A 6-Step Process to Launching the Right Listing Plan in Today’s Real Estate Market

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Average days on market is increasing in most markets. This leads to the question: How do you market your listing in a way that will stand out from the crowd? Here’s a step-by-step process that professional agents can use right now to make sure their listing gets as much attention as possible to help them sell faster and at the highest price.

1. Simplify the buyer’s agent’s job

One of the best ways to make your listing stand out is to make the buyer’s agent’s job as easy as possible. They will likely be asked to provide information on several homes that buyers see online.

The first step is to have everything a buyer might want in the documents section of an MLS listing. This may include owner expense information, HOA documents, previous surveys, inspections performed by the seller prior to listing the home for sale, and any additional information the prospective buyer may ask their agent to provide.

In addition, I will have all the details in a pdf ready to go to text or email, including whether the seller offers buyer agent compensation. We can argue about whether or not a seller should provide compensation, but the bottom line is that every buyer will want to know if the seller provides compensation or will be responsible for compensating their agent before they see the home.

Another way to make a buyer’s agent’s job easier is to respond to inquiries or inquiries about the home you submit as quickly as possible. The sooner you provide the buyer’s agent with information about your listing, the sooner the buyer will receive it. While some agents may drag their feet to respond, get your information readily available and provide it as soon as possible.

2. Take off your agent hat, and put on your buyer hat

I had a moment a few months ago while listening to a presentation by Mark Stark, former CEO and founder of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Arizona/California/Nevada properties. He said the best way to succeed in real estate is to take off your agent hat and put on your buyer hat.

In other words, stop thinking and marketing like an agent and start providing advertising that appeals to consumers. This process should include the following three main questions.

Who is the ideal buyer for your listing?

Each house has an “avatar” or a type of potential buyer. It could be a newlywed couple or empty nesters downsizing. It can be a single person or a growing family. Once we have identified who the potential buyer is, we can begin to shape our marketing strategy.

What information do they want and need?

What information is important to that “avatar” buyer? Will the accommodation or outdoor amenities be highlighted by those they desire? Are there certain historic amenities such as schools, hospitals, or shopping/restaurants that the buyer might want to be near? Whatever may be important to a potential buyer of your listing, make it readily available and highlighted in your marketing.

Where does this ideal consumer spend his time?

Is the prospective buyer spending time on Instagram or Facebook? Are they on YouTube or LinkedIn? Wherever your ideal consumer spends time is where your marketing should focus.

Once you can think like a buyer, the marketing strategy you use will be more relevant to the buyer’s needs. This type of marketing is far more valuable than the vanity marketing that many agents produce that makes them feel good about themselves but serves very little purpose to potential buyers.

3. Introduce the listing as the premiere of the film

Another moment for me came when Jimmy Mackin, the founder of Listing Leads, suggested that the listing should be introduced to the market like a movie premiere. He gave an example of how the stars of the film are present in all the talk shows, offering funny videos and interviews about the first screening of the film in the weeks before its release.

He then said that marketing is promoted before the release date and during the first weekend of the release. He concluded that the success of the launch weekend was then used as marketing at the end of the launch weekend to continue the momentum.

How can you launch your new listing using this marketing strategy as a model?

Coming soon to marketing

Start teasing the release of your new list a few weeks before the actual launch of your list. This should focus on increasing awareness and anticipation of your new listing going live. Another way to do this is to record a green screen video for Instagram reels with a map of the area behind you.

Play with a line like:

“I have a new listing for sale in the next few weeks in the area you can see on the map behind me. I can’t give you all the details until it goes live on the MLS, but it will be a four-bedroom home in this highly sought-after location. If you would like to share the details with yourself or someone you know ASAP, send me a DM and I will send you everything ASAP so you can be one of the first people to know all the details.”

Marketing campaign launch date

Maximize the marketing launch date to create as much exposure to the new listing as possible. Like the movie launch, I’ve always preferred to take the new lineup live on MLS Thursday. That is the busiest day of the week for our local websites, and by launching it at that time, we have our new listing at the top of the search engines (new listings are at the top 48 hours after being put on the market) the busiest day of the week for traffic, and it stays up until Saturday morning.

