomers begin their online home search. As opposed to in-person referrals.
It’s powerful. Perhaps there’s no better way to generate consistent word of mouth around your brand name and service than by staying in front of your audience.
5. Partner with Other Real Estate Agents in Your Area
As the market gets increasingly competitive and the economy takes a slight downturn, collaborating with other professionals in your market might separate the winners from those who starve.
Don’t be afraid to collaborate with other real estate agents and investors in your area to make the most of the market that you find yourself in.
Sometimes, the best way to dominate your market is to team up with those already dominating it.
6. Message 100 Friends on Facebook and Tell Them What You Do
If you want to generate word of mouth, send messages to your friends on Facebook and tell them about what you do. Maybe you’re offering a new service that you can announce to people, or perhaps you want to say to people that you’re currently looking for new clients.
Either way, a Facebook message can go a long way in generating word-of-mouth for your business within your target market – especially if you personalize each message.
7. Set Your Email Signature to Explain What You Do
If you’re like me, you send at least 3-5 emails daily. Believe it or not, every one of those emails is an opportunity to gently advertise what you do and who you are.
By automatically setting your email signature to populate with business-card style information, you remind people of your company every time you send an email.
Like your email signature, your social media bios are waiting to be exploited for market domination. When someone clicks on your profile to find out more about you (and trust me, they do), you want them to quickly know who you are and what your business does.
A quick bio that describes your real estate expertise ensures you don’t miss lead-gen and word-of-mouth opportunities on your social media profiles.
You might be thinking… “why would listening to a podcast help your online marketing?”
Often, becoming the most successful real estate agent in your market is simply believing you can do it and believe you are the best.
I know it sounds cheesy, but the mindset is crazy powerful for building the business of your dreams and pulling in more leads than you can handle. And a podcast is a great way to regularly test and refine your mindset.
Here are some benefits of listening to podcasts:
Your imagination kicks in.
You learn new marketing tactics.
Your multi-tasking skills will be enhanced.
Your listening skills grow.
You can learn more about people and gain empathy as an agent.
10. Optimize Keywords on Your Website for Search Engines
The most thorough way to dominate your market is to be the first result prospects see when they type “real estate agent” or “sell my home fast” into Google.
If you’re not on the page when people do that, you have a very small chance of being a significant force in your market.
Carrot SEO Keyword Ranking Tracker
People go online to find everything, including a real estate agent to work with. You need to show up at the top of Google results. And to do that, you need to optimize your website to rank in search engines via strategic keyword placement.
If you want to increase the number of leads and deals you’re getting quickly and have some money to invest, then PPC might be a great option.
Whether you choose Facebook or Google Ads (the two most popular options), PPC can generate more leads immediately, increasing your business profitability and market authority.
Did you know that any website’s “About” page is the third most-viewed page? People don’t just want to know what you do or how you do it; they also want to know who you are.
By spending a little time on your “About” page bio – adding core values, a mission statement, and personal pictures – you’ll stand out from competitors who didn’t spend extra time on their “About” page.
Weekly (or monthly) blog posts on your website give you and your audience something to discuss. They give you something to share on your social media pages and give your audience something to discuss.
That’s good – the more interactions you have with people in your target market, the more people will view you as the real estate expert in their area.
Plus, publishing consistent blog posts can also help with your Google rankings and build trust with people who arrive on your website.
Don’t have time? Hate writing? No problem! Create a VideoPost! You could have amazing content to share in 10 minutes.
Upload a video and receive a transcription for your content. Creating content that helps you stand out from the crowd is easy.
14. Record a Case Study Video with a Past Customer
Case studies, or we like to call them, “customer success stories,” are powerful. When prospects arrive on your website, they ask themselves, “Can I trust this person to solve my problem and have my best interest in mind along the way?”
How they answer that question will greatly determine whether they decide to work with you.
The good news is that you can help them answer that question by filming and publishing case study videos of people you’ve worked with in the past and their good experiences.
15. Make Your Phone Number Easy to Find on Your Website
When someone on your website is ready to take action, the last thing they want to do is send them digging for your phone number. To avoid losing leads who want to call you on the phone, put your phone number somewhere on your website that makes it easy to find.
This alone might not dominate your entire market. But when you’re playing against big competitors, details matter.
16. Use a Low-commitment Opt-in Form on Your Website
When someone arrives on your website, you want to make it easy for them to take the first step.
At Carrot, we’ve found that a simple form like the one above with address, phone number, and email is a great starting place. It’s enough to qualify the person (having three different fields) but not so much that it’ll stop someone seriously interested in your service.
By putting a form like this on your website, you decrease the amount of lost quality leads to your website and increase your market domination – even if just slightly.
Words matter. And perhaps nowhere do words matter more than when you’re trying to convince someone who doesn’t even know you to work with you.
Often, the real estate professional who writes the best sales copy and speaks directly to their target market will win the day. Consider spending more time on your website’s sales copy to ensure every word is compelling and persuasive.
If you’re a real estate agent, posting high-quality photos on your website, Facebook page, and house listings is critical. Several studies have shown that high-quality photos can increase how quickly a home sells and what price it sells for.
It will take more than pictures to sell a house, but this is one piece of marketing that can’t be overlooked.
Many real estate agents miss the importance of taking quality pictures. This is one simple way you can beat your competition.
20. Encourage Reviews on Your Company’s Facebook Page
People trust reviews just as much as they trust recommendations from friends. Think of your own experience: before you buy a movie, eat at a restaurant, stay at a hotel, or buy a book, you read the reviews.
And how much BIGGER of a decision is buying or selling your home? Sure – people won’t decide entirely if they will work with you based on your reviews, but your reviews (or whether you have them) will play a big part during the prospect’s early decision-making process.
Facebook is a great place to collect and advertise those reviews.
One of the best ways to convince people that you’re the best person to solve their problem amidst a whole sea of competitors is by targeting them specifically. Rather than simply having a website that targets your city, create different landing pages that target different parts of that city.
There’s probably an entire pool of prospects interested in river-side houses, houses by the golf course, wooded homes, or mountains.
By niching your market down even further with market-specific landing pages, you can speak directly to those people and increase their chances of working with you.
Craigslist is a great place to find buyers and sellers. Mainly because it’s one of the first places that many people go when they start looking for a piece of real estate to buy. Plus, the ads are free to post.
Post consistently with pictures of the homes or property you’re marketing; voila, you’re battling on one more front that your competitors are probably ignoring.
A sales script for your phone calls and email follow-up doesn’t just increase efficiency; it can also increase sales. By thinking about your prospects’ pain points and what makes them tick before getting on a call, you can avoid losing a deal because you forgot to say something important until after the call.
Phone calls are still a big part of the real estate marketing strategy, and how you handle yourself on the phone (with efficiency and salesmanship) is critical to your success.
Tom Ferry shares five proven sales scripts for every real estate agent who needs to gain confidence and win more business.
24. Delegate “Busy Work” to an Executive Assistant
If you want to build a company beyond solopreneurship, you must delegate “busy work” to someone else. “Busywork” is the stuff that has to be done, but it doesn’t need to be done by you. Someone else can take it over relatively quickly and have the same impact.
To grow your business and focus on more important things, outsource the “busy work” to a VA or in-person assistant.
The one who knows their market best dominates the market.
The truth is the agents and investors who know their market the best – who they are, what they like, how they think, how they talk, and where they hang out – are the ones who will dominate their market.
Why?
Those people will most easily sell their services to the market. They understand the market’s pain and strategically position their service to serve it.
Study your market if you’re at a loss for beating your competition. Visit forums, Facebook groups, and pages, or make phone calls and ask relevant questions.
Once you know it, establish credibility and connections by posting market snippets on social media or an email newsletter campaign.
There’s no better way to inject child-like life into your marketing strategy than purchasing a remote-controlled toy.
Drones aren’t just great for having well-deserved fun; they’re great for business. 83% of people selling their homes prefer to work with an agent that uses drones. High-volume realtors use drones 3.5 times more than their low-volume counterparts. Lastly, homes with aerial images sell 68% faster than homes with basic images.
Really, that’s no surprise when you glance at the beautiful photos these flying playthings can capture.
But which drone should you buy? There are many options, and you want to get the best bang for your buck.
Truthfully, I don’t know. I’ve never bought a drone, so I hesitate to tell you which one to buy before I’ve tried it out.
But what type of drone should you use? Here is a list to get you started. Remember that that article probably has affiliate links throughout the list, so take those recommendations with a grain of salt.
Ultimately, I’d trust Amazon reviews above all else (they’re harder for people to tamper with).
27. Create a Google Profiles Account
Most of you have probably already created a Google Profiles account.
But if you haven’t, you might miss out on easy-to-capture SEO traffic. For example, these are the results that Google Profiles can generate for your website.
Perhaps the best part about these results is that they draw the eye even more than normal top-of-page Google results. It’s a great way for your business to cut to the front of the SEO competition, especially if you have more five-star reviews than anyone else.
BONUS TIP: Generating reviews for your Google Business Profiles account is another marketing strategy you might consider implementing. Contact your past customers and ask them to review you on your Google Business page.
If you don’t already have a Google Profiles account, go to the landing page and click “Manage Now” to get started.
28. Create an Infographic
More than likely, you’re not a designer.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t dip your toes in design. In fact, it can be fun to try something you’ve never done — especially when that something has as much lead-generation potential as an infographic.
Here’s an infographic describing why visual content is so powerful.
Said more simply, people love visual content. And an infographic is a more visual and easy-to-digest blog post. Here, for instance, is an infographic that some real estate agents created.
But how the heck do you develop an idea for your infographic? And how do you actually design it?
Well, it’s all easier than you think.
Once you’re done creating it, promote it on your social media channels, email list, and blog.
You might think running a webinar is just for the world’s self-proclaimed B2B coaches and gurus, but it doesn’t have to be. Running a webinar on a topic that appeals to your audience is a great way to build digital relationships and start relevant discussions about how you can help people buy or sell a home.
Accordingly, here’s a far-from-exhaustive list to get you started hosting your very first webinar.
What not to do when buying your first home
X tricks to sell your house for its highest possible value
Should you list your house with a real estate agent?
How to stage your house to sell crazy fast
Remember, though, that most people prefer to watch a webinar for only between 30 minutes and 45 minutes. So try to keep yourself to that time limit and advertise it as being that long in the first place.
In terms of technical webinar setup, this guide by SmartBlogger will show you how to do it for free (skip to the “How to Run Webinars Like a Pro (Without Spending a Dime)” part).
And before you actually do your webinar, test everything and ensure it’s all working how you want it to. There’s nothing quite as embarrassing or frustrating as technical difficulties during a webinar presentation.
Once you’ve assembled your webinar, start collecting sign-ups via Facebook ads, emails, and maybe even guest posts on other blogs.
30. Create a Zillow Profile
You can’t afford to miss out on the opportunity of Zillow. With over 245 million unique monthly users, it gives you an audience for your business that is much larger than any other solution in this space!
You need a profile because when potential clients find listings they are interested in and see that no one has listed them yet at their contact information, chances are high they’ll want to reach out with questions – which means if you’re not sharing those listings through profiles on sites like Zillow. Someone else will be getting all these new leads instead.
To dominate your market, you have to change what you’re currently doing – what you’re doing to generate leads and revenue is great for where you’re at, but it’ll never take you where you want to go.
That’s the truth about everything in life. If you want to go somewhere new, you must make some changes.
What do you think? What has been key for your real estate agent marketing? Which tools and strategies do you use? Please share your thoughts, knowledge, and questions in the comments below!
When it comes to real estate investor PPC for motivated sellers campaigns, there tends to be a lot of emphasis on the quality and content of landing pages to increase conversions.
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Your landing page is crucial, but to motivate sellers to visit it, you must first persuade them to click on your ad.
The best landing page will do little good if a seller doesn’t see it.
So, how do you make your Google PPC ads stand out from the rest of the clutter on a Google search result page?
Based on the analysis of over 50 Google Ads accounts, we identified the top 10 commonalities with the highest click-through and conversion rates. Here’s a real example of a high click-through (17.39%) converting motivated seller ad (37.50%)…
After their Google search, that little ad has two to three seconds to grab the house seller’s attention.
