The Role of Marketing plays a major role in the success of your business. How an entreupenuer/ investor develops & adjusts their lead pipeline will determine how much and how often they do business and are able to create profits. Within any business there are several different ways to market your business. Some are more costly while others less expensive, some are more successful while other less. The goal as an investor is to find that middle ground and determine what marketing techniques are working well for you and what vehicles are generating no leads. This is no easy task & that is why this is a long journey, that can be conquerred using the proper avenues to track and scale your marketing efforts.
Marketing Techniques
1) Direct Mail: The concept of sending letters, postcards, brochures etc directly to property owners residence or place of business. This is a very popular vehicle for several Real estate investors but there are several variables involved in just this one aspect. Trial and Error in your farm area will determine which route brings the best response rate (yellow letters, post cards, brochures, hand written, typed, personal etc..) Be sure to acquire accurate lists for your target market prior to launching an in depth mailing.
Pros: Able to scale (see response rate you recieve with number of mailings) Targeted Marketing, Personalized, Versatile, Easy to execute.
Cons: Can be expensive, A lot of Trial & Error to determine proper vehicles to use, Can recieve low response rates, privacy intrusion.
2) Website: The start of an internet marketing campaigning, allowing you to spread your brand & vision to millions of individuals. This allows you to open up your business around the clock & another way to reach your customers. A convenience is also offered to your customers. Now a days individuals would rather sign up for your service online than speak to you on the phone. A website will provide your business with a certain type of credibility and will give you a place to direct your customers to complete deals.
Pros: Convenience, Credibility, Reach, Cost, Relationships, Personalization, Another avenue to sign customers up.
Cons: Difficult to create online presence, lack of trust ( no communication with customer)
3) Social Media: Another form of internet marketing. This type of marketing will allow you a more targeted presence on the internet. There are several different platforms that you can share content on and gain a following. This will also help you get your brand name & business purpose out to the masses. This method of marketing is cost effective and lucrative if done properly. Our current generation is moving towards social media and the your presence on these platforms will help grow your business into the future. Some of the obvious players are facebook, twitter, google +, pintrest, biggerpockets.
Some tools to help scale & delegate: buffer.com, canva.com, feedly.com
Pros: Cost Effective, Reach, Leverage Consumers online use, Time effective, Can share from anywhere (mobile), Diversifies Marketing.
Cons: Hard to gain presence, Reaching Target Market, Narrowing potential prospects, Personalization, Can be Time Consuming,
4) Bandit Signs: The concept of creating/ purchasing signs that display your message "We Buy Homes" "Cash For Homes" "Sell Your Home Fast" etc.. Investors will post these signs in high traffic areas in their farm areas in hopes of recieving calls from potential property sellers. This is a good way to reach a large number of individuals but your sign can go unseen and will reach sellers you are not interested in. In most cities/counties these types of signs are forbidden. I am not saying go ahead and break the law by any means but if other businesses are using telephone space for free, why not give it a try. In order to be successful this is another vehicle that you must be consistent with.
Pros: Cheap, Reach a large number of people in your farm area
Cons: Poor image for company/ investors, can be illegal, Inefficient.
5) Driving for Dollars: This is one of my favorite ways to find deals especially if you have a specific neighborhood or small proximity you want to cover and get efficient leads. Driving for Dollars is the concept of driving/walking through local neighborhoods in your farm area and looking for run down/vacant/ tall grass/ mailbox overload/ eviction signs & any other signs this house may turn into a potential lead. This sounds simple but make you sure you have a system in place to make this process efficient.
-Write Down Lead - reason you think it is a lead
-Place Flier/Typed Letter in Mailbox or Tape on Front Door (If Vacant)
-Find Property Owner (county assesor)
-Find Property Owners Information (thatsthem.com, google, county assesor)
-Get in contact with Property Owner
-Track leads in excel sheet to send letters to in future & follow up with.
Pros: Precise Target Market, Good Leads, In Farm Areas, Cheap, Good Follow up List
Cons: Time Consuming, Hard to Track Down Owners,
6) Leasing Lawn Space: This concept is similiar to bandit signs except it is legal and your signs are much less likely to be torn down. Alls you have to do is buy some signs that express your message and your brand that you can stick in the ground. You find a high traffic area around you farm area that is private property. You speak with the homeowner to see if you can lease out a small area of there yard so you can put your business sign on there lawn. This is a great way to reach individuals in your farm area and you can place larger more professional signs to attract more customers.
Pros: Larger signs (more appealing) , Gets your message across, legal , inexpensive,
Cons: Picking right locations, Signs being torn down or stolen,
7) Craigslist: Another form of internet marketing that you can get your message across to a targeted market. You can place a free running ad on craigslist daily in the real estate section to target the spefic group of customers you are looking for. Craigslist is not only good for buying properties but also selling property and putting tenants in your rental. It is a convenient tool that every investor should use. You can also network with other investors on the site that are advertising similiar ads to you.
Pros: Free, Reach, Simple, Efficient, Time, networking
Cons: Ads getting flagged, lack of leads
8) Stickers/Business Cards/Fliers- With these three items the goal is to leave them in high traffic areas in your farm area so individuals will "accidently" run into them. Whether it is the local gas station, convenient store, mall, shopping carts, your car.. there are thousands of places you can put these items. This is just another inexpensive way to get your message/ brand seen.
Pros: inexpensive, advertise around other businesses, networking tool,
Cons: Not Targeted
Conclusion
There are several ways to market your business. Your goal should be to master the successful vehicles and use creative techniques to gain an edge on your competition. In this business, several investors use the same methods of marketing. If you can brainstorm and come up with different ways to reach your customers that your competition has not yet though of, you will have the upper hand in this game. As with anything marketing is a long journey that needs to be tested, implemented, scaled & adjusted.
*Stay Positive & Keep Working Towards Your Goals*