You know that look you catch, when you are standing in line at the grocery store, or at the bank. The head cocked to one side, looking at you like they want to say something. And when they do, it’s something along the lines of “You’re that Realtor, aren’t you?”
Smile and Wave, Boys, Smile and Wave
Priceless. Face recognition, name recognition, brand recognition. It’s more than the ad in the newspaper with your face in it. It’s more than the oversized, glossy postcard with your name, face, and website address on it. It’s more than the long tail search about your town’s weekly farmers market that caused him to trip over your blog. It’s that, plus that, plus that, plus a million other little things that you can’t measure.
Like a Choreographed Dance
That’s the most infuriating thing about good public relations and marketing: it’s non-quantifiable at best. You can’t put your finger exactly on what is going to stick in a consumer’s mind. Frequently it takes a ton of little things, which is why the “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” theory particularly applies. I’ll be the first person to tell you (and back it up with actual transactions) that internet marketing is a very profitable way to brig in clients. I’ll also point out that my website traffic typically doubles the day after I run a color ad in the local paper. And, that I have great success getting people to register on my static website using postcard mailers with individual registration codes. The quarterly market update letters I send out also include an invitation to visit and participate in my blog.
During a slower market, it’s a great time to take a bird’s eye view of your marketing efforts and see where you are weak and where you are strong. How are you blending ‘traditional’ marketing methods with your web 2.0 efforts?
