Tips to Work Effectively with a Remote Real Estate Marketing & Design - Real Estate Blog

When it comes to selling a property, at RealtyWW.info we know how crucial marketing and design can be. And if you’re also aware of how business happens, the one thing is for sure – you’re busy, but you’ve always found the time to do your own real estate marketing.

Whether you’re marketing an apartment in Eugene, Oregon where rent prices are fairly stable; or a cozy condo in New York City’s West Village, you’ve always found a way to get it done. Working hard or slow, getting positive results requires a lot of know-how and experience and that’s why we’re here to share the dash of tricks and tips.

Back in history

First, it was newspaper ads along with postcards and paper newsletters. Clients really liked hearing from you, and you had a great relationship with the graphic artist at the local print shop, and she could turn your stuff around in a week and that was great, at least for the time being.

Looking at your nicely printed materials gave you a big sense of accomplishment, and you knew you were releasing better materials than your competitors.

Once a year, you met with your Yellow Pages representative, negotiated a great price, and put together an ad that paid dividends each month. While that used to be a viable option, as all good things must come to an end, so are Yellow pages too.

Then, the Internet arrived.

You were an early adopter as you had a website built and you used FileMaker Pro to keep track of your customer list. Within the last couple of years, however, you noticed that your stuff was looking old.

Your website was tired, and you didn’t understand why you had a very weak natural traffic. Someone told you that you needed fresh and engaging content, but you were too busy to write a good 500-word blog with the focus on quality and actual value? Now, you might be thinking about hiring a marketer, and you know that you may have to work remotely with either him, her or an entire team.

Or maybe you’re a well-versed marketer, but you’re just too busy to execute the wide range of tasks alone. If so, here are some tips to make any remote marketing relationship successful

Industry Experience

While those that understand Internet Marketing 101 can adapt their skills to varying industries, you need to find someone that does real estate marketing. You don’t want to be responsible for the marketer’s real estate education and background, and if they don’t understand what you do and how you do it, then you will have to find someone that does.

The right background and know-how are absolutely crucial to successful real estate sales. At RealtyWW, we learned the lessons the hard way – with try and error.

Availability

Set communication expectations early. Your clients want to speak with you often and immediately, and while you may respect your marketer’s time more than your clients respect your space, it doesn’t really help if you call and have a pressing problem and no one responds. Think about how you’re going to communicate with your new team. Facetime? Skype? Slack? Maybe you take a look at using one of the many project management tools, available on the market?

You should work hard to increase the effectiveness of your communication, because, as they say, communication is key, and the business of real estate makes no excuse.

Location

We’re not at all saying that you have to have a U.S. based marketing company, but be aware of where your marketing partner is located. You don’t want to have a bad foreign call center type experience with your marketer so ask a lot of questions like:

How quick will you return emails?
What are the best times to speak on the phone?
If you are busy, is there someone else I can talk to?
How is the campaign going?
How many properties do you have in line?
Did you check that last house we sent?

To be able to get in touch in the right time can either make or break business. That’s why you should set clear rules on what when and why you should get in touch.

Set Expectations

Tell your design and marketing team what you want to happen. If you want a achieve a steady flow of prospects, tell them, and ask what it will really cost to attain that. Get a good estimate of how long it will take to achieve your goals. Also, talk about payments and payment methods.

Many remote designers or marketings like services like Venmo and PayPal for transferring funds, and you will have to accommodate them. If you don’t want to cope with the fees, there are quite a few other systems like Transfer Wise, LeuPay and more.

Regardless of what method you choose, it’s always crucial to set the right expectations, especially with a dynamic business like that real estate.

Contracts

Avoid long-term contracts. If your design team is doing a good job, of course, you’ll keep giving them your business. If it isn’t working out, you should both be able to exit without a problem. The marketing and design world moves faster than it ever did, and for you, it may no longer be a DIY thing.

That said, be careful contracting with just anyone, and do your diligence. “It’s very much the same as handling domestic services”, commented a representative of Variety Cleaning Ltd, “If you don’t set the right papers, risk awaits”.

The Right Ads

How you handle your ads will make or break your business. To advertise property is no simple job. These are the type of sales that people take months to consider and weeks to prepare. This means that you have to work tightly with the person running the ads so you can assure that property listings have well-written so they both attract prospects and trigger their interest.

Having a good photo is often not enough. It’s the right ad title that brings the sale in. Check the Real Estate Banner Advertising on the Cheap Prices or also the Real Estate Premium Advertising Options.

Brand and Reputation

To trust your entire brand and reputation to an external time can be extremely tricky. In order to have the successful teamwork every company’s after, you have to build clear and consistent guidelines. Make sure you clarify brand tone and rules of design.

Regular Talks

In order to make sure your team is on the right track with the core values of your business, having regular meetings to discuss the ongoing projects and results is an absolute must.

Your Catalogue

To keep your team up to date with your fresh catalogue of property offers is something that many agents fail to cope with. To deal with old and prospective deals is one thing but to sync it with marketing and especially design can be rather difficult. The field of real estate changes rapidly and an efficient system of communication and updates is an invaluable asset in today’s competitive landscape.