At BAM Camp 2025, Luke Acree, president of ReminderMedia, took the stage with a simple goal: share the three strategies his brother’s team used to close 210 deals this year.
The talk was equal parts hard truth and practical blueprint. As Luke put it, “Implementation is where everything goes to die.” Too many agents sign up for marketing platforms or buy leads and never follow through.
His session focused on what actually works when you take consistent action, and why most agents aren’t doing nearly enough.
Here’s a breakdown of the three strategies behind Acree Brothers Realty’s results.
Strategy 1: Market to Your Database with Education, Entertainment, and Endearment
The first strategy is all about the sphere. Luke pointed to research showing that 65% of listings and 56% of buyers come from referral and repeat business.
Then he asked the room,
“Is 65% of your time, energy, and money spent on your sphere?”
The answer is usually no.
That’s where his “magic formula” comes in. And it isn’t a number like 17 or 32.
“The magic number is ‘more.’ M-O-R-E. More. I was homeschooled. I do know the difference between words and numbers, but the magic number is ‘more.’ If you’re sending 17, you should be sending 18. You’re sending a hundred, you should be sending 101. Acree Brothers can do over 200 touch points. How many of you guys think that’s too many?”
Agents chronically under-communicate. Even if you’re hitting your database with 17 or 26 touches a year, that’s not enough. Luke’s team averages over 200 touchpoints annually, rotating through three categories of content:
- Education: newsletters, home valuations, and market insights.
- Entertainment: lifestyle magazines, seasonal events, and curated local happenings.
- Endearment: charity drives, holiday campaigns, and thoughtful gifts.
Luke set a baseline of 26 annual touches, one every two weeks, as a starting point for agents. He shared several examples of how his team puts this into practice:
- Magazines with QR codes: Acree Brothers sends a magazine to 429 people in their sphere. Each issue includes a QR code linking to a home valuation tool. Luke said, “The key is not just the magazine. The key is you’ve got to have reasons to call.”
- Event newsletters: They email 26 newsletters a year featuring local events to position themselves as community connectors.
- Charity campaigns: They organize food drives and postcard mailings tied to nonprofits, creating multiple touchpoints at once.
- Seasonal giveaways: For Father’s Day, they offered a $150 gift card through a Google form. That single campaign brought nine referrals and two investment property leads.
- Quarterly events: From Pi Day pie giveaways to summer barbecues and ice cream socials, each event sparked conversations that carried into inboxes and phone calls.
The message was clear: your database is the engine of your business, and staying top of mind requires far more touches than you think.
Strategy 2: Add to Your Database with Facebook Ads and AI
If the first strategy is nurturing, the second is about growth. As Luke explained:
“Business is simple. Who’s my ideal target audience? How do I get that list? How do I hit that list? How do I educate that list? How do I add to that list?”
For Acree Brothers Realty, the most effective answer has been Facebook ads.
Their best-performing campaign is the “list of homes” ad, which can be tailored to any niche: downsizing homes, starter homes, or properties in a specific price range.
In one year, the campaign generated 1,800 leads, 26 closed deals, and $6.8 million in volume from about $24,000 in spend. It also delivered nearly 2 million impressions within a 25-mile radius.
Luke’s favorite hack is the Facebook Ad Library, which makes every competitor’s ads public.
“This is the greatest hack right here… You can then mimic and rip off the duplicate, as they say, the copy and everything that we’re doing.”
Another breakthrough has been AI-generated content. Agents often failed to provide listing photos, so Luke’s team started using Midjourney to create realistic local-style houses for their ads. The results surprised even him.
“This is a fake house in Lynchburg, Virginia… It looks just like a Lynchburg house.”
“I went to AI to create ’em, and it actually converted better.”
AI images not only solved the photo problem but also helped ads “pop off the feed,” which is critical on interrupt-driven platforms like Facebook.
Still, Facebook leads aren’t instant wins. Conversion averages 10.8 months, 36 calls, and 18 calls per appointment. That long runway explains why so many agents give up too soon.
Luke’s advice: Use Facebook ads primarily to build the database. Even if a lead doesn’t convert right away, you’ve added another contact to drip on for years to come.
Strategy 3: Circle Prospecting with a Three-Offer Model
The third strategy is proof that sweat equity still pays.
Facebook ads work, but they require both money and patience. Many agents don’t have $24,000 to spend or 11 months to wait for deals to close.
That’s why Acree Brothers leans on circle prospecting to keep cash flow steady.
“We’ve closed 26 deals from Circle Prospecting this year.”
Circle prospecting starts with an event, such as a new listing, an open house, or a recent sale. The team then calls homeowners in the surrounding neighborhood. Their ISAs dial 100 unique numbers per day, double-dialing each contact to increase pickup rates by 18 percent.
The pitch includes three offers:
- A cash offer, which Luke called “the new CMA.”
- A traditional market value estimate.
- A “reno valuation” showing what the home would be worth after upgrades.
This approach has delivered both listings and exclusive off-market opportunities. Luke said they currently hold 18 off-market listings that came directly from circle prospecting.
Key targeting lists include absentee owners and baby boomers, who are often ready to downsize or explore selling options. Using a tool like Deal Machine or Pioneer Data Solutions saves time and makes it far easier to identify prospects for these lists.
And of course, all data is scrubbed against the Do Not Call list using tools.
The takeaway is that circle prospecting is one of the most cost-effective ways to generate appointments and build inventory.
Final Word
Luke closed with a reminder that every one of these strategies ties back to the same principle: build and nurture your database. Whether through consistent sphere marketing, Facebook ad campaigns, or circle prospecting calls, the goal is always to grow the list and stay top of mind.
As he put it,
“How big is your database? 7% of them will move every year. Your goal is to get a bigger and bigger and bigger database that you drip on.”
At 210 deals and counting, Acree Brothers Realty is proving that database-driven strategies still win in 2025.
