Niche Marketing: Are Realtors Missing Out?

In a time when “long tail” marketing is a topic of conversation from Fortune businesses all the way down to the beginning blogger, I’m left scratching my head.

Why are so many Realtors still focused on mass marketing?

Mass marketing is a “ready, spray, pray” approach. Get your message out to as many folks as possible, pray that it connects with enough people to be profitable, then repeat.

Frankly, real results come from focusing your efforts on a small section of the general market – niche marketing.

A niche is a small segment of a larger market. Frankly, a neighborhood doesn’t really qualify as a niche market. Here’s why…

A qualifying criteria for a profitable niche is that the members of the group interact and communicate with each other. Hmm… can’t recall the last time the folks in my neighborhood got together to trade referrals – let alone a chat. Get my drift?

If so, then why do so many Realtors focus on neighborhoods? To become a local area expert. Initially this makes sense but how many “local area experts” are you competing with?

Look, mass marketing to folks that really have nothing in common other than geographic area isn’t capitalizing on the “social networking” aspect of the offline world.

Ideally, you want to rule a community that’s built by relationships, not by lot numbers.

So, what exactly is a niche market?

My definition: A group of people large enough to be profitbale yet small enough so your reputation can precede you.

1. Are there groups, associations, or clubs?
2. Are there conventions, networking meetings, or seminars?
3. Are there magazines or publications for members?
4. Can you affordably reach them?
5. Can they afford you the life you want to live?

Here’s a real life case study:

Tracy was simply not selling enough homes to support the lifestyle she wanted to live. I knew what the problem was and so did she… like most Realtors, she was trying to capture everybody.

So, to tighten her focus (which amplified her marketing results) we started by figuring out the type of people she liked working with best. We also took a look at her past clients to spot any trends or themes… and we did.

By investing just a few minutes we discovered that a good portion of her past clients were male engineers (lucky her, eh?) Plus, Tracy had an tech background so liked working with engineers. She’s one of the few that actually understand them

So, we ran the “engineer niche” through the 5 qualifying questions above and got a big fat Yes for each one.

She then shifted her efforts from canvassing local neighborhoods to investing times at the engineering association meetups and events.

Tracy was the only Realtor at the events, consistently attended, and gained credibility with these folks. In fact, she gained new business from individual engineers but also from several large tech firms that began to refer her for all their transfers and relocations.

Becoming the real estate expert to a targeted group of like-minded, related people, is easier and far more profitable than trying to be the expert to a general group of people that basically have nothing in common (mass marketing sucks!)

Some hot niches to consider:

• Eco (green) homes (big buzz right now)
• Pet friendly living (huge niche market)
• Charity groups (cause marketing rocks, donate a % back to charity)
• Harley-Davidson owners (big niche)
• Horse property (big niche)

So, here’s the question:

Why are so many Realtors mass market focused rather than focusing their energies, efforts, dollars and results on a targeted niche?

(and yes, you can niche market online)