One of the most traditional methods of generating leads is real estate geographical farming. You can use farming techniques to target specific demographics, but geographical farming is often the easiest strategy. One of the primary criteria for targeting any market is to know where to find them.
Many people feel like print marketing and farming are dead, but this cannot be farther from the truth. A well-executed plan to farm a particular community can produce many seller leads and will set you apart as the area expert. While effective print marketing does require you to be creative, a great farming plan will use multiple strategies.
Play For The Long-Term
Becoming a trusted adviser in an area takes time. Make sure you have the resources to commit to a farm area for at least 12 months. It takes multiple touch points over a long period of time for people to consider you for their real estate needs. Once you have added enough value, you will be a leading contender for most people’s business in your area.
Selecting A Farm Area
Although any area can be farmed, to maximize your results you will want to find communities that have the following criteria:
1. Higher Turn-Over – Use the city statistics to find out how many homes are in an area. Then find out what percentage of homes sell any given year. If a community is known for long-term residents, it will take more time to see the results of your efforts. In addition, the return on your investment will be lower.
2. Lots of Sales – While similar to the turnover evaluation, make sure that the area you choose is large enough to have a meaningful number of sales to make the effort worth your while.
3. Not Overly Competitive – It is okay to compete with other Realtors in the community, but too many Realtors competing for the same space can dilute the effectiveness of your message.
4. Accessible – Make sure the community is not too far away from where you normally operate. Having the ability to stop by often will enable you to be more effective and consistent with your implementation. Also, if your chosen target area is filled with apartment condominiums, it may be difficult to get your marketing materials to the intended recipients.
Your real Estate Farming Plan
Marketing Goal – Become the Realtor or real estate team of choice in a designated area or community.
Components Of A Farming Campaign:
1. Ad Mail – Send unaddressed or addressed mail sent through Canada Post or other flyer delivery services.
2. Community Website – Create a resource website for people in the community or researching the community.
3. Personal Marketing and Advertising – Use a strategic combination of bus benches, signage, community newsletters, and sponsorship to gain passive exposure.
4. Open Houses – Sit open houses in your farm area for your own or other CIR agents’ listings.
5. Cold Calling – Call people in your community to promote your specific value offerings.
6. Door Knocking – Make door-to-door visits in your community to promote specific value offerings.
A Few Ad Mail Best Practices
Unaddressed ad mail differs from the direct mail we discussed earlier because you do not have specific addresses for the homes you are sending to. Canada Post is usually the service provider used for ad mail, but there are independent companies such as Flyer Force that will also deliver your marketing pieces for you.
Do Your Homework! Research Distribution Systems And Cost
You need to plan well in advance for ad mail delivery. Delivery services may take several days to over a week to distribute your campaign to your farm area. In addition, your specific marketing piece may cost more than you originally thought, or the service you choose may not deliver that format of mail at all.
Thinking that you can run to your local Staples or print shop and have flyers delivered the next day is naive and amateur. Get the logistical information for your area of choice from the delivery services first, then plan your design and begin the production process.
-Written by Lindsey Smith, CIR REALTY – Manager of Operations and Realtor Development
Copywrite, CIR REALTY 2016 – All Rights Reserved
