With more than 2 million active real estate agents in the United States, there’s a lot of competition for buying and selling homes. Agents looking to attract new clients must find ways to stand out and create marketing success stories.

While there’s no shortage of marketing methods and strategies for real estate agents, every housing market is different, and it can be a challenge to determine which techniques will work for you.

We’ll explore several real estate agents’ marketing success stories that are sure to expand your concept of real estate marketing and inspire you to try something new.

Hit the Streets

Eight times a year, New York City real estate agent Jeffrey Goodman takes a walk with up to 70 potential homebuyers. His coveted historic walking tours have led to countless real estate deals and landed him on the list of most innovative real estate agents in 2018.

Goodman’s “Rediscovering New York” tours are a great example of experiential marketing, which involves engaging people in branded experiences.

A New York native, Goodman knows the city well, but he teamed up with a local historical tour guide known for her storytelling skills to make the tours a truly unique and professional experience. He says his goal with the tours is to help people discover and learn about various parts of the city, and he notes that they “reflect [his] commitment to showcasing the city’s great neighborhoods, sometimes before clients make a decision on what neighborhood to buy in.”

The tours are free and take place in different New York City neighborhoods, which shows participants that Goodman can help them buy and sell homes in a variety of markets. Goodman says it sends the message that he’s committed to “help buyers create homes in desirable and interesting neighborhoods, not just apartments in buildings.”

In the weeks leading up to tour dates, Goodman sends invitations to his thousands of contacts, and he follows up with a reminder in the days before. Upon each tour’s conclusion, he finds himself swimming in referrals.

Clearly, the tours have been great for branding and for business. A key element to their success is the fact that it’s evident to participants how much Goodman enjoys giving the tours. “‘Rediscovering New York’ has become a passion for me,” he says, “and it is such a pleasure to produce it and showcase New York’s great neighborhoods for people who love to see, learn about, and experience them.”

Step It up on Social

77% of real estate agents use social media, according to research by the National Association of Realtors. Why? Because it works. Just ask New York real estate agent Mike Schulte who’s social efforts are a true marketing success story.

In 2016, Schulte focused his social media efforts on Instagram. He posted every day with one goal in mind: to be a resource for people buying and selling homes in the area.

He makes regular posts on his account about life in the city and the real estate market, covering everything from renting a co-op to how New York neighborhoods got their names.

As his videos took off and led to referrals and deals, Schulte hired a videographer to follow him around and up his video game, and his efforts have certainly paid off. In fact, they’re what caught the eye of an Instagram user looking to purchase a property in the city.

The user contacted Schulte through an Instagram direct message, and though they never met in person, Schulte brokered the man’s deal, which turned out to be a multi-million dollar transaction.

Schulte’s advice for real estate agents looking to improve their social presence? Focus your efforts on Instagram, which has a billion monthly active users. “If you’re not playing where everyone’s paying attention, you may still be relevant today but in 24 months you’re not going to be relevant anymore,” he says.

Learn more about using Instagram for real estate.

Host a Contest

When Tallahassee, Florida, real estate agent Joe Manausa was enlisted to help generate buzz about a local home for sale in 2012, he said demand for such a house was “almost nonexistent.” But he came up with an idea that had incredible results: he launched a contest.

The giveaway targeted local real estate professionals and gave an iPad to the first person to guess the final sales price of the house, and the results were beyond what anyone expected.

More than 10,000 people viewed the contest page, and nearly 200 submitted guesses before the house hit the market. Within four months, the listing was viewed more than 3,000 times, the home was shown more than 14 times, and the house received four offers before ultimately selling faster than anyone expected.

“I knew we could draw more interest this way, but I was amazed at the numbers we generated,” Manausa says.

Since then, the real estate firm has employed this method to attract attention to other properties, resulting in additional marketing success stories.

Learn more about hosting an engaging giveaway in this post from Curalate.

Showcase and Service the Community

One of the top things people look for in a real estate agent is expertise in the local area and its market. So it’s no surprise that Debbie Sonenshine of Sandy Springs, Georgia, is one of the area’s top agents.

Her website, The Faces of Sandy Springs, profiles people who live and work in the area — from business owners and medical professionals to Sandy Springs artists and volunteers — and it’s been essential in helping her market herself.

By highlighting community members and throwing neighborhood events, she’s established herself not only as an expert on the local real estate market but also on the community itself.

This has helped her expand her sphere of influence and increase her referrals.

Josh Kahn, a Eureka, Missouri, real estate agent, took a similar approach when he changed the name of his business’ Facebook page to the Eureka, Missouri Community page. Instead of posting about his business and homes for sale, Kahn created a valuable community resource.

He started posting about local news and events, and when he needed additional content, he visited Eureka restaurants and businesses. “I didn’t think there was a lot in Eureka to talk about so I had to look for things to integrate into there,” Kahn says. “I would go out and eat dinner somewhere and take a picture of my kid eating meatballs and post it on Facebook.”

The Eureka Community page quickly became the go-to place for local news, and Kahn has amassed quite the loyal following. Today, in addition to sharing updates about Eureka, he also integrates his real estate business into his posts and advertises available listings.

Write Your Own Marketing Success Story

There are countless ways that real estate agents can market themselves and their properties. The key is simply to be creative and look for ways to stand out and help the community.

As you meet new people and serve your customers, ask for reviews, recommendations, and referrals. Word-of-mouth marketing is incredibly effective — in fact, 65% of agents’ business comes from their network or sphere of influence — so keep in mind that making connections is an important part of creating your own marketing success stories.