RELATE - from DMS Connect

2019 - Number 1

Planning Your 2019 Marketing

What's Inside: Sales & Marketing Funnel An illustration of marketing stages. 8 Tips To A Better Website There is a lot to know when putting your online presence together. Upcoming Events Just Listed & Sold Cards

CONNECT. PROSPECT. ENGAGE.

@DMSConnectCanada

Sales and Marketing Funnel Marketing is a necessity in real estate because it works behind the scenes to help you strengthen relationships with the people you like to work with. This is your typical AIDA Marketing Funnel. It illustrates the stages you have to go through in order to create clients with your marketing: Awareness, Interest, Desire and Action . PROSPECTS

AWARENESS

STRANGERS

INTEREST

PROSPECTS

DESIRE

LEADS

ACTION

CLIENTS

SOI (Sphere Of Influence)

We tend to start our marketing efforts in the awareness phase attracting prospects into the funnel. This approach works to build a client base by increasing public knowledge of you one message at a time. Since you’re creating relationships with these prospects, one message at a time – it takes a lot of work and resources, but long-term, the results can be very beneficial. To make the awareness stage a success, you want broad messaging where a lot of people will see your name repeatedly in a variety of formats – videos, print, social media, email, billboards, bus benches, online display ads, etc. The interest and desire phases of the funnel often overlap because the ultimate goal is similar. You want prospects to recognize you are the person to talk to about real estate and seek you out because of what they’ve seen and heard about you. Messages are stronger in these stages and focus on your unique value proposition – what you have to offer that will solve their problems. Share your successes through information like personal sale statistics and client testimonials so people see you get the job done. You want to answer the age old question of “What’s in it for me?” Effective mediums include personal connections, informative ads, videos, email, print, paid search, etc. With the action phase, you have the opportunity to guide people to personally connect with you and your business. Offering market comparisons, free home evaluations, personal meetings, etc. all encourage prospects to work with you. This is also where your sales prowess comes into play. Selling leads on your skills and expertise shouldn’t be that difficult if you’ve created a trustworthy relationship with them over the trek through the marketing funnel phases.

Experts state it’s about 5x more expensive to get a new customer than keep an existing one. Therefore, keep your sphere of influence (past clients) at the top of your plans when it comes to marketing. Someone who has worked with you before or knows you and your business well doesn’t have to go through the awareness, interest or desire phases of the marketing funnel with as much guidance as a prospect. They can head straight to the action phase when they have the need. They do have to be aware of you but that comes from consistently keeping in touch with them. If you keep in touch regularly, your relationship builds and they become loyal advocates who generate repeat and referral business for you. When they refer you to someone they know, that person jumps into the desire/action phase of the funnel saving you time and resources. Take a look at your marketing and what phase(s) of the marketing funnel you connect with. Do your messages and methods of connecting work with what you’re attempting to do?

High

Low

INVESTMENT

Awareness

Action

STAGE

8 Tips To A Better Website Websites have come a long way in recent years. From SEO to mobile friendly to IDX integration, there is a lot to know when putting your online presence together. We know there are many companies out there that specialize in creating and hosting real estate websites and we highly recommend you get a pro to create one for you as it’ll save you time and probably a few headaches. However, there are some keys we think are important to consider to make your website the most effective it can be. MOBILE FRIENDLY – make sure your website is optimized to work on mobile devices and that it works well. This is a no brainer – if your site isn’t mobile friendly, you’re going to lose a lot of traffic. LOADS QUICKLY – if your website takes any length of time to load, it’s going to be skipped over by prospects as well as search engines. Test it on various browsers and devices to make sure it’s quick to load. UPDATED CONTENT – show you’re active in real estate by posting fresh content (which also helps your ranking in search results). It can be updating your blog (ideally with more than just listings), changing and adding testimonials, or if you’re active on social media having your feed on your website. PERSONALIZED/CUSTOMIZED CONTENT – if your “about me” page is the same as the competitions', chances are you’ll both be over looked. Or if the photo on your website header is the same one as the template your marketing company

FACEBOOK UPDATE It’s been a year since we started our Facebook page! Thanks and “hi” to everyone who likes us and follows us ( @DMSConnectCanada if you’re not one of them yet.) In the past year, we’ve learned a lot, and we think what we’ve learned can be valuable to you too. We learned that it’s neat to connect with people in such a personal way – we’ve had conversations with you based on our posts, connected with your lives through your pages and comments and even made some new friends along the way. This kind of connection is strong and helps us feel good at the end of the day. Now, is it bringing in boatloads of money? Well, no… but we didn’t expect it to. Our Facebook goal was to increase our reach and make new friends. And we’re doing that. We’re still working on increasing the reach of our posts - right now, about 30% of our audience sees what we put up. We’d like that number to be higher so we’ll incorporate some of the tips Facebook suggests to increase our reach like using posts that promote comments, using more videos, live streaming, connecting with influencers and utilizing the messenger app and chatbots to connect with you. We’ll also vary the times throughout the day that we post so maybe we’ll reach more of you when you have some downtime. If there is anything you want to see us cover in this column (about Facebook), send us a message or post your ideas to our Facebook page. Is there something that is working for you on Facebook that you’d like to share? Feel free to comment @DMSConnectCanada.

offers… think about changing it up, please. Having personally written text and your own photos will go further to creating a relationship with a prospect than having a bunch of “cookie cutter” info. GOOD AND MULTIPLE CALLS TO ACTION – Please, don’t hide your contact information at the bottom of the page. Make it front and center. Also, have buttons and ask visitors to take the next step in their real estate journey. Use phrases like “call me now” or “click for more information” to drive the process.

PERSONALIZE YOUR TEMPLATE! We come across template websites all the time – same images, same text, same colours, etc. EVEN THE SAME BIO! Use your website to highlight your unique value proposition and set yourself apart.

CAPTURE LEADS – There are many goals of having a website. One is to use it to capture leads – have a form pop-up that offers resources or market information or host a “VIP” section where visitors have to sign-up to access particular information. NEIGHBOURHOOD PROFILE PAGES – not the “static” ones that come with the site like “north west” but actual neighbourhoods you have an invested interest in (maybe you live there or farm that area) – having information on your website that highlights a particular area (not just listings from the area) will boost your credibility as the neighbourhood expert. REMOVE ‘COMING SOON’ PAGES – if you’re never going to write a blog, just take the page down. Same with testimonial pages, community info pages, etc. What are the features of your website that you feel give you the most personality? Is there something you would add to the above list? Continue the conversation on our blog at www.dmsmarketing.ca/category/blog.

UPCOMING EVENTS/BOOK US

In Calgary? Stop by and see us at the CREB ® 2019 Forecast on January 30, 2019 at the BMO Centre. (Go to www.crebforecast.com for tickets)

Thinking you want a one-on-one consultation about relationship marketing? We can swing by your office while we’re visiting Calgary or just about any day we’re in Edmonton… give us a call at 1-800-309-1747 or locally at 780-489-2969 to set up a meeting.

Dwayne Groome Training (For more information go to www.dwaynegroomeseminars.com) Winnipeg – January 22, 2019 Calgary – January 23, 2019 Vancouver – January 24, 2019 Edmonton – January 25, 2019

JUST LISTED & SOLD CARDS!

Tell the neighbours about your new listing or the property you just sold in three easy steps : 1. Pick a template (or work with our designer to create one of your own) 2. Send us the property information 3. Tell us where you want it delivered and we’ll work with Canada Post to get it there as soon as possible! Pricing varies depending on the number of homes in the mail walk – give us a call for specifics!

Call us for more info at: 1.800.309.1747 | 780.489.2969

phone: 780.489.2969 toll free: 1.800.309.1747 consult@dmsmarketing.ca www.dmsmarketing.ca

This publication was written and produced by DMS Marketing Inc. for information purposes only. Though we seek to provide information based on factual and reliable sources, DMS makes no warranty or guarantee of the accuracy of the information offered. Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved. Printed on recyclable material.

The New Database – How To Tip Sheet

We’ve recently updated our database. If you use our Mini-Mag to keep in touch with your clients, it means an easier, more streamlined interface to maintain your client list. If you don’t use us to keep in touch with your clients, this page isn’t really for you… but check out the other side – we have tips on using Excel that you may find useful! New Database: In order to access the new database, you have to be invited. If you try to log-in and it doesn’t work as before, you need an invitation - just email consult@dmsmarketing.ca to have one sent to you. Once you’ve activated your account, you’ll be able to log-in and maintain your client list. We have a few video tutorials as well as a User Guide available at: https://dmsconnect.cld.bz/Database-User-Guide-Video-Tutorials.

Tutorials Include How to: • Activate your Account • Open your Client List • Delete a Client

• Add a Client • Edit a Client • Export your List and Find the Record Count

You can access the new database from any browser, your mobile phone and on any platform, 24/7.

If you have any questions, please feel free to give us a call at 1-800-309-1747 or 780-489-2969. You can also email consult@dmsmarketing.ca.

WELCOME!

Excel Tips & Tricks If you don’t use Microsoft Excel on a regular basis, it can be rather daunting. Here are a few tips for manipulating the layout, data and printing.

Column Width: To make each column wide enough to show all of the contents, press Ctrl+A to Select All, then double click a line between any two columns. The columns will automatically adjust so everything in them is visible. Removing Columns or Rows: To remove a column or row, click on the column letter or row number to select the entire column/row > right click > choose Delete. This will remove the column/row and move the others left or up. You can select multiple rows and columns too. Use the Ctrl key to choose columns/rows that aren’t adjacent. Adding Columns or Rows: To add a column or row, click on the column letter or row number to the right of (column) or below (row) where you want to insert your new column/row to select it. Right click > choose Insert.

Sort Data Alphabetically: To sort a column alphabetically, press Ctrl+A to Select All > click the Data tab in the top menu > click the Sort button (it says Sort under it) > select which column you want to sort by from the first drop down menu. If your column names don’t appear in the drop down menu, click the box next to “My data has headers” and they should appear. Click OK when done to sort the data. Print Preview: To see if everything will fit on a page before printing, choose File > Print. A preview will appear on the right of the screen to show you how the printout will look. Use the back arrow at the top of the window to go back to the data. You’ll now see a dashed line where the page will be cut-off. Adjust your data accordingly and try again. Fit on Page: To squish the contents of a document onto one page when printing, select the info you want to print > choose File > Print. Under the settings, instead of “Print Active Sheets” choose “Print Selection.” Then go to where it says “No Scaling” under the settings and pick “Fit Sheet on One Page”, “Fit Columns on One Page”, or “Fit Rows on One Page.” You can also adjust the margins as necessary to allow a bit more room for your print out.