The Top Challenges Facing Real Estate Marketers Today

The top challenges can make or break real estate investors and businesses today. Know what they are, and how to champion them.

90% of success in real estate is reliant on marketing. If you can ace the marketing you can succeed. If you don’t excel in this area, it doesn’t matter how great your ideas or product is. The real estate landscape is littered with ideas and talented people who didn’t make it, because they fell victim to these marketing challenges. Then there is multi-billion dollar Zillow who is only now facing a class-action lawsuit for its faulty Zestimate system, after a decade of wreaking havoc in the market.

Recognize these challenges and pitfalls, do better in these areas than the competition, and you can get amazing results…

Fragmented Marketing Campaigns

One of the biggest areas of waste in real estate marketing today is that investors’ campaigns just don’t work together. They may do a little SEO there, a little print marketing here, and some occasional email marketing and social, but nothing is working together. There may be some great results. Some deals might get closed. Yet, those who have all their marketing working together to complement each other see far better returns on everything they do. Over time that profit and productivity gap separates the leaders from the others, and who is able to absorb the most market share.

There should be a seamless brand identity, and social media, blogging, email, display ads, and even direct mail should all work in harmony to convert prospects into lifelong customers.

Fragmented Approaches to Managing Marketing

To achieve the above there also needs to be synergy and good organization in executing your real estate marketing. You may have virtual assistants, SEO teams, social media managers, bloggers, and designers. Are they working together? Does your PR team know what you SEO team is trying to achieve? Do your copywriters know what designers are working on? Is there someone managing all these team members and divisions, or are you trying to manage them all yourself?

Learning New Marketing

Constant learning about real estate and business, and being up to date on new marketing trends and opportunities is smart. Yet, too many real estate investors, entrepreneurs, and small business owners are wasting far too much time on trying to become masters of every marketing option. Some spend hours a week trying to figure out web design, SEO, Google Ads, smart blogging practices, and the latest social media platform. Those are all hours spent not closing deals, or just fielding new lead calls. You’ve got to know what is most important, and keep your eyes on your real goals. Do you really need to understand how to make an iPhone to use one to make a phone call? Do you need to know how to rewire an entire house, or replace the plumbing to flip or wholesale a house? Those things will be neat to know once you have so much money and time freedom that you can spend time learning them for fun. You might never get to that stage, unless you are focusing your time on actual sales. Know what is most important, know what you should be delegating, and get out of your own way, while letting the experts in these areas do their jobs better.

Unaware of the Best Existing Systems & Tools

One thing investors and CEOs should be alert to is what existing tools and systems they can plug into for faster success. Too many are trying to reinvent the wheel, when there is already a better one that is cheaper to use. For example; trying to build lists from scratch, when there are already databases of motivated sellers, cash buyers, and private lenders to tap into at a fraction of the cost of going DIY. You wouldn’t tell a new employer you can’t come to work until you figure out how to build a wheel and put your own car together, right? You just go buy or rent one that works already. Why not do the same thing when it comes to generating income and wealth in real estate?

Connecting with Target Clients

To operate efficiently and get the best returns you have to connect with your ideal clients. You have to reach the prospects who are the best match, and really connect in a way which resonates with them. For example; do you know where your cash buyers and private lenders are? Do you know what phrases motivated sellers are actually typing into Google (not just your assumptions)? Did you find some of these people and get their feedback on your website design, ads, and product or model, before you starting spending money on these things? Those might be wise steps to take even before you choose your target market, setup shop, and go all-in in one direction.

Making the Right Hires

If there is one differentiating factor between the leaders and all the unknowns in every industry, it is the quality of their teams. In tech, Google and Apple are regarded for having the best teams. That’s what keeps fueling them to stay on top. Take any business or popular leader you like, and ask if you really would have heard of them, if they just hired the cheapest help, instead of the best help? Very unlikely. Hire the best you can. Those with real estate experience, and mastery in the role you are trying to fill.

Tracking What Works

We know have access to more information and data than ever. It’s easy to see what is working in our marketing, and what isn’t. Ignore that, and the chances are extremely high that you are just throwing away your marketing budget every month. That just isn’t sustainable, no matter how much money you have right now. Use the data to see what is really returning a return, and do more of that.