Marketing Plan in 30 Days: Day 15

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You would be shocked at how few commercial real estate brokerages have a website.  I bet you’re not shocked that most agents do not have their own commercial real estate website either.  Everyone knows our industry is a late adaptor to technology.  Instead of shrugging your shoulders and accepting this as “fate”, use it to your advantage.  Getting your own website could be the difference between winning a Power Broker award and stalling your earning potential.

80% of Investors and Tenants.  According to LoopNet’s “Commercial Real Estate Consumer Online Behavior Study” (source) 80% of commercial real estate investors and tenants agreed that they rely on the Internet for their CRE information needs.  Over half of them began their search for properties online using a search engine (like Google).  This means, if you’re not showing up on Internet searches, you’re likely missing out on over 50% of the deals.

Don’t rely on your brokerage.  If you are 100% dependent on your brokerage’s ability to establish and maintain an online presence, you may be disappointed at the lack of leads it provides you.  Leads captured by your brokerage page will likely go to the receptionist, brokerage assistant or directly to your broker.  He or she will decide who receives the lead.  While your website’s leads will go immediately to your inbox, ensuring fast follow-up.  Which leads me to…

Fast follow-up is important.  If a normally “loyal-to-their-agent” client is shooting out “feelers” it’s likely their usual agent is dropping the ball.  Showing that you’re “on it” is a great way to prove competency.  That’s hard to do if your brokerage takes 3 days to disseminate the lead information.  When it’s directly on your own website, you can setup services like Mailchimp to send an automatic email the second a lead fills out a contact form.  You can also set the Automated Email Campaign to send at several different times – immediately, 2 days later, etc. to stay-in-touch.

Building your own list.  Newsletters, announcements, and other forms of communication are a great way to keep-in-touch with current and potential clients.  While some brokerages will allow you to blast this information out to their lists, you can control your own message and marketing by creating and maintain your own leads list.  Set your website to integrate with your Mailchimp account and allow all your leads to feed directly into the system.  This will keep your tasks easy and hands-free!

Newsletters.  I can’t say enough good things about the utilization of newsletters.  Solid, thought provoking articles will keep your clients from hitting “unsubscribe” and keep them coming back to your website.  Using your website’s blog as a source of information is a great way to build website content and keeping your newsletters interesting.  Personally, I believe newsletters are your #1 way of getting those “just browsing” contacts to turn into paying clients.

Get it done.  Don’t wait until the market slows down and your deals are stalling to get a website.  Do it while times are good, cash is flowing and you’re riding on a high.  You’ll be happy you have this resource if the market tanks – less competition will drive more traffic to your website.  It may be the difference between surviving the bear market instead of getting mauled.

Website Creation. I have three easy website packages to choose from: Bargain Websites, Custom Websites, and Lead Generating Websites.  Find the best match for your budget and needs!

 

On to Day 15: 6 Tips for Creating a Commercial Real Estate Website