10 Marketing Questions to Ask Yourself in 2018

The holiday decorations are put away, the leftovers have been devoured and the inherent craziness has settled down – welcome to 2018! A lot has happened in the world of digital marketing over the past 12 months, and the cold days of January (for those of you in the north) bring forth the realities of a new quarter, new goals and new expectations.

And it's time to ask yourself the tough marketing questions if you want to get ahead of the competition in 2018.

1. What type of content am I producing?

High-quality content will always be the economic engine to your marketing strategy. It has to be memorable, inviting to look at and fun to read. But if you aren't creating any content online, how will you differentiate yourself in a crowded market? Why do you even have social media profiles? What's holding you back from sitting down and typing up an article?

Thought leadership will always be a unique form of digital investment that will never go out of style – as long as the content is powerful and useful.

2. Is my branded website up and running?

First of all, this title is a bit too presumptuous. Ask yourself – do I have a branded website to begin with?

Personal agent websites are a great channel to attract and educate potential clients who are new to real estate. It also helps establish your core values by serving as an anchor for you online so that all digital vehicles flow back there. Consider if a prospect heard your name by way of a recommendation, and they turned to Google only to find paltry search results – that's not a good look for 2018.

3. What does my email marketing game look like?

If you have to blow the dust off your database because it's been so long since you last had an email marketing strategy, you might want to make it a priority for 2018. If this seems like there are a million steps before you get to this phase, you can actually lean on your real estate CRM to send out fresh content that is never recycled. It's mobile-optimized for easy viewing, complete with your branding and has innovative and enthralling topics every month to keep your audience engaged.

It's not as daunting as it once seemed, is it?

4. How are my leads coming to me?

Successful agents know where their leads are being funnelled in. Whether it is from social media or from peer recommendations, you need to know where your prospects come from in order to optimize and enhance the process. Every wise business knows their customers' path to conversion – and how to reverse engineer it to strengthen for sales. So back to the original question—do you know where your qualified leads are coming in?

5. Why am I losing prospects?

So you've nailed down where leads come in from – now it's time to analyze why they are heading for the revolving door. They might see you as too risky, where you haven't done enough to earn their trust. Perhaps there isn't enough digital information to help them feel comfortable with moving forward with you. You don't have any sales collateral to help them down the funnel by way of case studies or testimonials so they feel confident moving forward.

Or it could be because of a habit of breaking promises such as being late for meetings or delayed follow-ups. This is the time where you need to take a critical audit on yourself as to why some well-qualified prospects decided they were going to look elsewhere.

6. How well organized am I?

Isn't it great when points flow well into each other? Organization is paramount in any business landscape – not to mention an industry that notoriously steals your attention at every turn.

Your contact data, appointments, task lists, new opportunities, multiple calendars and managing various listings and buyers can be spread out – and having them on sticky notes won't do your business any favors.

Also ask yourself, "Is my database up to date?" Your database of contacts is your core intellectual property to take with you no matter what brand you're operating under. So if it hasn't been properly segmented, nurtured and cleaned out from time to time, this would be a good place to start.

7. What am I doing to enhance my personal and professional brand?

Your brand as a real estate agent will ultimately determine the longevity of your success in the industry. Are you networking? Volunteering within your community? Taking a course on new social media trends? Going to real estate conferences? Are you taking the time to invest in yourself both personally and professionally and refining your skillset along the way?

8. What is the primary goal of my social media accounts?

Social media is no longer just a "nice-to-have," it's a priority among all business strategies. And with real estate agents working as independent operators, it's important to build your digital brand and understand the why behind your social activities. What type of engagement are you getting? When people reach out to you, what type of sentiment is it? Do you have a framework in place to corral new leads? Are you actually keeping up with social media trends? How active are you on social media? Where are you pulling in posts from?

If you don't have a firm objective for social media, then you'll fall into the trap on the "spray and pray." What is the engine that is driving your digital game?

9. Am I keeping in touch with old clients?

The holiday season gives us great inspiration for reaching out and reconnecting with friends and family. This is a great business practice to remember not just in December, but with your past clients all year long. If you only reach out once a year like clockwork to connect, you aren't doing much to stay top of mind with them.

10. Am I actually nurturing new leads?

What is your go-to move in your sales playbook when a prospect finds you online and is interested in your services? Do you have a drip email campaign set up or are you doing it manually? Do you have immediate alerts in place to let you know when you get a new lead? What is your strategy to stay on their radar if they aren't ready to go ahead with buying a home now? With a real estate CRM, you can have this framework in place so they are automatically being nurtured behind the scenes.

Key Takeaway

Start 2018 off on a powerful note with a world class real estate CRM designed to help you manage all your transactions, keeping you organized and in control of your marketing.

How will you define your 2018 marketing strategy?

To view the original article, visit the IXACT Contact blog.