You get a small headline and a very short amount of copy to convince the seller your site is worth visiting… and that you can solve their problem.
The better your ads perform, the more clicks you’ll get.
The Top 3 Google PPC Ads Get 2-6% click-through rates. Whereas ads 4 and below average 1-2% On A Google Search Result Page
10 Techniques for Creating High Converting Motivated Sellers PPC Ads
As quickly as possible, you need first to grab their eye; second, show them that you can likely help them, and relay a sense of credibility through the ad to make them feel great about clicking the ad to learn more.
Since you only have a few lines and seconds to relay all that, your ad headline and copy need to trigger an instant response.
Give motivated sellers a reason to click. Here are some practical and ethical triggers I use when creating PPC Ads for Real Estate Investors.
These triggers have helped to yield an average 5% click-through rate and an 18.2% visitor-to-lead conversion rate across Carrot PPC accounts that I manage.
People naturally interact with questions. Often that sense of curiosity piques our interest, and it creates an “open loop” in our minds to want to find the answer to that question. When asking a question in your ad headline, you’re triggering this curiosity and making your ad appeal to them personally. Here are a couple of ad headline examples where I used a question:
Other examples of questions you can pose are…
“Did your listing expire?”
“Need to sell quickly?”
“Is Your House In ?”
You get the idea.
Get creative.
2. If Possible, Use Humor:
Sometimes, this is a little harder in the real estate market. People like to laugh. If your ad headline makes them chuckle, they associate your ad with positive emotion. This creates a more receptive message.
A way to do that may be…
“Is Your House A Total Beater?” Sell As-Is. We’ll Pay For Repairs Get A Fair Cash Offer Today www.YOURURLHERE.com
3. Add Credibility
Call out a BBB rating or how long you’ve been in business. Increased credibility equals increased persuasiveness of the ad overall and strengthens your brand’s quality. This can lead to a higher click-through rate.
4. Go Regional:
Depending on your campaign’s demographics, using regional triggers in your ads, such as city or state names, often pays off. Sellers will automatically relate to the area and build more trust seeing a loc ad. Couple that with a local-looking domain name or URL, and that’s even better!
5. Use Power Words:
Several keywords are known as power words. These words are proven to attract attention and sales. They include words like highest, free, fast, super, fair, now, must save, expert, local, limited, and so on. Create a sense of urgency.
Some ways to use some of those powerful words in your ads include…
“Sell Your Boise House Fast”
“Get Your Fair Fast Cash Offer Today”
“Save time and money. Receive an offer today”
“If You Must Sell Now, We Can Help”
And so on.
Again, get creative and test things out.
6. Mention Guarantees:
Guarantees are mentioned in an ad, such as a guaranteed cash offer or a guaranteed offer in 24 hours.
Here’s a quick disclaimer, but never guarantee anything you can’t 100% confidently fulfill.
Don’t guarantee the “highest offer” in the market unless you’re ready to do that.
Don’t guarantee to “close in 7 days” if you can’t do it.
Capiche?
7. Use Personalization:
Similar to ads asking a question, ads that specifically address the audience are much more likely to gain attention. Such as the title Facing Foreclosure?
Here are some other examples…
In Divorce? Sell Your House Fast Avoid costly broker fees. Sell In 7 Days Or Less. Receive a fast – fair cash offer today
Inherited A Boise House? Cash It Out Trade that house for cash today. Receive a fast-fair cash offer
Are You A Tired Landlord? We’re buying local rental houses Get a fair-fast cash offer today
Get creative.
Now… with that said, if you’re going to personalize your ads, you need to make sure you’re also putting these ads in front of very targeted searches. You won’t want to serve up a “tired landlord” ad to someone searching “sell my house fast” or “we buy houses.”
But you may want to test it out to someone searching “tax consequences of selling rental property” or “selling a rental property“… and targeting it to the locations you would buy.
8. Use Benefits + Story:
Searchers are good at recognizing advertising and blocking it out. So your ads can become more effective if they have a storyline and appear less like an ad.
Also, ensure your ads sell the benefit the homeowner will get by working with you. Too many people just mention the service… “we buy houses, “… “local home buyer,” etc. But the benefit they’ll experience is what they’re after.
A fast sale.
Cash in their hands quickly.
Avoid agent fees.
Avoid stress.
You get the idea.
Some examples…
David Sold His Boise House Fast He avoided agent fees and stress. See how you can to today!
Sell Your House Fast-Cash Need to Sell Fast? Close in 7-Days. We buy houses nationwide, No Cost!
Sell Your Boise House Easily Fair Price – No Fees – No Hassle Any Location – Any Condition
Look at the benefits mentioned in those ads that the seller can get working with us.
avoiding stress
avoiding agents fees
no cost
sell quickly (who doesn’t want that!?)
no hassles
fair
I can sell my house fast and be done w/ it
Focus on the seller’s benefits, and you’ll be golden.
9. Use Emotion and Senses:
As well as personalization, your ads can appeal to the five senses of the seller: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Here’s an example where they can feel the money in their hands.
10. Use A Strong And Clear Call To Action:
It is proven that ads achieve the highest click-through rates if they use a call to action. For example, “sell now,” “offer in 24 hours,” or “close in 7 days”… lay out the benefit they’ll get and how they’ll get that benefit with the call to action.
Additional PPC for Motivated Sellers Ad Copy Advice to Attract Sellers Online
Attract Motivated Sellers with Powerful Ad Headlines The ad headline is likely the utmost important element of your entire ad. It needs to grasp the reader’s attention so they will read the rest of the ad.
Include Intent Keywords To create higher converting headlines, include your keyword in your headline. Keywords have been proven to achieve a higher click-through rate. If a motivated seller sees the keyword they have searched for; your ad is more likely to seem relevant to them and encourage them to read on and click.
Effective PPC Ad Text to Attract Motivated Sellers Once the reader has been drawn in with a solid headline, the rest of the ad needs to persuade them to click on the link that takes them to your landing page, ad text needs to be as relevant as possible. Try to use your target keywords in your ad text and your headline.
Fill In-Display URLs With Keywords While your ad headline and text need to do the core job of convincing the seller to click, your display URL should support your message by logically representing your site. For example, if your ad link takes sellers to a page residing on www.webuy.com/get-a-cash-offer, the display URL should read webuy.com/get-cash-offer.
Use Ad Extensions
As we’ve mentioned in other PPC marketing posts on our blog, test using the ad extensions. We’ve found they can, in some cases, boost your click-through rate a lot… just make sure you have conversion tracking in place, so you know whether those extra clicks are turning into solid leads.
Conclusion
Getting motivated seller leads that convert through PPC or SEO is critical to your survival and growth as an investor.
In the end, conversions are about relevancy – does what you offer to match what they’re interested in, and do you clearly and quickly show them how you can solve their specific problem?
Sometimes it takes various A/B tests to determine what works for your market. Once you find it, keep doing it.
Try these PPC marketing ad ideas out, and let us know the results! One thing you’ll find is that testing new ad copy continually is one of the best ways constantly to improve your PPC marketing results.
Get to work… and let us know what you see works well for you with your PPC ads below in the comments section!
Imagine you build a marketing site to pull in buyers, sellers, or investors. Is your website really amazing? Or is it coming up short when the time comes for closing deals and moving people from browsing to clicking to filling out a contact form?
Ever heard of a heat map? We’ll show you how motivated sellers and buyers interact with your website and how to make sure that more visitors are converted into leads while they’re browsing around.
There are two main problems that we often see on real estate websites:
1) The website is a ghost town…getting no visitors, and
2) The website’s visitors aren’t submitting their information.
The first problem is usually solved with SEO content when:
1) The website doesn’t have good, user-friendly content,
2) The content is not optimized to reach the search terms that people in the local market are actually using, or
3) The site’s competitors are ranking higher in a search.
We have many articles and resources that focus on increasing your site traffic by using SEO, social media, and paid ads. But today is all about the second main problem we see.
What are people doing on your real estate website?
You only get one shot to make a first impression, and your website is that opportunity. In fact, it takes about 50 milliseconds (that’s 0.05 seconds) for searchers to form an opinion about your website that determines whether they’ll stay or leave.
Conversions are often overlooked when average people create their websites. Too often they hire designers who focus more on aesthetics than results… those folks need to quit calling themselves marketing experts because they’re artists (most art doesn’t sell).
The following key points can help optimize conversions by positioning your services in clear view so buyers and sellers know what’s available… including credibility that builds trust with potential buyers and sellers… and the rest of the content that can help eliminate fears or uncertainty.
Are you trying to create art or are you trying to get leads?
When you’re setting up your real estate site, it’s not how it looks… but how productive and successful the design is.
Listen, I get in this argument with designers a lot – so please don’t send me a bunch of angry emails about how design matters…I know it’s really important. But honestly? It doesn’t matter if something is “pretty” it doesn’t convert visitors into leads.
One of the many tools that Carrot uses to test out its theories about web design is heat maps. Heatmaps are useful because they allow us at Carrot, and more importantly you as a business owner who has entrusted your hard-earned cash with our system, to measure how successful something on the page will be before we commit any resources towards it. We want to know for sure whether or not what works in theory also translates into reality!
So what’s a heat map anyway, and how can agents and investors use it to generate more leads online?
Back to the point, thanks… in this context, a heat map is a generated picture of where visitors to the website move their mouse and where they click on the page.
Below I’m gonna put a few examples of a heat map that we generated for a user’s site, and give you a few key points on what works so well on this design.
Brittany (the owner of http://sellmybaltimorehousefast.com) sent us a quick email after watching one of our webinars, asking for help getting more leads… we were able to increase the conversion rate by 80+% with just a couple of simple changes.
Check out these heat maps (the site is greyed out, with little points of light showing where people have lingered with their mouse or clicked – the “hotter” the click spot, the more often it’s clicked).
What did you notice on that heatmap?
See all of the bright spots? The green and blue spots are where a lot of people click… indicating things that the motivated sellers felt were really important.
First off, 94% of clicks happen on the top of the page. The vast majority of web visitors to any given site don’t bother to scroll down.
Side note: That statistic is valid across websites in general – on our investment sites, we tend to get about 8 seconds per page on average – 4 times more engagement than average, but still a lightning-fast choice to stay or go. You only have microseconds to reach your target audience – just another reason that your content and design matter so much.
There are a few great lessons to learn right away from this click map….
1) People are clicking in many spots across the homepage. The clicks aren’t just happening in one spot, and visitors to this real estate investing website are finding what they need when they click through for more information. This site is designed specifically with sellers of properties as its audience, so it’s a relief that different types of people – those looking for answers about how they can sell their home, found exactly what they’re looking for on the site!
2) Titles matter. The title of a menu is designed to appeal directly to people who need to sell their house, and this top one has some great ones: “We Buy Houses in Louisville, KY”, “How It Works” and a contact form right on the front page that asks people to put in their address, phone, and email first thing.
3) Visitors want to know about your home buying process before they submit their info. Having a solid “how it works” page can be an integral part of your lead generation strategy.
Have a truly excellent “how it works” page that includes:
A breakdown of your service in a series of simple bullet point steps
Include an informative, personal video
Include testimonials to build credibility and trust
Communicate the benefits they gain by working with you
Here’s an example of a well-thought-out “how it works” page
Where is your credibility on your own real estate websites?
It’s a really common problem that hurts a ton of great real estate agents and investors… when people get to the site they need to have a compelling reason to give over their personal information. Think about it… real estate is the largest investment most people ever make in their lives. There’s no piece of real estate more intimate than someone’s home.
And yet…
So many real estate sites don’t build trust or credibility.
In fact, there are 3 key factors that I wanna mention that are critical to successfully designing a site that converts – and I’ll tell you how we’ve used them to design the Carrot sites like this example that are generating great leads.
Credibility, Content, and Contact
Check out this graphic – I’ve broken down the links on the page into numbers so you can see the percentage of page visitors that clicked on each link type.
Even more great lessons for real estate here…
As you can see, 12% of the clicks are for Credibility, 42% is on the Content (which is written to develop trust and credibility while reducing the fear and anxiety that most people buying or selling a home are feeling), and 46% of the clicks on the home page are actually converting – they’re contacting members using the forms.
