Digital Marketing Executive Pocket Guide

DIGITAL MARKETING EXECUTIVE THE MAGAZINE BY REALTY EXECUTIVES, FOR REALTY EXECUTIVES

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WINTER/SPRING 2016-2017

Your digital marketing journey starts here. ®

POWERED BY EXPERTS™

DIGITAL MARKETING EXECUTIVE Dominate Web, Social and Email Marketing A real estate agent’s job description starts and ends with marketing. To help you embrace digital marketing, we’ve put together this guide with step-by-step instructions to help you implement a digital marketing strategy for your real estate business.

Your digital marketing journey starts with PrimeAgent.com, your one-stop shop for all of the digital marketing resources available through Realty Executives.

Visit PrimeAgent.com, log in with your username and password, and follow the instructions in this book to get started.

®

POWERED BY EXPERTS™

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Your 10-Step Digital Marketing Action Plan

Web Marketing

Page

1 STEP

Getting Started With the Basics

5

2 STEP

On-Demand Lead Generation

7

3 STEP

Hyperlocal Content Marketing

12

Social Media Marketing

STEP 4

How to Setup a Professional Facebook Page

21

5 STEP

Building Your Facebook Page Fan Base

22

STEP 6

Present Your Knowledge and Expertise in the Communities You Serve

23

7 STEP

Marketing Opportunities on Facebook

28

Boost Your Events and Posts to Reach More People

32

STEP 8

Email Marketing

9 STEP

Monthly eNewsletters

36

10 STEP

Email Broadcasts

43

CHAPTER 1

Web Marketing

A website serves three purposes: to meet the demands of your current prospects and clients, to generate leads and to extend your knowledge and expertise to an online community who have never personally met you.

In this chapter, we’re going to ensure that your website covers all the pieces required to meet the demands of your current customers, as well as explore opportunities for you to generate new leads and reach billions of people across the globe using a hyperlocal content marketing strategy.

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CHAPTER 1 WEB MARKETING: GETTING STARTED WITH THE BASICS

Getting Started with the Basics In todayʼs market, customers do all their research online before they ever make a decision to purchase, or in our case, hire a real estate agent for their professional services. So first, let’s make sure your website provides the resources your future customers are looking for.

5 Essential Pages Every Real Estate Website Needs Besides the ability to search for homes, here are the five pages that will build immediate credibility with your online visitors: About You Your Seller Marketing Plan Your Buyer Services Your Client Testimonials Information on the Communities You Serve Take your time and put a lot of thought into these pages, and include photos and videos where you can. To avoid common spelling and grammatical errors, type your content in a word processor first, and then copy and paste it over as plain text.

These are the basic pages that can influence a customer to buy or sell a home with you. Let’s get started with your About page: Go to the My Account menu and complete the areas for My Profile, My Photo, My Bio and My Expertise.

If you’re looking for help writing your bio and expertise, our International Team can help. Visit this URL – www.surveymonkey.com/r/REbio – and complete the profile survey to get started.

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CHAPTER 1 WEB MARKETING: GETTING STARTED WITH THE BASICS Once you have completed your bio, go to Marketing >> Agent Website Management and click on the button to the left that says Web Pages. From here click on Edit next to the Info page.

A screen will appear to edit your Title and Web Page Content.

You can use this page to talk about your seller marketing plan, buyer services, client testimonials and communities served. Or you can add an introduction to your services here and then create separate/child pages to discuss each of the four topics in detail.

Once you add an introduction to the Info page and Save Changes, you can then add child pages. To add a child page click on Add Web Page, include a Title for the page and then write your content. When you’re finished, check the box for Publish and Save.

Conclusion Billions of people are using the Internet to find their next real estate agent. It’s up to you to make sure you’re representing yourself online in the best possible light.

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CHAPTER 1 WEB MARKETING: ON-DEMAND LEAD GENERATION

On-Demand Lead Generation PrimeAgent On-Demand provides a superior experience to the customer, while immediately connecting you with people who are interested in your listings.

And, it all works with the convenience of a text message, which means you’re capturing the customer’s cell phone number and you know exactly which property they’re interested in.

In our industry, a cell phone number is like gold and it gives us further opportunities to engage the customer via text message.

At the same time, on-demand also drives more traffic to your website, which can boost your search engine rankings.

Step 1: Order On-Demand Sign Riders If you consistently hold two to three active listings per month, we recommend ordering three sign riders to start. Sign riders cost $7 a piece (shipping and taxes not included). To order sign riders:

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CHAPTER 1 WEB MARKETING: ON-DEMAND LEAD GENERATION Click on Marketing >> On-Demand Click on the button that says Order Sign Riders.

Need help? Login to PrimeAgent and use our customer service chat at the bottom right of the screen to receive help with ordering your sign riders.

