Sign & Pray vs. a True Real Estate Marketing Plan: What’s the Difference?
Putting a “For Sale” sign in the yard is easy.
Getting the right buyers to actually see your home? That takes a little more work.
There’s an approach to selling real estate that I like to call the “Sign & Pray” marketing method. You put up the sign, get the property listed, maybe make a few social media posts… and then hope the buyers find you.
Sometimes that works.
But when I’m selling a home, I’d much rather have a plan.
A Listing Is Not the Same as a Marketing Plan
Getting your home listed online is an important first step, but it shouldn’t be the entire strategy.
A true real estate marketing plan looks at all the different ways we can get your property in front of potential buyers. That can include professional presentation and photography, extensive online exposure, social media, paid digital marketing, open houses, print marketing and direct outreach.
The idea is simple: we don’t want to wait for the buyer to stumble across your house. We want to actively help that buyer find it.
Your Buyer May Not Be in Gainesville Yet
This is especially important in the Gainesville and North Central Florida real estate market.
The person who eventually buys your home may not currently live anywhere near Gainesville.
They could be in Orlando, Tampa, Miami or somewhere much farther away and preparing for a move to our area.
That means marketing a property only to the people who already live nearby can leave a lot of potential buyers out of the picture.
A strong marketing strategy reaches beyond the immediate neighborhood and puts your home in places where relocating buyers are looking, too.
Online Exposure Needs to Go Beyond “Post, Post, Post”
Social media absolutely has a place in real estate marketing. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and other platforms give us opportunities to introduce a property to people who may never have found it through a traditional home search.
But simply posting the listing over and over again isn’t really a strategy.
Good marketing means thinking about where the likely buyer is, how to reach them and what will make them stop and pay attention to your home.
It also means taking advantage of broad online exposure and real estate networks that can put your property in front of buyers and agents well beyond Gainesville.
Real Estate Marketing Still Happens Offline, Too
Digital marketing gets a lot of attention today, but it isn’t the only way to reach buyers.
Depending on the property, a marketing plan can also include postcards, letters, advertising, open houses and other forms of print and direct marketing.
Every home is different, which is exactly why the marketing shouldn’t be identical for every listing.
The goal is to figure out who is most likely to buy your home and then build a strategy designed to reach those people.
Your Agent Should Be Marketing Your Home, Not Just Listing It
When you interview Realtors to sell your home, one of the questions you should ask is:
“What is your marketing plan for my property?”
And the answer should involve more than putting it in the MLS, installing a sign and sharing it on Facebook.
Selling a home takes exposure, strategy, connections and a willingness to actively look for the buyer—not simply wait for that buyer to appear.
If you’re thinking about selling a home in Gainesville or the surrounding North Central Florida area and want to know how I would market your property, I’d be happy to talk with you.
Ciara Huddleston Munro, Realtor®
Bosshardt Realty Services
321-537-1670
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