Would you rather be a big fish in a small pond or an average fish in a big pond? From a business perspective, you can increase your chances of success if you purposefully choose the small pond. This idea is the foundation of “niche marketing” in real estate.
The concept of niche marketing is that instead of focusing on the entire pool of potential buyers and sellers in an area, real estate agents will narrow their focus to a specific geographic area or neighborhood and will concentrate on building authority in a particular type of property (luxury homes, high rise condominiums, green homes, single-family homes, etc.) or type of buyer (first-time home buyers, eco-conscious, real estate investors, etc.).
The Advantages of Niche Marketing in Real Estate
By focusing on a specific niche, real estate agents can maximize their marketing efforts. Instead of creating general marketing pieces that try to appeal to everyone, you can develop more targeted messages and tactics to attract a smaller but more interested segment of consumers.
A niche marketing approach will also help with online advertising and website search engine optimization (SEO). The competition and cost for broad search terms is fierce for both pay-per-click advertising and Google search results. Using more targeted terms focused on the type of property, common questions from certain types of buyers, or the features of a particular neighborhood may have a smaller search volume and reach fewer people, but chances are the content and ads will be more relevant to the person doing the search, leading to more qualified leads.
Common “Starter” Real Estate Niches
The simplest way to create a niche market for yourself is to focus on a specific region, city, zip code, or neighborhood that you’re already familiar with. Learn everything you can about the hyper-local real estate market and focus your marketing and advertising efforts on that area. Get involved in the community and form strong connections with the residents and business owners.
Another common way to carve out a real estate niche is by deciding on a type of property or a type of buyer to specialize in. Do you want to target the high-end, luxury home market? Or are you more familiar with condos, single-family homes, or GREEN technology? The needs of a first-time home buyer are different from a seasoned real estate investor. Building authority and demonstrating your expertise with these types of properties and buyers will go a long way to winning you business.
An Overlooked Approach to Niche Marketing – Your Social Life!
When thinking about niche marketing, don’t overlook the potential of your day-to-day social interactions, hobbies, and the groups you engage with during your free time. Are you involved in any sports teams, Jazzercise or Zumba groups, church groups, running or cycling clubs, networking groups, service organizations, charities, school and parent groups, etc.? These social groups can be a marketing opportunity – if approached strategically and thoughtfully.
This is not the time for hard-nosed sales tactics. Instead, focus on forming authentic connections while intentionally positioning yourself as the go-to expert for real estate within that social group.
Here are 6 tips for how to market to these social niches:
1. Don’t Be a Secret (Real Estate) Agent!
The people you interact with regularly should know that you are a real estate agent! Be intentional about making real estate part of your personal identity. Wear a branded shirt around town, introduce yourself as a real estate agent when making new acquaintances, and be sure that your social media accounts present you professionally.
2. Make Real Estate Part of Your Casual Conversation
Mention your work as a real estate agent in casual conversations within these groups. Tell stories and share wins. When people ask how things are going, talk about how your real estate business is doing first! Then move on to discuss the other aspects of your life.
3. Be the Go-to Source for Professional Recommendations
Look for ways to share your knowledge within these niche groups and be a source of referrals/recommendations. If someone is talking about repainting, share the information for a painter that you know does great work. Landscaping? You know a guy. Handywoman? You can connect them to one.
4. Engage With Your Niches on Social Media
Next time you’re engaging in one of your hobbies or interacting with a group socially, take a picture and tag everyone in it. Follow them on their socials and be sure to like and comment on their posts to continue to strengthen that relationship. They will, in turn, see your posts (including those about real estate) and you will remain top of mind.
5. Develop a Marketing Plan Specifically for These Niche Groups
Think about what type of information and content would be interesting and useful to each of your niche groups. And then make a plan for communicating with them in a relevant and authentic way. Put their contact information into your CRM and tag them as part of a specific group. Then consider developing an email campaign specifically for them filled with highly relevant links and information.
6. Launch an Agent-Branding Ad Campaign to This Audience
If you’ve connected with your social niches on social media, you can create agent branding ads use them to create agent branding ads that are targeted toward your contacts and connections. Redwood agents have access to the Boost Marketing Platform which makes this a breeze! These types of ads will further reinforce your identity as a real estate agent in the minds of your social connections.
Whether you’re just starting out with targeting a specific geographic area or are considering ways to intentionally market to your social networks, your goal is to carve out smaller, niche markets so that you can build relevancy and authority as a real estate agent.
