Real Estate Agents: Niche Marketing Versus Farming

By: Mark Nash
Submitted: 2007-01-17 11:43:35
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Ask yourself this question: “Before you were in real estate sales, how many of those flyers, newsletters, recipe cards, and even calendars that you received from an real estate agent “farming” your household went straight into your wastebasket?” Studies indicate that return on direct mail advertising is somewhere below two percent. Wouldn’t it make more sense to direct all that time, energy, and money formerly spent on developing a geographic farm into building relationships or a niche with potential clients? Now ask yourself: “How many other agents in your community are also marketing to the same geographical farm that you do?”

So with your farm saturated and “Do Not Call” what’s an agent to do? Consider niche or target marketing also known as relationship selling. Niche marketing was the success story of consumer products advertising in the 1990’s. Consumer product manufacturers realized that generalized marketing was expensive and was not generating response or sales because they were attempting to reach too broad a market. Targeting specific groups or niches and building a relationship with them brought manufacturers increased sales from a more focused message to a group that has shared goals, beliefs, or history. The message wasn’t “buy now” it was “we understand you have specific needs and we want to build a relationship with you”.

This new marketing strategy paid off because manufacturers took the time to study and survey their potential consumers on how they developed an affinity for a product or service. You can utilize their results in developing a niche in your real estate business. First you must have a sincere belief and interest in the niche. Second you have to give back to the niche with your time or financial support. Some examples of niches are: community interest, political and professional organizations, spiritual, intramural sports, and gender. Let’s look at how we take one of these niches and develop a more focused sub-niche to market to.

Original niche: Gender
Sub-niche: Women
Sub-sub niche: Women single heads of household
Sub-sub niche: Women single heads of households who are first time buyers
Sub-sub niche: Women single heads of households who are first time buyers in Deerfield

Finding women single heads of households who are first time homebuyers in Deerfield would start with an Internet search in a search engine such as Goggle. Inquire about support groups at the library, social services or village hall. Day care centers and park districts could also provide you with resources. This is an under-served niche from my own experience. A referral client Renee never thought she could afford to buy a home as a single head of household. She cried the day she closed on her own home after conditioning herself that she would be a life-long renter. She went to her single mothers support group and shared her home buying story. Other single mothers from her support group are calling to begin their home searches. A mortgage broker and myself have proposed to sponsor and host a quarterly home-buying seminar for Renee’s group.

The professional and personal rewards from having a niche in my real estate business makes my geographic farm look like finding needles in a haystack.

Mark Nash is the author of "Fundamentals of Marketing for the Real Estate Professional", "Starting & Succeeding in Real Estate", "Reaching Out: The Financial Power of Niche Markeing", and "1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home". Mark is a contributing writer for: Realtor (R) Magazine Online, Broker Agent News, Real Estate Executive Magazine, Princilpal Broker, and Realty Times. His tried and true real estate tips has been featured on CBS The Early Show, CNN, HGTVpro.com, The New York Times, and USA Today. Purchase his books at http://www.1001RealEstateTips.com

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