We’ve talked about the upcoming economic crash and how it could affect US investors. Having a solid business and understanding your numbers are key during this time. Now, it’s time we talk about getting the right marketing for your business.

What is marketing? Do people working in real estate need to be concerned with it? How will marketing help my business?

Typically, when someone thinks of marketing, they think of sales.

But this is not all marketing is. Marketing is about increasing visibility for a product, service, or even a person. This visibility is what will increase sales and engagement. Moreover, it will bring new customers to your business.

How do investors benefit from marketing?  

As a real estate investor, who are your customers?

• You want sellers to reach out to you so you can acquire property.
• You’re looking to sell or rent a property that you just rehabbed.
• You are looking for a buyer to sell a contract that you just closed.

There are two types of marketing that investors use to increase their sales and engagement: Inbound and outbound.

Outbound marketing

With outbound marketing strategies you are proactively reaching out to customers on a massive scale. The more people you contact, the more sales you get.

Strategies like this are less target specific, as you are reaching out to a larger group of people who did not previously know about you.

Here’s some outbound marketing strategies:

• Cold calling: One of the oldest tricks in the book! A lot of investors swear by this strategy. After getting a hold of a sellers list, investors call everyone in it and pitch their services to them.

• Mail: Another classic strategy. Investors will find addresses of people who have shown interest in selling their property or are facing some kind of financial hardship, and send customized letters offering their service directly to their letterbox.

• Print media: Ads! Be it a newspaper ad, or a billboard in the city they are targeting; These investors want unsuspecting sellers to notice their services and contact them directly.

• Television and radio: Similar to print media, investors target a large audience from which they aim to catch any unsuspecting sellers, who wil notice their services and contact them directly.

Inbound marketing

With inbound marketing strategies you make your ideal customer come to you through content that targets them. You don’t disrupt their daily lives, and they willingly start the conversation.

• Emails and SMS: Email and sms campaigns are meant to routinely check up on those who have opted-in to be contacted. They help keep your business at the top of people’s minds, and when they do need your product or service, your company will be the first they think of.
  
• Social media advertising: Ads that you get on social media platforms all belong in this category. Users are targeted specifically depending on the different interests they’ve shown in the past, as algorithms carefully follow your interactions and show you ads that are most relevant to your current interests.
  
• Social media presence: Not talked about enough! We are in the era of social media, where the world is connected in ways that were unimaginable before. Information travels in a matter of seconds, and as a business owner you should be taking advantage of this. Being active on social media is not difficult, but it requires consistent content creation. Slowly, people in your field will get to know about you and organic leads will come along.
  
• Websites: You got someone’s attention from an ad, an email, even mail or coldcalling. But your job is far from done. Your website should always be built to maximize potential leads you can get from it! People will land on your website through all the different strategies we talked about, so it must appeal to those who took the time to check it out.

Is one of these strategies better than the other? Is one of them bulletproof to a crash in the economy?

Reality is that no strategy is bulletproof. Restrictions on social media advertising are an every day occurrence. And companies are always implementing restrictions on consumer privacy/access.

But here’s what you need to know:

Everyone is at a different stage of their real estate investing journey, so what strategy will work for you depends on many factors.

Here’s some tips to take into account!

• These are difficult times, but that doesn’t mean you should get rid of your projects or put them on hold! Consider your different options, see what could best benefit you, and make moves.

• Any marketing strategy will take some time to show results. Consider your risk tolerance, how much you can consistently spend on marketing for the next 3 to 6 months. Don’t panic when your investment doesn’t bring money in right away.

• Look for people who are already 5 steps ahead of you. They probably specialize in one or multiple marketing strategies. They’ve shared their journey and past mistakes so other investors can avoid them, take advantage of that!
• Know what you are doing! Cold calling may sound as easy as calling a couple of people a day, and social media advertising as easy as paying Facebook some money and offering your services. It’s more than that. People have mastered scripts and come up with strategies to maximize response rates. Marketers know how to best build an ad, who to target, when to post it, and what the best volume to work with is. Take your time to learn, or get an expert to help you.