Looking to shake up your marketing efforts in 2020? Here are a few quick ideas.

In a modern real estate market, we recommend diversifying your lead generation marketing efforts in the same way that Wall Street investors diversify their stock portfolios. It helps minimize fluctuation between lead volume. It also reduces risk if one of your lead sources were to collapse.

You may be doing pretty well within your sphere from referrals alone, but if you want to build a sustainable and scalable business, it is important to diversify your marketing efforts. That means don’t rely solely on referrals or online leads. Test out a variety of methods in order to build your pipeline. If you want to grow enough to become a team leader or broker/owner of a thriving business, you’ll need to establish sustainable lead generation strategies to provide enough leads (for yourself or for your agents).

1. Answer Questions on Social Media and Internet Forums
Where do people go in 2020 when they have a question? The internet. It’s a no-brainer. That means that there is a wealth of opportunity from prospective homebuyers and sellers who are asking questions online. Set aside one hour per week and dedicate it to browsing forums on Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, and other local forums.

Consider also joining local Facebook groups where prospective clients are going to get peer-to-peer advice and browse listings and local information. Examples: Charleston First Time Home Buyers, Charleston Luxury Listings, Wagner Terrace Neighborhood.

Not only will this type of education circulate your name and brand in the community, but you never know what leads might pop up just from being in the right place at the right time.

2. Attend Non-Real Estate-Related Events and Join Local Groups
Consider doing a little more out-of-the-box networking in 2020. Pick some local activities in your community to attend and just see who you meet. If it’s an event that is not real estate-related, more than likely you’ll be the only agent in the room. Bring cards and be a social butterfly. If you choose an event that you’d enjoy anyways, maybe a wine tasting or professional workshop, you’ve got nothing to lose!

A quick and easy way to find specific events in your community is to go to Events on Facebook, and under “Find Events,” select your preferred date range. You can also choose what type of event you’re looking for: networking, food, music, sports, etc.

3. Don’t Just Sponsor a Team Sport—Join One!
A popular marketing effort for many real estate teams is to sponsor a local sports team, whether that be a large local hockey team or just a flag football league. What better way to get your name out there, while networking at the same time, than to actually join a team sport? If you work with a real estate team, rally everyone together to join a local sports league. The options are pretty endless these days: bowling, flag football, kickball, frisbee, disc golf, shuffleboard, cornhole…

Not only will you accomplish team bonding and have a good time, but you’ll also be paired up against other teams throughout the season—teams and players that will remember your real estate business. Invite your competitors for a beer after the game

4. Advertise on a Local Podcast
Podcast ad revenue is projected to surpass $1 billion by 2021. They have skyrocketed in popularity over the past few years and the trend does not seem to be slowing down any time soon. However, you’re still ahead of the curve if you start advertising right now.

Get creative and search for some local podcasts that would have a relevant audience for you, perhaps a local nonprofit, food and bev, news or community groups. There are platforms to help you get started with podcast advertising (Audiogo.com, podsearch.com, etc.); however, you probably won’t have much trouble getting in touch with someone directly for those local, smaller podcasts.

5. Leverage Low Winter Inventory to Promote Stale Listings
Often in real estate things slow down around the holidays and we tend to focus our efforts on business planning and goal-setting. However, with low winter inventory, there is actually a big gap of opportunity that you should be taking advantage of!

Most sellers are under the impression that spring is the best time to list their home. Traditionally, May and June are the hottest months for new homes hitting the market. However, this leaves the opportunity to list in the winter and take advantage of our continued low inventory levels.