Step 2: Manage Your Property Codes Once your sign riders have been shipped to you, you can put them up on your yard signs. The sign riders are re-usable, so if you sell a property, you can easily move the sign rider to a new listing by detaching a property code from your dashboard and re-attaching it to a new listing. With your on-demand system, you get 25 property codes and each code can be assigned to a different listing (additional codes are available at $5 per 25 codes). To start: Go to Marketing >> On-Demand (mobile): Once you receive your new on-demand sign riders, you will need to assign each property code/sign rider to the correct listing. To do this, look for the property code in your dashboard and click on Attach listing - from here, select the listing that you would like to put this sign rider onto.

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CHAPTER 1 WEB MARKETING: ON-DEMAND LEAD GENERATION Need help? Go to Training >> Training Center and click on the category to the left that says Agent Websites and PrimeAgent On-Demand and scroll down to the video that says Managing On-Demand Property Codes.

Step 3: Follow-Up with a Phone Call When buyers and sellers start requesting information using the text message code on your sign riders, the system will capture their cell phone number and the property they requested information on. A text and email notification is then sent to you instantly. These leads are also automatically added to your PrimeAgent contact manager. Once you receive a lead, follow these steps: Call the lead between two to five minutes after you receive the notification. That gives the customer enough time to read the message and gives you the best opportunity to engage with the customer while they’re still in the neighborhood.

To open up the conversation, you can say: “Hello my name is [your name] and I’m the listing agent on [address]. I’m actually in the neighborhood and I was wondering if you would like me to open up the home so you can see the inside?” Now of course, you might not be in the neighborhood at that time but by announcing yourself as the listing agent, you’re simply opening up the conservation and you can use any other script to engage the customer from there.

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CHAPTER 1 WEB MARKETING: ON-DEMAND LEAD GENERATION Step 4: Generate More Leads with Print & Online Marketing Your On-Demand sign riders is not the only way to generate leads. You can also extend On-Demand into your print ads/materials and online marketing.

In the newspaper example to the right, we’re using two different strategies: Embedding the On-Demand artwork into the ad Using simple text To download the On-Demand artwork:

Newspaper Example

Go to Marketing >> On-Demand (mobile). Then click on Generate PDF of Yard Sign and download the artwork to your computer to use in your print and online marketing.

Looking for more ideas? Use the artwork and simple text strategies described above to generate more leads on your: Flyers, postcards, newspaper ads, magazine spreads, Craigslist ads, Facebook posts/ads and much more.

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CHAPTER 1 WEB MARKETING: ON-DEMAND LEAD GENERATION Step 5: Convert More Leads with Follow-Up Text Messages Once you start to generate leads for a specific property, you can then use the Send Bulk SMS feature to continue engaging those leads. Taking the extra steps to engage with your leads will turn more of them into clients.

All you have to do is craft a text message and send it off. Within seconds, those leads will receive a copy of the text message you just crafted. When you’re crafting your messages, include your name and cell phone number. To make this easy, use the following text message strategies to help convert more leads: Invite your leads to the open house • Notify your leads of price reductions • Share similar listings when there’s an accepted offer • Notify your leads when the property sells (include the sales price) •

Need help? Go to Training >> Training Center and click on the category to the left that says Agent Websites and PrimeAgent On-Demand and scroll down to the video that says 4 Steps for Website Lead Generation. Fast forward to 15:07.

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CHAPTER 1 WEB MARKETING: HYPERLOCAL CONTENT MARKETING

Hyperlocal Content Marketing

You know the neighborhoods you serve. You know who built the homes in your communities. You know the area’s development plans and zoning details. You know the schools. You know the businesses. You know the other real estate brokers in town and their agents. You know the laws protecting buyers and sellers.

Perhaps most importantly, you know the fiber that knits your communities together and as you meet with new buyers and sellers, you’re sharing all of this information to showcase your knowledge and expertise in the communities you serve.

Your website is an extension of your business and gives you the opportunity to shake hands with people searching for real estate and community information online.

If you start creating content now, in six to 12 months you’re going to see growth in your personal real estate business. Best of all, you’re going to build a client base with people who know, like and trust you.

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CHAPTER 1 WEB MARKETING: HYPERLOCAL CONTENT MARKETING Step 1: Identify Your Target Audience With online marketing, you have to stay laser focused - there are too many people searching online for you to meet the needs of everyone. This first step is often overlooked, but identifying your target audience is the most critical step to successfully dominating your hyperlocal content marketing strategy. Follow the steps below to get started: Identify Your Target Community: In most cases a county or city is too large of a target market. Narrow it down to a neighborhood, community or subdivision.

Identify Your Target Transaction Type: Purchases, listings, investments, commercial, residential, condo, single family, multi-family, lot/land, rural, mfd/mobile homes, rentals, etc.

