Sometimes you get lucky and you have the perfect lead in mind for your brand new listing. It’s in the perfect neighborhood, matches their “must-haves,” and rests comfortably within their budget. Other times, you aren’t quite so lucky. Fortunately that’s where your marketing skills come in. Naturally the more eyes you can get on your listing, the better your chance of selling it quickly.

Recently published work by Harvard researchers has shown that properties in areas impacted by extreme weather and sea level rise are losing value to other properties in less exposed areas. While coastal communities have historically boasted high sales and high competition, it appears that global warming is starting to shake things up a bit.

As a real estate agent, you wear many hats. In addition to showing homes, meeting clients, and hosting open houses you are also a digital marketer. Acquiring new leads is necessary to supplement your referral business yet many struggle when it comes to bringing in new prospective buyers and sellers. One popular method for this is harnessing the power of Facebook advertising.

In today’s competitive marketplace, you can’t afford to lose even a single lead. In addition to simply losing business from that specific lead, who knows how much you could be missing out on future referral business! Let’s face it, we’re all looking for new leads but in order to bring new leads into our database, we need to first examine the current lead generation tactics in place and identify potential kinks in the funnel.

While digital marketing is largely the main driver of leads today, the benefits of direct mail shouldn’t be overlooked. Believe it or not, direct mail still produces results in 2018. There are several ways to reduce your chances of being among the mail destined for the trashcan without a second look, you just need to be strategic about it.

Ultimately you have a method to your content creation and marketing strategy, right? Of course you do. However, it often takes asking your leads to take an action in order to get the results you are looking for. That’s where CTAs, or calls to action, come in. The basic starting point for this is consider the end result and work backwards. Where do you want your lead to end up? On a lead capture form? On your property listings? Once you figure out the desired outcome, you have the basis for developing CTAs.

Social media, especially Facebook, can be a fantastic tool for connecting with clients and generating new leads. However, if you don’t employ some strategy, the results can be counterproductive. While there are few hard and fast rules when it comes to social media these days, there are certain common mistakes you should aim to avoid in order to increase your engagement and likability online. In the real estate industry, Facebook is a great match for marketing since it’s a visual industry by nature.

If they were selling a house in 2018, 42% of Americans agreed that they would look to their real estate agent to provide them with suggestions about how staging with smart home products and technology could impact their sale price. This proves that now is the time to begin familiarizing yourself with the latest trends in smart home features. The booming popularity of Amazon Echo is testament to how much we love voice-activated and smart technology in the home. When staging your next modern listing, here are a few smart home features to keep on your radar.

The power of social proof, or referrals, in today’s digital marketplace should never be overlooked. Think about it from your own point of view. If you are researching a product or service online, are you more apt to believe what the company says about their client’s satisfaction or what actual clients say about their experience? It’s human nature to weigh peer reviews more heavily, and while you probably know that testimonials are great to have, you may be struggling for ways to use them to your advantage. Don’t worry, we’re making things easier for you.

Ideally, your relationship with your clients will continue far past their closing date. The age old tradition of providing your clients with a housewarming gift is one that remains tasteful and professional today. What has changed, however, is the wealth of new technology and gift options as your fingertips. Next time you find yourself at a loss for good ideas, try changing up your normal gifts and experiment with something new!