Keep in mind that the percentages are recording just clicks on the home page – a lot of other conversions happen on the lead pages that we’ve optimized for the local market. That means that people are most often giving their information over to get a free report, such as a home valuation report, or another valuable tool. 46% of the clicks on the home page aren’t always the main source of leads. It just depends on how the site is being promoted, and where the majority of traffic is directed.
The mix of these 3 factors is critical to a successful lead generation site.
Content is a powerful tool to get your message out, but it needs credibility once people arrive or they won’t contact you.
Content has long been seen as the lifeblood of search engine traffic and so much more for businesses looking to stand out online. However, even though content is king, you must know what happens when someone arrives at their site. What can be done after visitors land on your site in order to make them want to work with you?
BONUS: One Tweak That Could Double Your Conversion Rate
One more thing… this one simple tweak that we did on hero sections doubled conversions… it’s so crazy simple that we were totally surprised that it worked so well.
We actually removed content from the hero sections to move the form up on mobile devices.
Yup, that’s it.
Even after doing this stuff for many years, it’s crazy to see what a big difference such a small change can make.
That’s why we’re constantly testing different sites.
We create websites that give your business the edge with a no-nonsense approach.
We’re all about giving clients an advantage, so we design effective and user-friendly sites to stand out from the competition. We want our work to be as engaging for visitors on desktop or mobile devices alike; you never know what device they may use in order to find your site! In fact, over 60% of Carrot member leads come from mobile.
This Is All Built Into Your Carrot Websites Already!
The best thing about using Carrot is that you don’t have to worry about managing any of the technical aspects. We’re constantly running tests with our members and making tweaks in order to make sure your experience on this platform goes smoothly.
We believe in results over anything else and are continually improving our system to help you get better results.
We’re constantly posting tips, tricks, and techniques we use to improve SEO, conversions and get great results for Carrot members. So if you’re not already getting our weekly blog emails, make sure you sign up now! And if you want a website that truly generates leads for your business, go check out our plans to join Carrot and leverage our marketing knowledge and testing to generate more leads for your own real estate company.
Real estate direct mail marketing is one of the most tried and true methods for investors and agents to generate leads and find deals.
Unfortunately, some mail ends up in the trash without a second look. Mailboxes have become so overcrowded that unopened envelopes get pushed to the side.
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The average mailbox is packed with junk mail, bills, and other correspondence from various sources telling you about deals or offering their services. It can be easy for an envelope containing information on real estate opportunities to land in one corner, forgotten amongst all this noise – which means missing out on potential leads!
Your only chance of sending successful direct mail is to target the right audience at the right time with the right message. How?
Let’s not waste any more time. Here are 15 tips for getting the most out of your real estate direct mail campaign.
15 Real Estate Direct Mail Tips from Industry Experts
Tip 1: Define Your Target Audience
Importance of Defining Target Audience: Defining your target audience is the foundation of any successful marketing campaign, including real estate direct mail. Understanding who your ideal recipients are allows you to tailor your messaging and design to resonate with them.
By targeting the right audience, you can increase the effectiveness of your direct mail efforts and maximize your return on investment.
Advice on Identifying and Segmenting Target Demographics: Conducting thorough research and analysis is crucial to define your target real estate direct mail audience effectively. Start by examining your current customer base and identifying common characteristics, such as demographics (age, income, location), behaviors, and preferences.
Additionally, consider the specific properties or services you offer and the unique needs of your target market.
Once you understand your audience, segment them into distinct groups based on relevant criteria. This segmentation allows you to create personalized messaging and offers that speak directly to the needs and interests of each segment. Utilize data analytics tools and CRM systems to track and analyze customer interactions, preferences, and feedback, further refining your targeting strategy.
By defining your target audience and segmenting them effectively, you can ensure that your real estate direct mail campaigns reach the right people with the right message, increasing the likelihood of engagement and conversion.
Tip 2: Craft Compelling Messaging
Creating Engaging Content for Direct Mail: In real estate direct mail, the content you deliver to your audience is paramount. Your messaging serves as the primary vehicle for communicating your value proposition, highlighting property features, and ultimately convincing recipients to take action.
Engaging content captures attention, sparks interest, and drives desired behaviors, making it a critical component of any successful direct mail campaign.
Tips on Writing Effective Copy and Headlines: When crafting messaging for your real estate direct mailers, it’s essential to focus on clarity, relevance, and persuasion. Here are some expert tips to help you write compelling copy and headlines:
Know Your Audience: Tailor your messaging to resonate with your target audience’s needs, preferences, and pain points. Use language and tone that speaks directly to their interests and aspirations.
Lead with Benefits: Highlight your properties or services’ unique benefits and value propositions. Focus on how your offerings can solve problems, fulfill desires, or improve the lives of your audience.
Keep it Concise: In direct mail, brevity is key. Capture attention with concise, punchy headlines and copy that get straight to the point. Avoid unnecessary jargon or fluff and aim for clarity and simplicity.
Create Urgency: Incorporate language that instills a sense of urgency or scarcity to motivate recipients to act quickly. Limited-time offers, exclusive deals, and time-sensitive incentives can encourage immediate responses.
Use Compelling Headlines: Your headline is the first thing recipients will see, so make it count. Craft attention-grabbing headlines that pique curiosity, evoke emotion or address a specific pain point or desire.
Include a Clear Call to Action (CTA): Every piece of direct mail should include a clear and compelling call to action that tells recipients exactly what you want them to do next. Whether visiting a website, scheduling a showing, or contacting you for more information, make your CTA prominent and easy to follow.
By following these expert tips and techniques, you can create compelling messaging that resonates with your audience, drives engagement, and ultimately leads to successful real estate direct mail campaigns.
Tip 3: Use Eye-Catching Design
The Role of Design in Direct Mail Success: In real estate direct mail, design captures recipients’ attention and conveys your message effectively. Your mailers’ visual appeal can significantly impact their effectiveness and determine whether they are opened, read, and acted upon.
A well-designed direct mail piece grabs attention and communicates professionalism, credibility, and value, instilling confidence in your brand and offerings.
Advice on Creating Visually Appealing Mailers: When designing your real estate direct mailers, there are several key principles and best practices to remember. Here are some expert tips to help you create visually appealing mailers that stand out:
Focus on Branding: Ensure that your direct mailers reflect your brand identity, including your logo, colors, fonts, and overall aesthetic. Consistent branding helps reinforce brand recognition and trust among recipients.
Choose High-Quality Imagery: Incorporate high-quality images that showcase your properties or services in the best light. Use professional photography to highlight key features, amenities, and unique selling points.
Utilize White Space: Don’t overcrowd your mailers with too much text or imagery. Utilize white space strategically to create balance, clarity, and visual interest. White space helps draw attention to key elements and prevents the design from feeling overwhelming.
Prioritize Readability: Ensure that your copy is easy to read and understand at a glance. Use legible fonts, appropriate font sizes, and a clear hierarchy to guide recipients through the content effortlessly.
Add Visual Elements: Incorporate eye-catching visual elements such as icons, illustrations, or graphics to enhance the appeal of your mailers and reinforce your message. Visual elements can help break up text, highlight important information, and create visual interest.
Experiment with Formats: Consider experimenting with different formats, sizes, and folds to make your mailers stand out in the mailbox. Unique formats can grab attention and intrigue recipients, increasing the likelihood of engagement.
Test and Iterate: Don’t be afraid to test different design elements, layouts, and formats to see what resonates best with your audience. Continuously gather feedback, analyze performance data, and iterate on your designs to optimize results over time.
Following these expert tips and principles, you can create visually appealing real estate direct mailers that captivate recipients, communicate your message effectively, and drive desired actions.
Tip 4: Personalize Your Mailers
Personalization in Direct Mail Campaigns: Personalization is a powerful tool in real estate direct mail campaigns, allowing you to tailor your messaging and offers to individual recipients’ specific needs, preferences, and interests.
Personalizing your mailers can create a more meaningful and relevant experience for recipients, increasing the likelihood of engagement and conversion. Personalized mailers demonstrate that you understand and care about the recipient’s unique circumstances, fostering a stronger connection and sense of trust with your audience.
Tips on Incorporating Personalization Tactics: Effective tactics and strategies are needed when personalizing your real estate direct mailers. Here are some expert tips to help you incorporate personalization into your campaigns:
Use Recipient Names: Address recipients by their names in your mailers to create a more personal and engaging experience. Including the recipient’s name in the headline or greeting can grab attention and make the mailer feel more tailored to them.
Segment Your Audience: Segment your mailing list based on relevant criteria such as demographics, location, interests, or past interactions. By dividing your audience into distinct groups, you can create more targeted and personalized messaging that resonates with each segment.
Tailor Offers and Recommendations: Customize your offers, promotions, and recommendations based on the preferences and behavior of individual recipients. Use data analytics and customer insights to identify relevant offers and incentives likely to appeal to each recipient.
Include Personalized Content: Create personalized content that speaks directly to the recipient’s needs, challenges, or aspirations. Highlight relevant property listings, neighborhood information, or market trends specific to the recipient’s interests and preferences.
Incorporate Dynamic Content: Utilize dynamic content and variable data printing to personalize elements of your mailers, such as images, headlines, and offers, based on recipient data. Dynamic content allows you to create highly customized and relevant mailers at scale.
Follow Up with Personalized Communication: After sending out your mailers, follow up with personalized communication to further engage recipients and nurture leads. Use personalized emails, phone calls, or direct mail follow-ups to continue the conversation and provide additional value.
By implementing these expert tips and personalization tactics, you can create more impactful and effective real estate direct mailers that resonate with recipients personally, driving engagement and results.
Tip 5: Offer Valuable Content
Providing Value to Recipients: Providing valuable content is essential in real estate direct mail campaigns as it helps to establish trust, credibility, and authority with recipients. By offering valuable information, insights, and resources, you position yourself as a helpful and knowledgeable resource in the eyes of your audience.
Valuable content captures attention, keeps recipients engaged, encourages interaction, and fosters positive associations with your brand. Whether it’s educational content, market insights, or helpful tips, providing value demonstrates your commitment to serving the needs of your audience and can ultimately lead to increased engagement and conversions.
Advice on Types of Content to Include: Several effective approaches and content types must be considered when offering valuable content in your real estate direct mailers. Here are some expert recommendations on the types of content to include:
Educational Guides and Resources: Create educational guides, e-books, or resource kits that provide valuable information and insights about buying, selling, or investing in real estate. Topics could include home buying tips, seller’s guides, neighborhood profiles, market trends, and investment strategies.
Market Updates and Insights: Share relevant market updates, industry trends, and local market insights to keep recipients informed and empowered. Provide analysis and commentary on key market indicators, such as home prices, inventory levels, and interest rates, to help recipients make informed decisions.
Property Listings and Showcase: Showcase your available properties or listings in your direct mailers, highlighting key features, amenities, and photos. Include detailed property descriptions, virtual tours, and interactive elements to engage recipients and encourage them to explore further.
Client Testimonials and Success Stories: Share client testimonials, success stories, and case studies to demonstrate your track record of success and the value you’ve delivered to past clients. Highlight positive experiences, outcomes, and testimonials to build trust and credibility with potential prospects.
Helpful Tips and Advice: Offer practical tips, advice, and how-to guides on topics relevant to your audience’s interests and needs. Provide actionable home maintenance, staging, landscaping, and renovation tips or advice on navigating the buying or selling process.
Exclusive Offers and Promotions: Provide exclusive offers, discounts, or promotions to incentivize recipients to take action. Offer special deals on services, incentives for referrals, or limited-time discounts on properties to create a sense of urgency and encourage engagement.
By including valuable content in your real estate direct mailers, you can provide recipients with useful information, insights, and resources that demonstrate your expertise, build trust, and drive engagement. Offering value enhances the effectiveness of your direct mail campaigns and strengthens your relationship with your audience over time.