I suggest using AI during this part of marketing, and that is covered in detail in point #4 below.

Highlight achievements

If the home doesn’t sell the first weekend, highlight any accomplishments, such as a private open house or share how many showings you have. These are the highlights that will help you keep the momentum going for weeks after the launch.

If the home sells the first weekend, tell the story of a successful pending contract. By doing so, you are listing yourself for the next home to come on the market in that area. Sellers are watching your marketing, and this is an opportunity to share the steps and processes you’ve used to help your listing owners sell their homes quickly.

4. Use AI to improve marketing reach

As I mentioned above, boosting marketing on launch day is critical to success. I like to use ChatGPT to increase the reach that marketing can have on launch day. I named this marketing plan “Chick-Fil-A Sunday”. Meaning, if you use it, like Chick-Fil-A on Sunday, your list will be closed.

The first step is to inform ChatGPT as follows:

Please work as a professional real estate marketer focused on increasing the exposure of listings coming to market. Please write an SEO optimized Facebook post announcing the available home (at address) as a new listing that just hit the market. Please add a call to action at the end of the post that encourages the viewer to reach out to me for more information and to schedule a home showing. To help you write this, please use the following MLS description to highlight the details that the ideal buyer of this home might be interested in knowing.

Here is the MLS description of the home: [Insert MLS description].

ChatGPT will provide SEO optimized Facebook posts with hashtags and emojis. Make any necessary changes, and you’ll have a post ready to use on Facebook on launch day. Just below the Facebook post it offers, immediately ChatGPT next:

Now convert this to Instagram SEO [post or Reel script] to declare the home as a new listing.

Also, make any necessary changes and post that on Instagram on launch day. Just below the Instagram post or reel script prompt ChatGPT as follows:

Now turn this into an SEO-optimized LinkedIn 500-word post announcing the home as a new listing.

Check to make sure it’s acceptable and post a blog post on LinkedIn on the day of the launch. Then tell ChatGPT as follows:

Now I’ve provided a short SEO-optimized YouTube script that advertises this home as a new listing.

Finally, ask ChatGPT to provide you with 25 unique ways to market your new listing to get as much exposure as possible. While you may not use all of them, there are often a few strategies that you may not have thought of that can make a difference in selling a home.

5. Increase the exposure with a 4-point focus

Home marketing effectively involves targeted messages to several different groups of people. Each one is different, and the style and delivery of that marketing should be customized for each team. This is a list of four groups of people that I like to focus on with personalized marketing.

Sphere of Influence

Many times, the ideal buyer for our new listing is just a few degrees away from us or people very close to us. When I’m marketing a new listing to my sphere of influence, I like to use text and phone calls to make sure they’re aware of the new listing in case they know of someone who might be looking.

I sort the people in my role that I text or call by being listed as a home that matches the home they own or the next logical home they can buy (larger or smaller depending on their situation as a growing family or possibly their next move. downsizing). This increases the chances that their friend may want one of these two options.

• Neighbors – Letting your neighbors know about your listing may lead to them having a friend who wants to move into the area. It also gives you a chance to talk to other potential owners of your next listing.
• Agents – Many potential buyers of your listing have signed buyer-to-buyer agreements with other agents. By marketing listings for other agents, you increase your marketing reach and listing exposure to as many potential buyers as possible.
• Buyers – This is where most of our marketing is focused. These are the potential buyers discussed in point #2 above.

6. Build more and better agent relationships

I started this article with ways to make it easier for a buyer’s agent and how that will help you sell your listing. I want to close this article with value and I need to have a good relationship with other agents.

Yes, we represent our clients and negotiate as professionally as possible on their behalf. But this business takes a buyer and a seller. In most jobs, that means you’ll be working with other agents. Engage your clients actively but be fair. Your reputation with other agents affects your business and, in turn, your listing.

The better your marketing plan, the better the results, and the more listing opportunities you will have in the future. Build your marketing plan. Implement your marketing plan and you will reap the rewards of more sales and more listings.