We all know that open houses require a fair amount of time and planning. The question is, how do you make sure the right people show up? These 12 steps to perfect open house marketing, of course.
Marketing Tips Realtor Success Tips
Your open house advertising strategies can make the difference between a full house and a no-show. From staging to scheduling and memorizing the specs of the house, open houses are a lot of work. Great marketing for your open house will ensure that none of your hard work and preparation goes to waste.
Here are 10 open house marketing ideas listing agents can use to make sure that their open house is well-attended and hard to forget.
1. Post Plenty of Signage
A yard sign is an obvious choice, but have you thought about placing printed promotional open house flyers or brochures in local community hangouts? Cafes and community centres attract foot traffic from people who otherwise wouldn’t know about your showing.
Make sure to utilize directional signs if your property listing is in a secluded or hidden area. Make sure that you place open house signs at major entrances to the neighborhood and nearby intersections. Your signs should outline the easiest path to the property from multiple routes.
When all of your signs are set up, drive by them and follow the path you’ve set out to make sure that it will be clear to open house visitors.
Remember that a strong visual brand and logo are the foundation of memorable signage that attracts serious leads. AgentFire designers have created hundreds of standout branding kits and logos that put our clients at the forefront of their hyperlocal real estate market. Learn more about our branding and logo options here.
2. Utilize Paid Social Media Ads
Different social media channels offer varying advertising tools and in-depth demographic and geographic filters. These elements are powerful to help you better target your audience. For example, on Facebook, you can target your ads to certain audiences based on city, income, recent life events, interests, and more.
If you’re not ready to just into paid ads, Facebook events are a great, free option. Once someone VIPS to your event to indicate that they will be attending, it shows up on their Facebook feed for all of their friends and followers to see. Ask your brokerage to also promote your open house on their Facebook page and invite their network.
3. Send A Weekly Email Update About New Listings
If your current lead generation strategy is working well, you should be consistently accumulating client contact information and inserting those contacts into a designated lead pipeline. Keep prospective buyers updated on open houses you are hosting by sending regular email updates. This audience is actively looking for their perfect property and is prepared to take the leap.
Make sure to clearly announce the open house in the email subject line to make sure they don’t skim past your email if their inboxes are crowded.
4. Geotag Social Posts About the Open House
Do you have a budding following on Instagram (or Snapchat in some cases)? These platforms heavily utilize geotagging to organize posts and share the most relevant ones to each particular user. Buyers who frequently search for posts in your hyperlocal area are significantly more likely to see your posts when they are geotagged.
Platforms that promote new content quickly, such as TikTok are especially useful in a time crunch if you need to boost your open house promo just before the date. On the day of your open house, consider going live and giving your audience a quick virtual tour. Your followers will get a notification that you’re going live and thus be alerted about your open house.
Just make sure that the images and videos you use are professional and high quality.
5. Work With Local Publications
While national print papers and magazines may be losing readership, hyperlocal publications are still relevant. Your neighbourhood newspaper or city magazine is the place where locals find out what their neighbours and community members are up to.
Become a regular contributor to the newspaper by promoting your open houses and pitching a real event guest article or two for good measure.
6. Go Door to Door
Many agents have mixed feelings about door-knocking. While this up-close-and-personal method can be useful in many communities, it isn’t always necessary to start a deep conversation with homeowners on their porches.
Print an attractive and to-the-point door hanger with branded graphics and clear contact details. Members of a community are surprisingly interested in how other nearby homes look on the inside. While these viewers may not be urgently looking to buy, they have the potential to become powerful references for other interested buyers.
7. Get In Touch With Local Buyer’s Agents
Buyer’s agents want to get their clients their dream home as much as you want to sell your client’s home for a dream price. Connect with these agents through an email newsletter or personally by individual text or call.
Make sure you include your contact details and detailed information about the property including the open house date, detailed directions, etc. Attach high-quality photos or a virtual tour, if possible. A well-formatted email with all of the necessary information makes it easy for buyers’ agents to forward this info to their buyers.
If other real estate agents also have active listings, consider collaborating with them to cross-promote your property listings.
8. Add Your Open House Details to the MLS
MLS search is the main source buyers’ agents use to find the best properties for their clients.
Data from the MLS also finds itself on other broker websites and online real estate tools and marketplaces. Anywhere your listing appears, your Open House details should also follow.
9. Speak with the Neighbours Before Hosting an Open House
Open houses can bring in a lot of traffic that your client’s neighbours aren’t accustomed to. Speaking to each neighbor individually allows them to prepare for crowds and gains their respect. Plus, with the positive first interaction, there is a great opportunity to gain future references or clients from them.
10. Create a Virtual Tour of the Property
There is a large range of companies that offer 3D technology for real estate professionals to create an immersive tour experience through a smart device. Here is more information about the software top real estate agents are using now.
Use and publish these 3D/virtual tours to your website and social media channel (if the format allows). 3D tours allow viewers to look at the details they may miss in person and easily imagine how the space would look if it were redecorated.
11. Create a Landing Page
A landing page is a web page created with the specific purpose of convincing the user to make a predetermined action. In this case, we want to inform users about your open house and schedule a visit.
When creating a landing page, you’ll need some type of lead funnel such as a lead capture form to gather contacts’ information. Your lead capture form should be visually attractive and tell web visitors exactly what great content they can expect. Poor web design reflects badly on your real estate business and the property itself. Make sure to have a skilled professional (preferably with knowledge of real estate digital marketing) create your page.
Your landing page should have a specific CTA that will facilitate your reader’s transition along their buyer’s journey. Consider asking for their email or phone number to share updates about scheduled open houses.
12. Prepare a ‘Draw’
A ‘draw’ is a small gift or complimentary item that entices open house attendees to come into your open house. For example, you may connect with a local cafe to provide free coffee for your open house (and free advertising for them). Other examples of ‘draws’ included non-alcoholic, refreshing beverages, or a prize raffle.
Final Notes…
As efficient as a traditional open house sign is, you’ll have to be a bit more proactive if you want to attract a solid crowd of potential buyers. These open house tips will improve your open house turnout quickly and without question.
Once you’ve mastered the marketing, it’s easy to host a successful open house. Here are some ideas to make your next open house an experience one to remember.
If you want more in-depth articles, tactics, strategies, and advice – subscribe to our newsletter. And if you want to dominate your hyperlocal real estate market, check out AgentFire’s websites, #1 rated for several years in a row.
