The real estate market has been a whirlwind the last few years—record low interest rates at the onset of the pandemic are now a thing of prospective buyers’ dreams as interest rates return to pre-pandemic highs. This swing in interest rates, coupled with lower-than-usual housing inventory has resulted in lower mortgage demand (less than half compared to this same time last year!) and even more challenges for real estate businesses this season.
According to Fortune, 98% of the markets tracked have inventory below 2019 levels.
“Mortgage rates increased faster than at any point in history. We could be facing years, not months, of fewer home sales,” said Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman.
So how can you keep your real estate business booming despite the volatile housing market (as well as the so-called housing correction)? With the right marketing strategy, of course!
Here, we’re sharing summer real estate marketing ideas that can help you:
- Stay ahead of the housing correction
- Beat any potential seasonal slump
- Get new clients
With these ideas, your real estate business will be on fire ? even when the market is cooling off ?.
17 summer real estate marketing ideas
Use these summer real estate marketing ideas to reach prospective buyers, gain new clients, and keep business moving all season long.
1. Sponsor or take part in local events
Summer is filled with community events—whether it’s a Pride Month parade, the 4th of July, or just a summer shindig. Getting involved in these events, either as a sponsor or a volunteer, can help you build community connections that can result in new clients.
Reach out to your local chamber of commerce or an organization that typically hosts community events to see how you can get involved. You may also consider partnering with local churches to sponsor portions of their day camps, local shopping centers to sponsor concerts or events they’re hosting, or even other businesses to see how you can partner for an event or sale they’re holding.
2. Reward referrals
One of the best ways to get new clients any time of year is through referrals from your happy clients. These happy customers can be your best marketing tool yet because people trust recommendations from friends and family above all else.
Ask your existing happy clients what a compelling referral reward would look like. Maybe it’s a smart thermostat, a security camera, or a gift card to a local hardware store.
Then create a formal referral program so current and previous clients can easily share your information—and let you know that they have! This could be a page on your website, a small business card you can hand out, or an email program you send.
3. Start a business blog
Finding the right real estate agent and mortgage lender can be difficult. Home buyers are looking for a person and business they can trust to guide them through the process—especially now when the process has gotten a lot more difficult.
One way you can build trust with home buyers and sellers before they even reach out is to create relevant content for a blog on your website. Your blog can educate potential clients about a whole host of topics related to the real estate industry. Once a potential client finds you as a resource, they’ll be more likely to do business with you down the line.
You can create blog content based on frequently asked questions you receive, market trends in your area, as well as helpful tips you already share with your clients, such as home staging tips, packing tips, and more. (Get more content marketing ideas here!)
A blog can also help improve your site’s SEO, which we’ll dive into more next.
4. Refresh your website SEO
SEO is crucial if you want to get found on top search engines like Google and Bing. And we know that the majority of all people turn to search engines to help them find a business, so this is one strategy you can’t miss out on.
There are many additional factors that impact local search rankings, but here are a few of the most important ones:
- Mobile-friendliness: You’ll want to ensure your website is mobile-friendly, meaning it looks great and functions well on mobile devices.
- Fast page speed: It’s important that your website loads quickly across all devices.
- The right keywords: Searchers will be looking for local real estate agents and lenders, so it’s important to conduct local keyword research to find the most relevant terms to include on your website.
Get more tips to improve your local SEO in our Marketing Lab course!
5. Run Google Local Services Ads
Another way to get found on search engines is to run paid ads. Real estate businesses have the unique opportunity to run Google Local Services Ads (LSAs).
Google LSAs are a subset of Google Ads specifically for service-based businesses. The purpose is to provide searchers with enough information directly from the ad for them to contact the business through Google. Unlike Google Ads, which are pay-per-click, Google LSAs are pay-per-lead, which means you would only pay when a person provides their contact information through the ad or reaches out to you via your ad.
If you’re not already running Google LSAs, now is a great time to test them as part of your summer real estate marketing strategy.
In order to run LSAs, you need to be Google Screened or Google Guaranteed, which means you’ve met Google’s requirements and they’ve verified your business.
Learn more and get tips for running Google Local Services Ads for real estate here.
6. Share how you give back
People are becoming more and more interested in working with businesses that give back, and this is especially true for millennials, who now make up 43% of home buyers.
Many real estate businesses are already partnering with local organizations or charities, so it may be a matter of promoting your current involvement on your website and social sites.
If you’re not already actively partnering with an organization or giving back in some way, now’s a great time to start! Many organizations are seeking assistance or relief in the summer months.
Look for a local organization and reach out to see how you can help. You could start small with a donation drive or go big with a yearly commitment. Think about what’s best for you and your business, and then make sure you’re sharing on your website, social sites, and in your newsletter.
7. Send a newsletter
Speaking of. Newsletters are a great way to stay top of mind with current, previous, and potential clients for your real estate business. And summer is a great time to send one.
You can round up summer events happening in your area, highlight how you’re giving back this season, and share some helpful seasonal articles from your handy new blog.
Related: Get more summer marketing ideas to keep things hot this season.
8. Get and respond to reviews
You can also use your newsletter to share testimonials and reviews and ask your existing and previous clients to leave you a review on your top sites.
Reviews are extremely important in the real estate industry. People are making a big financial decision when it comes to buying or selling their homes, and they want to work with someone they know will do a good job. That’s where reviews come in.
The end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022 were pretty busy for the real estate business, so chances are you have some happy clients you could tap into for new and refreshed reviews.
