How to Build a Kick-Ass Geographic Farming Campaign

Technology continues to enhance "old school" forms of marketing, like real estate postcards. People are also continually coming up with new, innovative ways to grab the attention of homeowners and turn them into clients.

So how can you build a kick-ass real estate postcard marketing campaign? There are actually lots of moving parts to this, but today I'll share three critical steps that are the foundation of your campaign. These steps are so important that they will literally either make or break your campaign.

STEP 1: Pick Your Area and Love It

There is a question we get all the time: Can you pick a farm area for me that will work? The answer to this is always NO. First off, you are going to spend a very large amount of your hard earned money on this farm area, getting your marketing ramped up and getting to the "results stage" of the process. That alone is reason enough that you should NEVER depend on someone else to pick a farm area for you.

Besides that, in addition to the obvious things such as turnover rate, how many homes are in the area, and whether or not there is a specific agent that is doing the lion's share of the deals, consider if you "truly love" the area you will be marketing to. As the saying goes, "If you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life." The same holds true for your real estate farming. If you work in an area you believe in, in an area where you love the homes and people, you will excel. You will better market yourself, better represent the homes you are selling and therefore do a better job for your clients. It is human nature, and it will position you for success.

STEP 2: Customize Your Plan TO YOUR Farm Area

When you are choosing your content for your marketing plan, no matter what, you should always tailor your content SPECIFICALLY to the people that live in your farm area. There is no such thing as taking "I'll have a #1" type approach to your marketing material. First off, that "canned" content will make you look just like everyone else, making your marketing messages meaningless. (Successful marketing pinpoints your differentiating factors. Canned marketing does not.)

More importantly, homeowners are different from marketplace to marketplace. There is no single type of homeowner. Everyone is in different parts of their lives, with different needs and interests, and different goals. The easiest way to ensure you are customizing your content to your specific farm area is starting by creating client personas.

STEP 3: You Picked the Perfect Farm and Built the Perfect Content, BUT It Means NOTHING if You Aren't Consistent

No matter how much planning you do, and no matter how great your messages are, the fact remains that if you are not relentlessly consistent, you are NEVER going to be successful at real estate farming.

First off, homeowners are deluged with advertisements from local businesses, super stores and even other Realtors. Due to all these messages, it takes time for your brand to sink into homeowner's minds, making you the first person they think of when they consider real estate. The average number of touches you need to hit them with is 6-8. The trick is that it has to be frequent and regular, hitting them at least every 3-4 weeks.

Second, you simply CANNOT force someone to sell their home. They are only going to contact you when they are ready to sell. With that in mind, consistent and frequent exposure to your farm area will ensure that your mail piece is in their hand, as closely as possible to when that critical thought of selling their home has developed in their minds.

Geographic farming is hard. It is also a long-term process. There are many more facets that one should consider when setting up a successful postcard farming campaign, but if you start with these three critical factors, you will ensure you are starting off on the right foot.

To view the original article, visit the Leading Agent blog.