Using Niche Marketing to Increase Your ROI

Are you throwing your marketing dollars away by marketing to too broad a segment of the housing market? The key to successfully seeing a return on your marketing investment is to find a niche market that you know well, and making yourself the expert.


Attempting to market yourself to an entire geographic region is the fastest way to waste money in real estate because you will never sufficiently differentiate yourself to any one market to be top of mind when the consumer looks for an agent.

Niche marketing is the process of focusing on a defined segment of a much larger market.

Within Real Estate, there are thousands of different niche markets a real estate professional can identify and serve. Some examples of a niche market include marketing to a specific neighborhood, horse farm owners, first time home-buyers or beach front properties.

So, how do you develop your niche?

Step 1: Identify your niche.

- Write down all the possible niches you could serve based on your location, expertise and interests.

For instance, if you choose to focus on a neighborhood, write down the 20 or 30 neighborhoods (with approximately 500 homes each) closest to where you live and work.

- Consider your expertise.

Do you speak a second language? Do you understand a new home owner's issues? Are you also a mortgage broker? Do you love animals? Do you have a connection to senior citizens? What are your hobbies (music, cars, sports, traveling)?

Every one of these things can evolve into a powerful niche for you.

Local school parents could be another great niche. For example, lets assume you have three kids in the local schools. The needs and concerns of parents with kids in the same school may be a great niche. It narrows down your focus from the whole town, to 500-1,000 families. You can easily get involved with the school and your target consumers by starting a parents newsletter or being active in school functions. Over time, the community will begin relying on you for this information and understand you are a real estate agent with their best interests in mind. When these parents (consumers) consider buying or selling a home, or giving a referral, you will be at the top of their mind.


Step 2: Define your niche market as specifically as possible.

- Ideally you should be able to generate a list of addresses, resident names, phone numbers and emails for your niche market.

- In addition, you should write down as many of the niche market attributes as possible.

• What are the homes like? (new, old, expensive)
• What are the residents' concerns? (safety, a new park)
• Where do buyers come from for these homes?
• Where do the residents get their information? (TV, magazine, HOA newsletter, online)
• Where do they go to school? (private, parochial or public)
  

This detailed description of your niche will help you reach them in an efficient, effective manner. If you don't know them, how can you deliver value? Additionally, by working on this definition, you will know what areas to educate yourself on to be effective. Remember, your goal is to add value to everyone in this niche through every interaction you have with them.

Step 3: Develop A Marketing Plan.

Before taking action, develop a marketing plan to serve this niche. Initially, you may ask yourself, "what do I have to do to become valuable to this niche?"

Maybe you need to attend HOA meetings, learn about local politics or learn about the tax advantages of a second home. Whatever it is, become an expert.

Next, determine how best to reach this niche.

- Where does this niche get its information?
- Is it through meetings, via email, with a targeted website or postcards?

Third, develop the specific marketing materials that will appeal to this niche. You have to cut through the clutter, so be specific.

Talk directly to their needs and concerns. Don't go for typical real estate marketing collateral and content. Be creative, push the envelope, give them something to remember. If designed successfully, your read and response rates will be much higher than anything you have sent out previously.

Finally, continue to educate yourself about this niche. Write down your plan and stick to it. Be in it for the long term.

Taking the time to work through these steps will pay huge dividends. Your focus will help you clarify what steps you need to take, who you need to talk to, what you need to learn and how to improve your communication to this audience.

You will know that you are on the right track when consumers begin to react positively to your messages. They will thank you for the information, pass it along to friends and, best of all, they will be happy to refer you to others for their real estate needs.

source: Broker Agent News