The Importance of Laying Out Your Strategy

It's pretty easy to see the importance and the value of building out your online presence. With the majority of online marketing being self-service accompanied by get-rich pitches such as "Get a listing a day on Facebook!" or "Watch my 10-minute video and find buyers on Twitter instantly!", it's easy to dive right in.

Honestly, many real estate agents are in such a rush to take advantage of the opportunity, that they fail to build out a proper strategy. Then when it does not work they just say, "That online stuff doesn't work!" They go back to door-knocking even though they know the return on the time and effort of door knocking is incredibly bad! But they stick with the door-knocking because it is easy to comprehend, and therefore not scary. If you knock on enough doors or send enough mailers, eventually somebody will say yes. But just playing the numbers game is not a strategy, and being digital only for the sake of having a presence online is not the answer either.

The key is to build a strategy that gets results. Without investing time in a strategy, you're not only going to miss great opportunities, but you may find yourself frustrated and your business left behind. Online marketing is so broad. I suggest you try looking at your strategy as three distinct strategies that all share a common goal:

1. Business
2. Customer
3. Marketing

My goal is to help you develop a cohesive online marketing strategy, and to do that, you'll need to understand the plan for your real estate business at a high level. Business is how you intend to be perceived by your market. Customer is who that market actually is. Marketing is how your customers are using digital technology and what channels you'll build into.

Having a clear and well-thought-out strategy keeps you focused, and it serves as your road map as you explore new marketing channels. Now, there isn't a one-size-fits-all solution here. Every real estate agent needs to create their own strategy. And that makes sense. If you are selling condos on the beach, that is different than if you are selling homes in the valley. Your strategy will vary, but the focus is always to create shared value. Shared value is when the goals of your customer overlap with the goals of your business.

Your entire marketing strategy should be built with shared value in mind. Forget for a moment that you're selling a property or a service, and instead adopt the mindset that you're marketing an experience. So as we look at our three distinct strategies, I want you to focus on building each of them out with the idea that at the end of the day, you want to have a shared value experience.

And that experience will bring you buyers and listings.