Tip 6: Include Clear Calls to Action
Guiding Recipients to Take Action: Clear calls to action (CTAs) are essential in real estate direct mail campaigns as they guide recipients on what action to take next. Whether scheduling a showing, visiting a website, or contacting you for more information, a well-crafted CTA prompts recipients to engage with your brand and move closer to conversion.
Without a clear CTA, recipients may be unsure of what steps to take, resulting in missed opportunities and ineffective campaigns. By including clear and compelling CTAs in your direct mailers, you can encourage recipients to take the desired action and drive results for your business.
Tips on Crafting Effective Calls to Action: Effective calls to action require careful language, placement, and design consideration. Here are some expert tips to help you create compelling CTAs that drive action:
Be Clear and Specific: Your CTA should clearly state the desired action and specify what recipients should do next. Use actionable language such as “Call Now,” “Schedule a Tour,” or “Visit Our Website” to prompt immediate action.
Create a Sense of Urgency: Incorporate urgency into your CTAs to motivate recipients to act quickly. Use phrases like “Limited Time Offer,” “Act Now,” or “Don’t Miss Out” to create a sense of urgency and encourage immediate responses.
Highlight Benefits: Communicate the benefits of action to incentivize recipients to engage. Whether saving time, finding their dream home, or accessing exclusive offers, emphasize the value proposition of taking action.
Make it Visually Stand Out: Ensure your CTA stands out from the rest of the mailer. Use contrasting colors, bold fonts, or visual elements such as arrows or buttons to draw attention to the CTA and make it easy to find.
Keep it Simple: Keep your CTA concise and easy to understand. Avoid using overly complicated language or multiple CTAs competing for attention. Focus on one clear and compelling action that you want recipients to take.
Place it Strategically: Position your CTA in a prominent location where it’s highly visible and easily accessible. Place it near the top or bottom of the mailer, and consider repeating it throughout the content for maximum impact.
By following these expert tips and best practices, you can create clear and compelling calls to action that prompt recipients to take action and drive the desired results for your real estate direct mail campaigns.
Tip 7: Test Different Formats and Messages
Benefits of A/B Testing: A/B testing, or split testing, is a valuable strategy in real estate direct mail campaigns that allows you to compare different formats and messages to determine which resonates most with your audience.
By conducting A/B tests, you can gain insights into what elements of your mailers most effectively drive engagement and conversions. Testing different formats, messages, designs, and offers enables you to optimize your campaigns for maximum impact and ROI.
A/B testing provides valuable data and insights to inform future campaign decisions, helping you refine your approach and improve results over time.
Advice on Testing Strategies and Tools: Implementing effective A/B testing strategies requires careful planning, execution, and analysis. Here are some expert tips and tools to help you conduct successful A/B tests in your real estate direct mail campaigns:
Define Clear Objectives: Define clear objectives and hypotheses for your A/B tests. Determine what specific elements you want to test (e.g., messaging, design, offer) and what metrics you will use to measure success (e.g., response rate, conversion rate).
Test One Variable at a Time: When conducting A/B tests, focus on testing one variable at a time to isolate the impact of each element. This allows you to assess individual factors’ effectiveness and avoid confounding variables.
Split Your Audience: Divide your mailing list into random, equal-sized segments to create test and control groups. Send different variations of your mailers to each group and track their performance separately to determine which version performs better.
Track and Analyze Results: Monitor the performance of your A/B tests closely and track key metrics to measure the impact of each variation. Use analytical tools and software to collect and analyze data, identify trends, and draw meaningful insights from your test results.
Iterate and Optimize: Use the insights gained from your A/B tests to iterate and optimize your future mailers. Implement changes based on successful variations and continue to test and refine your approach over time to improve results.
Utilize Testing Tools: Take advantage of A/B testing tools and software available to streamline the testing process and gather actionable insights. Tools like Google Optimize, Optimizely, and Mailchimp’s A/B testing feature offer robust functionality for designing and analyzing experiments.
By incorporating A/B testing into your real estate direct mail campaigns and following these expert strategies, you can gain valuable insights, improve campaign performance, and optimize your marketing efforts for success.
Tip 8: Integrate Direct Mail with Digital Marketing
Integrating Direct Mail with Digital Channels: In today’s digital age, integrating direct mail with digital marketing channels is essential for maximizing reach, engagement, and conversion opportunities.
By combining the strengths of both offline and online channels, you can create cohesive and multi-dimensional marketing campaigns that resonate with your audience across various touchpoints. Integrating direct mail with digital channels allows you to leverage the unique benefits of each medium while complementing and reinforcing your messaging for greater impact.
From driving website traffic and capturing leads to nurturing prospects and tracking campaign performance, cross-channel integration enables you to create a seamless and immersive brand experience for your audience.
Tips on Cross-Channel Marketing Strategies: To effectively integrate direct mail with digital marketing channels, consider implementing the following expert tips and cross-channel marketing strategies:
Consistent Branding and Messaging: Ensure consistency in branding and messaging across all channels to create a cohesive and unified brand experience for your audience. Align your direct mailers with your digital assets, such as your website, social media, and email, to reinforce your brand identity and messaging.
Use QR Codes and Personalized URLs (PURLs): Incorporate QR codes and personalized URLs (PURLs) into your direct mailers to seamlessly bridge the gap between offline and online interactions. QR codes can direct recipients to specific landing pages or digital content, while PURLs can track individual responses and personalize the user experience.
Promote Social Media Engagement: Encourage recipients to connect with your brand on social media platforms by including social media icons, handles, or hashtags in your direct mailers. Drive engagement by promoting user-generated content, hosting contests, or sharing exclusive offers on social channels.
Retargeting and Remarketing Campaigns: Implement retargeting and remarketing campaigns to re-engage recipients who have interacted with your direct mailers but have not yet converted. Use digital tracking tools and cookies to deliver targeted ads and personalized content based on user behavior across digital channels.
Email Follow-Up Sequences: Create email follow-up sequences to reinforce your direct mail messaging and nurture leads through the sales funnel. Send personalized emails to recipients engaged with your direct mailers, providing additional information, offers, or incentives to encourage further action.
Track and Measure Campaign Performance: Utilize tracking tools and analytics to monitor the performance of your cross-channel marketing campaigns. Measure key metrics such as response rates, website traffic, conversion rates, and ROI to assess the effectiveness of each channel and optimize your marketing efforts accordingly.
You can enhance the reach, effectiveness, and overall success of your real estate marketing campaigns by implementing these cross-channel marketing strategies and integrating direct mail with digital channels.
Tip 9: Monitor and Analyze Results
Tracking and Analyzing Campaign Performance: Monitoring and analyzing campaign performance is crucial for evaluating the effectiveness of your direct mail efforts and optimizing future marketing strategies.
Tracking key metrics allows you to assess your campaigns’ impact, identify improvement areas, and make data-driven decisions to achieve better results.
By analyzing campaign data, you can gain valuable insights into customer behavior, campaign effectiveness, and ROI, enabling you to refine your approach and maximize your marketing investment.
Advice on Key Metrics to Monitor: When monitoring and analyzing direct mail campaign results, focusing on key metrics that provide insights into campaign performance and effectiveness is essential. Here are some expert-recommended metrics to monitor:
Response Rate: Measure the percentage of recipients who respond to your direct mail campaign by taking the desired action, such as visiting a website, calling a phone number, or making a purchase. A higher response rate indicates greater campaign engagement and effectiveness.
Conversion Rate: Track the percentage of recipients who complete a desired action, such as making a purchase or scheduling a consultation, as a result of your direct mail campaign. A higher conversion rate indicates that your campaign effectively drives desired outcomes and generates tangible results.
ROI (Return on Investment): Calculate the return on investment for your direct mail campaign by comparing the cost of the campaign to the revenue generated or cost savings achieved. A positive ROI indicates that your campaign generates value and contributes to your bottom line.
Cost per Acquisition (CPA): Determine the cost per acquisition by dividing the total campaign cost by the number of new customers or leads acquired due to the campaign. Monitoring CPA helps you assess the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of your acquisition efforts.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Evaluate the long-term value of acquired customers by calculating the average revenue generated from a customer over their lifetime. Monitoring CLV helps you prioritize high-value customer segments and tailor your marketing efforts accordingly.
Response Attribution: Analyze response attribution to understand which channels, messages, or offers drive the most responses and conversions. You can optimize future campaigns for better results by identifying the most effective tactics.
By tracking and analyzing these key metrics, you can gain valuable insights into the performance of your direct mail campaigns, identify areas for improvement, and make informed decisions to enhance your marketing strategy and drive success.
Tip 10: Use High-Quality Materials
Using Quality Materials for Mailers: The quality of materials used in your direct mail campaign can significantly impact its effectiveness and perception among recipients. High-quality materials enhance the visual appeal of your mailers and convey professionalism, credibility, and value to your audience.
Investing in premium materials demonstrates your commitment to delivering a superior experience and reflects positively on your brand reputation. Additionally, durable and well-crafted materials are more likely to withstand handling and transportation, ensuring that your message reaches recipients intact and leaves a lasting impression.
Tips on Selecting Materials and Printing Options: When selecting materials and printing options for your direct mail campaign, consider the following expert tips to ensure optimal results:
Paper Quality: Choose high-quality paper stock that is thick, durable, and has a professional finish. Opt for paper with a weight of at least 100 lbs to give your mailers a substantial feel and prevent them from appearing flimsy or cheap.
Finish and Coating: Select a finish and coating that enhances your mailers’ visual appeal and tactile experience. Glossy finishes can add color, shine, and vibrancy, while matte finishes offer a sophisticated, understated look. Consider incorporating special coatings such as UV coating or spot varnish to highlight specific elements and add a touch of elegance.
Printing Technique: Explore different printing techniques, such as offset printing, digital printing, or letterpress, to achieve the desired quality and effect for your mailers. Offset printing provides high-quality, consistent results for large-volume runs, while digital printing offers flexibility and customization for smaller runs and variable data printing.
Color Selection: Use vibrant colors and high-resolution graphics to capture attention and create visual interest. Choose colors that align with your brand identity and evoke your audience’s desired emotions and associations. Consider incorporating color psychology principles to influence perception and response.
Texture and Finish: Experiment with textured papers, embossing, or foil stamping to add depth, dimension, and tactile appeal to your mailers. These tactile elements create a sensory experience that engages recipients and makes your mailers stand out.
By prioritizing quality materials and printing options in your direct mail campaign, you can elevate the perceived value of your brand, enhance engagement with your audience, and maximize the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.
Tip 11: Leverage Data for Personalization
Role of Data in Personalization: Leveraging data for personalization is essential for creating targeted and relevant messaging that resonates with your audience.
Data-driven personalization allows you to tailor your direct mail campaigns to individual recipients’ specific needs, preferences, and behaviors, increasing engagement, response, and conversion rates.
By harnessing the power of data, you can segment your audience, customize your messaging, and deliver personalized experiences that drive meaningful interactions and foster stronger connections with your prospects and customers.
Advice on Leveraging Data for Targeted Messaging: To effectively leverage data for targeted messaging in your direct mail campaigns, consider the following expert advice:
Collect Relevant Data Points: Collect relevant data points about your audience, including demographics, psychographics, purchase history, browsing behavior, and engagement metrics. Use internal and external data sources to build comprehensive customer profiles and gain insights into their preferences and interests.
Segment Your Audience: Segment your audience into distinct groups based on common characteristics, preferences, or behaviors. Use segmentation criteria such as age, gender, location, buying behavior, or product interests to create targeted audience segments that allow you to deliver personalized messaging to each group.
Dynamic Content Personalization: Implement dynamic content personalization techniques to tailor your messaging and offers to the unique attributes of each recipient. Use variable data printing (VDP) to dynamically generate customized content based on individual customer data, such as personalized greetings, product recommendations, or exclusive offers.
Behavioral Targeting: Leverage strategies to deliver relevant messaging based on recipient actions, interactions, or engagement levels. Use data-driven triggers and automation to send personalized mailers in response to specific behaviors, such as website visits, email opens, or previous purchases.
Predictive Analytics: Harness the power of predictive analytics to anticipate customer needs and preferences and proactively deliver targeted messaging before they even realize it. Use machine learning algorithms and predictive models to analyze historical data, identify patterns, and predict future behavior, enabling you to tailor your campaigns for maximum impact.
