RISMEDIA, September 1, 2010—With hyperlocal marketing, I would expect you to want to dominate your market, right? The three most important factors to real estate market domination are:
1. Laser focus on your target market area
2. A marketing plan that addresses both online and offline
3. The budget to support development and management operations for a minimum of six months
Targeting a market area is not limited to a subdivision or town boundaries, but can also be based on target types of property, such as luxury, short sales or waterfront, or groups, such as an association, as long as the customer opportunities support the investment.
You will need to know a minimum of the following for each target contact: Their first name, last name, current address and phone number (if it is available). But what you really want is an e-mail address. That is the gold in this plan. In fact, that is the number one question I received via e-mail regarding the last two articles.
Gathering e-mail addresses takes a good system and patience. A four-part system we use is:
1. Send direct mail to all every 30-45 days with a call to action for something important.
2. Call with a follow-up to direct mail and provide an offer.
3. Walk your farm—yes, knock on doors and leave door notes.
4. Host a community event and attend community events.
Next is your online and offline marketing plan. Online marketing should include a hyperlocal interactive hybrid website/blog platform with integrated lead capture and Internet TV channel, a content/blogging activity plan, an SEO strategy, a social networking management plan, securing the most valuable content sources and three-dimensional tracking analytic reports. Do you remember the virtual news studio I outlined in last month’s article? Here is where it will come to life.
Your offline plan is key for driving local consumers and businesses to your website and should include sending a direct mail piece every 30-45 days. Create compelling postcards and/or personal letters, door notes, press release(s), print advertisements and local networking memberships. Always promote the value of your information and what they get online at your hyperlocal site.
The key to market domination is to be recognized as the thought leader on how to increase the value of the homes in the community. This needs to be your mission.
Last, but certainly not least, is your development and management budget. This is largely dependent on the size of the area you are targeting and the types of marketing methods you select. There is no one-size-fits-all formula here. This is precisely what we do for our customers at 1parkplace. The key here is to keep it bite-sized and work your way up. Don’t take on more areas than you can afford to maintain and market to for a minimum of six months.
By implementing the steps above, San Diego agent Gregg Neuman singlehandedly increased his market domination share from 2% to 11% in only three years for the 92101 zip code.
Learn everything about real estate market domination and hyperlocal real estate marketing later this year at an event to be held November 30 – December 2 at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego. Visit www.1parkplace.com/dominate for more information.
As CEO of 1parkplace, Inc. and the 1parkplace University, Steve Hundley’s passion is to lead the development of the most cutting-edge social media and real estate marketing technology solutions for America’s top Realtors and brokers. Hundley recently formed the 1parkplace University where he has hosted exclusive training events with industry leaders like Tom Ferry, Steve Rodgers and Allan Dalton.
For more information, visit www.1parkplace.com.
