Five Best Offline Real Estate Marketing Tips that will help you to sell more

Marketing is a crucial aspect of any real estate investment business. A clear understanding of the best real estate marketing ideas often separates the good from the great. Most successful businesses believe in using both offline and online marketing strategies and finding a proper balance to ensure the company’s marketing efforts reach various audiences and are effective in the long term.

Before we move to the best offline marketing channels you can consider for your investment strategy, let us first understand what offline marketing in real estate is?

Offline marketing incorporates channels and media that you’d use to market your business that is not online. Depending upon the objectives of your campaign, there are various offline tools that are available- from networking and direct mail to sponsoring community events and business cards. Once a norm, offline or traditional marketing still holds its unique value and remains effective for real estate business owners seeking to generate more leads and boost overall profits despite the rise of online marketing methods.

The best offline marketing strategies adopted by businesses will vary. However, some essential tips have proven successful for many and can be a jumping-off point for your future marketing campaigns.

1. Referral Marketing

Referral marketing is a word-of-mouth initiative designed by a company to incentivize existing customers to introduce their family, friends and other connections to become new customers. In the property space, referral marketing is considered as an organic result of combined efforts like great customer support, unique viewing experience, after-sales service etc. which serves as a unique selling point for existing customers to refer the business to their connections, family and friends. 

Referrals are considered the most valuable lead generation tool and are highly cost-effective. NAR (National Association of Realtors) recently stated that agents believe they receive over 89% of their leads from referrals. If you are working in a local setting, referrals can help you in numerous ways. Real estate businesses may find themselves approached by friends or relatives of existing customers or community members bringing in new business opportunities. According to Invespcro, referred leads convert 30% better and have a 16% higher lifetime value than leads acquired via other channels.

To ensure your referral marketing approach is at the top of the game, you can build a more robust system by considering the following,

  • Offer an incentive or discount to clients for referrals
  • Collaborate with other agents and negotiate on splitting the commission
  • Offer to split the fees for any referral
  • Consider offering the past clients a commission if they recommend you to their network
  • Set up a referral agreement with local home-improvement consultants, packers and movers and landscapers as an extra incentive for past clients.

Remember, referrals turn your satisfied customers into very convincing cheerleaders. It is crucial to do your best with your first clients so that their satisfaction converts into brand advocacy and fuels the ultimate source of referrals. 

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2. Leverage on Direct Mail

Direct mail is one of the most popular and common offline real estate marketing strategies that companies have relied on time and time again. It’s one of the methods proven to generate leads, boost marketing presence, and a cost-effective approach to reaching new audiences.

Depending on the target audience, direct mail campaigns can include anything from personalized marketing letters, cards to merchandise. Most real estate businesses use one or a combination of both. A personalized letter is highly effective when telling a story, communicating details, or covering various aspects of your product or services. On the other hand, postcards are brief and single-focused and the most cost-effective way of direct mail. They are cheaper to print and can help save on mailing house (no folding and envelope inserting) and postage costs. For instance, if you decide to use printed postcards to ensure your message reaches your intended audience; the more you order them in number, the lower the price you pay. Also since postcards are used for short compelling messages or offers and are single focussed, it helps you save on mailing and postage costs. Postcards as a tool are a highly effective strategy to grab the recipient’s attention and drive them into action.

The same applies to personalised letters as a tool to reach your target customers. However, while this may be highly effective to communicate details and more in-depth stories about your brand, it can bring in mailing costs such as no folding and envelope inserting costs.

According to DMA research, there is a 9% average response rate for direct mail campaigns. As per Joint Industry Committee for Mail (JICMAIL) report, “In Q2 of 2019, consumers engaged with 91% of all Direct Mail. By Q2 2020, this figure had soared to 96%.” Recent JICMAIL figures reveal,56% of all mail items are still in the home after 28 days, embedding the brand in the home setting and opening doors for further engagement online, which can lead to a conversion.

JICMAIL identifies that direct mail is one of the most effective ways to reach the Gen Z audience. This audience is 40% more likely to claim that mail can change their mind about a brand than the average GB adult.

Direct mail can prove to be an excellent long-term offline marketing strategy for real estate businesses looking to generate leads over time. Regardless of which mail piece format you choose, the mail must grab the prospect’s attention and make an exciting offer relevant to the recipient. It is always a good idea to research and identify your target audience and their location. An example could be exploring the types of properties these target audiences are looking at (Zoopla, Right Move ) and the owners we aim to convert.

3. Flyer Distribution and Hand to Hand flyers

Flyer Distribution is a time tried offline marketing method that has been used widely for decades in the real estate space and hasn’t been affected by any of the technological shifts that have taken place during these years. Estate agents, whether big or small, have been using flyers regularly.

