Farm Area Marketing For Real Estate Agents

Since I live in a coastal area, I like to focus my efforts primarily on beach property, however, I do have a couple farm areas inland. Many real estate agents have more than one farm area. The reason for this is simple; by focusing on several small areas I am branding myself. If I sell a number of residential homes in the same 4-5 block area, the people who live and work in that area will know who I am and they will be more likely to enlist a real estate agent that is known to them. By saturating the area, I am in a sense, claiming it. I enjoy becoming somewhat of an expert of my little farm area and the community in which it resides.

There are several benefits to and reasons why I use farm area marketing I have listed some of them below.

1. Branding
2. Building Trust
3. Competition
4. Economics
5. "Word of Mouth" advertising

Branding is a term that many companies use to describe the relationship between the marketer and the product. For instance, when I think of sneakers, I think about Reebok. When my friends and neighbors think about real estate I want to be the brand that they recognize. That is much easier done when if I only have two or more small farm areas. I want the people that live in my farm areas to think of me first when the subject of real estate comes up. In essence, I want to become the expert on that particular geographical area.

One way that I built my brand in my farm areas is I tried to build a trusting relationship with the people of the community. Becoming an expert on a geographical area includes learning about the community and their values. If I live in the same area it is not as difficult to build relationships, however, since I you have more than one farm area I had to find other ways to get to know the people. First, I found out where the locals socialized and I started to socialize there also. I struck up conversations about the local community, I sponsored local events, I helped out with local charities, and I made sure that everyone in my farm areas knew each time I listed or sold a house in the community. Those strategies allowed me to have a better chance of “branding” myself in that community.

Another reason that I chose to select small farm areas is that I wanted to level the field since I have to compete with large real estate firms. Large companies have much more access to advertising dollars than I do so my advertising is up to me. Some of the larger companies have already saturated the national market with name recognition so I have to give my farm areas good reasons to choose me over them. I know that most people prefer to do business with someone that they know and trust and my participation in community events was instrumental in many of their decisions.

The economics of having a farm area makes sense to me. I make a point to keep my brochure boxes full and I organize my own open houses. I have developed e-mail and snail mail lists and because many people in the community know me, they do not categorize my e-mails or letter as junk or spam. I know the unique problems of my farm areas and I am often among the first to hear when a family considers listing their home. I save overhead dollars by doing most of the networking myself.

It works! In fact, word of mouth advertising is one of the most effective ways to build up business. As I built trusting relationships with the people in my farm areas, they told others about my service. However, it can work both ways. It only benefits me if I treat my clients with respect and offer excellent customer service. If I am known for unsavory qualities, that news will travel even faster than all of my good works and it only takes once. I believe that servicing a small farm area with excellent service will benefit me more in the long run then if I try to spread myself too thin.