Restricted Content & Marketing Real Estate
I’ve never really understood why Realtors think it is an effective real estate marketing strategy to require potential customers to register in order to gain access to their online listings. In an earlier article, Restricting Access to Core Content, I talked about my feelings on sites that require me to register to receive what the site basically claims to offer for free. To me and many others, requiring registration removes the freeness of the offer.
That said, when used cleverly, requiring registration or signing up for a newsletter can be a very effective real estate marketing technique. Change the premise from gaining access to all information to gaining access to it first and you can increase sign-ups and gain a more legitimate list of prospective customers.
Let me give you a couple of ideas to get you thinking about how this can be effectively used for selling real estate.
Real Estate Newsletter Content Idea 1
You are getting a custom IDX for your website. With a little clever programming, you could offer new listings on your website on their own page. With a little more clever programming, your onsite new listings could really be from last week. Before you jump to conclusions, remember what this article is about. Offer a weekly or daily newsletter with this week’s new listings. Give those who register information that they cannot get on your site by registering. Create something “exclusive” and thereby create something of value that people will willingly share their contact information to receive.
Wasn’t selling real estate the intent of creating your farm in the first place?
Real Estate Newsletter Content Idea 2
If you deal in foreclosure sales, you could do something similar. Make today’s or this week’s list available only to subscribers. Older properties would be available to everyone. Again, your real estate newsletter content will focus on providing the most current information available only to those who register.
Valuable Information Should Come With a Price
Think about the areas of your business where getting the information first is valuable. Focus on the exclusivity of the offer and the power of getting it first. Give your customers the ability to schedule a showing before the ink is even dry on the contracts. Give your customers first crack at a recently reduced prize property. When those prospective customers print your emails and newsletters it will be your name and phone number they see; not the listing agent’s.
Forget making prospects register to see what they came to your site to find in the first place just because everyone else is doing it that way. Instead, offer them something they didn’t expect, grow your farm and begin practicing effective real estate marketing again.