Flyer distribution or leaflet marketing is one of the most popular tangible tools for any real estate business. Marketers believe how critical this tool is at building brand awareness and recognition. There are different ways you can get your flyers into people’s hands and homes. The two most commonly used methods are,

  • Door to door Delivery
  • Hand to Hand Flyer Distribution

Door to Door is the ultimate way to get your flyers out to the targeted audience. This delivery method relies on the distributor putting your flyers through letterboxes of privately-owned residential addresses in selected areas.

In-Hand-to-hand Flyer Distribution, you can place a group of distributors or brand ambassadors in a busy area at a strategic time of day and have them hand out flyers to people passing by. Many businesses have used this technique historically widely and are still leveraging its wider reach and boosting brand awareness. 

Whether adopting Door to Door or Flyer Distribution, the real estate investment business should consider having a high-quality mapping system developed by a reputable flyer distribution company to track, scale and optimize their hand-to-hand flyer distribution campaigns.

There is a common misconception that flyer marketing can be cannot be measured accurately or is time-consuming to track. That’s not the case. On-street leaflet marketing, direct mail or car hangers, to name a few, can massively increase customer acquisition, skyrocket sales and improve brand awareness.

DiDi partnered with Oppizi for a leaflet distribution campaign to drive customer acquisition bringing over 165,000 new customers across five cities. That’s impressive, right?. Thanks to Oppizi- with its unique tech-powered flyer and leaflet distribution solution, tracking, scaling and optimizing your offline campaigns couldn’t be easier!

4. Community Engagement and Sponsorships 

Another unique real estate marketing idea involves engaging in the community around you which can have a significant impact on your business and your trustworthiness. It can provide you with warm leads, referrals and priceless first-hand knowledge about your target market. Community engagements can bring new life to your brand.

It’s worth considering a few exciting ways to get involved in your community by organising,

Open House – Open houses are more to do with meeting new leads than selling a home. This kind of event gives you an opportunity to get to know your neighbourhood, talk about your business and do some important networking.

Neighbourhood Garage sales– this is a great idea to facilitate and organise something together and to get everyone out. Show your neighbours that you are organized, and creative while showing your prospective customers how lively your community is.

Sponsoring a local race/tournament or participating in a gardening project or summer fair– both these activities can be an exciting way to give exposure to your brand. For example, there are many fun 5K marathons held throughout the summer months that you can participate in (with a company-branded T-shirt), or sponsor summer fairs that you can get involved in.

People like to work with people they know and trust. Community engagements can bring new life to your brand, help you elevate your brand value, create recognition, develop trust and raise the brand’s visibility.

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Click to book a demo version

5. Build a solid Local Network 

In particular, networking plays a crucial part in a real estate investment business when it comes to offline marketing efforts. A strong network can help you generate qualified leads.

You can build your local network through: 

  • Taking part in all social events like fairs, community activities, local exhibitions, etc.
  • Volunteer with local charities or at social programs
  • Join meetings and sessions with key people in your local community
  • Joining your state or local governing body ( will help you connect with potential mentors and industry professionals)
  • Become affiliated with the chamber of commerce, exclusive realtor association, and other organizations that can help improve your professional growth. 

In addition to this, you can hand out vCard QR Codes at the local events to make it easier for your peers and connections to save your business information without the hassle of losing it. You can also get creative by becoming a Local Expert or a brand ambassador- show your neighbourhood that you care about them and stay up to date on everything going around in your area. Examples like conducting a neighbourhood watch or organising a plantation day can boost a positive experience giving the locals more reasons to think about you.

Traditional offline marketing remains highly effective for real estate agents seeking to generate more leads and boost overall profits.

The DMA states that businesses don’t need explicit consent to send direct mails to households. As long as there is a legitimate interest, they are good to go. This is not the case when it comes to online marketing where you need consent for all data you need to collect from audiences or individuals and provide necessary information on how you intend to use such data for your marketing purposes. Unsolicited data and communications are strictly against the GDPR when applied to the online marketing landscape unless you can show that you fall within an exception.

According to DMA, 51% of emails are deleted within 2 seconds compared to that of offline marketing materials which have a life span of 17 days some even reaching 38 days. So you can see how powerful offline marketing can be to your brand.

Successful offline marketing for property investment businesses can help spread the word about your services and increase brand awareness when done right. With careful research and evaluation, you can help ensure the success of any offline marketing campaign that you decide to adopt for your business. It’s essential to keep in mind that you have an established system for tracking offline marketing campaigns to maximize your efforts.

Start looking outside the box if your goal is to give your business a real marketing boost this year.

Find out what Oppizi can do for your offline marketing needs today.

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Shelly Parker

Shelly Parker

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