Equestrian Real Estate Marketing is something that is rarely talked about, as the industry is so niche’ in nature. Within thriving equestrian communities such as Wellington, Florida equestrian real estate a booming business. In a community like Wellington, the opportunities to engage in equestrian real estate are endless. With the popularity of the Winter Equestrian Festival soaring, there are thousands of riders coming and going throughout the show season. Many of these equestrians are not native to Wellington, and therefore need locations for their horses to stay, for their barnmates to say, for their grooms to stay, and a place for them to stay during these winter months. The sky-high seasonal rentals revolving around the Winter Equestrian Festival are perfect for real estate agents within the equestrian community of Wellington to make some serious money.
However, there is a catch.
The catch is that many real estate agents cannot compete with many of the established agents within the community because of their long-time connections and authority within the community. For an up and coming real estate agent looking to dive into the equestrian community, the odds of success are grim….to the untrained eye.
Have you ever heard the saying: “In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity”. This could not be any closer to the truth. What this means is that while everyone is trying to fight over authority within one aspect of equestrian real estate, there are other avenues within the industry that are wide open, and I mean WIDE OPEN.
Let’s face it: the equestrian industry is behind in the times: technology, corporate structure, and professionalism (in some instances). The industry is very underdeveloped, which means that there is plenty of room to grow and thrive within the industry!
With that being said, we have compiled a few Equestrian Real Estate Marketing Tips for Equestrian Real Estate Agents:
Be Unique
If you want to be successful within any industry, you need to be unique. Don’t copy logos, slogans, or looks from other companies. Be different and have your own style & approach to how you do business. Don’t follow in the footsteps of other people all the time.
Know Your Market
This should go without saying, but you should get to know your market and everything within it. This includes your geographical area, market values, competitors, your target clientele, the “big players”, and the process of how people are currently buying and selling properties in the area. All the marketing in the world is not going to help you, if you don’t even understand what you’re dealing with in the first place.
Have a Plan for Potential Listings
If you are approached by a potential client who asks you: “If I list my property with you, what avenues will you use to sell it?”, you had better have a good answer, and you’d better have it right now. Have a plan of how you are going to sell properties. Don’t rely on simply listing properties on your MLS and hoping some other agent has a potential buyer. If you don’t have a plan of attack to getting a potential client’s property in front of the eyes of potential buyers, then you are going to lose a lot of business.
Let Them Come to You
If you chase something in life, it will run away from you. Chasing is never a good idea in any aspect of life, and has rarely been successful. Marketing is just like hunting, there are two ways to go about it: you search for the prey, or you let the prey come to you. Using marketing dollars to “chase” potential clients will not only drive them away, but will leave you with massive holes in your pockets and no leads. Use your marketing dollars tactically by marketing to the clients who are already looking for what you have. You’ll save tens or even hundreds of thousands in marketing dollars per year, and you’ll end up selling more properties than you ever imagined! This does not mean you should sit and home and let your website or marketing campaigns do all the work, you still need to be social and active within your community. Just remember that the best selling tactic is to put the right property in front of the right person at the right time.
Have a Killer Website
Real estate websites nowadays are simply horrible. They are hard to navigate, they are slow, they are hard to view on mobile devices, and they leave the visitor irritated. If you want to capitalize on free clients, get yourself an awesome website that ranks in search engines and can help you sell properties you would have never been able to sell otherwise. Don’t use a “Real Estate Website Agency” unless you’re planning on getting the same horrible setup as thousands of other agents. (see tip #1). We have recently built an amazing website for Angela Pappas, who is a Realtor with Douglas Elliman in Wellington. Check out what we did for Angela here.
Collect Leads
Have a way to collect leads: this could be through newsletters, user accounts, and email lists. These features can be implemented on your website and will help you start to build a list of prospective clients to sell your listings to. This is a great tool to have if you are trying to get a prospective seller to list with you. (see tip #2). We have also implemented these onto the website for Angela Pappas, and can be viewed here.
Don’t Be Cheap
If you are trying to list a $10,000,000 farm in Wellington, don’t think that selling this property is going to be easy or cheap. Spend money marketing these listings to the right people. This could be through online campaigns, niche’ campaigns, or through informational purchases. If you want to sell big, you need to spend big. In such a highly competitive industry such as real estate, you need to play to win, and you need to pay to play.
Be Economical With Your Marketing
Just because we tell you to “not be cheap”, does not mean that you need to start blowing money on wasteful marketing. Buying a $40,000 table at the Winter Equestrian Festival is not always the best move in all cases. Picture what you could do with $40,000 in marketing outside of having a table for one night a week for 12 weeks? Think about your return on investment before you throw your money around in unproven territory. If you spend $40,000 on a VIP table at WEF, you had better have a plan to turn that $40,000 into $200,000 or else you’re really better off taking another approach.
Hire An Experienced Agency
Hiring an experienced agency is not cheap, but it is effective. These agencies can help boost your online presence, your offline presence, your branding, your social media, and can ultimately convert these things into sales. Never overlook the power of a strong marketing agency, as these agencies can make you (as a client) or destroy you (as a competitor). Find a great agency that can help you achieve your marketing goals. “If you think hiring a good agency is expensive, try hiring a bad one”.
If you’d like to see the website and marketing setup we did for Angela Pappas, check it out here!
Wellington Equestrian Real Estate Agency
Angela Pappas – Wellington FL Real Estate Agent
