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The 5 Biggest Marketing Mistakes Real Estate Investors Make

Sharon Vornholt
3 min read
The 5 Biggest Marketing Mistakes Real Estate Investors Make

The following are the biggest mistakes real estate investors tend to make when it comes to marketing. Marketing is one of the most crucial aspects of a successful business and it’s not something you want to screw up. So, let’s get into it!

1. Inconsistent Marketing

Marketing is the “secret sauce” for your real estate investing business.

Simply put, if you don’t market you won’t have leads.  If you don’t have leads you don’t have a business.

If there is one thing you have to get right it is marketing.  There won’t be any need for “getting your numbers right” or good negotiation skills if you don’t have houses to make offers on. For example:

  • For those investors doing direct mail marketing, you need to set up systems that ensure your direct mail goes out on a regular basis.
  • If your plan is to market using bandit signs, you can’t expect to put them out just once. Develop a system for getting those signs out.
  • If you use wholesalers to bring you deals, that still involves marketing.  It’s a different type of marketing, but it’s still marketing.  Learning how to build and nurture relationships with wholesalers and other folks that can send you deals will be a skill you need to master.

It really doesn’t matter what your lead generation machine looks like; you have to feed it and nurture it for it to keep cranking out leads for you.

2. Failure to Have a Lead Generating Website

Having a good lead generating website is not optional even though some folks will tell you it is.

You need a website if for no other reason than for credibility.  That is the first place most motivated sellers will go to “look you over” before they consider doing business with you.

Your website is your business card in today’s world.

It doesn’t have to be fancy or cost a lot of money, but it needs to contain certain basic elements. Your website needs to tell prospective clients about you and your business and why they should do business with YOU.

  • It should tell them clearly how you can solve their problem.
  • It should be easy to navigate.
  • There should be multiple ways to contact you. It should have a contact form on it as well as a way to contact you by phone. You can also put your email on the site.  The thing to remember is you want to make it easy for them to get in touch with you.
  • Have a FAQ (frequently asked questions) section.
  • Be sure you have a couple of value added “freebies”.  Give them something to remember you by. There are all sorts of helpful guides for motivated sellers you can put together without too much trouble.

A good website will help set you apart from the competition.

Related: How to Create an Awesome Lead Generating Website in Under an Hour with No Technical Abilities

3. Not Answering Your Phone

This one is really hard for me to understand and it is probably one of the biggest marketing mistakes of all.

Creating a pipeline of motivated seller leads takes work.  If you are a direct mail marketer it also takes money.   The payoff for doing all that marketing is getting your phone to ring, yet a whole lot of real estate investors never pick up the phone when someone calls. What’s even worse is that they never return calls to the folks that leave messages.  Every time you do this you are leaving money on the table.

For anyone still struggling with this, there is only one solution to the problem; you just have to force you to talk to these sellers until you are comfortable doing it.  Practice makes perfect after all.

4. Not Doing Your Homework before the Appointment

This one is important.

Before you ever meet with a seller, do your homework.  Know what the ARV of the house is.  Familiarize yourself with what other homes in the area are selling for.

Folks do business with people they know, like and trust. (Tweet This!)

Being able to position yourself as ”that person” in the first couple of minutes of your appointment with the seller is crucial.  When you show up prepared for the appointment, this will enhance the “trust” part of this equation.  The rest of this can be accomplished with good people skills and a good reputation.  You should always be building your brand.

5. Failure to Follow Up with Sellers after the Initial Contact

Assuming no means no, when it just might mean “not now” is the kiss of death.

You have heard this many times; the money is in the follow up.  This is a marketing mistake that is commonly made. Everyone needs a system for follow up.  I use a database and I recommend you do too.  There really is no other way to accomplish this long term.

Related: How and When to Follow Up with Distressed Sellers

Do what you have to do today to get by now, but make sure the addition of some type of database or contact management software is part of your long plans.  You need the right tools to build your business.

So there you have it.  5 biggest marketing mistakes investors make in their real estate investing business.

What other mistakes do you see other real estate investors making?

Be sure to leave your comments below!

 

 

 

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.