Reach out to see if they would be willing to leave you a review on Google or provide a review you could include on your website. 76% of people will leave a review if asked. (You can use these review request email templates to get started!)
Once you get new reviews, make sure to respond. This doesn’t just apply to negative reviews (although, it’s extremely important to respond to those!), but you should also respond to positive reviews to thank your clients for taking the time to provide their feedback.
9. Clean up your business listings
Business listings are the sites that show up in search results and map listings and include basic information about your business. Many of these sites also include reviews, such as Google Business Profile and Yelp.
You want to make sure your business listings are accurate and updated regularly so you’re providing the most up-to-date information for searchers looking to contact you.
Search for your business on Google and Bing to see what business listings show up. Is your business information such as your business name, address, phone number, and website URL correct?
The summer is a great time to take inventory of these sites and clean them up so you can prepare for a busier fall or winter.
10. Look for local awards to win
Another way to boost confidence in your real estate business is to look for local awards to win. This is also just a fun summer real estate marketing idea because who doesn’t like to win awards?!
Many local publications run “best of” lists throughout the year. Do some research to see what’s available in your area, what the requirements are, and when the submission and voting process begins. If you find that a deadline has already passed or awards have already been announced for this year, you can set a calendar reminder to check back so you’ll be in the running for next year.
Once you do win an award, make sure to promote it on social media and add it to your website! We have more ideas to help you promote your business award here.
11. Create a brand kit
If you want to increase awareness for your business and build an easily recognizable brand, you need a brand kit. A brand kit contains all the information needed to keep your business consistent online and offline. Your brand kit should include your business:
- Fonts
- Color palette
- Logo and logo usage guidelines
- Types of images you use
- Description and pertinent information
Want to get started building a brand kit? Check out our brand kit guide and get free templates.
12. Summer-ize your display ads
If you’re looking for an easy summer real estate marketing idea and you’re running display ads, you can use this season as a time to spice up your designs. Add some summer fun to your ads to make them pop on the page (while staying true to your brand kit!).
Revamping and updating your display ad designs can help you avoid ad fatigue. Ad fatigue is when you start to see less effective results because your target audience has seen the same ad multiple times. You’ve probably noticed this yourself when you’ve seen the same ad a few days in a row or watched the same commercial 20 times a day.
Refreshing your ads each season can help you beat ad fatigue and keep people engaged with your display ads.
13. Define your target market
If summer is typically a little slower for your real estate business, it might be a good time to define or refine your target market. Your target market is the group of people who you want to use your services.
In order to define your target market, you’ll want to ask yourself who uses your services, analyze who your competitors are targeting, and look at the data about your current and most recent clients.
You might notice that your target market has shifted or changed throughout the year. By honing in on your true target market, you can create and execute better marketing campaigns.
See more target market examples like this one!
14. Try Facebook video marketing
Many real estate businesses have been getting into video. Video is a great way to educate and connect with your audience. Plus, people largely prefer video content over written content.
If you haven’t already been creating regular video content, Facebook video marketing is a great place to get started. With Facebook, you have a built-in audience who can see and engage with your content, and it’s very easy to create and upload videos on Facebook.
You could even start with Facebook lives where you answer frequently asked questions, share market updates, or interview your coworkers or employees. Facebook lives then live on your Facebook page, so you can reshare and repurpose the content later.
Get more Facebook video marketing tips here.
15. Post fun summer captions on Instagram
Looking for a way to keep your Instagram fresh this summer? Posting summer Instagram captions based on holidays, observances, or seasonal fun can help you break up informational or promotional posts while engaging your audience.
You could post about a local restaurant or patio you like to grab drinks at, summer events happening in your area, or a picture of a sparkling pool at one of your listings. The opportunities are endless for many real estate agents to grab engaging and seasonal pics!
16. Get a jump start on your fall social media strategy
And while you’re thinking about your social media marketing strategy, you could also take time to schedule some posts for the upcoming season. Look for fall holidays and observances that you can create social posts around and use a social scheduling tool like Hootsuite or Planoly.
Use a marketing calendar to find holidays and observances to post around.
This can free up some time once you get busier this upcoming season—and you won’t have to sacrifice social engagement!
17. Run a summer sweepstakes or contest
A lead-generating promotion can help you collect valuable information from prospective clients while rewarding them with a fun prize. Think about an exciting prize package that would incentivize potential clients to enter your contest and make sure to promote it on social media, your website, and with display ads.
Then, make sure you have a plan to follow up with your newly-collected contact information. An email marketing campaign that provides helpful information and nurtures leads to become clients is a great strategy for this!
Related: Find more summer promotion ideas to get new clients all season long.
Beat the slump with these summer real estate marketing ideas
While this summer isn’t quite as hot as the last few seasons have been for real estate businesses, it’s still proving to be pretty busy. And with these summer real estate marketing ideas, hopefully it will be even busier!
- Sponsor or take part in local events
- Reward referrals
- Start a business blog
- Share how you give back
- Get and respond to reviews
- Clean up your business listings
- Refresh your website SEO
- Send a newsletter
- Look for local awards
- Run Google Local Service Ads
- Summer-ize your display ads
- Define your target market
- Create a brand kit
- Try Facebook video marketing
- Post fun summer captions on Instagram
- Get a jump-start on fall social posts
- Run a summer sweepstakes or contest
Want more real estate marketing ideas? We’ve got you covered:
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