How To Market Yourself As A Realtor

• Put People Over Profit
• Build A Website
• Forge Relationships With Business Owners
• Share Your Expertise
• Be Consistent
• Frequently Asked Questions About How To Market Yourself As A Realtor

Breaking into any industry is difficult, but even more so in real estate. The industry has been around for centuries and the biggest firms usually garner most of the attention. 

Unless you’ve been trained really well, you may feel like finding and closing your first deal is impossible. After all, there are probably dozens–if not hundreds–of real estate agents already working in your market. Talk about stiff competition! 

Making a name for yourself and building an online presence isn’t impossible, though. Learning how to generate real estate leads and market yourself as an agent comes down to proven real estate marketing ideas. Keep reading for five methods when learning how to market yourself as a realtor. 

Put People Over Profit

It’s no secret that selling real estate can be lucrative. It’s one of the top five reasons most people get started in the industry and there’s no limit to what you can earn over time.

Unfortunately, many inexperienced agents see dollar signs everywhere. It’s tempting to filter the conversations you have based on your potential profit, rather than taking time to understand your client. 

But this is a mistake. Trying to close a deal at the expense of what anyone else thinks will only make you look selfish. Take the time to learn which of the four types of sales persons you are so you can play to your strengths.

It’s essential to listen to potential clients, then recommend listings based on their priorities. This is one aspect of building trust with your clients and it’s crucial when learning how to market yourself as a realtor.

Need help finding listings, too? Learn the 6 secrets to getting a real estate listing every day so your pipeline never runs dry.

Build A Website

Websites aren’t a brand new concept anymore, but they’re more necessary than ever. It’s the modern day equivalent of a business card. If you don’t have a website, prospects will assume you’re stuck in the stone age. Thankfully, websites are cheaper and faster to create than they were even 10 years ago. 

If you aren’t a tech whiz, don’t worry. You can find hundreds of services and freelancers who can build you a quality website for a few hundred dollars. 

Creating a website with the right features and information is even more important than having one. Here’s what your site needs to make positive first impressions and drive leads:

• Professional quality photos and graphics
• Featured listings
• Property search functionality
• Info about the neighborhoods you serve
• Useful, original blog posts–once you know how to master content marketing
• Links to any other platforms you’re on
• About page and Contact page

If this is your first time learning how to market yourself as a realtor, this may seem like a long list. That’s why choosing a website creator you trust is important. They have direct influence over the appearance and functionality of your site, which are the two biggest factors impacting your audience. 

Your website’s usability has an indirect influence on the email marketing tips you can later use. If people can’t easily sign up for your list, you won’t be able to leverage email subject line best practices or email templates for real estate agents.

When your list is set up, you may be thinking, “When is the best time to send an email?” Read our blog post on that topic to find out and put the information to use. Once you have that down, discover all the tips you need in our ultimate guide to email marketing.

Forge Relationships With Business Owners

Building relationships is a time-intensive real estate marketing strategy, and it’s also one of the most effective. Researching local businesses and setting aside time to get to know the owners will put you well ahead of the competition. Here are two reasons this is so powerful: 

One, it communicates to local professionals that you’re a friendly resource. No one wants to work with conceited individuals; they’d much rather talk with those who want win-wins. Inviting a business owner out to coffee or a meal shows that you want the community to thrive, not just your own bottom line.

Two, local partnerships may become a source of high quality referrals for you. Sometimes people share with friends and family that they’re looking for a house sooner than they speak with an agent. If a business owner hears this and has permission to share with you, that may result in your next sale.

Just remember that you can’t set up financial incentives for referrals from businesses; it has to be word-of-mouth only. Aside from that, continue researching the fastest way to get more referrals so you can take your agency to the moon.

Share Your Expertise

Real estate is both a busy industry and a centuries-old one. Why is this significant? It’s because many real estate professionals are still doing the same things they’ve always done.

Real estate is about matching home buyers’ preferences to properties. This involves face-to-face conversations and strong sales skills. What some overlook, however, is that if you have excellent marketing skills, it makes up for limited industry experience.

This is where you can share your expertise as a new real estate agent. By making a list of what you know and are passionate about, you can create content right away. 

People never want to be sold, but they love consuming content. Consumers are often learning how to find a good real estate agent, and since you’re producing quality content, you’ll naturally stand out to them. They’ll start seeing you as the expert in your niche.

Remember, you don’t need to be an expert in everything to be helpful to your target audience. It’s all about providing value to the people who want to learn from you and then following up with relevant questions. 

Be Consistent

One of the toughest things about getting started in real estate is getting noticed. There are millions of agents in the US alone and the industry is growing by 3% year-over-year (YoY). What’s more, most people already know a friend or family member who is a real estate agent and prefer working with familiar people.

There’s no way around it–being a small fish in a huge pond is difficult. Rather than giving up, show up consistently. Attend every meeting that you book, take the calls that you can, and perfect your follow up process. 

If you haven’t yet, now is a great time to create your first email list. A private list of leads’ contact details is your secret weapon when it comes to generating appointments and sales.

Want even more email resources? We compiled our best practices in a handy downloadable guide, Following Up Through Email.