By incorporating data-driven personalization techniques into your direct mail campaigns, you can create more relevant, engaging, and impactful messaging that resonates with your audience and drives better results.
Tip 12: Establish a Consistent Schedule
Consistency in Direct Mail Campaigns: Consistency is key to the success of your direct mail campaigns. Establishing a regular mailing schedule creates a predictable cadence of communication with your audience, which helps build brand recognition, trust, and loyalty over time.
Consistent mailings ensure that your brand stays top-of-mind with recipients and reinforces your marketing message, increasing the likelihood of engagement and response.
Additionally, a consistent schedule demonstrates professionalism and reliability, positioning your brand as a trusted authority in your industry and enhancing your credibility among customers.
Tips on Setting Up a Regular Mailing Schedule: To effectively establish a consistent mailing schedule for your direct mail campaigns, consider the following expert tips:
Define Your Frequency: Determine how often you will send out mailers to your audience based on your campaign objectives, audience preferences, and budget constraints. Consistency is key whether you mail weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. Aim for a frequency that strikes the right balance between staying top-of-mind and avoiding over-saturation.
Plan Ahead: Create a comprehensive content calendar outlining your mailing schedule for the upcoming weeks or months. Plan your mailings to ensure a steady flow of content and avoid last-minute scrambling. Consider seasonal trends, holidays, and special events that may impact your campaign timing and messaging.
Stick to a Routine: Stick to your established mailing schedule religiously to maintain consistency and reliability. Set deadlines for content creation, design, printing, and mailing to ensure the timely execution of each campaign. Establishing a routine helps streamline the workflow and ensures that your mailers go out on time, every time.
Monitor and Adjust: Regularly monitor the performance of your direct mail campaigns and adjust your mailing schedule as needed. Analyze key metrics such as response rates, conversion rates, and ROI to determine your schedule’s effectiveness and identify optimization opportunities. Experiment with different frequencies and timing to find the optimal cadence that maximizes engagement and response.
Communicate with Recipients: Keep your audience informed about your mailing schedule and set expectations for when they can expect to receive mail from you. Use email or other channels to communicate upcoming promotions, special offers, or important updates to ensure recipients know your mailings and anticipate them eagerly.
By establishing a consistent mailing schedule for your direct mail campaigns, you can maintain a steady flow of communication with your audience, reinforce your brand message, and drive better results over time.
Tip 13: Follow Up with Recipients
Importance of Follow-Up Communications: Following up with recipients after sending out direct mail is crucial for nurturing relationships, driving engagement, and maximizing the impact of your campaign.
While your initial mailer may capture recipients’ attention, follow-up communications allow you to reinforce your message, address any questions or concerns, and guide recipients toward the desired action.
By staying engaged with your audience through follow-up efforts, you demonstrate your commitment to their needs, build trust and rapport, and increase the likelihood of conversion.
Advice on Follow-Up Strategies: To effectively follow up with recipients after sending out direct mail, consider implementing the following expert strategies:
Multi-Channel Approach: Leverage a multi-channel approach to follow up with recipients through various touchpoints, such as email, phone calls, social media, or personalized landing pages. By reaching out through multiple channels, you increase the chances of connecting with recipients and engaging them on their preferred communication platforms.
Timely Follow-Up: Follow up with recipients promptly after sending out your initial mailer to capitalize on their interest and keep your brand top-of-mind. Aim to follow up within a few days to a week to maintain momentum and reinforce your message while it’s still fresh in recipients’ minds.
Personalized Outreach: Personalize your follow-up communications to resonate with individual recipients and address their needs, preferences, and interests. Use recipient data and insights from your initial mailer to tailor your follow-up messages and offers for maximum relevance and impact.
Provide Value: In your follow-up communications, offer additional value or incentives to incentivize recipients to take the desired action. Whether it’s exclusive discounts, bonus content, or personalized recommendations, adding value encourages recipients to engage further with your brand and move closer to conversion.
Persistent Engagement: Be persistent in your follow-up efforts without being pushy or intrusive. Follow up multiple times over a reasonable timeframe to increase the chances of getting a response or conversion. Use a mix of follow-up tactics, such as reminder emails, follow-up calls, and targeted ads, to maintain consistent engagement with recipients.
By implementing strategic follow-up strategies, you can extend the reach and impact of your direct mail campaigns, nurture relationships with recipients, and drive higher conversion rates over time.
Tip 14: Stay Compliant with Regulations
Adhering to Legal Regulations: Compliance with legal regulations is essential when conducting direct mail campaigns to ensure ethical practices, protect consumer privacy, and avoid potential legal repercussions. Direct mail is subject to various regulations and laws governing consumer privacy, data protection, advertising, and marketing practices.
Failure to comply with these regulations can result in fines, penalties, damage to your reputation, and even legal action against your business. By staying compliant with regulations, you demonstrate your commitment to ethical conduct, build trust with your audience, and safeguard your business from potential risks.
Tips on Compliance and Best Practices: To maintain compliance with regulations and adhere to best practices in direct mail marketing, consider implementing the following expert tips:
Understand Applicable Regulations: Familiarize yourself with relevant regulations and laws governing direct mail marketing in your jurisdiction, including the CAN-SPAM Act, GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), CASL (Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation), and industry-specific regulations. Stay updated on regulation changes and seek legal guidance to ensure compliance.
Obtain Consent and Permissions: Obtain explicit consent and permissions from recipients before sending them direct mail, especially for marketing communications. Ensure that recipients have willingly opted in to receive your mail and provide clear mechanisms for opting out or unsubscribing from future communications.
Respect Consumer Privacy: Respect consumer privacy rights by handling personal data responsibly and transparently. Safeguard sensitive information, such as names, addresses, and contact details, and adhere to data protection principles when collecting, storing, and processing customer data.
Honor Opt-Out Requests: Honor opt-out requests and unsubscribe requests promptly and efficiently. Provide recipients with easy-to-use opt-out mechanisms, such as unsubscribe links or preference centers, and respect their communication frequency and content preferences.
Disclose Relevant Information: Disclose relevant information in your direct mail communications, including your identity, contact information, and the purpose of the communication. Provide recipients with clear and accurate information about your products, services, offers, and terms and conditions.
Monitor Compliance: Regularly monitor your direct mail practices to ensure compliance with regulations and best practices. Conduct internal audits, review your processes and procedures, and implement controls to mitigate compliance risks. Stay informed about industry standards and emerging trends in direct mail marketing to adapt your practices accordingly.
By staying compliant with regulations and following best practices in direct mail marketing, you can build trust with your audience, protect consumer privacy, and maintain the integrity of your brand while maximizing the effectiveness of your campaigns.
Tip 15: Continuously Improve and Adapt
TheNeed for Ongoing Optimization: In the dynamic landscape of direct mail marketing, continuous improvement and adaptation are essential to staying competitive, maximizing results, and meeting evolving customer needs and preferences.
By continuously optimizing your direct mail campaigns, you can identify areas for improvement, refine your strategies, and enhance the effectiveness of your marketing efforts over time. Ongoing optimization allows you to stay ahead of the curve, capitalize on emerging trends, and maintain relevance in an ever-changing market environment.
Whether refining your targeting strategies, improving your messaging, or adopting new technologies, embracing a culture of continuous improvement ensures that your direct mail campaigns remain effective and impactful.
Advice on Staying Ahead of Trends and Changes: To stay ahead of trends and changes in direct mail marketing and continuously improve your campaigns, consider implementing the following expert advice:
Collect and Analyze Data: Gather data from your direct mail campaigns, including response rates, conversion rates, and customer feedback, to gain insights into their performance. Use analytics tools to analyze this data and identify patterns, trends, and areas for optimization.
Test and Iterate: Implement A/B testing and experimentation to test different variables, such as messaging, design, offers, and timing, and determine what resonates best with your audience. Iterate your findings and refine your strategies based on the results to improve campaign performance.
Stay Informed: Stay informed about industry trends, best practices, and emerging technologies in direct mail marketing. Keep abreast of changes in consumer behavior, regulatory requirements, and technological advancements that may impact your campaigns. Attend industry conferences, workshops, and webinars, and engage with thought leaders and experts to stay ahead of the curve.
Embrace Innovation: Embrace innovation and leverage new technologies and techniques to enhance the effectiveness of your direct mail campaigns. Explore options such as variable data printing, augmented reality, personalized URLs (PURLs), and interactive mailers to create engaging and impactful experiences for your recipients.
Seek Feedback: Solicit feedback from recipients, customers, and stakeholders to gain valuable insights into their preferences, needs, and expectations. Use this feedback to refine your campaigns, address pain points, and deliver a more personalized and relevant experience for your audience.
Stay Agile: Remain flexible and adaptable in your approach to direct mail marketing, and be prepared to pivot quickly in response to changing market conditions, customer feedback, or competitive pressures. Adopt an agile mindset and embrace change as an opportunity for growth and innovation.
By continuously improving and adapting your direct mail campaigns, you can stay ahead of the curve, drive better results, and maintain a competitive edge in the market. Embrace a culture of experimentation, innovation, and learning to unlock the full potential of your direct mail marketing efforts.
Best Real Estate Direct Mail Providers
If you’re a beginner at real estate, you might wonder what tool you should use to create and send your direct mail.
Here are the four of the best direct mail providers:
Given our reader’s interest in sending direct mail, we thought it appropriate to discuss what direct mail strategies work for our clients today.
And then we thought to ourselves, “Hey, we know a lot of real estate investors” (also known as all our AMAZING clients).
So, we asked them what strategies they use when sending direct mail. This is a compilation of their techniques, results, and advice. Here’s what they’re doing.
Frequency
Brad Chandler
Brad Chandler, a real estate investor at Express HomeBuyers, sends direct mail to prospects monthly. To manage high volume, he splits their mailing list into groups and sends a batch of mail to one group each week.
This is a postcard that Brad sends to his list.
Front:
Back:
Daniel DiGiacomo
Daniel DiGiacomo, owner and investor at Baltimore Wholesale Property, sends 10,000 pieces of direct mail every month. Additionally, he sends between 1,000 and 1,500 yellow letters each month. On the yellow letters, he has them designed to look like they’re written by hand.
These are some pieces that Daniel sends regularly.
Response Rate
Emphasizing that direct mail is a numbers game, Brad said,
“Sending out a couple hundred postcards probably won’t get you a deal. We typically see response rates of 0.5%-1.5%. Our leads convert at around 3%.”
Those percentages aren’t uncommon in the direct mail world, with the average across all industries at 4.25% for postcards.
Daniel has somehow surpassed the average response rate with his direct mail campaign. He sees a 7%-10% response rate on his postcards and a 20% response rate on his yellow letters. Appropriately, Daniel claims that his success comes from choosing his mailing list wisely.
Build a Quality List
“List quality is the most important part of direct mail,”
says Daniel,
“I like to target absentee, out of state owners that are likely older (55 and up).”
As for Brad’s list, his data suggests that the best performers are homeowners with 70% and higher equity, out-of-state homeowners, and probate.
Also worthy of note, Brad says,
“Response rates will be highest when you first mail a list. There will be a lot of people asking to be removed from mailings. As you continue to mail the list, response rates will decrease but you will get high quality leads.”
Quality Leads
Edward Beck
As a tip, real estate investor Edward Beck from Quick Sell Buyers explains why quality leads are more important than quantity of leads.
He says,
“The main difference I have from all the others is that my stuff is honest and not smoke and mirrors.”
He believes that honesty matters to prospects today because, in the marketing world, they see so little of it.
“I’m not leading the seller to believe I’m going to pay full price or that they would get a better deal not having a middle man (agent). I believe this is the biggest shortcoming with other mail pieces.”
Indicating that dishonest marketing techniques bring in low-quality leads, he continues,
“Yes they will have a higher response rate but when they make an offer the sellers are in a different frame of mind… The market is flooded with [dishonesty] and I believe [prospects] can smell it.”
Test & Iterate
As with all marketing, testing is key. You can test the copy, images, and postcard style for direct mail.
For A/B testing, Brad explains that sticking with a single postcard makes it much easier to test accurately.
