In the crazy world of real estate, where every agent is competing for attention, marketing without a persona is like trying to find a friend at a crowded concert without a cell phone. You are one of her million girlfriends and you want to be heard.
When you harness the power of personas, you amplify your voice and tune into the specific frequency of your ideal customer. This allows your marketing to resonate less as general industry noise and more as a clear and compelling message that makes potential customers feel not only seen, but truly understood. Masu.
Demystifying buyer personas
Have you ever wondered who is on the other side of your marketing message? Imagine them as a different group of guests at your next open house event. Some may be young professionals looking for their first home, while others may be seasoned families looking for an upgrade.
This is where the magic of Persona comes into play. Think of personas as a VIP guest list that groups people with similar traits, dreams, and challenges into clusters.
Creating a persona involves building a comprehensive profile that goes beyond basic demographics like age and location to include detailed information about dreams and aspirations, problems and challenges, and even communication preferences. It is included.
In marketing, these profiles, known as buyer personas, are an essential tool for gaining deep insight into your audience's motivations and challenges. Using personas in marketing helps tailor your marketing efforts to the specific needs and desires of your target audience, making your communications more relevant and engaging.
Why Persona is your secret weapon
Understanding your customers is part of your job and key to your success as a real estate agent. Without this understanding, we are like a ship without a compass in a vast ocean. Personas provide that compass, anticipating wants rather than just meeting needs, allowing marketing to tailor their content to specific needs and challenges.
Here are the top reasons why you should start leveraging personas:
- Solving real problems: With personas, you're not selling a service. you are providing a solution. Know the exact hurdles each persona faces and engage them with content that directly speaks to their unique challenges.
- Connect emotionally: Personas allow your brand message to resonate on a deeper level because potential customers feel seen and understood when your marketing speaks to their unique needs.
- Streamline your marketing: As a marketer, this is the number one reason to use personas. By understanding and addressing your personas' specific needs, preferences, and behaviors, you can optimize your marketing strategies and get better results. Aligning your marketing content to your audience's needs makes your marketing more targeted and effective.
- Target precisely: Don't cast your net too wide. You are competing with every other real estate agent in the market. Instead, if you target personas, your marketing efforts will be focused and every dollar spent on marketing will be spent wisely.
the statistics say it all
a Marketing Sherpa implementation example We've found that marketing to personas provides the following benefits:
- 900% increase in website visit time
- 171% increase in revenue
- 111% increase in email open rates
- The number of website pages visited increased by 100%.
Want to convert more leads? Persona-based content Engagement increased almost 6x When targeting cold leads.
Want higher fees? 81% of consumers pay premiums We provide industry-specific solutions tailored to your industry experience and needs.
Want to build your brand? 87% of consumers surveyed said: Personally relevant content It positively influences feelings towards the brand.
Want to build more relationships? 63% of consumers claim they would think more positively about a brand if it provided content that: Valuable, interesting, and relevant.
How to create a real estate persona
Creating buyer personas is like detective work. It's all about gathering clues, piecing together evidence, and arriving at a clear picture of your ideal customer. Let's take a look at the steps to create a persona.
The first thing you need to do is choose the persona you want to focus on. The options are limited only by your imagination, but let's start with the basics. The most common real estate personas are:
- First-time home buyers
- Advance home purchaser
- luxury home buyers
- empty nest homebuyer
If you want to drill down further, you can create the following personas:
- single female buyer
- Golfers who purchase from the golf community
- Pickleball players considering purchasing in a community with courts.
- Buyers who want a downtown condominium
- equestrian buyer
- new building purchaser
- Green/High Performance Home Buyer
- And on and on…
The next step is to do a little research on each persona.
- What are their goals and motivations?
- What are their problems and challenges?
- How can you help them with their specific challenges?
- Which marketing and communication channels are best to use with this audience?
Finally, list at least six pieces of valuable content you can create for each persona.
We've made this part easy by creating the most commonly used personas, including six content ideas for each persona that you can leverage.
Fully populated and ready-to-use personas for first-time homebuyers, incoming homebuyers, luxury buyers, and empty nesters.you can Access your files from here.
[Inman Slideshow]
Note: When creating content for any of your personas, always remember to include your city/local market. Be sure to add your city/region market name to your content title and mention it within your content. This is very important for SEO.
How to use personas in marketing
Start with one persona. Don't overdo it by trying to build all your content at the same time. Build content for one persona and gradually add more personas over time.
Here are some tips for creating persona-based content.
Blog post:
- Address common issues. Write a blog post that directly addresses the persona's challenges or questions. For example, if one of your persona's girlfriends is buying a home for the first time, create a post titled “5 Things About Her That First-Time Home Buyers Should Know.”
- Success stories: Share success stories that resonate with each persona. Posts like “How I helped a growing family find their dream home” are very persuasive.
- Area guide: Adjust area guides for different people. For example, you can highlight night life and commute times for young professionals, and schools and community activities for families.
social media posts
- Fascinating question: Post questions that encourage your personas to share their experiences and opinions. For example, “What is the most important feature you look for in a luxury home?”
- Tips and advice: Share simple tips and advice that address your persona's specific needs. If your persona is downsizing your empty nest, you might want to post about organizing and simplifying your lifestyle.
- Behind the scenes content: Get a glimpse into your day-to-day work related to your persona's interests, including a day in the life spent exploring 55+ communities within the market.
movie
- Q&A session: Host a live Q&A session to address common questions and concerns from your personas. For example, the “Navigating Your First Home Purchase in a Seller's Market” session is extremely informative.
- Educational series: Create a series of short videos that educate your personas about different aspects of buying, selling, and investing in real estate, such as “Investing 101 for First-Time Investors.”
email marketing
- Personalized newsletter: Segment your email list based on personas and send personalized newsletters with content and lists that match their tastes and needs.
- Market updates: Send market updates relevant to each persona. For example, investment-savvy customers are likely to value insight into market trends and potential investment opportunities.
By leveraging these ideas and tailoring your content to your personas' specific needs and interests, you can create more engaging and effective marketing that resonates with your target audience. Each piece of content should feel like you're speaking directly to them, recognizing their unique challenges, and offering valuable solutions.
final thoughts
By understanding and leveraging buyer personas, you can transform your marketing from a broad, impersonal strategy to a finely tuned, highly engaging conversation with your target audience. These allow you to address specific needs, connect emotionally, streamline efforts, and target with precision, ultimately leading to significant increases in engagement, revenue, and brand loyalty.
Remember, the journey doesn't end with just creating these personas. You need to realize them in your daily marketing. From creating blog posts that speak directly to the heart of your persona's challenges, to engaging with your persona on social media and personalized emails, all the content you create should reflect the wants and needs of your target audience. .
It's about making each client feel seen, heard, and understood, fostering a deeper connection and trust with your brand.
Marci James is the founder of Be Inspired Digital. Connect with Marci on Linkedin and her Instagram.