Identify the Attributes of Your Target Audience: First-time buyers, move-up buyers, investors, sellers, renters, retirees, millennials, etc.

Identify the Needs, Wants and Questions of Your Target Audience: Now that you’ve identified your target community, transaction type and the attributes of your target audience, the last step is to identify their needs, wants and questions, and put everything into one blurb that summarizes all of the characteristics that youʟve identified in step 1.

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CHAPTER 1 WEB MARKETING: HYPERLOCAL CONTENT MARKETING For example: A millennial family with kids, who are first-time home buyers, searching for a single family home with three to four bedrooms, and great schools around North Park, CA. Retiree homeowners in the Steele Canyon Golf Estates, looking to sell high and downsize to a smaller residential property, which is walking distance from grocery stores, restaurants and entertainment.

Now that you’ve seen a few examples, go ahead and write a blurb to summarize your target audience.

Step 2: Create Content For Your Audience Your main goal should be to establish yourself as a THE source for information within the communities you serve, with the end result being a lead generation funnel where buyers and sellers will know, like and trust you before they ever talk or meet with you in person.

Consistently publish two articles per month. Complete the daily tasks below to get started: Day 1: Compile a list of topics/questions that meet the needs of your target audience.

Day 2: Select one topic and create a headline/title for your article. The title should be 55 characters or less, and composed of catchy, interesting or informative language.

Lead with keywords – if it makes sense and reads

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CHAPTER 1 WEB MARKETING: HYPERLOCAL CONTENT MARKETING. organically, try to place the keywords at the beginning of the title. When writing about local topics, consider including your neighborhood or city name in the title to better distinguish your content as geographically unique and relevant.

For example: New Residential Housing Development in North Park, CA • Savanna Grill - Manhattan’s Newest Organic Restaurant • Pumpkin Patch is coming to McAllen, TX on Oct. 15th • Where are the Best Golf Communities in Scottsdale, AZ? • What Downpayment Assistant Programs Are Available in Festus, MO? • The Best Outdoor Activities During the Fall in Brio, WA •

Day 3: Outline/bullet point the facts, solutions and information, that apply to your topic.

Day 4: Gather pictures and video to include in your blog post. It’s best if you take the pictures and/or shoot the video yourself (or hire someone to go). If you download them from the Internet, make sure you use a website that allows you to use this content in your marketing. Here are a few great online resources for downloading pictures: pexels.com (free stock images) • picjumbo.com (free stock images) • gratisography.com (free stock images) • pixabay.com (free stock images) • shutterstock.com (paid licensing rights) • istockphoto.com (paid licensing rights) •

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CHAPTER 1 WEB MARKETING: HYPERLOCAL CONTENT MARKETING With any of the recommended sites, please make sure to read the FAQ/info pages to ensure you’re in compliance and properly observing copyright laws.

Days 5-11: It’s time to use the resources that you’ve gathered to start writing your blog post.

Step 3: Days 5-11 Continued - Write a Blog Post Now that you’ve gathered the necessary resources, it’s time put it all together into a blog post. This is also the time to decide if you’re going to write the post yourself, or whether you’re going to send the resources to someone else to write the post. A successful blog post is compelling, uses great storytelling, proper grammar, and a strong call to action. The goal is to always provide a solution, or valuable information, that your target audience will appreciate, read and take action on. If you’re confident in your writing skills, then you’re ready to move forward. But if you don’t have the expertise or the time to write a good quality blog post, you might want to consider finding someone who has a content marketing background and/or who is great at writing, for example: Someone in your office • Family, friends, neighbors, past co-workers • College attendees/graduates looking for an internship/job • Content marketing companies such as Vertical Measures •

Once you’ve made a decision, proceed to the next step.

Go to Marketing >> Agent Website Management and click on Blog >> Add New Post: This is where you will paste your content once it has been written and proofread.

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CHAPTER 1 WEB MARKETING: HYPERLOCAL CONTENT MARKETING What are the essential elements of a great blog post?

Post Title: This is where you’re going to type in your title/headline from Step 2 - Day 1.

Webpage Content: Using your outline from Step 2 Day 2, craft your content around your main points. Don’t be afraid to inject some personality into your post and aim for at least 400 words or more. To optimize your blog post for search engines, focus on these key elements: Webpage Content [Featured Image or Video]: Include a featured image or video at the top, to capture the reader’s attention and enhance the story. Use the resources you gathered in Step 2 - Day 3.

Webpage Content [First Paragraph]: The first few sentences of your blog post are important because they should immediately grab your reader’s attention to give them an idea of what you have to share and why they should stay on the page.