“We think it is smarter to stick with one postcard. The reason is that sticking to one postcard makes it easier to A/B test new ideas.”
But it’s not just testing that counts. The application of the test’s findings makes the difference. On this, Brad says,
“We continuously iterate our copy and design to improve the conversion rate of the winning postcard.”
Supplemental Marketing
Don’t forget to follow up your direct mail campaigns with Facebook Ads, phone calls, and whatever outreach is appropriate.
Having several marketing touchpoints is critical with direct mail. As Brad explains,
“When you target prospects through direct mail, you also want to target them on other marketing channels. To do this, make sure you get emails and phone numbers with your lists. Have VA’s call the prospects right after the mail is delivered. Also, upload your lists onto Facebook as custom audiences spend some money running Facebook ads to your mail lists.”
Additional Real Estate Direct Mail Resources
The real estate direct mail masterclass playlist. Four videos with direct mail experts, Todd Swaggerty of Yellow Letter HQ and Christina Krause of Postal Impact.
Play for the Long Run
All marketing endeavors, including direct mail, are a long-term play. You won’t send your first postcards and overnight spike your sales. But you will steadily increase your brand awareness and lead generation.
Like anything worth doing, it takes time.
Keep that in mind as you apply these tips to your direct mail campaign.
Even though your mail will get thrown in the trash, it’s what happens immediately before that counts.
Hey Carrot Community! In our ongoing quest to help our members always stay ahead of the game when it comes to all things performance (SEO rankings, page speed, and conversion rates) we wanted to dive into a new Google algorithm update coming down the pike this summer called the “Core Web Vitals” update.
The cool news is that anyone with a Carrot website is already ahead of the game a good bit. Page speed optimizations we’ve made over the years and additional optimizations we have coming to mobile this summer put Carrot sites among the fastest on the internet today.
Alright, in this post we’ll dive into…
What is Google’s “Core Web Vitals” update?
How it may impact Google rankings for real estate agent & investor websites moving forward
Why page speed is important (and what we’ve done and have planned to keep you ahead with blazing fast websites)
Some simple things you can do to increase your page speed in addition to the updates we’re making for you
What is Google Core Web Vitals and How Does It Impact SEO?
But before we dive in… I want to give you the high level in one sentence.
Basically, Google is making an update that favors websites that have a better experience than ones that don’t, and part of that experience is how fast pages load (on both mobile and desktop). Google has found that when a website loads fast, it’s a better experience for the website visitor than when a website loads slow.
Why does Google care how fast your website loads you may ask?
Google’s money comes primarily from the advertising it sells on Google searches called Google Ads. When a Google user loves the experience of searching for information and when they have a great experience on the websites Google serves up to them (a site loading quickly vs. slow for example)... more people will continue to use Google.com for their web searches… which increases their ad revenue.
Google announced in November 2020 that Core Web Vitals would roll out in May 2021, but that has been postponed to at least mid-June 2021 with a full rollout by August 2021.
Here are the elements of Core Web Vitals (this next section is going to get a bit techie):
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) – Measures loading performance. To provide a good user experience, sites should strive to have LCP occur within the first 2.5 seconds of the page starting to load.
First Input Delay (FID) – Measures interactivity. To provide a good user experience, sites should strive to have an FID of less than 100 milliseconds. This involves how long it takes the user to interact with your page including clicking on links from the main menu and navigation bar, filling out forms, and opening up “accordion text” on mobile devices. These are some of the aspects that are taken into consideration for a good user journey experience.
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) – Measures visual stability. To provide a good user experience, sites should strive to have a CLS score of less than 0.1. Any elements that take too long to load can cause users to click on something they didn’t mean to and cause a bad user experience. This is particularly important for mobile devices.
Core Web Vitals are comprised of three aspects of page experience: Loading, Interactivity, and Visual Stability. Each of these aspects have their own associated metrics that have zones that correspond with “Good,” “Needs Improvement,” and “Poor.”
In a nutshell, Core Web Vitals are a subset of factors that will be part of Google’s “page experience” score. It’s basically, Google’s way of measuring your page’s overall UX.
You can find your site’s Core Web Vitals data in the “Experience” section of your Google Search Console account.
Page Experience:
We’re taking this update seriously. That said, we believe there is one way, that has not changed, that you can reap the splendors of search engine optimization. It is:
Create great content.
Take it from Google:
“While all of the components of page experience are important, we will prioritize pages with the best information overall, even if some aspects of page experience are subpar. A good page experience doesn’t override having great, relevant content.” – Google
Technical considerations have always played a role in determining search rankings. So, in that regard, the page experience update is not unique.
Great SEO has to be preventative, not reactive.
That’s why since the start of Carrot we’ve taught our members to create Evergreen content to enhance their overall inbound marketing strategy. Evergreen content is the “relevant content” you’ll need to create to stay preventative rather than reactive.
Why Page Speed is Important
Google is setting expectations to have websites have high loading performance or how fast your content appears on the screen.
Carrot has always taken page speed serious. In fact, in a study, Carrot outperformed ALL other website builders, (except Google’s own Google My Biz websites) including Wix, WordPress.com, Placester, Shopify, Hibu, just to name a few in page speed.
So page speed isn’t anything new. In another study done in 2014, Walmart found that for every 1-second improvement in page load time, conversions increased by 2%.
For the upcoming Core Web Vitals update, Google has set the bar as… “For a good user experience, aim for an LCP (Largest Content Paint) of 2.5 seconds or less.” This Carrot site loads in 602ms.
At Carrot, we are constantly working to improve the speed, rankings, and conversion rates of our member’s websites. Since we’re smaller than Wix or WordPress and others, we can dedicate more time to helping our members succeed at business.
Why is Google including Core Web Vitals in its algorithm?
Google makes money by delivering relevant and valuable content to people searching for it. When a motivated house seller goes to Google and types “sell my house fast for cash Spokane”, Google wants to make sure it serves up the results that are going to provide the best experience for the searcher.
A great experience means people will keep using Google, which means more people will click ads in Google, which means Google’s revenue goes up.
So, in their continued drive to influence the way the entire industry builds websites and creates content, Google is making a move to make the “page experience” factors even more important in the way they rank websites.
We actually see this as an AMAZING thing for Carrot members.
How will this change impact you and your business
Ultimately, Google has indicated that sites generally shouldn’t expect drastic changes in search rankings. While this update is intended to highlight and favor pages that offer a great, fast, and stable user experience, Core Web Vitals are not intended to replace the priority placed on informative, relevant content. It’s just another ingredient in the mix to ensure site visitors have an awesome experience — a win-win for all!
As mentioned above, Google will begin gradually introducing these metrics and aspects to their algorithm in mid-June, with the goal to have them fully playing a role in the search algorithm by the end of August.
For more in-depth information and questions on Core Web Vitals and Page Experience, check out Google’s FAQ.
How Carrot is preparing for the changes
Here at Carrot, we’ve been tracking this update over the past several months, testing our templates and sites, and working with our engineers to ensure our network — and your site — is optimized for Google’s algorithm.
In preparation for the initial phases of the Page Experience Update, we will be making some improvements to our backend code and network to improve page experience and site speed scores even further.
These improvements include a re-evaluation of our code specifically with Core Web Vitals in mind, optimizations to certain plug-ins and script packages, and an enhanced ability for us to monitor site performance and speed data across our entire network.
Tools to measure your Core Web Vitals
Google has provided a set of tools to help you analyze performance, identify issues, and fix them ahead of the algorithm update to help ensure your rankings aren’t negatively impacted..
Google Search Console (GSC). If you’re a verified owner, you can monitor the current state of your website in the Core Web Vitals Report of the GSC. From there, you can find out your pages’ performance categorized as “Good”, “Need Improvement”, or “Poor”.
Page Speed Insights (PSI). Use PSI on the pages that need improvement to diagnose and identify specific issues.
Lighthouse and Chrome DevTools. These tools can be used to measure your pages’ specs, and identify what needs fixing and what steps to take in order to fix it.
Web Vitals Chrome Extension. The extension can be used to monitor in real-time the core web vitals of webpages on desktop. It can be used on every page of every website, regardless of whether you are the owner, and it can give you a peek of how other pages similar to yours are doing as well.
Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX). Here you can find information about the CWV performance of your website, based on real-life user data.
The future of SEO with Google Core Web Vitals changes
We are compiling a list of best (and worst!) practices so that you can be sure nothing you are doing on your own individual sites is negatively impacting your scores. We’ll be posting that guide over the next few weeks to ensure that you’ll have plenty of time to take a look at your site and make any necessary improvements before the update goes into full effect later this summer.
We have conducted full Core Web Vitals and Page Experience audits on our most popular site templates and a sample of our member sites. Our sites are already performing exceptionally well, and with the improvements our engineering team is working on, you’ll be one step ahead when Google’s algorithm update goes live. We’re happy to report that our sites perform exceptionally well.
We have our Carrot members covered!
If you’re not a Carrot member, here are some things to consider when optimizing a website for Core Web Vitals. We recommend analyzing each URL individually as you might have a different score because a page holds different layouts, content blocks, and elements. Here are some basic steps you should consider taking:
Scale images to the correct placement sizing
Compress large image files
Lazy load static content
Apply a content delivery network to the hosting platform
Remove any unnecessary render-blocking resources
Serve images in next-gen formats
Remove any unused javascript
Hit us up on the comments section below with questions, comments, or concerns!
Highlight what you are good at and the solutions you can provide – you will see a lot of action above and beyond those instant movers who buy right away.
– JT Rose
Agents & Hybrids: How to Optimize Your Facebook ads for Better Seller Leads – Messaging, Brand-Building, and More
Welcome to our forth and final installment of our Facebook ads mastery series. Today, we are talking about bringing in high-quality seller leads, buyer leads, building authority with your content, messaging for hybrid agents, and what to do if your ad is disapproved.
We are once again sitting down with Kiley and JT of Silverstreet Marketing, focusing more on agents and hybrid investor/agents. However, the principles discussed apply to any sort of business, even those not related to real estate.
For years we have been talking about how hybrid investor/agents are the future of real estate. That future is now. Investors who aren’t agents are leaving 80% of their leads on the table, while agents who can’t offer more than one way to sell are trying to fit all of their leads into the same box. As buyers and sellers become more educated about real estate, they are looking for options. Here’s how agents, investors, and those who are a hybrid of the two, can utilize Facebook ads to captivate more buyer and seller leads while building authority along the way.
Are Ads the Same for Agents and Investors?
When running ads for motivated seller leads, agents and investors should have a different approach. No matter what kind of lead you are looking for, keep their unique experience in mind.
Your messaging will be different to someone who wants to sell in a few months vs. someone who needs to sell urgently
Agents will want to get in front of leads several months ahead of time, while investors are looking for those who need to sell right away
Agents will want to get in front of their leads early, providing consistent value while the leads is contemplating the sale
When adding value, you can offer complimentary CMA reports and market data. You can take it one step further by creating content to help with their situation. For example, an article titled: “5 Repairs to Help You Get an Additional $20k on the Sale of Your Home.”
How Do I Build Long-Term Authority With My Content?
Adding value through content will also help to position you as the authority. Regular content builds trust as well as your online presence.
Your social presence is meaningful – you need to exist
Facebook and Youtube are often used as search engines – your content should offer information and answer questions
Celebrate your successes on our social media platforms by sharing the stories of those you have helped
Include content that has nothing to do with real estate, just to make your name known throughout your local community
The key is getting people engaged. Helping out with charity events, creating content about your community, and busting standard objections will help you find higher-quality seller leads.
How Do I Modify My Ads to Get Both Buyer and Seller Leads?
Don’t just go after those seller leads, buyer leads are instrumental too. If you are targeting the right class of buyers, you will see that 50% of them not only wish to buy, but they need to sell too. You will be able to work both sides, while doing the work to bring in just one lead.
Buyer leads are higher conversion and lower resistance
Buyer leads will often cost less
Send your leads to a simple and direct landing page, with a CTA form that is front and center
Don’t overcomplicate things for your buyer leads
Find out how early you can market a house before it hits the MLS – this varies by state
Before finalizing your ads, make sure you know how you are going to follow up with the lead. Highlight the ways you are good at what you do and how you can help.
