Make the Most of your Holiday Downtime

It’s that time of year again. The temperatures outside are dropping and real estate activity may be taking a dip too as clients preoccupy themselves with the winter festivities. But the holidays are also some of the best times to heat up your holiday marketing efforts. The season of giving provides abundant opportunity to get your name front and center with home buyers and sellers as well as potential prospects. Here are a few tips you can apply this holiday season to maximize your holiday downtime and plan ahead your business marketing efforts for the new year.

Perform Community Service

It is the “Season of Giving,” after all. Start a toy or food drive for a local shelter, or simply volunteer your time at a local nursing home, hospital or soup kitchen. Advertise community service events in your blog, newsletter, website, online forums, and social media pages. Contact local community newspapers to see if they’ll publish a story about your event. Hire a photographer to take high-quality photos and videos from your event, which you can later share online. These are all great ways to interact with your local community and create prospective leads for the future.

Send Holiday Cards or Gifts to Current and Former Clients

Think of your holiday cards or gifts as subtle promotions disguised as thoughtful gestures. Consider including a small handwritten note on any cards or gifts you send out. Those you haven't spoken with in a while may have had changes that necessitate a change in their real estate needs. Use the slow time to call past clients or prospects and touch base with them. Cards to former clients should remind them you’re always available for referrals and to meet any of their future real estate leads. Your holiday card can include an offer like a free home warranty plan for purchasing a home through you, or you can offer a free CMA (Competitive Market Analysis). 

Get Back To The Basics. When the real estate market is "good," agents become lazy. The business is coming in and they forget about all of the hard work needed to keep the pipeline full. Use this holiday downtime to keep the pipeline going into 2022. The holiday downtime is a perfect time to prospect leads for the new year. Get personal. Write five handwritten notes a day. Make five phone calls a day. Set five appointments, even if it's just taking a top client out for a cup of coffee. These are daily habits that should not be forgotten when things are good. 

Reflect On Your Numbers

Slow periods are the perfect time for reflection and planning. What worked? What didn't work? Why? Update your database, clean up any outdated information, and do the same with your social media profiles. Agents should track every number in their business and adjust during slower periods. What were your top lead sources? How many leads from each source? How can you improve? All of these are questions that should be asked during every slow season. Evaluate your marketing plan and make adjustments where you fell short but reward yourself for the successes.

The time and effort you put in now will have a huge impact next year, and you owe it to yourself, your clients and future leads to be prepped and ready for the upcoming new year. These simple, yet highly effective real estate winter marketing ideas are perfect for any agent to up their lead gen game and define themselves as the leading community expert as well as get a jump start into the new year.