Hi Anita,

I think that most Realtors do not understand many of the intricacies of marketing, and you have a much deeper understanding of marketing then they. A college degree is not a requirement for a real estate license, let alone a degree in marketing.

Historically, the broker owner/manager of the office was responsible for marketing products and costs, but the industry has changed so dramatically in the last 20 years, that most agents pay for all or much of their own property and institutional marketing. Some may have marketing plans as simple as MLS listing, Realtor.com (all listings from MLS go into Realtor.com), and their office and/or franchise web site.

Our marketing, for example, is internet concentrated, and we do pay for SEO for both our personal web sites which have all of our listings, as well as our designated URLs for our individual listings.

I would like to have an example of a targeted market strategy. Obviously, there are certain publications that cater to a more upscale clientel, but it seems that print media is not the best use of marketing dollars.

I do not want to make this a platform for our own marketing, but our goal is to have your listing on every possible homebuyer or real estate web site. I want to make sure that anyone who is looking for a property will see our listings anywhere and everywhere on line. I know our marketing works since I see the results from web analytics, from client inquiries, and from contracts. I really don't care how they get to the property (web surfing, MLS autosearch, agent showings, sign call) as long as they get there.

As far as marketing vs selling, I think that marketing brings the buyer to the property, and selling demonstrates the benefits of that property to the buyer, and gets them to take psychological possession of the property during the showing. We try to create urgency and desire.

I will tell you that the marketing of my listings is not the challenge. Negotiations can be difficult due to the lack of transactions since October 2008 when the financial markets collapsed, and we were ushered into the new era of loan guidelines. Most sellers and many buyers do not understand the realities of our current market based on the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) which is a broken appraisal system and new mortgage requirements such as 25% down for the best interest rate or condos that have become unfinanceable since the association has no reserves). The majority of my efforts are spent keeping the transactions together.

I hope this has been somewhat helpful as you try to evaluate our industry.

Sounds like this needs to be a new thread on "Marketing".

Anita - you seem to already be more enlightened than most! Your questions indicate a level of familiarity with the business, and are probing and complex............leading me to believe you are more than "just looking". Perhaps you are looking to stimulate a full discussion on marketing. That's not a bad thing, just time consuming to respond to....so many questions...so little time!

I have a feeling you could answer a lot of your own questions, and enlighten us!

Debbie

Greetings Anita,
Your question is extremely thought provoking and reads like the survey portion of a business plan. Are you developing a training program? My response is assuming you are referring to a Seller Client and marketing of a listing.

Do Agents know the difference between selling and marketing? Not all of us do...I can admit that I am still learning and reading and implementing NEW pieces (flyer, postcard, call-capture) constantly. My understanding of marketing increases as my results increase. Wish I had studied Marketing vs. Philosophy RIGHT NOW!

Realtor and Client perceptions differ from the very beginning of their relationship! No matter how much you smile at each other someone is going to end up feeling like a sucker. My approach...You want it, You Pay for It. I don't feel any kind-of-way about how you spend your money and All of Sudden the math on 2,000 double-sided color flyers with first class postage 4x's a month seems to lead one to believe that maybe we could get away with 3,000 postcards instead of the 5,000 I would have EXPECTED my agent to create along with the 2,000 double-sided color flyers.

What do clients understand about marketing? To me it seems as though sellers expect the Realtor to spend each and every penny of their commission marketing 123 Main Street for 2 years because they refuse to take heed to the market and insist their house is worth MORE than any other home within a 10-mile radius in the past 12 months.

If a seller can market their property better than an agent what are you paying the agent for? Obviously there is a benefit...for those to whom there is none they become FSBO's (For Sale By Owner) and are often SUCCESSFUL.

I have never considered writing my descriptive text for search engines until you posed the question, so I would say No. THANK YOU for the information, I learned something today!

We all grow, that doesn't mean as a collective we are worthless. IN MY DEFENSE...I have been listing bank properties for the past 7 years and have become extremely spoiled. The only listings that I've taken from individuals during that time are from friends and they take my blatent honesty for what it is. "Look, I don't know what I can do for you, the house is in a horrible spot. I'll put it on the market but you kind of shot yourself in the foot on this one...who did you buy this from?" And then we proceed.

Listings are to Realtors what published articles are to Professors...You are not going to survive without it. As an agent I design all of my own marketing material, business cards, flyers, postcards, listing presentations, buyer presentations. It is very time consuming but I hate those canned ads...mine look a lot better...BUT...Im a Geek and I respect that about myself. Not everyone has the know-how, time or patience.

Realtors learn about marketing from being in business. No matter how many classes you take everything relies on Execution. To that I say 20% of all agents produce 80% of the transactions

In this market I've had to Step It Up on my marketing because EVERYBODY has a foreclosure and what I'm learning, SEO and all, is priceless. Some of us have Marketing degrees, some of us are coached and some of us have to figure it out for ourselves. Hopefully the client is enjoying the benefit of what the Realtor has learned.

Good Luck,
P.S....I got side tracked a couple of times so I hope this makes sense.