Celebrate Independence Day,
Do Your Business Some Good

BY CHRISTY MURDOCK EDGAR

Holidays are a great time for promoting your real estate business. As people go on vacation, they have more time to check out your blog, videos and social media, as well as to browse for homes online and discuss their real estate goals.

But perhaps no holiday is as ripe for marketing your real estate business as the Fourth of July.

Unlike winter holidays, people are not overwhelmed with houseguests, prior commitments and unpredictable weather.

And there’s something about the sunshine and sense of fun that surrounds the holiday that gives you a chance to highlight local activities, outdoor living and other real estate-related themes.

If you haven’t yet made your marketing plans, here are some quick, easy and fun ideas for giving your business a mid-summer reboot.

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Blog Ideas

Be sure to write these up ahead of time so that they’ll bring some timely traffic to your blog, and you’ll be ready to share on social media or in an email to your sphere.

  • Independence Day events (in your local market)

  • Fireworks rules, regulations and safety guidelines

  • How to throw the perfect Fourth of July barbecue

  • Outdoor games and activities for your Fourth of July party

  • How to decorate your home for the Fourth

  • A menu (with recipes) for your Fourth of July party

 Best Places to Celebrate the Fourth

  • Fourth of July events, concerts and celebrations

  • How-to infographic (make homemade ice cream, make a flag cake, host a stress-free party)

Video Concepts

Whether you go live or create an edited version ahead of time, any of these are sure to get likes and shares during the holiday.

  • Best places for fireworks viewing

  • Live video from concert or festival

  • Live video from the parade

  • Video from a current listing with great outdoor space

Pop-Bys

Be sure to include a label or tie-on tag with your contact information and an inspirational message, like a famous quote or a verse from a patriotic song.

  • Bottles of barbecue sauce or steak seasoning

  • Pinwheel, flag or box of sparklers

  • Small battery-operated fan or mister

  • Thermal bag or cooler

  • Ice cream scoop

Nicole Lopez-Cummins of Houston’s Intero Real Estate Services said, “We are making cute little Fourth of July picnic caddies with all the barbecue essentials for our top SOI clients. 

They include plates, silverware, napkins, ketchup, mustard, salt/pepper, tongs — all with a cute red, white and blue bow in a caddie.”

Niche Marketing

This is an ideal time for marketing to lake home buyers, according to Glenn Phillips of lakehomes.com. His plans include memes, videos and holiday-specific posts about life at the lake, shared through social media and the company website.

Other niches with tie-ins include:

  • Military families (for MRPs)

  • Historic homes and neighborhoods (especially in markets like D.C., Philadelphia and Boston)

  • Beachfront, mountain and vacation properties

Event Promotions

There’s still time to coordinate a big impact event in cooperation with one of the local Fourth of July-themed activities going on in your community.

Or create your own event near your office, a favorite neighborhood or a local recreational area.

  • Provide water bottles for outdoor events like block parties, festivals, races or fireworks

  • Host a lemonade stand at a community event or local parade

  • Host a cookout or food truck at a local pool, beach or park

Christy Murdock Edgar is a Realtor, freelance writer, coach and consultant with Writing Real Estate in Alexandria, Virginia. Follow Writing Real Estate on Facebook or Twitter. 

Joshua Jarvis is a digital marketer with 4rd Marketing in Atlanta, Georgia. Connect with him on LinkedIn or Facebook.

8 Dos and Don’ts of

4th of July R. E. Marketing

 

The Fourth of July holds a special place in my heart. It brings back memories of going to my Grandma’s house, eating homemade ice cream and watching fireworks from her backyard.

The first set were the ones that family members bought over state lines (fireworks were illegal in Georgia at the time) and then watching the professional show at Wills Park in Alpharetta (for those familiar with the area).

Patriotism was high as we reflected on the day we celebrate freedom, but for the most part it was just another excuse to get together with family and blow things up (I’m from the South, that’s how we do it here).

We’d all get together in our red, white and blue outfits, light some sparklers and see which uncle or cousin could do the dumbest things with a firework without getting sent to the E.R.

When you read all that, you might be thinking, “that’s great, but what does it have to do with real estate and marketing?” Nothing.

That’s the point of this post. Want the TL; DR version (too long; didn’t read version)? Don’t promote on a holiday.

For the rest of you readers (readers are leaders after all), check out my list of dos and don’ts for Fourth of July marketing. We could debate whether some of these are actually great marketing that just feels cheesy on the Fourth.

Spoiler alert: The big takeaway is that when people connect with you — the person — they’ll want to work with you — the agent.

Dos

  1. Do hand out flags in the neighborhood

Going door-to-door or sponsoring the HOA in decorating for the holiday is a great way to get your name out there. The key here is to be a human, aka “a neighbor” and not some real estate agent.

Don’t buy flags with your glamour shot photo on them — just get the regular stars-and-stripes. Don’t tape your card to it, or anything. Just by the act of going door-to-door or sponsoring something, you’ll get the press and the opportunities you want.

  1. Do thank veterans and active service members for their service

See a service person, former service person, police, fireman or even a teacher,thank them. That’s it, stop there. Don’t post a thank you on social media with your logo, don’t thank them via email with a link back to list their home with you — just say thank you, and leave it at that.

If you’re genuine, many will respond, and that gives you an opportunity to do the one thing that matters: build a relationship.

  1. Do host a client party cook-out with fireworks

By now you might be thinking that I’m “hatin’” on marketing on the Fourth, but that’s not the case. I hate marketing in cheesy, disingenuous ways — especiallyon a holiday. But a client party is a sincere, legit way to market your business and create an atmosphere for creating memories for your clients.

Whether it’s sectioning off a space to watch fireworks, renting a pavilion or paying for tickets to a local baseball game, client parties are always a good thing.

  1. Do post pictures of you and your family on social media

Posting on social media is a must-do, especially if you take my advice and do no. 3.

If you do it, please do it as a person and not as a company (unless of course you do no. 3). This advice is actually just a good rule of thumb. You are who you are, not what you do — remember that on holidays.

Research shows that genuine family posts get more engagement than manufactured marketing posts — every time.

Don’ts

  1. Don’t send an email

Remember when we got all those GDPR emails? Did you enjoy that week? No one enjoys the poorly made Fourth of July emails either. Just say “no” to emailing on the Fourth.

  1. Don’t post the same old bad e-card on Facebook

Forgo anything that’s not genuine. Posting a bad e-card is like using really bad clip art in your listing presentation. It says, “all I care about is selling houses.” So please don’t do it. If you do, you deserve a time-out.

  1. Don’t use any of the above to promote your service directly

Getting the hint yet? There is a digital marketing term called “newsjacking,” where you write something and connect it to the latest news.

What makes this an effective strategy is how it seamlessly blends in the news item with whatever the post is about. Subtlety is your friend. Just be you. That’s what your clients want.

If you’re going to promote on this day, just be overt about it. Run a Fourth of July special.

  1. Don’t humblebrag about doing any of the above

There’s nothing worse than looking on social media and seeing your agent “friend” post, “So exhausted, had to go to 10 closings this morning. #realtoring.”

Copywrite © August, 2018 Daniel Dobbs MHM Mortgage /// All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Daniel Dobbs, Author- VP-Broker Mutual Home Mortgage 265 S.Randolph #120 Brea, Ca. 92821 Cell: 949 250-3981 Dandobbs6@gmail.com NMLS #307631 BRE #00986886