Smart Agents | Blog

Your Official Summer Marketing Guide!

Written by Joe Nickelson | Jun 27, 2018 2:17:17 AM

Summer is a huge season for real estate. People are more willing to move when the kids are out of school, and it’s a great time to market yourself to your community.

The Fourth of July is the perfect opportunity to connect with past clients for referrals or extend yourself to the community.

People are more relaxed and open to marketing in the summer. Take advantage of it. Use the themes of summer to open up doors of communication.

Send out an Independence Day postcard.

Sending this or any type of themed mail for the holiday is a great way to stay in front of past clients and wish them a happy holiday.

For other homeowners, it’s a great way to advertise any open houses you have coming up.

Use these mailers to motivate buyers or sellers and remind them summer is a great time to make a move.

There are hundreds and hundreds of postcards with this holiday’s theme you can get for extremely cheap. Statue of Liberty, flags, or eagles are just some ideas that fit with the theme.

Pop by your old clients' homes.

Referrals are the lifeblood of an agent's business. Stopping by an old customer’s house with a 4th of July-themed gift will plant you in their mind for a while.

You can ask them if they know anyone who’s thinking of selling, but your kindness and holiday cheer should lead them to recommend you to anyone they know without being prompted. Anything fun and summer-related will do the trick here.

A s’more-making kit, small pool or beach toys, seed packets for flowers or a gift card to an ice cream shop make perfect gifts. Specialty packs of barbecue sauce or really any grilling equipment are also great gifts for the summer.

Add a catchy tagline to make it memorable so past clients may remember you when they use it. Then, when someone asks them who they sold their house with, they’ll remember your kindness, as well.

Host a 4th of July Client Appreciation BBQ.

This could be during one of your open houses — but it doesn’t need to be. This is one of the best possible ways to keep your relationship with past clients strong.

Feel free to ask them to bring interested home sellers or buyers on the invitation. That won’t subdue their attitude for a summer barbecue at all.

The event will show them you still care about them and their new home. When you send these invitations, make them as personal as possible. Write out the address on the envelope and sign the card.

Summer is the best time to host more open houses than usual.

You can make each open house a different summer theme. Doing so will lead more eyes to your signs, flyers or online posts, and bring in more people.

A July 4th barbecue open house could bring in the most people. A sign with a huge flag on it is an attention-grabber. Decorate the inside with flags, Fourth of July plates and napkins.

This is also the best time to show off curb appeal.

Make sure any listings you have look incredible from the street. The number of bikers and walkers is so much higher during these months. You have a real opportunity to make the house stand out.

Hang a flag from any homes you list. Put mini flags in the yard. Do anything to spice it up 4th of July style.

Show buyers how great your listings can look during these crucial months. The better your current listings look and perform, the more marketing materials you have for listing presentations.

Take it a step further and host a home-staging seminar.

Invite leads and any owners you are currently listing. 

It’s a convenient time, as well, since homeowners are looking to knock out outdoor and indoor projects all summer. People are more open to attending something like this during these months. Make this open to everyone, not just your existing clients.

At the event, give away any information you have that’s relevant to the area’s real estate, along with home-staging and curb appeal tips. Brand it with your contact information, as well. If you’re not a home stager, get a specialist to lead the event — but it’s better if you are able to lead it yourself.

Send out a summer-themed newsletter.

You can do this by mail, but it usually works best by email or on social media. Summer is usually packed with different types of events and attractions in the community. Share information about these events to reach out to people and garner social media traction.

This participation shows you’re part of the local community and care about what goes on. If your social media profiles are packed with information, along with your emails, people gain trust in them. Things like local festivals, concerts, fairs, summer camps and even bar crawls are some ideas to post.

See if you can work with any of the vendors that put on these events. Offer them promotions for some drink or food tickets. Then, give away those tickets in a contest on your social media pages.

If information is generally useful to a viewer, that visitor is more likely to think of you for referrals or their own real estate needs.

The summertime is a much easier time to reconnect with past clients and connect with new leads and homeowners. Try to be creative or even just improve on any ideas you already have.

Imagine if you branded yourself as a community expert, but were already known as a real estate expert. Our MyBooks members are the authority when it comes to real estate knowledge, staging, curb appeal and everything else. Find out more about our membership, and snag a free copy of our book!

 

 Joe Nickelson is a real estate professional dedicated to helping home buyers and sellers achieve their dreams of owning property, and helping real estate agents stop using the sometimes-vicious tactics that weigh on their consciences. He believes that the Smart Agents books will, quite literally, change people’s lives for the better. Check out his full bio here