Webpage Content [Call to Action]: Once your visitors finish reading your blog post, their thought should never be “what do I do now?” Closing with a call to action (CTA) is a great way to encourage the reader to connect with you after they read your article. Invite them to contact you with questions, or have them share their thoughts via email, phone or by completing a form on your page. Here are a few examples:

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CHAPTER 1 WEB MARKETING: HYPERLOCAL CONTENT MARKETING Are you tired of getting below-value, automated evaluations of your home? Call us today at 800-252-3366 for a free Comparable Market Analysis of your home.

Are you looking for information to increase the value of your home? Check out our recent post 7 Quick Tips to Increase the Value of Your Home.

Are you ready to make the leap into the buyers market?

Start your research with our free tool and search the MLS, save your favorite homes and setup daily listing alerts by visiting our property search page!

Are you crazy about DIY home projects? Check out our Facebook page for daily tips and videos.

Whether you or someone else creates your content, it should always be typed in a word aprocessing program so that you have a “hard” copy offline. In the event the Internet fails, you will still have a copy of your work. Also, typing in a word processor catches common errors immediately.

Here a few additional tips for writing your content: Include links to relevant articles/blogs Add additional photos and videos to your content (when uploading photos, take advantage of the “image description” to describe your photo with keywords) • Use sub-headings to help your readers grasp the main topics of your article (use the text toolbar to tag your headings with the correct format - example: Heading 1, Heading 2, etc.)

• •

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CHAPTER 1 WEB MARKETING: HYPERLOCAL CONTENT MARKETING Step 4: Days 12 -14 - Review, Edit and Publish!

Before publishing your blog post to your website, take some time to review and edit it, and have someone else take a look at it too. Check for misspellings, grammar errors and formatting issues. Remember, your introduction needs to grab the reader’s attention and make them want to find out more. Your conclusion and CTA is where you’re going to generate the lead or earn a customer who knows, likes and trusts you based on the content you’re sharing with them.

Make sure your message is clear, simple, and leaves your readers with one clear message that they can easily digest and take away.

When you’re finished editing/reviewing your blog post, it’s time to publish. Scroll to the bottom of the page, check the box that says Publish and click Update Post.

Step 5: Repeat Steps 1-4, Over and Over Again Consistency will be the determining factor for potentially multiplying your business revenue by 2x, 3x, 4x the amount that you’re currently earning. Repeat steps 1-4 consistently, and in 6-12 months you’re likely going to see tremendous growth in your business. In six months, the expectation is for you to post 12-13 compelling blog posts on your website, and to continue to post more at the same rate for the foreseeable future.

Remember, people are at the heart of our business, and everyday more of those people are meeting their next real estate agent online. If your desire is to grow your real estate business exponentially over the coming years, start creating valuable consumer-focused content today.

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CHAPTER 1 WEB MARKETING: HYPERLOCAL CONTENT MARKETING Conclusion People all over the world use Google, Bing and Yahoo to find answers and information that they need. And we all know, the first page of Google is prime, digital real estate.

In the past, marketing experts used tricks to rank higher on Google, but nowadays the primary factor for ranking high on Google is great content. Great content not only reaches people who are searching online, but it also equates to more social engagement, such as Facebook likes and shares, ultimately resulting in more visitors to your website. Of course, there are always strategies for maximizing the SEO friendliness of your posts (as discussed in steps 1-4), but writing good posts that offer real value to your website visitors is an important first step.

For real estate agents, “content is king” in today’s market and, when it comes to online marketing, we’re all trying to grab the attention of people searching for real estate and community information online. If you take these steps to heart, you will be well on your way to building a new database of people who already know, like and trust you before you even meet with them in person.

To check out an example of great blog posts, visit the Realty Executives website at http://www.realtyexecutives.com/blog.

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CHAPTER 2 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: HOW TO SETUP A PROFESSIONAL . . .

Social Media Marketing Did you know that Facebook has 1.71 billion monthly, active users? This is more people than the populations of China and the United States combined, which means that Facebook is no longer a platform that real estate agents can afford to ignore.

So what can you do with a Facebook Page?

Share community information Share real estate news and information • Share homeowner, buyer and seller information • Showcase your expertise and client testimonials • Showcase new listings, open houses, just solds • Advertise • •

How To Set Up A Professional Facebook Page Step 1: Log into Facebook and click on the arrow in the top right corner. Select “Create Page.”

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CHAPTER 2 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: BUILDING YOUR FACEBOOK . . .

Step 2: Select the page type Local Business or Place.

Step 3: Choose the category Real Estate and type in your full name under Business Name, office address, office city/state, zip code and your direct phone number. Read the Facebook Pages Terms and if you agree with the terms, click on the Get Started button to create your page.

Step 4: Add categories, a description and a website to improve the ranking of your Page in search. Check the box for NO when it asks if your business is a real establishment, business or venue (this option should be reserved for your Brokerage’s Facebook Page). Follow through the rest of the steps to complete your Facebook page setup.

Upload a profile picture and click save photo.

