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When it comes to real estate marketing, there are certain mistakes we see clients make time and time again. 

If you’re looking to reform your marketing game in 2015, here are seven pitfalls you need to avoid.

1. Failing to plan ahead

We’re seeing the consequences of this now; clients who missed the window to plan their 2015 marketing efforts in late 2014 and are now frantically playing catchup. By failing to plan ahead, they’ve not only created more pressure for themselves just a few weeks into the year, they’ve missed a crucial opportunity to reach out to potential buyers when the market is quiet and their messages would be easily heard. Doing a letterbox drop or mailing out a newsletter early in the year also demonstrates that your business is on top of its game, while absent competitors are still on holidays. 

Setting up a six to twelve month marketing planner in December allows you to develop a clear and consistent strategy for the coming months. It gives you ample time to prepare for each campaign and get the right message out at the right time.

2. Haphazard messaging 

Newsletters that go out only three times per year, blogs that go un-updated for months at a stretch, and mistimed DL drops; they do next to nothing for your business. The key to creating strong brand awareness in your farm area is regular communication, but a lack of planning (see above) and a lack of time when things get busy means that many agents miss crucial opportunities. 

Setting up a marketing planner and following it is the first step. But it’s also crucial for agents to recognise where they need to outsource work to keep their marketing on track. Enlisting the services of professional designers and copywriters, and appointing an internal project manager, can help keep everything running smoothly so agents can focus on listing.

3. Ignoring rentals 

This is starting to change – slowly. More and more of our clients making real strides towards improving the quality and consistency of their property management communications. Property management can be what keeps an agency afloat when sales is struggling, and it’s worth paying attention to.

There are good reasons to take PM communications more seriously. Investors are a demanding group, and impressing and keeping them engaged makes a huge difference when it comes to building long term relationships. Professional, polished and consistent communications for a rentals department goes a long way towards impressing an investor who wants to know exactly how an agency will help them get the most from their investment. 

4. Going silent

A quiet or slow market can be a great time to get the message out. During the busy periods, everyone is in the marketplace, making it harder to get the attention of your customers. However, when market activity slows over winter or during tough times, many agencies put a halt on their communications until conditions improve. Keeping brand awareness high at all times means that your business is top of mind when the market picks up again. It’s worth keeping your communications consistent regardless of current market conditions. 

5. Self Obsession

Many agents love talking about themselves, and that can be an effective strategy – to a point. Anyone who’s selling a property wants to know that they are getting the services of a top professional with a great track record. 

But they also need to know exactly how the agent and brand will help them get a great price. When putting together any marketing piece, ensure that the needs of the customer are addressed. If they’re not, why should anyone bother paying attention?

6. Ignoring print

OK – as a printing company, we clearly have a vested interested here. But you can’t argue with statistics, and the numbers clearly say that when a property marketing campaign combines print and online, homes sell faster and for a higher price. Campaigns that use print and online get 84 per cent more online traffic and triple the numbers attending open for inspections.

Even in 2015, the internet will never completely replace print; the most effective campaigns combine both. 

7. Overlooking SEO

Search Engine Optimisation is now completely crucial to every business, and real estate is no exception. Chances are a fair number of potential clients will look for you online, and they need to be able to find you quickly and easily. Most searchers won’t bother clicking past the first page of Google search result; if you can’t be found there, you may as well not exist. And keep in mind that a huge proportion of internet users are now searching on their phones, so your site should be optimised for SEO and mobile.

Are you committing any of these classic crimes? How do you plan to stay on track in 2015?