It’s no longer a nice perk. Consumers today expect personalized marketing from the brands and services they work with. 

Which means if you don’t personalize your marketing, you’ll lose out to an agent who does. 

Consumer Expectations around Personalization

A quick breakdown of consumer expectations around personalized experiences:

  • 70% of consumers expect personalized experiences
  • 78% of consumers are more likely to make repeat purchases from brands that personalize
  • 80% are likely to refer friends and family to brands that personalize
  • 62% of consumers will search for a new brand or company if delivered an un-personalized experience

As an industry professional, your work revolves around personalizing the process of buying or selling real estate. You meet with buyers and sellers to understand their motivations, walk them through the transaction, and help them close on a deal. 

But that all comes after your new client signed a contract with you. What about all the marketing that comes before signing?

Here are four ways to personalize your marketing efforts and connect with your prospects.

Listen, Educate, Engage

The three-step approach to personalization is: Listen, Educate, Engage (according to HubSpot). 

Try this approach on all of your social media channels:

  1. Head to an online community and ‘listen in’ on the conversations happening. What are the pain points of people in your community? What questions are being asked? 
  2. Once you’ve listened to people in your market, educate. Respond to questions in the online community forum. Better yet—DM the person who asked the question directly. Then, create a short video answering the question and post it to your social media channels. Chances are, other consumers will want this information as well.
  3. Now engage! After posting your video, ask listeners to respond to a specific question or poll. Be sure to respond to all comments and DMs you receive from this. 
  4. Take the new comments and information you received and repeat the cycle. 

Personalize Follow-Ups

Nothing’s worse than a bulk email after a one-on-one appointment. Your prospects deserve a personalized follow-up.

Send a quick video after your initial appointment, being sure to use their name at the beginning and end of the video. Answer any lingering questions from your meeting, or remind them of important information that was discussed. Then, follow up the video with a phone call. That one extra step shows people you are there for them. 

Let Prospects and Clients know you are thinking about them

Continually show your clients and prospects that you really do understand their needs and are committed to helping them. 

You can do this by calling just to check in (no sales pitches) or personally sending information you know they would find helpful. One way to do this is to send a link to any videos, blog posts, or blogs you have created. 

Text or email the individual in mind, saying, “Last time we spoke, you asked about_____. This video made me think about that, and I wanted to be sure to share it with you!”

You can’t expect your prospects will see all (or any) of your social media posts. So, take that extra step and personally send relevant and valuable information to the clients and prospects you work with. 

Use Personalization Features on Email Newsletters

If you are not already using personalization features on your marketing emails, it’s time to start. Use the option to insert the person’s name at the start of the email or in the subject line. They’ll still understand that it’s a mass newsletter, but it’s a simple way to add in an extra bit of personalization. 

Your greatest assets to your clients are your ability to share your knowledge and personalize the transaction experience. Make sure you are doing both to engage consumers in your marketing as well.