Click Add to Favorites to easily access your page from your personal Facebook account. Click Next.

Skip the Preferred Page Audience setup.

Building Your Facebook Page Fan Base A Facebook page is most effective when someone Likes your page and becomes a Fan. When a Facebook user likes your page, you’re getting major brand exposure, you have more opportunities to cultivate relationships, and communicate with a targeted audience. Best of all, when you start posting things to your page, you are more likely to appear in your fan’s newsfeed!

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CHAPTER 2 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: PRESENT YOUR KNOWLEDGE . . .

Your fan’s newsfeed, is the place where Facebook users live and engage with their friends and the businesses they like.

So now the question is, how do you get people to Like your Facebook page?

Present Your Knowledge and Expertise in the Communities You Serve If you want to be liked, you have to offer value first. Once you build your fan base, you can then use your Facebook page for marketing but it all starts with giving people a reason to listen and engage with you first.

Presenting your knowledge of the communities you serve and your expertise in real estate is going to be your first opportunity to create a fan base. So here is a list of topics you can start posting to your Facebook page right away: New real estate community programs and incentives New real estate housing developments • New business developments • New restaurants and entertainment • New shopping centers and stores • New schools • School ratings and information • Reviews for restaurants, stores and attractions • Things to do this weekend • Seasonal outdoor activities and things to do • Family activities • Community questions and polls to engage with fans • •

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CHAPTER 2 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: PRESENT YOUR KNOWLEDGE . . .

Special events and attractions Community and charitable events • Local classes, training and learning events • Local hobbies and clubs • Local real estate news and information • National/global real estate news and information • A breakdown of the different lifestyles • Pictures, videos and info on different neighborhoods • Public transportation and information • Local tax rates and information • Other local real estate information • •

As you can see, there are plenty of ways to offer value and create engagement on your Facebook page. Now let’s discuss the best practices for posting this type of information.

Maximize Your Value By Linking Your Posts to an Article/Blog: Posting something like, “Did you know you can save money on your taxes by owning a home? Call me today for more information” is NOT providing the best value to your fan base. When someone is online, they prefer to read or watch a video to get that information before they decide to contact you personally. And if you don’t give them something of value, they will just do a Google search to find the information without you. So the idea here is to not only grab their attention with a catchy headline but to also provide a reliable resource where they can learn more about that information.

In the previous chapter, we talked about writing blog posts for your target audience. This is the perfect opportunity to take all the hard work you’ve put into those

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CHAPTER 2 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: PRESENT YOUR KNOWLEDGE . . . articles and share them on your Facebook page. Or vice versa, if there’s a topic you think would be great to share on Facebook, you can use the strategies from the last chapter to write a blog post and then share it on Facebook ..

Let’s take a look at how you can merge these two ideas to maximize your value: Step 1: Go to your PrimeAgent website, visit your blog page and click onto the blog title that you’re looking to share on Facebook.

Step 2: Click on the Facebook icon to share your blog on Facebook.

Step 3: Click the dropdown menu that says Share on Your Own Timeline and choose Share on a Page you manage. And then select your Facebook page.

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CHAPTER 2 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: PRESENT YOUR KNOWLEDGE . . .

Step 4: Write a post that’ll peak the reader’s attention but, only share a few details without giving them the most important information. You want them to click on the link to read the full article on your website. By doing this, you’re giving the reader an easier platform to read the content, you’re directing referral traffic back to your website, and if that person wants to read more articles or search for homes for sale, they can do all of that from your website. Plus, there are several lead capture points on your website to turn that reader into a new lead.

Once you finish writing your post, click on Post to Facebook.

Step 5: Now that you’ve shared some valuable information on your Facebook page, a great way to bring attention to your post is by also sharing it on your personal Facebook account. Remember, there’s a difference between the two. Your personal Facebook account revolves around Friends that have accepted your friend request. On the other hand, your Facebook page requires someone to like your page to become a fan. In many cases, especially when you’re just getting

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CHAPTER 2 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: PRESENT YOUR KNOWLEDGE . . . started with your Facebook page, you’ll have more connections on your personal Facebook account v.s. your Facebook page. It’s important that you follow the instructions below to properly share your posts onto your personal account: Open your Facebook page and click on the Share button beneath the post.

A pop-up window will appear. Open the dropdown menu to select Share on your own Timeline and at the bottom right, make sure your post is set to Public. When those items are done, click on Post.

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CHAPTER 2 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES . . .

Your friends, family, neighbors and everyone else who is on your “friends” list can see this information when they view your timeline. And, it may show up in their newsfeed too. This is all good news. You’re building brand awareness around your Facebook page.

At this point, you’re well on your way to building a loyal fan base on your Facebook page. And always remember, you’re not doing this just to check the box otherwise, you will not see success with your web and Facebook marketing. It’s all about providing value, information and your expertise to enrich someone else’s life.

