I recently spoke about marketing at a national convention for real estate investors and brokers. I ended up spending a lot of time after my presentation with people who had marketing pieces that needed critiquing.
After looking at thousands of different marketing pieces over the years and visiting with individuals just getting started in business, I want to offer a few tips that will help identify and attract prospects who need your services.
First impressions can make or break your business. A prospect’s first impression is a lasting one. If your marketing materials (or lack of them) look like you are just starting out on a shoestring budget, this can have a negative effect on the prospect.
That doesn’t mean you need to spend a fortune creating marketing pieces in four color that attracts them.
Consistency counts
A logo on a business card should also match the logo on a brochure. Stay away from dark colors. Use the four key colors that make people feel confident from the start. White or beige signifies credibility. Think of your local attorney or banker. What color is his business card? Hunter green is the color of money. Pale gray or blue is a “trust me” color.
Simple linen stock or paper stock is enough. If you want to be fancy, call paper direct at 1-800-A-PAPERS. The goal is to create a perception of confidence, value, and success to prospects.
Your message is their action call
Before a word of sales or marketing copy is ever written, a positioning statement that grabs attention must be carefully developed. Some questions to ask yourself before writing this opening and the rest of your marketing piece are:
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Who is my target market? What do they want from me?
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What do prospects need? Why?
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How am I unique from competitors?
Your marketing piece
For the purpose of this article, let’s use a brochure format as our marketing piece. Brochures are a good tool to communicate to prospects what it is you do, what’s in it for them, how to work with you, and what their next step is.
You may also want to think of the top three questions prospects would automatically have and give solid positive answers. This will encourage prospects to move forward.
The front cover
Keep the front cover attractive, but simple. Its purpose is to motivate the reader to pick up your brochure and open it. Include your logo and company name with a brief statement of what you do in the tag line or slogan.
The back cover
A mini biography (no more then one paragraph) about your company is all that is necessary. The prospects only care if you can help them. They are not interested in your story.
Give your contact information, including your website and email address if you have them. Email, in and of itself, will save you major marketing dollars as well as make it easy to follow up with potential clients.
Inside the brochure
This is the guts of why prospects will call you over your competition. You want to open up with a credibility statement in the form of a question. Here is an example from my Realtor brochure:
“Has this situation ever happened to you? You have a property under contract, but the buyer can’t get conventional financing? That’s where we come in.
ABC Investments is in the business of buying seller financed mortgages. We represent a group of investors who buy residential, commercial, land, and mobile home on land paper anywhere in the United States.”
Here is another example from an investor perspective when working with Realtors:
“Have you lost two commissions? How many times do you find buyers for a more expensive home who need to sell their existing home in order to qualify for a new loan?
ABC Investments buys real estate. If the property matches our requirements, we may be able to help you earn not one, but two commissions. Interested? Read on to learn what we look for in our investment properties.”
These statements build credibility and immediate interest.
You should have a paragraph that spells benefits to prospects, how to work with your company, a few frequently asked questions with answers, and what their next step should be. Notice throughout the inside, there is no sales job on your company,. This needs to be straight benefits and a call to action.
If you still have room include a couple of testimonials. People like doing business with people like themselves. When they see others who are satisfied, this makes you stand out. Again the prospects need to discover your uniqueness and value.
You don’t want to give away the farm. Give enough interest to make them want to contact you. When you master your uniqueness in written communication, your phone will start ringing! Good luck in your real estate marketing!