Being consistent is the difference between having good skills and getting great results. Customers find it easier to work with professionals who are consistent, because they can depend on your response times. 

There are two proven ways to be consistent, especially early on in your real estate journey. One, decide what your working hours will be and stick to them. It’s estimated that 70% of agents or more are experiencing burnout symptoms. You only have so much energy and focus in a given day; don’t try to be superhuman. 

Two, give your all to each potential buyer while you’re at work. One of the secrets to mitigating burnout is not taking your work home with you. Rather than feeling like you have to respond to everything outside of work, allocate your best focus while you’re in the office. This way, colleagues and clients alike get accustomed to your fast responses during work hours. 

Frequently Asked Questions About How To Market Yourself As A Realtor

Marketing yourself as a new real estate agent can feel overwhelming. Today’s business landscape requires professionals to have a digital presence on top of everything else they do.

If you haven’t done any digital marketing for your real estate business before, you may feel lost among all the information online. To simplify things, we researched some of the most frequently asked questions about it. Check out our answers below: 

How Do You Market Yourself As A Realtor On Social Media? 

Social media is one of the marketing strategies that gets a lot of attention, and for good reason. It’s a fast and low-cost way to generate interest in your listings and brand as an agent. 

So how do you use it properly? There are a couple things to keep in mind: 

• Prioritize building relationships. Though platforms like Facebook and Twitter help you reach hundreds in seconds, its primary value is in building relationships. Avoid using social platforms merely to shout about your business. Make sure you respond to every message and comment. This sends a strong message to those interacting with you that you see them and care.
• Don’t use it solely for new listings. Social media is a great way to share new listings, but it shouldn’t be the only thing you post about. People enjoy statistics, industry insights, events, and success stories. As long as your post topics are balanced, people will love seeing what you have to share next. 
• Leverage videos and personal updates. If you aren’t making videos on social media yet, video marketing statistics show your competition almost certainly is. All you need to get started is your smartphone and professional video editing tips. Remember, clients want to feel like they’re working with someone transparent–not merely a professional trying to make a sale. Put together an editorial calendar that includes videos and periodic updates “from the field.” Your videos don’t need to be long–just helpful answers to questions or shoutouts to clients and buyers. 

How Do You Sell Yourself As A Real Estate Agent?

Learning how to market yourself as a realtor is a true challenge. You have to become noticeable and successful enough to be trustworthy. How can you sell yourself as a real estate agent without being pushy? Here are a few tips: 

• Give your best to every client. All agents want easy clients to work with. Unfortunately, some will test your patience and professionalism. Instead of losing morale, be thankful for everyone who wants to work with you. A positive attitude endears many, and before you know it you’ll land better results. Master the basics, like how to get a home appraisal, a comparative market analysis, and the best time to sell a house. This creates the confidence necessary to go even further.
• Make no assumptions. As a brand new agent it’s easy to assume everyone you talk with is a first-time home buyer. Instead of thinking everyone is coming from the same place, start your interactions with lots of open-ended questions. 
• Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. As important as relationship selling is, real estate is still a sales job. You will face more rejections and nos than you will yeses. The more you embrace gratitude and listening–two of the ABCs of relationship selling–the more relaxed and resilient you’ll be. This will make you more confident in conversations, which coincidentally leads to a higher close rate. See? Relationship selling techniques and relationship selling articles are useful after all.

How Do You Market Yourself As A Real Estate Agent On Facebook?

Facebook has been publicly available since 2006 and has remained one of the best ways to build a following. 65% of Facebook users are age 35 or older, which overlaps with the age of typical home buyers. 

That said, what are some of the best ways to market yourself as an agent on Facebook? Take a look below: 

• Create a branded Facebook page. Keeping business separate from personal is key when winning new clients. Facebook lets you create business pages for free that can be the source of all of your real estate info. Fill out as many sections of your page as you can, which lends trustworthiness to your brand. You may also want to create a Facebook group later on to offer your followers an exclusive online community.
• Use top-notch graphics. Facebook was one of the first social platforms to popularize sharing, or reposting content from one page to your own. If you upload a photo with every post you make, it’s 3.2 times more likely to be shared than just text. Your graphics also need to look professional for people to take you seriously. 
• Leverage Facebook live videos. Facebook shared recently that its algorithm prioritizes live videos. Though it feels intimidating at first, doing a live broadcast is one of the most exciting–and effective–ways to engage with your audience. Write an outline for your video before you go live so you aren’t scrambling for words, but then have fun with it. Your video’s newsfeed rank will stay strong for hours after posting too, so it’s the gift that keeps on giving.
• Send customized messages. When you start building a following, it’s tempting to send a canned message to each of your followers. This will only get you left on read, or even blocked if the recipient feels you were impersonal. Instead, start conversations based on people’s comments on your posts, or something they shared. When you show that you really care, people will want to talk further. 

Bring These Great Ideas to Market

Give yourself a pat on the back for starting a career as a real estate agent. Why should you do that? That’s because being a real estate agent requires grit, especially when starting out. 

With these strategies at your disposal, you’ll be able to build traction quickly. Before you know it, you’ll have multiple new leads on your email list who are ready for your help. You may even get more experienced agents asking you for tips!