Once you start building your fan base and your fans know they’re getting value from your Facebook page, every once in awhile it’s smart to show that you’re actively selling real estate.

Now let’s move onto some of those smart marketing opportunities on Facebook.

Marketing Opportunities on Facebook Along with showcasing your expertise by sharing things like housing market updates, tips and advice for buyers and sellers, or community events, be sure to take advantage of the following lead generation opportunities: Showcase Your New listings: The EXECUTIVE REALTY® Listing Automation tool in PrimeAgent allows you to share property pages that are optimized for social sharing.

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CHAPTER 2 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES . . .

Step 1: Go to Marketing >> EXECUTIVE REALTY® Listing Automation.

Step 2: Select one of your active listings from the drop-down list and then click on the Facebook icon next to Share Listing.

Step 3: Once you’re logged into your facebook account, you’ll see the screen below. Type something about the property or neighborhood to go along with your post.

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CHAPTER 2 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES . . .

Create Events to Promote Your Open Houses First off, don’t limit your events to open houses. You can use the event tool for community events, real estate workshops and much more.

Step 1: From your Facebook Page, underneath your profile photo click on the button that says Event, Milestone + and choose Event.

Step 2: When the event window pops up, go through the following steps: Upload a photo of your listing Include an event name like “Open House in North Park” • Type in the property address • Give it a start and end time • For category, choose Community >> Neighborhood • Enter the property description and if you can, include a link to the listing details page on your website • Type in keywords like open house, single family home detached home, etc.

• Check the boxes for free admission and family friendly • Add Co-hosts if applicable • Click Publish • •

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CHAPTER 2 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES . . .

Here’s an example of what your event might look like:

Share Your Success by Showcasing Your Just Sold Listings Just Sold Facebook posts are a great way to demonstrate how effective you are as an agent.

From your Facebook page, start creating a post. Upload one or more photos of the property you just sold and write a catchy headline with a call to action. Take a look at the following example:

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CHAPTER 2 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: BOOST YOUR EVENTS AND . . .

Screenshot of a Just Sold post:

Boost Your Events and Posts to Reach More People Your events and posts are only visible to the people you’ve shared them with, or with people who have liked your Facebook page.

One of the advantages of using a Facebook page for your business is that you can advertise to a specific target audience at an affordable rate. Let’s take a look at those advertising opportunities.

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CHAPTER 2 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: BOOST YOUR EVENTS AND . . .

Step 1: Choose to boost an Event or Post: Event: Once you create your event, click Boost Event underneath the photo.

Post: Once you publish your post, click Boost Post

Step 2: Follow the instructions below to finish boosting your event or post.

Ad Creative: Customize your text and add additional pictures of the event.

Audience: Facebook advertising is very effective because it allows you to target gender, age groups, locations and interests.

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CHAPTER 2 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: BOOST YOUR EVENTS AND . . .

Budget and Duration: With a minimum advertising budget of $1 per day, Facebook offers some of the most aggressive pricing in the industry when it comes to advertising online. Simply choose your budget, set your duration, analyze the estimated amount of people reached and decide on your average spend per day.

Conclusion In this chapter, we simplified social media.

Of course, social media extends beyond Facebook – but if you’re looking for one lead generating social media strategy to begin with, Facebook is a good start.

Now that we’ve covered web and social media marketing, it’s time to chat about the final piece to your digital marketing strategy: Email marketing.

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CHAPTER 3

Email Marketing

Everyone still checks their email. They read emails in bed or while watching TV. They read emails while they’re waiting in line, and pretty much whenever or wherever they want because almost everyone has a mobile device in their pocket.

Email marketing is still one of the best strategies for converting prospects and staying in touch to maximize referrals. However, you can’t rely on people to remember who you are. You have to take the initiative and consistently reach out to them to stay top of mind - email marketing makes it easy to do this.

In order to be successful, you need a strategy in place because customers do not respond to the usual self-promotional materials and advertisements. You also need the right tools to send mobile-responsive emails. Your customers shouldn’t have to zoom in and out to look at photos and text anymore. So let’s jump into those strategies now.

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CHAPTER 3 EMAIL MARKETING: MONTHLY ENEWSLETTERS

Monthly eNewsletters

The PrimeAgent eNewsletter is an automated solution that still gives you the power to fully customize what’s most important to you and your customers. The most time-consuming pieces of building a newsletter involves market research, producing articles and inserting listing photo and details, so we take care of all of that for you.

Our content producers write three new articles every month exclusively for your customers. The content is compelling and produced with the latest housing and real estate trends in mind.

And you can automatically choose to showcase your featured listings.

Keep in mind that even though you can fully automate your eNewsletter, your customers need to feel a genuine connection, and this is often where email marketing fails. So what do you do next?

