There are a lot of ways to get your name out to your community. You can volunteer, pay for advertising, farm a neighborhood, market online, and more. However, one essential part of marketing is often overlooked – the humble business card.
We all have business cards, but I’m not sure we all know why. As it turns out, a business card can be one of your best marketing resources. Here are five ways to turn your business card into a powerhouse real estate marketing tool.
Use QR Codes to Track Responsiveness
Every given out a dozen business cards and wondered if anyone ever looked at them again? Me too. Fortunately, you can turn your business card into an incentive for action, and then track the responses.
All you need to do is put a QR code on your business card, and offer a free incentive for checking out your site. When they scan the QR code to get their freebie, you have successfully inspired them to take action based on your card. What’s more, they’re now on your website, able to see all of your new listings and recently sold homes!
This gives you a great way to track different outreach tactics and different word tracks that you might use when handing out your card. No more cards-into-the-abyss – now you’ll know if people look at them again!
Make Sure There’s a Call to Action
When you create your business card, don’t just tell prospects about yourself. Tell them what you want them to do! Something as simple as “For current listings, visit www.myweb.com,” certainly counts, but something with more pull and emotion is even better.
Consider calls to action that pull on what clients really want, like “To find your dream home, contact me today!” or “To sell your home quickly for top dollar, contact MyRealtyCompany today!”
Without a call to action, a business card is just a little bit of information. With a call to action, it becomes a powerful real estate marketing tool.
Add Relevant Trivia to Your Card
To spur conversation, try adding a line of local trivia to your card. You can talk about percentage of homes sold in a neighborhood, the effect of a new restaurant on home values, and more. Not only does this get you talking about something, it will help your name stick in the prospects head more easily.
In addition, the trivia will get people thinking about buying and selling homes, which is always helpful. As people share the trivia (and maybe some of your cards?) with their friends, they’ll have a reason to talk about you and the work that you do.
When you engage and amuse people, as well as helping them look smart to their friends, you know you have a great marketing tool!
Add a Testimonial to the Back of Your Card
People love hearing about other people’s experiences – the good, the bad, and the ugly. Include a quote from a satisfied customer on the back of your card, and then include a link where prospects can go for more testimonials if they’re interested.
Not only does this help you start off your interaction with a great endorsement, it also encourages recipients to visit your website. Not only will they see more positive feedback from customers, you can encourage them to visit your just listed and just sold pages for additional information.
Anytime your business card can drive prospects into finding out more information about you and what people think of you, you know you’re doing great with marketing!
Support a Charity or Cause
A lot of times people don’t care what we know until they know that we care. Putting a line on your business card about a charity or cause that you support goes a long way toward adding a personal touch to your outreach. If your brokerage is associated with a specific charity, you could include that too. Something as simple as “Proud Supporter of Disabled Veterans of America” could really make a difference to a prospect.
We want people to know that we aren’t just buyers and sellers, that we are personal, and that we have things close to our heart. By supporting a specific cause publicly on your card, you are putting your heart out to prospects, which makes working with you much more appealing.
Using your business card as an awesome real estate marketing tool isn’t hard. A lot of times it just means including an additional line or QR code on the card, and using that as a conversation point. If you’re looking for help, Printerbees has business cards for every brokerage. Check out our branded cards: Keller Williams, Century 21, Remax, Coldwell Banker, and more!
How do you use your business cards as a marketing tool? Share in the comments!
Websites and internet marketing strategies play an important role in the success of any real estate business in this day and age. It’s been proven time and time again that 90% of all new home searches begin on-line. Having a well built, user friendly website always leads to more leads and listings and using these tips will help you get a much higher conversion rates from the visitors who do stop by your site.
The most common business card blunders:
