Take a step back to see what type of content you have available. Your blog, your newsletter(s), information on your website, various services that you subscribe to that push content to consumers, etc. Determine what your rights are to that content and if you can share it. (Above all, respect copyrights.)

Next, once you have all your content assembled and know what content can be redistributed, determine the best methods to share the content. Think of your blog, your Twitter account, Facebook notes and status updates, targeted ads leading to a landing page/specific pages on your website, etc. What content would work well as printed pieces to generate leads? Consider all the possibilities and weave them into your marketing plan.

What are your best practices for content marketing?

The key word is “new.”

These new home sellers and buyers haven’t heard everything you’ve already said about home buying and selling.  The content they are looking for is likely something you’ve already covered in-depth many a time before.

With that in mind, don’t just cut and paste old content, but update it for today’s real estate market and add your new insights.  These new home buyers and sellers aren’t going to tire of the topics you cover as they’re new to them.  Keep these leads and prospects informed with informative content, but don’t reinvent the wheel every time you need new content.  Some of your tried and true information about buying or selling a home in your area is still relevant and useful to new home buyers and sellers — and effective in bringing in new leads and prospects.

Let us know how you recycle, reuse and repurpose content to find new buyers and sellers.

As you set, analyze and refine your goals for direct mail this year, Gooder Group can help.  During the month of January, all Print and Ship Postcards are on sale for 50% off! Take advantage of this money-saving opportunity to find new buyers and sellers in your market, but make sure you order by Monday, January 31, 2011 to take advantage of this huge sale!

Don’t forget that until the end of January, Gooder Group is offering brochures and handbooks for 50% off too — essentially, buy one, get one free.  Check out the 19 buyer, 28 seller and 11 general brochure titles and see which ones work best for your market.  REO, Foreclosure, Sell Fast, Short Sale and #1 Best Seller TAXES are moving fast!  Don’t miss the in-depth 24-page handbooks for buyers, sellers, financing and relocation too!

Gooder Group brochures and handbooks are designed to be included as a free offer for a “special report” in your marketing.  Prospects respond for further info and you engage the home buyer or seller in further discussion to assess their needs, timeline and exact situation.

Let us know how your New Year’s business resolutions are doing!

1.  Cost per acquisition (CPA) – Acquisition of contact info, lead or prospect, appointment, etc.

2.  Cost per sale (CPS) – Divide your marketing expenses by total transaction sides to determine your CPS.

3.  Return on Investment (ROI) – Divide gross commission income (return) by marketing cost (investment); percentage is the bottom line on how successful marketing was in terms of sales (returns) states as a percent of money spent (invested).

What data do you make sure you track to analyze later?

The truth of the matter is that home sellers and home buyers are most likely not comparing you and your marketing to other real estate professionals in the area.  They are comparing how professional, how useful, how relevant your services and marketing are to them compared to national brands that are totally unrelated to real estate.

They see shiny, glossy flyers in the mail from big box stores.  Their email inbox is filled with graphically dense announcements from national retailers.  Special offers abound in their text messages from stores of every type.  They are comparing you to this mega-brands that have huge budgets (and a huge audience to pay for it.)  They expect high-quality.  They expect professionalism without a doubt.

How do you compete?

Ensure your marketing is the best that it can be.  Enlist professionals to print your marketing materials.  Hire editors (even if it’s a college student English major) to review your materials before they’re finalized.  Never settle for “good enough” in anything you use to attract home buyers and sellers.  Create your marketing to look polished and professional and that is the image you’ll portray.

Let us know how you ensure that your home selling and home buying audience stays tuned in to your message even when your marketing budget isn’t endless.

If you’re looking for content for your content marketing efforts, you’ve come to the right place.  Gooder Group prides itself on providing useful content for real estate professionals to find new prospects.

Gooder Group brochures and handbooks are designed to be included as a free offer for a “special report” in your marketing.  Prospects respond for further info and you engage the home buyer or seller in further discussion to assess their needs, timeline and exact situation.

For the month of January, Gooder Group is offering brochures and handbooks for 50% off — essentially, buy one, get one free.  Check out the 19 buyer, 28 seller and 11 general brochure titles and see which ones work best for your market.  REO, Foreclosure, Sell Fast, Short Sale and #1 Best Seller TAXES are moving fast!  Check out the in-depth 24-page handbooks for buyers, sellers, financing and relocation too!

Let us know how you use Gooder Group brochures and handbooks in your content marketing.

Setting goals also works for direct mail.  If you simply mail without specific goals, you aren’t making the most of your marketing budget.

Create your message — and offer. What are you giving your recipients in your direct mail?  Is it a free consultation, a brochure, an offer to sign up for email newsletters, an invitation to visit your blog or website, local real estate information or something else?  Determine what you provide in your direct mail.  If it’s a “billboard” about you, consider if that will meet and further your marketing goals.

Identify your target group(s) for the mailing.  If your direct mail piece is targeting buyers, what kind of buyers are most likely to respond to your mail piece?  Is it an individual in a certain neighborhood, of a particular age/life stage, a renter, a move-down buyer, a move-up buyer, an investor, those looking for distressed properties or just anyone?  The more narrowly you define your target market, the more successful your direct mail will be.

Determine what you want from your direct mailing. Do you want more email sign ups for your newsletter (at your website)?  More Twitter followers?  More likes on Facebook?  Just more phone calls or emails?  You need to determine what your goal is so you can measure how your direct mail is working.

Ensure your data is correct. If your mailing list is incomplete — missing names, empty fields for address information, guesses for house numbers, you’re not quite ready to mail.  Take the time to make sure your data is current and complete or your direct mail will fail before it even hits the post office.

Once your goals are in place, your direct mail can go out and your results can be measured.  (Remember, determining goals for email marketing campaigns ensures success with email as well!)

When you set your goals for direct mail this year, Gooder Group can help.  During the month of January, all Print and Ship Postcards are on sale for 50% off! Take advantage of this money-saving opportunity to find new buyers and sellers in your market!

Things aren’t rosy once again, but we’re moving forward with a new perspective.  The biggest piece of knowledge you might have gained is that one-to-one interactions work the best — just as you knew before the downturn, working directly with one person allows you to see clearly and exactly what their needs and wants are leading you to more closed business because of personal and reactive service.

You’re likely adapting this one-to-one knowledge to your marketing — separating your prospects into niche groups based on what their needs are, what their timelines are like, what their budgets allow.  Following up personally with past clients who are ready to move up (or down) or send referrals your way.  Looking for new leads by providing useful, detailed content about your local market — information these leads cannot find in the national and even regional news.

Most importantly you’ve learned that staying in touch and remaining visible allows leads, prospects and past clients to reach out to you when they are ready to make a move.  Continuing to market during the down times means continued business; cutting out marketing to save money means no business during the down times.

With personalized marketing, you’ve learned what works in any kind of economy.  Share what you’ve learned about marketing during lean times.

1.  Facebook is where it’s at.  If you’re not on there yet, what are you waiting for?

2.  Email marketing works best when you target your niche.  Broadcast emails hit everyone; niches pinpoint your perfect client.

3.  Craigslist is hot for real estate.  Advertise there and see!

4.  Print marketing is still relevant.  Emptier mailboxes this year meant your piece got more impact than ever before.

5.  Cutting your marketing budget will cut down your number of new clients.

6.  Clean up your contact database and treat it like gold.  Once it’s cleaned up, keep it current and up-to-date.

7.  Learn all you can about mobile marketing.  Sign up for other companies’ mobile offers and study their successes and failures.

8.  Ask for referrals.  Provide the best customer service to ensure clients talk (well) about you everywhere they go — especially online!

9.  Start texting if you haven’t already.  Understand that the youngest home buyers (and sellers) often prefer texting to other forms of communication.

10.  Engage.  Online and off line.  Be accessible, honest and open with home buyers and sellers.

Now that 2010 is almost over, what marketing tips would you add?  What have you learned about marketing in 2010?

But, if you’re not putting the right planning and thought into your marketing — or enough of either — and not taking the time to make sure you’re targeting the right groups who might be ready to buy or sell a home, you’re likely firing too early.  You’re sending out marketing before you aim, before you’re ready.

If you don’t plan, you aren’t going to hit your target and your marketing isn’t going to produce the results you want — or possibly any results at all.

What are your resolutions for the new year in terms of getting your marketing out in the ready-aim-fire order?