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CHAPTER 3 EMAIL MARKETING: MONTHLY ENEWSLETTERS Step 1: Turn on your eNewsletter Go to CRM >> Campaigns and click on the button to the left that says eNewsletter. Flip the switch on, to activate your eNewsletter.

Step 2: Add Recipients to Your eNewsletter From the eNewsletter dashboard, click on the button that says Add/Update eNewsletter Recipients. A window will pop up so you can select the contacts who will receive your eNewsletter on a monthly basis. All of the contacts and groups showing on this screen are pulling directly from your PrimeAgent Contact Manager.

You’ll need to make sure all of your contacts are getting a copy of your eNewsletter every month. The easiest way to do this is by selecting all of the groups on the left. If you create a new group in the future, make sure to come back to this screen to include the new group. When you’re done, click on OK. Refer to the next page for a screenshot of this page and more information about the PrimeAgent Contact Manager.

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CHAPTER 3 Screenshot of the Add/Update eNewsletter recipients page:

Need Help? Your PrimeAgent Contact Manager makes it easy to build a contact database and it integrates seamlessly with your email marketing systems in PrimeAgent. To learn more, click on Training >> Training Center, choose the category for Contact Manager and watch the video called Contact Manager Quick Overview.

Step 3: Automate/Customize Your Featured Listings From the eNewsletter dashboard, click on Preview/Edit Upcoming eNewsletter.

Note: The eNewsletter is automatically sent on the first Tuesday of each month. Because new articles are curated on a monthly basis, you won’t be able to Preview/Edit the upcoming eNewsletter until they’re ready. An email reminder will notify you five days before the newsletter is scheduled to send.

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CHAPTER 3 EMAIL MARKETING: MONTHLY ENEWSLETTERS Once you open the Preview/Edit screen for the eNewsletter, scroll to the bottom and click on the featured listings area.

You will then see three options: automatically feature your active listings (up to 20), do not feature any listings, and manually select the listings you want to showcase each month.

.

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CHAPTER 3 EMAIL MARKETING: MONTHLY ENEWSLETTERS Step 4: Convert More Leads and Maximize Your Referrals Now that the basic steps are complete, your eNewsletter is basically on auto-pilot (if you automated your featured listings).

But if you want to turn your eNewsletter into a lead conversion and referral machine, you’re going to want to take the extra step to establish a genuine connection with your customers.

That one extra step is a personal greeting.

At the top of every eNewsletter, you have the option of adding a personal greeting. So when you get your email reminder five days before the newsletter is scheduled to send, take the time to write a thoughtful greeting. Once again, it’s all about providing value to your audience through community and real estate information. To give you some ideas of what to write about, refer back to the topics suggested in the last chapter for Facebook because they also apply to your personal greeting: Links to your blog posts New real estate community programs and incentives • New real estate housing developments • New business developments • New restaurants and entertainment • New shopping centers and stores • New schools • School ratings and information • Reviews for restaurants, stores and attractions • Things to do this weekend • Seasonal outdoor activities and things to do • Family activities • Special events and attractions • Community and charitable events • •

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CHAPTER 3 EMAIL MARKETING: MONTHLY ENEWSLETTERS Local classes, training and learning events Local hobbies and clubs • Local real estate news and information • National/global real estate news and information • A breakdown of the different lifestyles • Pictures, videos and info on different neighborhoods • Public transportation and information • Local tax rates and information • Other local real estate information • •

Need Help? To see a full example of the eNewsletter, go to Training >> Training Center, click on the category called Email Campaigns and eNewsletter and watch the video called Step-by-Step Instructions to Using PrimeAgent Campaigns (including eNewsletter). Fast forward to 8:50.

Hereʼs an example of a personalized custom greeting: Hi Kelly, November is such a gorgeous time in Scottsdale! With the kids settled in school, refreshingly cool mornings and evenings, and Thanksgiving right around the corner, I am reminded how much we have to be grateful for this time of year.

If you are expecting out of town guests this month and want to share the beauty of the desert with everyone, the Bajada Nature Trail, which is part of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve is perfect for the whole family - from kids to seasoned hikers. Especially after October’s rainfall, you can catch gorgeous wildflowers in an array of colors reminiscent of the amazing sunsets that can only be found in Arizona.

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CHAPTER 3 EMAIL MARKETING: MONTHLY ENEWSLETTERS The Scottsdale ArtWalk takes place every Thursday (except Thanksgiving Day) and doesn’t disappoint with a wide range of artistic styles. The Musical Instrument Museum is another spot that offers something for the whole family with their “Mini Music Maker” series on Wednesdays and new Guitar Masterpiece feature open now through the first week of December.