What Sort of Messaging Should Hybrid Investor/Agents Use?
Hybrid investor/agents should focus on the multiple solutions they are able to offer.
Highlight the fact that you can help the seller explore multiple options, offering custom solutions
Let them know that your solution puts them in control – you don’t have to conform to any selling method
Kiley and JT have a great ad that highlights 3 selling options. The seller can get a cash offer, sell privately to one of the buyers in their network, or list on the MLS. Your hybrid messaging should let your leads know that you can offer the solution that best fits their life.
What Happens if My Ad Isn’t Approved?
With Facebook guidelines becoming more strict, many ads are often unapproved. This happens quite often to people running their own ads, and can quickly cause them to lose access to their ad account.
When dealing with anything having to do with real estate, make sure the special ad category is selected
Make sure you do not have any political references in your copy
Try to avoid overusing the word “you.”
If you have created an ad, followed all the rules, and still find it isn’t approved, you can appeal the decision. Facebook ad approval is far from perfect, you aren’t alone.
We hope you enjoyed this Facebook Mastery series. We’ve looked at ads from a high level, refined creative, and helped you to better optimize your current ads. Learn more about setting up your ads at carrot.com and get help from our marketplace to have Kiley and JT help you through the process!
Sustaining success with real estate investor PPC can be frustratingly complex, and without being able to prove results, you can kiss your ad budget goodbye.
Before giving up hope, know that your PPC ads can ALWAYS improve.
Our members generated 62.64% MORE Paid Search leads in Q2 2022 over Q2 2021, and 26.12% MORE Paid Search leads over Q1.
Whether getting the highest ROAS you’ve gotten in months or stuck on a plateau, there are always ways to improve.
A little secret… improvements don’t need to be Herculean efforts.
You can get better results and do less.
We’re giving away the essential real estate investor PPC optimization strategies our PPC experts use to manage multiple members and increase lead volumes.
Here’s more proof…
70 Google Ads leads in 30 days!
43 Google Ads leads in 30 days.
And… 72 Google Ads leads in 30 days!
I could keep going and going.
We work smarter, not harder. We’ll also tell you when these optimizations should happen so you know exactlyhow to optimize your real estate investor PPC campaigns and how often.
Your account is about to be the healthiest and strongest it’s ever been.
What is Real Estate Investor PPC Optimization?
Simply, Google PPC optimization real estate investors look at your account data and make changes to ensure optimal performance.
The digital marketing environment changes quickly. The settings and tests that upheld optimal performance last month (or even last week) might be working against optimal performance now.
Here’s an example. One of your keywords may have performed well for the first month, but when you look at your data from the second month, you see that it’s now driving up your cost-per-lead (CPL).
As part of your optimization regimen, you pause that keyword so your account will focus more on other keywords with lower CPLs.
Your optimization time is also when you become more informed about the secondary effects that your current settings, keywords, etc., have on your account.
Here’s another example. You have a keyword that’s doing amazingly well in lead volume and CPL, but when you dig into the search terms that your keyword is pulling in, you realize that they’re not relevant to motivated sellers. Suddenly all those unqualified leads that came in last week make more sense.
Routine optimization is the best way to ensure you’re pushing your performance in the right direction.
The Benefits Of Real Estate Investor PPC Marketing – Why Should You Do It?
PPC marketing is one of the first things we do when entering a new market to generate motivated seller, rent-to-own tenant-buyer, or cash buyer leads.
Instant Traffic: With real estate investor PPC marketing, you can have traffic and, hopefully, leads quickly, usually within 72 hours of launching a well-structured PPC campaign.
Easy To Target A Specific Prospect: One of the best ways to know that you’re targeting the right person is by getting your website in front of the people actively looking for solutions to their problems on Google. “sell my house fast in Atlanta” as an example. That person, of course, needs to sell fast… that’s a targeted prospect.
You Only Pay When Someone Clicks Your Ad: With direct mail, you fork out the money upfront to pay the printing fees and postage with no guarantee that your target prospect will even engage or read your direct mail piece. With PPC marketing, you only pay when someone clicks your ad and goes to your website.
Get Traffic Coming In While You Build Out Your SEO: SEO can take a while to rank well on Google for competitive phrases. So while you’re building up your SEO… you can get traffic and leads today with PPC.
Easy To Measure: If you set your account and campaigns up correctly, it’s pretty darn easy to measure what’s working and not.
We know that PPC marketing can be effective for real estate investors… but you may be asking… “How hard can it be to optimize it? And why do I have to optimize stuff after I get my campaign setup?”.
Well… if you’re not tweaking and refining your Google PPC campaigns to cut out the keywords that aren’t turning into leads and continually optimizing to increase your return on investment… you may as well light your money on fire because a non-optimized PPC campaign is doing just that.
So let us dive in and optimize that PPC marketing campaign.
20 Steps To Optimize Your Real Estate Investor PPC Campaigns
What tasks can you do to optimize your campaigns? What should you look for?
Knowing what to look at, when to look at it, and how to interpret and form solutions around what you’re seeing can be one of the most challenging things to learn for new Google PPC users.
I’ll be honest. It can even be challenging for experienced users at times.
There are so many elements to look at in Google Ads. Metrics, bids, bid adjustments, settings, search terms… the list goes on and on.
Let’s narrow down that list and focus on optimizations that maximize your time spent on the account. You don’t want to be wasting hours and hours looking for optimizations to make on just anything, so invest your time optimizing things that will make more of a difference in the account. You can use an employee scheduling apps to help you understand where you spend more time and optimize your work.
Ultimately the most valuable optimizations tend to be those that push the account for more results that are valuable to you, like leads. We’ve got 20 of those that can help.
1. Select Your Advertising Platform:
Of course, before starting real estate investor PPC marketing, you must decide what platforms you’ll use. We always suggest starting with Google Ads because over 90%+ of all real estate investing leads we pull in through PPC are through Google Ads. The rest is through Yahoo and Microsoft (Bing) PPC. So, dive in and start with Google Ads! Then add on Bing and Yahoo Search Marketing as you go.
With that said, it might also be beneficial to consider non-traditional platforms for your real estate PPC strategy. According to Stewart Dunlop, Founder of PPC.io, “LinkedIn is emerging as a key player among ad platforms for B2B marketers. Its prowess in providing authoritative business knowledge is resonating more than others like Twitter, and in the last few years, this has led to significant improvements in the performance of LinkedIn ads.” As such, while you begin with Google Ads, Bing, and Yahoo, you may eventually want to explore opportunities LinkedIn advertising offers.
2. Define Your Goal:
The most prominent mistake investors make when they start their PPC marketing campaigns is… they just start. They launch a campaign but don’t define clear goals for what they’re trying to achieve. “Get more leads” isn’t a goal. Make your PPC marketing goals clear and straightforward. “To generate motivated seller leads at under $260 per lead”. That’ll give you a good goal to shoot for so you know whether your campaign is even successful.
A good goal to start with is defining the cost per lead you’re aiming for and the return on investment you want to get over the long term.
For most investors, a cost per lead of under $200 is solid.
The further below that, the better. And as for return on investment… maybe a good start is to close your first deal from your PPC seller leads within the first 3-4 months… then ramp it up from there.
You just have to remember that most PPC marketing campaigns don’t start profitable. It’s the optimization process that makes your PPC campaign profitable as you go… and that can take 1-3 months to hone down a campaign… and ongoing work from there to keep that consistent. As long as you can make it through the initial optimization phase (the first 1-3 months), your PPC marketing should be profitable for you over the long run.
3. Research Your Target Audience:
Use the Google Keyword Planner to help you discover what your target audience is typing into Google. It’s crazy the insights you can get in there for how your prospects think and search for solutions to their problem. Then serve up ads in front of the keywords that you can help them the most.
Before you launch ads, know who your target audience is.
What problems or needs do they have? What are they searching for on Google? What solution are they looking for? What words do they use in their searches? Take all of this info and use it to help build out your keyword lists, ads, and landing pages.
4. Do Proper Keyword Research:
Doing your Keyword Research is one of the essential parts of your PPC campaign.
Use tools like Google Suggest, the Google Keyword Planner, Term Explorer, etc.
A big mistake that we see real estate investors make with their PPC keyword research is they aren’t looking at the searcher’s intent close enough.
For example, a seller types in the search phrase “House buyers in Dallas“.
Many people would look at that and assume that the person is looking for a company to buy their house. One of those “house buyer” companies. But… what if they’re searching for retail house buyers in the Dallas area?
If you’re a wholesaler or flipper with an ad up for that keyword and the house seller clicks on your ad… they may quickly realize that you can’t help them. Those types of keywords with mixed intent can cost you a lot of money.
So pay attention to your data and ensure your keywords’ intent focuses as much as possible at the start on the exact people you can help.
This will help you avoid wasting money.
5. Use Negative Keyword Lists:
A “negative keyword” is a word that you can tell Google or Microsoft to look for… that if it shows up in a search… to prevent your ad from showing up to that person.
For example, let’s say you’re a wholesaler or house flipper and you need to buy at a discount. So you may want to add a negative keyword for something like “full retail” there to prevent any searches that have “full retail” or “full price” in them from showing your ad.
Why? Because this type of person likely isn’t going to sell at a discount. So if someone types in “sell my house in Dallas at full price, ” your ad wouldn’t appear.
This can keep you from paying for clicks on your ads where the prospects wouldn’t be your ideal client.
A big mistake most people who are new to Google Ads is that they throw all their keywords into one ad group in their PPC account.
Heck, I did when I launched my first PPC marketing campaign.
But an effective way to optimize your ad spend and drive down your cost per lead (also to better target your ads to specific targets) is to create separate ad groups based on a common theme.
Here are a couple of examples:
Notice We Have Ad Groups Setup For Different Types Of Keyword In This Campaign
Then within each ad group is a slew of keyword variations, ads, etc.
As another example, you can use broader ad groups with more keywords within each group…
Years ago, this approach didn’t work as well as it is now, given the shift to responsive ads. Responsive ads allow users to include keywords in different headlines within one ad, therefore, having a positive impact on Quality Scores.
7. Write Killer Ad Copy:
Lots of people say that phonebook advertising is dead. It will be extinct someday, but people have been saying that phonebook advertising doesn’t work for years and years. (even back when people used phonebooks ;-).
The reason is that local company after the local company would say… “Hey, I need a phonebook ad.”
Then they’d look through the phone book and see what their competitor’s ads looked like… they’d mock up an ad similar to theirs (because that must be working, right?) and put it up there. Then they’d complain because they weren’t getting any calls from it.
But here’s the key, it wasn’t the phonebook that didn’t work… it was that their ad sucked.
It didn’t stand out from its competitors.
It didn’t give any compelling reason why they should talk with them vs. their competitors.
Real estate investor PPC campaigns are the same.
You can’t just look at what your competitors in your market are doing with their PPC ads and copy them. Why? Because you’ll risk being like all those companies over the years that fell prey to the “copy what my top competitors are doing” mindset that made everyone’s ads look the same.
Make your ads sell the benefit they’ll get by clicking that link vs. how cool you are.
Which ad below stands out? The “we buy houses” one focuses 100% on their company… not on how they can help the client. The client wants to know how you can help them know how cool you are. But look at the one on the top… I can quickly see how they can help me. Fast closing. No fees. Any condition.
8. Have Clear Call To Action:
Let me ask you a question.
What’s the best way to make a sale?
Well… what I’ve found… the best way to make a sale is to ask for the sale. That’s it.
Too many people try to dance around the subject and forget to clearly and confidently give their prospects a call to action that gets them closer to making a sale.
Take these ads below as an example.
Which one lays out how they can help me and gives me the most precise call to action of the 3?
Sure, not the 3rd one (the one outlined in Orange). That ad is too darn easy to just look past.
But the first one does a great job. It is clear (even has a specific price point), lays out the benefits, and says they have an exclusive rent-to-own listing. Cool… I’ll check that one out!
Tip: Their call to action could be more assertive by changing their “Sign Up Today” link to something like… “See Available RTO Homes” as our testing has shown works on our websites.
