When it comes to niche marketing, the options are endless. But for real estate professionals who want to cut through the noise and successfully reach prospective clients, what does it take to successfully cultivate a niche in today's competitive real estate landscape? Being consistent and sticking with what works.
During RISMedia's recent webinar—"How to Find the Money and Put Yourself in the Middle of It — Niche Marketing That Works"—panelists Christy Buck, broker/owner of The Christy Buck Team at Infinity Real Estate Group in Houston, Texas, and Cory Kammerdiener, broker/owner of newhomeprograms.com LLC in Spring, Texas, discussed the ins and outs of niche marketing.
Moderated by Cleve Gaddis—coach with Workman Success Systems—and sponsored by BoomTown, the webinar took an in-depth look at a variety of niche marketing strategies.
Doubling down during the COVID-19 pandemic, Buck and her team focused on implementing everything they could in order to stay ahead of the game and not miss a beat.
At the top of the list? A builder program to drum up buyer business.
"We're super intentional when it comes to developing relationships with the sales associate sitting in the office at a building site. They see us out there on the weekends, knowing their inventory as well as they do, knowing when homes will be built, taking their inventory sheet and building it into BoomTown every single week. Then they use those tools to make sure we're the agent selling most of their homes…and they know that we're there for them," said Buck.
While working directly with builders is an age-old tactic among real estate professionals in markets large and small, Buck's unique approach has laid the foundation for a buyer program that benefits everyone involved.
"We're able to provide them with information related to how many showing requests a specific property has received, as well as how many people have viewed it or marked it as a favorite," explained Buck, which goes a long way toward demonstrating exactly what their efforts are producing.
But it doesn't end there. In fact, Buck and her team have also established a niche marketing strategy around their Top 50.
"Not only does every agent have to have their Top 50 built, but they also need to maintain relationships with those individuals by intentionally touching them every month."
For Mac Hill, BoomTown's advocacy and influencer manager, a good CRM is key when it comes to staying in touch with past clients.
"What it comes down to is getting those individuals into the system and then organizing it properly so that it can be sorted and filtered quickly and easily. From there, it's all about leveraging follow-up campaigns and tailoring them to your past clients."
Past clients aside, Kammerdiener established his very own niche upon jumping into the profession 17 years ago. He realized very quickly that many Americans were being kept from homeownership due to not being able to pass through the automated underwriting system because of bad credit; and so, an idea was born.
"At the time, I was given access to pull people's credit via a mortgage company, so I began educating myself on the five factors associated with credit scoring so that I could understand the algorithm," said Kammerdiener. "And that became my niche. Will you use me as an agent if I can fix your credit for free?"
Today, Kammerdiener helps individuals who feel stuck for one reason or another when buying or selling a home by working with them to help them achieve their real estate goals.
Moving people through the process, Kammerdiener educates prospective buyers through a variety of programs, including a credit enhancement program and another program designed specifically for first-time buyers.
While establishing a niche market is instrumental for real estate professionals who want to hone in on a very specific audience, choosing a niche market is just the beginning. Agents and brokers must also take into consideration the way in which they message their audience.
"Area ads are the No. 1 type of ad we're going to run on Google," explained Kammerdiener. "When people are so set on a certain area, and they see an ad with a lowball price, those are the types of ads people are going to click on."
When advertising on Facebook? Focus on ads that picture real people in front of the house they just closed on.
"When people are on Facebook and they're thinking about buying, they want to see someone similar to them so that they can say, 'If that person can do it, so can I,'" said Kammerdiener.
To learn more about niche marketing, view the webinar below:
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This is great information.