Q4 Marketing Check-Up For Real Estate Investors

BLINK… and the fourth quarter of 2021 is here.

Wow. Did the year go super-fast for anyone else?

As we head into the fourth quarter of 2021, I find that it’s easy to get focused on finishing up the last few deals of the year but I really start to shift my attention to the New Year—and the plans, programs, strategies, and goals I’ll launch in the New Year.

Frankly, it’s easy to start to let these excuses creep in. After all, we convince ourselves: “sellers are busy for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas…” or, “buyers have probably tapped out their financial resources for the year…”

So, investors mentally wind up the year and start planning and goal-setting for next year.

The big winners, though, will be those who keep pushing hard, and even double down on marketing and deal-making for the rest of the year. Heck, there are still 3 solid months of deal-making still to be done. (My first real estate deal, years ago, took place in the middle of December and I had to push to get paperwork sent and financing locked down around the holidays but I got it done… and so can you.)

In this article, I want to share 5 marketing strategies that you should do right now to keep the deal-machine running. (And keep reading because I’ve got a very good reason why you should do all these right now even if you don’t think there are more deals to be done this year.)

#1. Focus on Search Engine Optimization. Social media is great (I know many investors who use it daily to build great relationships, especially with cash buyers, and even with motivated sellers in some situations). However, we live in a world where medical choices and political views (and so much more) is creating division on social media. Facebook’s recent outage showed people that they could get more done without as much angst. Furthermore, sites like Facebook are working really hard to keep people “on platform” rather than showing posts that could take people to a different website. For these reasons, I believe that search engine optimization is going to play an increasingly important role in marketing again. (Of course it’s always been important but social media has cast doubt on its importance recently… until now). Yes, social content will still be important but I believe we’ll see a run back to on-site search engine optimized content in the next few years. So, if you haven’t touched your SEO in a while, start adopting good SEO best practices again.

#2. Social marketing diversification. If you have a strong following on Facebook, consider broadening to Instagram or Twitter. If you’re on YouTube, consider growing your TikTok audience too. If you haven’t touched LinkedIn in a while, sign back in and see the opportunities there. I’ve always asserted the importance of focusing on only one or two social media and building your presence there (instead of spreading yourself too thin). However, recent shifts in the social media landscape are highlighting the danger of being too focused on too few social media channels. Don’t go crazy and sign up for every social medial channel and try to build them all, but consider adding one more to the mix to make sure you’re protected in case one channel goes down, gets hacked, or turns against you because of a post you made.


#3. Get in front of that camera! If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ve heard me say this a thousand times (and I’ll keep saying it!) video is still an open opportunity for investors who are not scared of standing in front of a camera to speak. You don’t need to create fancy, long, or costly videos. Instead, just hit record and share your journey. Create two channels—one for buyers and one for sellers—and serve both audiences with consistently-produced, helpful content. Don’t get fancy; don’t break the bank on a studio; just hold up your phone and start recording. You’ll stumble over your words the first few times but you’ll warm up and discover that it’s not only fun… it’s a great way to build an audience!


#4. Build trust. People don’t know who to trust these days. Politicians say one thing, the media says another, social media confuses the issue. We spend a lot of time on Facebook yet they’re in the headlines right now with whistleblowers and Congress confessions. Motivated sellers and cash buyers are desperate to know who to trust. Bottom line: your real estate investing brand needs to SCREAM trust. You can’t create too much trust right now. Use tools like testimonials, measurable proof, case studies, before-and-after pictures, and third-party endorsements to help create more trust for buyers and sellers. And, show up in your brand and in person as a genuine person who communicates with empathy.

#5. Create clarity. Years ago, I was sold insurance. And during the process I made the fatal error of not referring to an insurance product by its full name but by an industry insider’s acronym. Sadly, I confused my prospective client and lost the sale because I was lazy and created confusion. The same is all-too-common in real estate investing, too: both motivated sellers and cash buyers are desperate for clarity. They want to sell or invest but they don’t know your process or how they will fit into it. Unfortunately, these sellers and buyers aren’t served because too many real estate investors are stuck inside their own technical processes and unable to communicate them. From the seller’s or buyer’s perspective, this unclear or highly-technical process is confusing and therefore drives them away. Simply, simplify, simplify with clear, image-rich step-by-step processes and checklists. You’ll close more deals because sellers and buyers feel more in control when they go through a clear process than when they feel like they’re being led around in a confusing haze.

Summary

As we get farther into Q4, it’s tempting to think of all the reasons why we should delay our deals, and then turn our attention to our plans and strategies for the new year. But there are still 3 solid months ahead, and you can still get some good deals done (especially if other investors are pulling back.)

Focus on these 5 marketing strategies for the rest of the year and they will help you in this quarter and also they’ll build a solid foundation to start 2022 strong. These 5 marketing strategies aren’t just once-and-done tricks, they’re sound marketing strategies that will help you for years to come.