New real estate agent? Here’s your Year 1 marketing calendar

In March’s Marketing and Branding Month, we’ll go deep on agent branding and best practices for spending with Zillow, Realtor.com and more. Top CMOs of leading firms drop by to share their newest tactics, too. And to top off this theme month, Inman is debuting a brand new set of awards for branding and marketing leaders in the industry called Marketing All-Stars.

This article last updated Mar. 13, 2023.

Some people are big believers in planning ahead while others would rather fly by the seat of their pants. Whichever type of personality you possess, there’s one place where an early start is definitely called for: developing a marketing strategy for your real estate business.

When you first get your real estate license, your head may be filled with questions of writing contracts, previewing properties and closing processes. When you ask about these things, however, the answer from brokers and colleagues is usually, “Don’t worry about that. Just worry about getting clients.”

Although it’s a frustrating answer, it rings true. Most agents leave real estate because of too few clients, not because of an obscure contractual clause. But coming up with a marketing plan can be difficult for new agents, in part because it’s tough to sell yourself when you have so little practical experience.

Everyone has to start somewhere, so here is a timeline to take you through your first year as a real estate agent. Keep in mind, you may be able to begin some of these — like obtaining headshots and getting your CRM together — ahead of time. The choice is yours.

Month 1

• Have professional headshots taken to be used on personalized business cards, your website and social media marketing. Your brokerage may offer opportunities for this from time to time, or you can Google “headshots near me” and take a look at local photographers’ galleries to see who has a style you like best. Don’t be constrained by the old blazer and crossed arms look. Many agents choose a more relaxed, approachable look for their headshots.
• While it may feel old-fashioned, you’ll still want to order business cards with your new headshot and your preferred phone number and email. Don’t order a huge number of these, and don’t order the most expensive ones you can find. Over the next few months, you will no doubt replace them, add social media accounts or have other changes. Just find a decent, affordable card, and be sure and include the information required by your state’s laws and your brokerage guidelines.
• Begin developing your sphere of influence by gathering mailing addresses, email addresses, social media handles and phone numbers of everyone you know — friends, family, acquaintances, church members, neighbors and more. This will form the basis of your initial marketing, but you must continue to add to this list — daily, if possible.
• Create a spreadsheet to organize the contact information for your sphere. Initially, you may want to store it in Excel or Google Sheets, but eventually you will want to purchase a customer relationship management (CRM) software subscription to better facilitate communication with your list.
• Reach out to everyone on your list this month, preferably through a handwritten note with one or two of your business cards inside. Don’t be shy — let them know you are licensed and that you welcome their referrals. Follow up with a phone call to discuss, and ask them if they know anyone who is thinking of buying or selling real estate.

Month 2

• Continue adding to your list. Begin creating monthly goals that will help you get to at least 1000 contacts. Attend and create networking opportunities, participate in lead gen activities through your brokerage and keep the focus on feeding that database.
• If you didn’t do so at onboarding, create a personal website and social media accounts for your business. Choose a phrase that you can use across all of your accounts to tie them together. Don’t have a URL under your name, a Facebook account under your town and a Twitter handle under some other phrase. Be consistent with name, logo, colors and images so that people who find you on Twitter can go to your website and know they’re in the right place.
• Create a schedule for posting on social media. You will be tempted to go overboard and post obsessively in an effort to boost your followers and likes. A schedule will help you control this impulse and post consistently and steadily without sucking up all of your time.
  • For Facebook: Post once per day
  • For Twitter: Post once or twice per day, retweet or quote tweet five to 10 times daily
  • For Instagram: Post three times per week; add to Stories daily

Months 3-6

• Now that you have a basic setup, an audience to talk to and a bit of experience under your belt, you’ll want to begin coming up with a branding concept. Although this may include visual elements like logo, font or signature colors, its primary purpose will be to help you position yourself within your market and find a focus for your marketing message.
• Wondering what to say to your audience? Here are some tips:
• Keep in mind Gary Vaynerchuk’s formula: Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook. That means to share meaningful, valuable information with your audience several times before asking them for their business. That way you are coming from a place of service rather than a place of sales.
• Keep in mind Stacey Cohen’s 3 W’s for great branding:
  • WIIFM (What’s in it for me?) to target client pain points
  • Pass the “Who cares?” test by finding out how you can add value
  • Include the Wow-factor when you figure out what you do that no one else in your space can do

Months 7-12 as a real estate agent

Now is the time to refine and expand on the marketing you did in the first six months as an agent.

You probably have a few clients under your belt and you probably better understand what you love and don’t love, what you’re good at and what you struggle with, and you can do a better job of understanding what you bring to the table for potential clients.

• Develop a client avatar to determine who your ideal client is, then refine your online and social media marketing to better appeal to that ideal client. Think about potential price range and stage of life to focus in on their personality and home style. Even favorite brands, TV shows and other details can help you to flesh out the avatar and market more effectively.
• If you have a talent for writing, consider adding a blog to your website. Twice-monthly blog posts can help you highlight your market expertise, educate potential buyers and sellers, offer suggestions or just showcase your personality and your passion for real estate. As you begin to accumulate a number of posts, these can form the basis of your social media marketing plan as well, to help promote your services across platforms.
• If you have the gift of gab, consider content marketing with videos or podcasts. Post interviews with local community leaders, show off your favorite neighborhoods or simply talk about the latest statistics for home sales in your market.
• If your list is still a little thin, it may be time to consider a paid service or paid advertising on social media to bulk it up with potential clients. Talk to your mentor or broker to find out what paid programs have been effective in their experience. 
• When considering paid leads, keep your focus on long-term ROI to determine whether it is an efficient use of your marketing dollars. Track the amount you’re spending on marketing and compare to the conversions and commissions they produce. Although they may not bring you a client immediately, if they are producing more income than you’re spending over the course of a year and putting additional leads into your pipeline for more long-term conversion efforts, they are worth the money.
• If you have networked effectively in your area, you may have come into contact with bloggers or reporters to partner with for local media and online mentions. Create a regular column for the local paper, or offer guest blogging services to a popular local blog. Offer a two-minute real estate roundup for the local radio or television station. This type of exposure can pay dividends over and over if you are regularly featured.

This should give you a great foundation for your marketing efforts as you start out in real estate. With consistent effort, you’ll find that you’ve put systems and processes into place that can grow with you as you scale up and continue to pay dividends throughout your career.

Christy Murdock is a Realtor, freelance writer, coach and consultant and the owner of Writing Real Estate. She is also the creator of the online course Crafting the Property Description: The Step-by-Step Formula for Reluctant Real Estate Writers. Follow Writing Real Estate on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.