Real Estate Marketing Strategy: Survive & Thrive in 2023 [Guide + Templates & Scripts]

As we head into a new year, you’ll want a solid real estate marketing strategy to help you prepare and adjust to the challenging market.  

Which is precisely why we’re bringing you this guide—to provide you with a 3-part strategy and free resources to grow your real estate business in 2023 despite the current market.  

You’ll learn: 

1. The unique opportunities you have in this market 💡
2. Long-term strategy to get more listings and grow your pipeline 📈
3. How to use automation to close more deals ⚙️

And more. Plus you can download the guide to get access to a free Home Buyer’s guide you can give to clients 📓, templates 📧, scripts 📝, and more! 

So, let’s get started, shall we? 

The opportunities you have in this market 

Client communication is key right now 
The outlook for home buyers   

Grow your listing pipeline 

Choose your perfect farm area 
Know your target audience 
Use multi-channel marketing 

Use automation to close more deals 

Automated lead response 
Use drip campaigns to stay top-of-mind 

And download the guide for a free Buyer's guide for clients, templates, scripts & more

 #1 Opportunities you have in this market

💬 Client communication is key right now: Now more than ever, you want to focus on your past clients and SOI. During these uncertain times, your clients have questions, and you have the opportunity to be their voice of expertise. Reassure your clients and answer their questions, like: 

No one is better equipped to answer these questions than you. So, reach out and send a text or email just to check in and see how they’re doing. You’ll stay top-of-mind and show you care.  

Pro tip: Set up a quick email template in your CRM and then send a group email to touch many clients at once. Download the guide to get a free email template 📧 you can send to your clients to update them on the current market. 

👆🏻 Things are starting to look up for home buyers: According to recent data, if you have buyers still interested in making a move, now just might be the time to get them back in the game. 

• Seller acceptance of terms & contingencies give more power to the buyer: While it’s still a seller’s market, some terms are starting to shift to the buyer’s favor. Recent data from a realtor.com® survey¹ shows that 92% of sellers were willing to accept some buyer terms (compared to 86% six to twelve months ago):  

• More inventory + more time on market means buyers can breathe a little: According to realtor.com®’s recent market trends report², active listings are up 26.6% over last year. Couple that with the fact that time on market is up for the first time since 2020, these stats show the shift to a changing market:  

Pro tip: Educate your clients about the home-buying process with this free Home Buyer’s Guide! 📓 The guide provides a step-by-step overview of the process, a home buyer’s glossary and home search worksheet, and more.  

#2 Grow your listing pipeline  

There’s never been a better time to focus on getting your brand out there. Real estate farming helps you stay top-of-mind by providing consistent value and attention over time. It takes time and patience to build trust and relationships, but if you’re consistent with your efforts, they will pay off.  

Here are some top farming tips: 

Find the perfect place to plant your seeds: When choosing an area, take the time to do your research. Many agents choose an area close to home because they have first-hand knowledge. And consider the:  

• Turnover rate: At least 7-8% is recommended. 
• Average sale price: Get a list of sold properties for the last few years and calculate the average price for each year. 
• Farm size: This depends on your budget, though many recommend not exceeding 500 homes & starting smaller if you’re a new agent. 
• Competition: If there’s a well-established agent in that area, you may want to consider another area. 

Know your target audience: The more you know about your target audience, the more effective your marketing will be, and the more likely people are to respond. Learn about the people that live there:  

• Research the demographic: What’s the average age, are there lots of young families, what is their education level, are they on social media? 
• Niche marketing: You can focus on a specific demographic within the area (e.g. first-time homebuyers, those looking to move up, etc). 
• Use AI to tell you who’s most likely to sell: Rather than spend 95% of your budget mass marketing to people that aren’t going to sell soon, let AI tell you the top households that are most likely to sell. 🤖 Tools like Smart Targeting use predictive algorithms and data analytics to help get you in front of your next seller. 

Use a multi-channel marketing plan: With 95% of all buyers using online tools during the search process³, it’s important to make sure you have a digital presence in your farm as well as the traditional offline methods. Striking a balance between the two will get you the best results: 

• Print marketing—postcards, flyers, door hangers. 
• Digital ads 
• Email campaigns 
• Door knock but kick it up a notch. Offer value with a branded market report. Who doesn’t want to know what the neighbor’s house sold for? 

Example of a real-time MLS sold alert by Market Snapshot 

• Hand-written notes: Save for those you’ve had a face-to-face with, or people you know have interacted with your marketing. For example, if you’re sending market reports and you have analytics on open rates, choose the top most-engaged contacts and write a hand-written note. 

Pro tip: Tools like Smart Targeting can handle all of the marketing for you, from Facebook ads to print marketing and email campaigns, so you can focus on building relationships.  

Smart Targeting’s multi-channel marketing campaign 

Download the guide for free email templates 📧, door-knocking scripts 📝 and a helpful log 📋 you can use to keep track of details you learn while door knocking. 

#3 Automate to stay top-of-mind & close more deals 

Top agents use real estate automation to improve their process and efficiency. Technology can free you up so you can focus on what matters most and make sure important tasks, clients and opportunities don’t slip through the cracks. Here are a couple of key follow-up automations: 

💬 Automated lead response  

If your leads are set to automatically flow to your CRM, you can take that a step further and set up a task plan that takes care of a lot of the initial lead communication for you.  

Tools like the Automated Lead Response plan in Top Producer was built based on tried-and-tested lead conversion strategies. Automatically apply the plan to your incoming leads and sit back while prospects receive carefully crafted messages at specific times. 

Automated Lead Response in Top Producer 

💧 Use drip campaigns to stay in touch with your past clients & sphere 

You know that your past clients and sphere need to hear from you on a consistent basis in order to increase your repeat & referral business. A good real estate drip campaign will prevent clients from slipping through the cracks and keep you top-of-mind until they’re ready to buy or sell. And the best part—once the plans are set up, you apply them as needed and let your CRM do the heavy lifting for you. 💪🏻 

Task Plans in Top Producer 

And that’s all there is to it. With the real estate marketing strategy outlined in this guide, you'll be well on your way to growing your business in 2023 no matter what the market holds.

Download the guide below to get access to a free Home Buyer’s guide you can give to clients 📓, templates 📧, scripts 📝, and more!