Even though we’ve officially kicked off the holiday season, you’d be surprised how busy the market can actually be as fall brings visitors to the valley and many of them decide on the Phoenix-area for a second home. If you are thinking about selling, the holidays make for great home-staging options, and there is less competition on the market. If the time is right for you and you are ready to make a move, or you just want to know where you stand compared to recent sales in your area, I’d love to hear from you.

Great news! Just this weekend I listed a modern, rustic beauty, with incredible views of Camelback Mountain, located on Harding Drive. Take a look at the photos here! Homes in this neighborhood rarely come on the market and tend to draw a lot of activity within the first couple of days, so I wanted to let my clients and friends know about it first. Please give me a shout if you want to preview it.

I’m hitting the Old Town Farmer’s Market this Saturday. It kicks off at 7:00 AM and goes until 11:00 AM, but I like to get there early for the best selection. If you decide to head on over, text me so we can catch up.

Wishing you a fun and relaxing weekend!

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CHAPTER 3 EMAIL MARKETING: EMAIL BROADCASTS

Email Broadcasts PrimeAgent Broadcasts is the perfect solution for sending mass emails to your contacts. Broadcast emails are sent in a responsive format and they’re sent one by one automatically, increasing your chances of hitting the inbox folder v.s. junk or spam folders.

So the next time you need to notify your contacts of important real estate news, good news about the community or showcase a new listing, PrimeAgent Broadcasts is the perfect tool to get that done.

Email Marketing - The Final Step to Your Digital Marketing Success Throughout this booklet, we’ve discussed the power of reaching billions of people online through web and social media marketing.

Now let’s take the content and blog posts that you created in Chapter 2 and share them via an email broadcast, targeting everyone who is already in your database.

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CHAPTER 3 EMAIL MARKETING: EMAIL BROADCASTS Step 1: Go to CRM >> Broadcasts and click on Begin.

Click on the arrow next to the folder that says Pre-Built and then click on the arrow next to Broadcasts. From here you will see the two Blank Templates and for this purpose, lets use Blank Template - Single Column Logo. Click on Use This next to the template to start crafting your email.

Step 2: On step 1 of crafting your broadcast, there are many options from choosing a future send date, saving your broadcast and sending yourself a test to see if the email you crafted looks good. But let’s stay focused on the most important items to share your blog posts via email: Email Subject Line: Copy and paste the title/headline of your blog post into this subject line. And feel free to add a few words to the beginning of your subject line to make it more appealing without changing your core message.

Here’s an example: Still Renting? Check out these 7 Tax Saving Benefits of Becoming a Homeowner!

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CHAPTER 3 EMAIL MARKETING: EMAIL BROADCASTS

Title

Body

Title: At this point your customers have already opened the email, so let’s keep the Title short and to the point.

You can use your title/headline but if you can shorten it to three to five words, that will look even better.

Body: As discussed in Chapter 2, your blog post should begin with an image. In the email, you’re also going to insert the same image from your post (or in cases where you’ve used a video, take a screenshot of the embedded video on your blog and use that as your image for this email).

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CHAPTER 3 EMAIL MARKETING: EMAIL BROADCASTS Underneath your image, simply copy and paste the first two to three sentences of your blog into the body of the email but leave the last sentence open ended with an ellipsis (i.e. . . .).

By doing this, you’re opening with an attention grabbing statement and you’re telling your customer there’s more to read. Just like our social media strategy, the goal is to always direct the customer to your website for more information.

Beneath the three opening sentences, add text that says Click Here to Read the Full Article and hyperlink that text to the blog post on your website. (For an example, refer to the screenshot on page 45.)

Step 3: Once you’ve crafted your email, go through the next steps to select your contact recipients (in most cases, you will want to select all of the groups to send your email to everyone in your database), name your broadcast and click Send.

Automated Templates for New Listings, Open Houses, Just Sold Listings and Executive Announcements When it comes to sending emails about your listings, we’ve taken all the hard work out of it by pulling in the listing photos and details directly from the MLS into a well-designed responsive email template. And if you just joined Realty Executives, we have an automated announcement for that too.

So, rather than spend time on cropping and inserting photos for every new listing, use the PrimeAgent Broadcast tool to quickly share your listings and new affiliation with Realty Executives.

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CHAPTER 3 EMAIL MARKETING: EMAIL BROADCASTS

Step 1: Go to CRM >> Broadcasts and click on Begin Step 2: From here you will see the four automated templates: New Listing, Open House and Just Sold Templates: Select your listing and customize the email if you desire.

You also have an option to showcase your other listings in the email. For the Open House template you have to include the date and time of your open house.

For the Just Sold template enter the sold price.

Executive Announcement: If you’re new to Realty Executives, this email template will make it easy for you to announce your affiliation with Realty Executives and pull in your contact details to share with your contacts.

Everything is customizable.

Step 3: Once you’ve crafted your email, go through the next steps to select your contact recipients, give a name to your broadcast and click Send.

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