Homes magazines should fit into you real estate sales as well as your realtor marketing plan to gain more listings and business. Yes, home magazines are an untapped source of leads.
Most realtors don't think of home magazines as more than a way to advertise their real estate listings. But the fact is, up to 20% of the people that pick up a homes magazine outside their local Wal-Mart, Target, or grocery store are actually in the market to sell their home.
Those sellers that look at homes magazines are doing their own local real estate market research. They're trying to get a handle on the value of their house or property and the local real estate market. Can you see the opportunity here? If they are going to stay local, you might have a seller and a buyer lead.
The real opportunity here is that homes magazines should be a place to not only market your listings, but also a great place to gain leads for listings and new business. The right direct response advertisement to gain leads would do wonders for your real estate agency.
You can sneak up on your competitors by having a small ad within your listings page in a homes magazine that stimulates the reader to call or email you. You can also send them to your real estate marketing website or a page of it that is meant for generating leads.
Your direct response ad should be attention getting. This is done through the headline. Your real estate advertisement should not be cute or tricky like most agents try to make them. You want the attract the attention of the targeted prospects that you are pointedly aiming the ad at. You also want to give your prospective client your most compelling reason for them to contact you in this headline. The headline is crucial to your objective.
Although the copy in such advertisements is small, it must generate the interest of the selling prospect in your agency. Highlight the most compelling benefits you have to offer the prospect and get them to contact you. Emotional wording aids this process. Use words that entice the prospect to call and find out more without telling them the whole story.
Make it easy for them to do this. Remember, the number one reason for an advertisement like this is to have your phone ringing off the hook. Prospects are in the process of starting their search at the time they are looking in homes magazines. They want this process to be hassle-free and convenient. You don't want to build up the prospect's resistance to your offer.
Your realty advertisement is not there to get your name out there. Or to tell the world how great you are as a real estate agent. Nor is the ad to create a good image of yourself as an agent. These are secondary to the goal of creating a response and making the prospect call or contact you in some other method depending upon your real estate marketing goals.
If you make your focus getting prospects to respond and contact you, your image and name branding will come naturally when the prospect is impressed with your presentation. With the modern day technology that you have access to, you should set up a 24 hour phone hotline to collect the prospects information and this should contain a short, friendly presentation that compels the prospect to want to find out more about what you have to offer as a real estate agent. Give them the what's in it for me information and they'll definitely contact you directly.
Another way to get prospects to call is to offer them information that they are looking for at this point. As potential sellers are reading homes magazines to get information the local real estate market and what their home is worth, you can offer them a free estimate of the value of their home or comparisons of comparable, recently sold homes in their area.
Your phone service should collect the name and phone number of the prospect so you can follow up on the lead. Remember, once they have phoned your real estate hotline, you have satisfied the "no call" laws and are free for continued contact. A good phone hotline service can be found at:
http://www.realtystar.com/proquest.htm. Here's an example of a small listing advertisement that you could place on your page in the local homes magazine:
SELL YOUR HOME THE QUICK AND EASY WAY - WITH ABSOLUTELY NO PRESSURE OR HASSLES
Find out what your home is worth by comparing recent home sales in your area!
Call for a personal, FREE home valuation report and list of recent home sales
in your neighborhood. This call is a pressure free recorded message and
Toll-Free, 24/7 at 1-800-555-5555 and when asked, dial in ext. #5555. XYZ Realty
Homes magazines are not just for selling houses but are a great opportunity to find listing leads. You should utilize this approach in your real estate marketing plan. If done properly, you aim for a direct response and get the prospect to call you. This is one of the means for a good return on your advertising dollar investment and will aid in expanding your real estate business.
