Is your marketing strategy getting the results you desire?

Mailing postcards, handing out flyers, giving out your business card, and referring real estate agents to your website are forms of marketing activity, but does that mean its effective?

Being effective first means understanding how marketing to real estate agents works. Otherwise, youre practicing the definition of insanity - Doing the same thing repeatedly, each time expecting a different result.

Let me share a powerful illustration of marketing:

If the circus is coming to town and you paint a sign saying, Circus is coming to Fairgrounds Sunday, thats Advertising. If you put the sign on the back of an elephant and walk him through town, thats a Promotion. If the elephant walks through the Mayors flowerbed, thats Publicity. If you can get the Mayor to laugh about it, thats Public Relations. And, if you planned the whole thing, thats Marketing! - Author Unknown

Crafting a Bulletproof Marketing Plan

Do you enjoy rendering service, helping people live the American dream and adding income to an Agent's bank account? I suppose two out of three isn't bad, is it? If you're passionate about helping others, crafting a marketing plan is possible when you learn and understand the key components, which I call the 4 P's.

Planning

Planning is the foundation from which you build your marketing. The process helps yield decisions on how you can compete best. By taking the time to properly plan you can avoid many of the common mistakes loan officers make in creating an overall marketing strategy.

Creating a marketing plan is a formal process of describing the type of relationships you want to attract, how many you want to attract and how you will attract them. By knowing precisely what you want to achieve, you know what you have to concentrate on to do it. You also know what is merely a distraction.

Positioning

A position is a place in your prospects mind. You use positioning as a communication tool to reach targeted Agents in an information-overloaded marketplace. By narrowing your focus you can build a position as a specialist or expert in their mind. This increases the chances of your marketing message cutting through the noise.

Instead of competing with every loan officer in your town, youve created a niche specialty in which you can become recognized as an expert over time. Positioning is your competitive strategy for getting noticed.

One of the most profound statements made on the subject of positioning comes from Louis Carrolls Alice In Wonderland. When Alice asks the Cheshire Cat which path to take, he responds, If you dont care where youre going, it doesnt make a difference which path you take.

Give your marketing plan better focus, or else your service will be perceived as coming from a multi-headed creature -speaking from many mouths, saying nothing and going nowhere.

Packaging

Often, its your materials that Agents come across and gives them their first impression. Perceptions are formed from the quality of your materials that promote your services. Packaging is your opportunity to build a personal brand identity with Agents that theyll trust.

Packaging that has been professionally designed conveys that youre established, especially important if youre new in the industry. You can shape an Agent's perception to increase credibility, give a sense of stability and most importantly - to make your brand more memorable.

Promoting

Promoting your services is what gives your brand identity visibility and credibility. To attract quality relationships you desire, Agents must become familiar, comfortable and feel that youre trustworthy. If youre invisible, nobody is thinking of you.

Promoting is your opportunity to repeat yourself visually. A Grammy winner never won the award from their fans hearing the song one time. They won because their fans heard their song repeatedly.

Once youve determined a position within a niche specialty, your goal is to promote it through every medium that reaches your targeted audience.

Become an Agent Magnet

In its simplest terms, its about knowing which problems that you can solve for Agents and then targeting the Agents who have those problems. The more painstaking the problem you can solve, the better magnetism you have in your marketing.

If you chase Agents, theyll always feel they have the upper hand. By incorporating the 4 Ps into your marketing and way of thinking, soon youll have Agents hunting for your services.