Are you looking to become the go-to agent in your area? If so, it’s important for you to build your brand locally in a way that’s both effective and affordable.

That’s where farming comes in. By targeting people within your community in a highly strategic way, you can increase awareness of your business and, ultimately, close a lot more deals.

Keep reading to discover five ways you can become the dominant agent in your neighborhood.

Market reports

When your goal is to become a trusted local expert, you need to work hard to prove your worth to potential customers. That means offering up useful information that shows you’re the real deal.

Market reports are a great way to establish authority as a real estate agent. They demonstrate to clients that you’re aware of market trends and, most important, aware of what’s happening in the community. This will go a long way in showing people that you’ll go to bat for them when the time comes to buy or sell.

Another benefit to market reports is that they’re scalable—they can be created in a reasonable amount of time and reproduced for not a lot of money. If you’re interested in putting together a market report and are wondering what you should include, check out this blog.

Email newsletters

If you’re seeking out another scalable solution that’s been proven to get great returns, you should seriously consider email marketing.

A 2018 study from the UK-based Data and Marketing Agency (DMA) found that email gets an ROI of £32.38, which translates to $42 for each dollar spent.

Of course, individual results will vary, but it’s worth considering that email doesn’t typically require a high out-of-pocket cost. It’s also a great way to reach a lot of people en masse, while still providing individualized messaging options. For example, most email marketing programs—like Mailchimp and ConstantContact—allow you to automatically insert personal information such as your client’s name.

Download a sample of our customizable marketing tool, American Lifestyle.

By sending valued-packed emails to the same people once a month, you’re creating good feelings around you and your business that will pay off down the line.

Looking for a way to stand apart from other email marketers in your area? If you’re a ReminderMedia customer, you can connect with up to 1,000 clients and prospects each month by sending the American Lifestyle digital edition.

Watch the video below to learn more.

Facebook ads

Speaking of digital outreach, Facebook advertising has become one of the most popular farming methods around—and, given the incredibly sophisticated targeting options it offers, it’s not difficult to see why.

In addition to being able to target Facebook users by interests, demographics, and life milestones, agents can also get their ads in front of people in specific zip codes. That means you can create an ad for your listing or open house and ensure that only residents of your geographic farm will see it.

If you’re new to Facebook advertising and would like to get started, download a copy of our free e-book, The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Facebook Marketing.

Postcards

Year after year, postcards remain a fixture in the marketing arsenals of agents in every neighborhood. The reason for that is simple:

Postcards are attention-grabbing, affordable, and, above all, they work.

Don’t take our word for it. Time and time again, research has supported the power of targeted direct mail marketing.

• Direct mail gets a response rate 5 to 9 times higher than email, social media, or paid search. (ANA/DMA Response Rate Report, 2018)
• 76 percent of consumers trust direct mail when making a purchasing decision. They also trust direct mail more than digital channels. (MarketingSherpa, 2017)
• Direct mail is 21 percent easier for the brain to process than digital media, and 20 percent more persuasive. (Canada Post, 2017)

According to Gary Keller’s national best-selling book, The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, you can expect to gain one new real estate transaction for every 50 clients you target for 12 months. Postcards are one of the most cost-effective direct mail options because they allow you to communicate information and offer value without breaking the bank.

If you’re a ReminderMedia customer who’s currently sending a branded print magazine, you now have access to our latest marketing tool, Print on Demand Postcards. We offer dozens of customizable, content-rich designs that are printed and shipped for you. You can even purchase a list of contacts in your geographic farm, if you don’t already have one. Click here to learn more about this amazing opportunity.

Door Knocking

While many salespeople fear it, there’s a reason why so many others still swear by this time-honored practice. Door knocking is perhaps the single most direct way to get your brand out there—making personal, face-to-face connections with the people who might actually be able to use your services.

As with any other type of outreach, it’s important to be patient. Many of your neighbors won’t open the door, and others won’t want to continue the conversation for very long. On the other hand, the people who dotalk to you will be more likely to remember you than if they’d simply seen your face in the newspaper or on a billboard.

Want to learn from a door knocking master? Check out our recent interview with James Festini, who has become a top producer in multiple markets by going door to door.

Whichever methods you choose, remember that it pays to be consistent. The only way to get new clients to work with you is to get them to know, like, and trust you. Once you’ve built mindshare with the people in your geo-farm, you’re sure to be top of mind when they’re ready to buy or sell.