When it comes to writing marketing pieces for promotion and advertising both you and your properties there are some words that just do a better job of “call to action”.
The following words will help you do the selling:
You or your – “You” is the most powerful word you can choose. It is more powerful than the word money. So instead of writing for example, “my clients say working with me is the best thing that ever happened to them”. Write, “You will notice a huge difference between my professional experience and that of any agent you have worked with in the past”. “You are the most important part of my job. Keeping you happy is my goal.”
Money – right after “you” is the word money. People love to save money, and earn money. Therefore, using the words, “save you money” makes a huge statement in any advertising piece or campaign.
Health/healthy – people want products, services that help them retain good health or make them healthier. Advertising the amenities of a neighborhood that have golf, tennis, jogging trails, bike paths, pools add to their desire to acquire that property. Using the phrase, “you will maintain your healthy lifestyle by using the bike paths, jogging trails in the highlands subdivision…” would be good use of wording in your ad.
Guarantee – people want to feel like they have assurance with their purchases with as little risk as possible. In real estate there are few times we could ever “guarantee” anything. However, if there were a new roof or foundation repair that came with a guarantee for a period of time, with the guarantee in writing, you could promote and advertise that guarantee.
Easy –everyone has a hurried pace in today’s world. People want things and tasks to be easy. Using the word easy and phrases such as “your process from buying to closing is easy with the Villareal Team of specialists”.
Free – whether it is a free market analysis, free consultation, free estimate, free report try to put something free into your marketing materials.
Yes – is one of the most pleasing words to the human ear. Use yes often with your clients. They enjoy hearing they were right or, you are just agreeing with them, or yes, the work can be done.
Quick/quickly – at every turn people want things done quickly. Whether waiting for loan approval, for an inspection, survey or appraisal to be delivered, clients want tasks done quickly. For example, “you can be assured that I will follow up to make sure all tasks are done quickly and we stick to our time table of 30 days to closing and funding”.
Benefit – everyone wants to know “what’s in it for me?” The extra that is received by this selection needs to be presented. “The benefit of buying in this neighborhood is there is a community pool at no extra charge in your homeowner’s fees.” “The benefit of buying this house is the school bus stops right in front of your home.”
Person’s name – people love to hear the sound of their own name. Use it often during your conversation, “Marie, what do you think of the landscaping?” Always address marketing pieces to an individual’s name not “resident or occupant”.
Other powerful words include:
- Love
- Results
- Safe/safety
- Proven
- Fun
- New
- Save
- Now
When you advertise in the newspaper, remember to use the AIDA formula for best results.
- A = Attention
- Short vision-creating words that will entice the reader to go further.
- I = Interest
- Create interest in the next several words to motivate them to read the rest of the ad.
- D = Desire
- Now that you have their attention you have to deliver a benefit to create a need for them to own this property. Choose a major feature of the property for building desire. “The perfect family room for gatherings by the fireplace on a cool night.”
- A = Action
- Now that you have the reader’s attention you must ask them to move or take action on their feelings. “Call Tina today.” “Easy terms available, call now!”
To maximize results from your property ads, follow these 10 Tips to Effective Advertising:
- Collect as much information as you can about the property. Analyze the property to be advertised.
- Determine the target audience for the ad. Don’t aim your ad for everyone. Who is the buyer prospect for this house or farm or office building?
- Remember people buy benefits not features. How will the buyer benefit from this house?
- Every ad should have the location, price and the indication of size of the house. In a survey of what is most important to buyers, 99% stated they wanted to know the location of the property, 75% wanted to know the price and 66% of them wanted to know number of rooms in the house.
- Never exaggerate. Avoid over used words like: beautiful, spacious, immaculate, nice, lovely. They are the 5 most over used words in real estate advertising. Never use industry jargon or abbreviations. Always tell the truth.
- The headline should be attention getting and eye-catching. “What’s in it for me?”
- Write the ad as though you were having a face to face conversation with the buyer.
- Close with a call to action. “Call Henry today”
- After writing the ad review it and ask yourself, “does it inspire enthusiasm?”
- Keep a copy of all your ads and make notes as to which ones work for you better than others do. Which one inspired the buyer to pick up the phone and call? This will help in the future for all of your ad writing.