9. Create Effective Landing Pages:
The excellent high-quality motivated sellers or buyers from your PPC campaign won’t do you a lick of good without a landing page (or website) that performs well. You can see our conversion rate test blog posts we put out all the time where we show our members’ websites pulling in sometimes 20%+ more leads just with tweaks we make to their websites.
So don’t waste your traffic sending it to a low-performing website. Start doing conversion tests today (or have us take that off your hands by joining Carrot on our Content Pro plan :-).
10. Use Geo-Targeting:
Geo-targeting your PPC marketing campaigns is a no-brainer for real estate investors, mainly because real estate is such a geographically specific thing. If a person is looking for “rent to own homes in Ottowa Canada“… odds are they’re in Ottowa or are at least looking for properties in Ottowa.
But not everyone uses the location in the actual search phrase. Some people may type “rent to own homes,”… and Geo-Targeting is precisely how you get in front of those in the areas you want to target.
This will help increase your ads’ click-through rate (CTR), increase the conversion rate on your landing page (if you send them to a city-specific landing page), and help you cut down on wasted ad costs.
11. Utilize the Search Terms Report:
What is the Search Terms Report?
The search terms report will show the search queries that people are typing into Google to trigger your Google search ads. You can see the full terms people type in and the targeted keywords matching each search term. In addition, you can see statistics for each term over a certain period.
How to Use the Search Terms Report
You want to use the Google Ads Search Terms Report to find the top search queries when your ads show. The data you can find will be beneficial, and it is a report that advertisers should view weekly. Here are three best practices below when using the search terms report.
Add Negative Keywords
If you find terms that are not converting or unrelated to motivated sellers, you can exclude them altogether. You can click on the box next to the search term and click the ‘Add as negative keyword’ link at the top.
You can add the negative keyword to the Ad Group level or Campaign level or add it directly to your Negative Keyword List.
Find New Keywords to Target
The Search Terms Report contains some of the highest value data after you run your campaign. If you have an ongoing campaign, you can look at the report weekly and use it to drive more conversions at a lower cost. When you target keywords, seeing the search queries that people type before seeing your ads can be beneficial.
Google has this free thing they call “Ad Extensions.” This lets you add little links below your main ad to other spots on your website, like your “Fair Cash Offer” page or “How It Works” page as an example.
Bit’s of content your prospect would value that will help them make their decision. These do help increase the number of clicks you’ll get… just make sure you’re sending them to pages on your website that are set up to convert them into a lead.
Use the Google Ads Ad Extensions to grab more space on the page to get me to click the ad. Sold! I’m clicking that link!
13. Evaluate Quality Score:
Google Ads has this thing they call the “Quality Score“. There are all kinds of quality scores that Google looks at.
From an account-wide Quality Score that Google uses behind the scenes… to Quality Score for your landing pages, ads, and so on.
The quality score on your end is the easiest to control on your landing pages, ads, and campaigns.
Your landing page,s Google looks for “relevant and original content, transparency, and navigability.”
In other words… look like an honest company with real people behind it who care… and make your website easy for people to get the information they need.
Include things like a Terms of Service, Privacy Policy (all Carrot sites have by default), and content that matches your ad’s promise. Always try to improve your Quality Score… as we’ve found that the Quality Score is directly tied to improving your click costs in many cases.
14. Remove Ads With Low CTR:
One of the ways that Google adjusts which ad will show up wherein the ad positions on a Google search is the CTR… or click-through rate.
Ad Rank = CPC bid × Quality Score.
If the ad in position #2 is getting a CTR of 7% and bidding $2 per click… and the #1 position ad is getting a 4% CTR and bidding $2.50… Google may show the ad bidding only $2 per click in the #1 position because of its higher engagement with the searcher, as indicated by the CTR (click-through rate). Google makes more money this way because more people are clicking on the ad, the user wins because the ad is more compelling, and you win because you’re paying a lower cost for the same clicks because of well-performing ads.
If you have ads or landing pages with a low-quality score, Google may prevent them from even showing in the results. That’s how vital optimizing for quality score is.
So make sure to go through your account consistently, remove your ads that aren’t performing well, and launch new ads to improve your CTR every month. This will help you continually improve your click cost and hopefully result in more leads at a lower cost.
Most leads at a lower cost is a good thing :-)
15. Review the PPC Recommendations:
“Ad Recommendations” is a tool Google Ads provides to you. This score measures how well your account follows best practices for setup in Google’s eyes.
The hope is that by giving you a set of recommendations based on your account’s performance, you’ll be able to make changes to your account that will improve your campaign performance.
Recommendations may not always be the best direction for your Google Ads campaign.
Here are the common recommendations for a motivated seller campaign:
Budget
Remove Conflicting Negative Keywords
Add Broad Match Keywords
16. Focus on the “Right” Metrics:
Focusing on the right metrics is essential for a healthy real estate investor PPC account.
Impressions are important for brand recognition and can help you understand which terms motivated sellers are searching.
Yes, the more clicks, the more opportunities you have to convert visitors into real leads. These metrics are important but do they help you make decisions that can influence your results?
Many investors focus on these metrics when they should focus on other, more important ones.
10,000 impressions won’t add a dime to your bottom line if nobody clicks on your ads.
5,000 clicks don’t put more money into your pocket than 500 clicks if nobody is converting.
It’s the conversions that matter more than the clicks or the impressions. Conversions are what puts more money in your pocket, not the other stuff.
How to Fix It?
While you should be paying attention to all of your metrics, resist the temptation to focus on vanity metrics alone. If your conversions aren’t increasing, you won’t be making any more money.
17. Increase Bids For Top Performing Keywords:
This tip is assuming you’re using the “manual” bidding option.
Once you’ve had a chance, ensure your Quality Score is solid. You’ve paused non-performing keywords… find the ads and keywords that are performing well (performance should be decided upon ONLY by the conversion of quality leads on your website or phone calls from those visitors… NOT by clicks), and increase the bids on the keywords that are performing well.
Some people may be thinking… “Well, what should I bump my max daily budget up to and my click bid?”
As much as you can pay to still bring the results you want.
One of the quickest ways to increase your lead flow on a campaign that is already pulling some leads is to increase your daily ad spend. Then if you’ve maxed out the number of clicks you can get on that daily ad spend with that bid price… bump those bids up and test to see if the results still hold firm with a higher per click bid price.
This is why it’s important to never “set it and forget it” with your Google Ads campaigns while in the optimization phase.
18. Identify Non-Performing Keywords and Pause Them:
Then work through the campaign, find the keywords that aren’t performing well, and pause them.
Since real estate is such a high-profit margin product…1 closed deal can flip an entire real estate investor PPC campaign around to be from in the hole $3,500 to a $10k profit. So don’t quit too early or count specific keywords out too early.
But if you keep seeing a bunch of money being dumped into a keyword and it’s not converting into leads as it should… put a pause to those once you’re confident they’re not going to be good keywords for your campaign to focus on.
This is the #1 way that most do it yourself that we see doing their real estate investor PPC marketing can save a lot of money and headache… and sometimes cut their ad cost in half… is simply by pausing keywords that just aren’t performing.
19. Optimize Your Bid Management Strategies:
Your bidding strategy is determined at the campaign level. There‘s one manual option and four automated options.
Manual CPC
Manual bidding is an excellent place to start with real estate investor PPC bidding. You set your bids manually at the keyword level, and that number never changes unless you choose to update it manually.
Manual CPC gives you the most control but doesn’t take advantage of Google‘s machine learning.
Automated bidding strategies
Automated bidding lets Google do the heavy lifting. It tends to work best with campaigns that have been active for a while and have enough data.
Maximize clicks: With this strategy, Google automatically sets your bids to maximize the number of clicks you get on your ads. You can set a maximum CPC for bids to ensure that Google doesn‘t overspend. Although, if you don‘t enter a bid limit, Google will try to get you as many clicks as possible without going over your daily budget. I recommend setting a limit. If you don‘t, Google will spend your entire daily budget whenever possible, even if the clicks are too expensive.
Maximize conversions: Similar to maximizing clicks, but for maximizing conversions. You can set a target CPA (cost per acquisition or lead) to help guide its bidding. For this bidding strategy, you must have conversion tracking set up correctly. If you don‘t, you can still select Maximize Conversions, but Google won‘t have any information to make good decisions. In a worst-case scenario, you can severely overbid for traffic Google thinks is converting and burn through your budget.
Maximize conversion value: This bidding strategy is a bit more complex than maximize conversions and requires more setup. In addition to tracking conversions, you‘ll have to assign a value to each type of conversion. If one conversion type makes you an average of $5000 and another makes you $20,000, Google will prioritize the higher-earning type when possible. Typically this option isn’t the best for the best real estate investor PPC but is suited for e-commerce stores.
Target impression share: Target impression share maximizes your real estate investor PPC ads’ chances of appearing on the search page. You can select a percentage impression share you want to target and choose where you want to appear on the search page. This could be the top of the page, anywhere on the page, or the absolute top of the page. Setting a maximum CPC keeps Google from overspending. This strategy is best for campaigns focused on brand awareness. You want your ads to be shown as much as possible, even if you don‘t get a high CTR or conversion rate.
20. Make Sure Conversion Tracking Is Set Up:
Easily 8 out of 10 real estate investors and agents I talk to doing their own PPC go silent when we’re on the phone, and I ask them if they have conversion tracking on the campaign.
Conversion tracking is a simple thing you enable on your Ads campaigns by getting a little piece of code from your Ads account (here’s how) and putting it on your “conversion page.” Your conversion page is the page your visitors will see after they opt into your form.
For example, on Carrot, we have our streamlined “2 Step Lead Qualification Process“… so we make it easy for our users to put the conversion code on those “Step 2″ pages. It takes about 15 seconds in Carrot.
Even with our built-in LeadSource Tracking feature (where our system will tell you if your leads came from Google SEO, Google PPC, Facebook, etc… so you know what marketing is working), you can’t tell which keywords and specific ads inside your real estate PPC account produced those leads without setting up conversion tracking in your account.
Why Conversion Tracking Is So Important. You Can See What’s Converting Leads
Many investors say, “I’m getting leads, so it must work.”
But what if you knew exactly which keywords and ads were the ones pulling the leads and which ones were the ones just costing you money? You could drastically reduce your cost per lead just by turning off the keywords, costing you money but converting no leads.
Ready To Get To Work And Drive Those Leads With Real Estate Investor PPC!?
Real estate investor PPC marketing can be one of the most effective and fast ways to get your website in front of motivated sellers, cash buyers, tenants, rent-to-own tenants… and anyone else you want to reach.
But, it can take work, time, and experience to crush it with Google PPC marketing.
As the great Google Ads expert Perry Marshall once said…
“Make sure you know what you’re doing before you begin, or you’ll lose your ass. “
The real estate investors and agents you see consistently well with PPC marketing aren’t just throwing ads up there and hoping for the best. They’re not just throwing ads up and checking them here and there.
They follow these steps above (or as many of them as possible) to hone their PPC marketing campaigns to drive the most high-quality leads at the lowest cost per lead possible.
To put this all into perspective for you… the average wholesale deal right now nets $10,000 in assignment fees, and the average flip profit currently nets $70,697, according to RealtyTrac… so if you’re going to give this a “try” with a few hundred bucks or even $1,000, save your money and don’t start.
Be ready to spend some time learning the PPC platform…
… spending some good time in there optimizing things for the first several months, and be ready to invest at least $3000 as a minimum before you decide if PPC marketing worked for you or not.
On a recent Carrot Coaching Call (we have weekly live calls w/ our Content Pro members), a member who is doing very well with PPC for motivated sellers using our website system said he didn’t close a deal until he’d already spent $4,500 in ads. Then he closed a deal that netted him $18,000. So if he had quit after a month or two under his belt and $4,000 in ads spent… he would have missed out on that $18,000 profit deal.
So dive in, get to optimizing, and let us know how things go!
![[Heat Map Results] Where Are Buyers and Sellers Clicking On Your Real Estate Website](https://image-cdn.carrot.com/uploads/heat-map-test-featured-image.png)
