In this ever-changing landscape of Real Estate, marketing has become the deciding factor of success. The most common and practical way to establish oneself as the Realtor of choice is through farming.
The term farming describes advertising to a finite area over time in hopes of gaining the business from that area. It is important to remember that effective farming is a marketing activity that should be viewed as an investment in one's business, rather than a sales activity. If you go into this by thinking of how many dollars spent versus return on investment, you will be consistently disappointed. Two main predictors determine the success or failure of a farming campaign: 1) Frequency and 2) Design.
Let's first discuss the frequency. The main point of any advertising is to plant the seed of your success in the minds of those you are trying to reach. With that in mind, more exposure is better than less. When using farming as advertising to attract prospects, you should contact them no less than 3 times a month for the first four to six months. This shows your prospect that you are successful, credible, and professional.
Mistake #1: Too often agents begin a farming campaign only to stop after two months.
Solution: Allocate the dollar amount to farm for three years and make that a part of your advertising budget.
For example, a prospect receives a "just listed" postcard, flyer, or email the first week of the month. Follow this with a "just sold" the last week of the month, and send something to show additional evidence of success in the middle.
Although frequency is the most common reason why farming fails, the design of one's advertising is a large piece of the farming puzzle. Research companies have studied this process and have found that the window of time to capture your prospects' attention is less than 2 seconds. In that short time, what does your marketing say about you?
Mistake #2: If your advertisements look and sound just like your competitors', then your efforts have failed.
Solution: Effective branding is the key to target your market. Effective branding requires establishing an emotional connection with your desired prospect.
The design of your advertisements should remain somewhat consistent in order to create the image and perception of success in the market place. This consistency should also be reflected on your website and other marketing materials. In this modern age of Real Estate, your website is your storefront and you need every thing to match. Every time someone receives a marketing piece from you, visits your website, or sees your logo during the course of their day, they should think of you. Soon your prospect will feel like you're everywhere, and they'll connect your presence with business success -- which should translate into more business for you.
Let's now discuss the different distribution channels for farming. There are two main ways to distribute your farming material to your prospects: 1) US Mail and 2) Email. Although we all are over run with advertisements in our mailbox, it still is the best way to reach many people. If you choose to send your farming material through the mail, you need to be aware of the look and feel of your material.
Mistake #3: Trying to save money on postage by using the smallest bulk rate size.
Solution: Slightly over size or square ads have a much higher readership percentage than regular ads.
Another distribution channel for communication with your prospects is through emails. Email farming is quickly becoming the choice of many looking to save on postage and have a greater control of the end product. Email farming is best used for demographic farming (will discuss in a moment) due to the nature of a demographic farm area. Another benefit of email farming is the rich HTML graphics that normally is cost prohibitive for print ads. However, be careful not to become a spammer when email farming. If your emails don't connect with your market, you're just a click away from forever being directed into the junk mail box.
Mistake #4: Only thinking of a farm in terms of a geographic territory.
Solution: Thinking outside of the box and developing a demographic farm.
Demographic versus geographic farming requires that your prospects have one thing in common with each other besides living in the same area. Examples of a demographic farm include someone's church, association membership, or any commonly held thread among a group. This method of advertising is most effective when your brand and logo closely identify with that common thread of those in that demographic.
In summary, the art of farming is a science. The goal of that science is to plant the seed that you are successful, credible, and professional in the hearts and minds of others. The best way to accomplish that is to differentiate yourself from your competition and appeal to your market as only you can.
