September is Marketing and Branding Month at Inman. Tips for better branding and in-depth features on how to take advantage of marketing tools provided by Zillow, Redfin and other platforms are all in the works in addition to insights from experts. You’ll find it all at Inman, as well as our two-day virtual, flagship event, Your Playbook for the Fall Market, in October.
Pulse is a recurring column where we ask for readers’ takes on varying topics in a weekly survey and report back with our findings.
It seems that with every new marketing miracle, the real estate industry rushes to abandon those old-school techniques that have been working just fine thank-you-very-much for decades. Whether it’s direct mail or door knocking, reaching out to your sphere of influence, getting out there and networking, or sponsoring the local little league team, some things just never go out of style because, well, they work.
As we jump into Marketing and Branding Month, we wanted to know: What marketing may feel out of date but still works like a charm?
You delivered with your tried-and-true, never-fail marketing techniques that may SEEM old-fashioned but still get results.
- Mailing
- Grocery list magnet
- I personally deliver Pumpkin pies from a local bakery every year to ALL past clients. About two weeks before delivery I contact all clients to confirm they will be in town and let them know I’ll be dropping by with their pie. The bakery packages the pies beautifully in boxes tried with ribbons. Many clients now reach out to me to make sure I’m stopping by with their pie! Fortunately, we live in a cooler climate so if they’re not home, I can leave the pie on their front step in a bag (supplied by the bakery). I include a handwritten card that I have made by a great artist I found on Etsy.
- Letters to homeowners that state that the agent has a buyer for the house, buyers looking for a house just like it, or buyers looking in the neighborhood.
- Sending hand-addressed personal letters to homeowners around my closings still works.
- Handwritten cards, thank you notes, etc. People go out of their way to thank me for thanking them!
- Postcards (multiple submissions)
- Mailed newsletters
- Monthly blog
- I send anniversary cards with a handwritten note every year to my buyers and sometimes the buyers of my listings. Gets me business every year.
- Handwritten notes (multiple submissions)
- Print ads
Now it’s your turn. Weigh in in the comments with your favorites.
