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Personal Marketing in a Virtual Environment

Jennifer Hoppenrath, Z57 REALTOR® Resource

Personal relationships are the cornerstone of a successful REALTORS® business model, and when entering the world of online marketing, it's best to remember that the same philosophy applies. The Internet isn't some perplexing virtual reality, it's simply a channel of communication, and like print and telephone contact, it has it's own set of unique benefits and challenges. The key benefits to online communication is that it's cost effective, interactive, and easily modified. The foremost negative has been that there is a technology barrier to its use, although this barrier is decreasing every day as the Internet becomes more a part of our daily lives.

There are various methods of online communication, encompassing mainly your website, newsletters, and email. A website presence is your most comprehensive method of communicating with your clients. It's a virtual library of information interspersed with various contact forms, and, like all libraries, information should be organized in an intuitive manner. Website designers often refer to this as "usability". When thinking about your website consider the types of people who will be visiting your web address. They usually fall into one of three types; those who know exactly what they are looking for, those who aren't sure and are exploring options, and those who are in the wrong place.

Usability guru Steve Krug writes in his book "Don't Make Me Think"* that the overriding principle of website usability is that is should be "obvious, over-riding, and self-explanatory". The challenge in both web design and writing copy for your website is that it meets this principle for all three user types. If you are choosing an outside vendor for your website design, be sure to discuss this point with them and don't sign with them unless the design meets this criteria. As for your copy, determine what type of information each type of person would be looking for and be sure they can find it on your home page within a couple of seconds. Also make sure your logo and company name are clearly visible. This helps strengthen your brand plus lets that third type of website visitor, the one who's in the wrong place, recognize they need to go elsewhere.

Don't forget to track where your website visitors are going on your website. This gives you valuable information about what types of information the majority of your visitors are looking for and will allow you to further tailor your website to their needs as time goes on. Don't forget, your website can be changed in real time. No expensive print runs. Use this asset to your advantage by changing your website content often, and keep honing it to maximize your response rates.

Newsletters are a valuable online communication tool not only because they keep you in touch with your leads database, an important part of the consistent "touching" REALTORS® need to participate in before their prospecting pool begins to remember their face and name, but also because it helps to establish you as a leader in your community. Newsletters are beneficial as well to track what your prospects are most interested in. Most newsletter programs offer tracking services that allow you to see what articles your readers are clicking on, giving you a better understanding of their interests.

Emails are a part of your every day correspondence already, so be sure to maximize these communications by sending HTML versions that display your logo, brand, and picture. Scanned images of hand written signatures are a nice touch as well, just be sure to include text-only copy of critical information for those recipients who cannot view images within their email program.

When putting together your online marketing campaigns, be sure to remember the following when it comes to making your communications personal:

1) Voice

The "voice" of your writing can be a critical component of how you are perceived. Most REALTORS® benefit from a conversational style rather than a formal one. Save the legal speak for the closing deal. Hook them on friendly and succinct voice.

2) Brand and Consistency

Always be consistent in your communications, not just your online communications. If you have a logo or tagline, always use it consistently. Even the way you spell words, such as e-mail or email, needs to stay consistent. This lends an air of professionalism to your business as well as increases exposure of your brand by repetition. For instance, the Nike^TM "swoosh" always points the same way and the copy surrounding whatever product Nike^TM is selling always has the same blunt and motivational edge. Your brand and writing should also be as consistent. Just do it.

3) Interactivity - the Key to Mimicking Conversation

One of the key benefits of online communications is their interactivity. We've already discussed the advantage of tracking what your clients and prospects click on either when on your website or viewing a newsletter, but there's also room for more personal interactivity through the use of online contact forms. Studies show that the highest response rate for online forms comes from those that are brief and also contain a short, personal message and a picture of the REALTOR® they will be contacting. (See Matt Browne of Z57 Inc. discuss with Anne Holland at Marketing Sherpa " Landing Page Test Results - How to Get Consumers to Register as Phone Sales Leads Online" for more detailed information.) Just like in real life, people want to feel personally greeted and don't want a hassle.

4) Short and sweet.

The online attention span is painfully short. People "skim" rather than read. Be sure your copy is short and succinct or people won't bother to read it.

Conveying your personality online shouldn't be a major challenge. Keep driving for connection and interactivity and you'll be able to open your business to this exciting new channel in no time.

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