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Winter has come to the north. The scarves are handy and the days are short. For most of us, it’s time to hunker down and stay warm by a crackling fire. If you are a real estate franchise, that means your clients are also snuggling at home and not using this time of year to engage your services.
For them, if they venture out at all, it is gift buying and food planning that dominate the day’s agenda. For you, it may mean a lull, but don’t worry. That lull can be turned around into a gift; instead of waiting for things to pick up, this season is a perfect time to implement some cold-weather marketing plans for your real estate franchise.
Make Your Newsletter and Blog Topics Relevant to the Season
You already should be communicating with your clients regularly, so offer them ideas to make their life easier during the season. A newsletter or blog post on prepping their home for cold weather is appropriate and welcome from you. Include reminders to change filters, storm windows, and replace weather stripping or holiday lights before the shelves are empty.
Ease the burden of guests with tips for guest comfort. From recipe ideas to things to have when a guest arrives, provide a little guidance to make their home a welcoming place for family and friends.
Sponsor A Home Decorating or Winter Wonderland Contest
Nearly everyone is decorating for the holidays. Why not make it a fun event? After fighting the lights on the Christmas tree or shoveling snow to make the kids a fort, it would be awesome to win something for the troubles. A photo and short description are all that is needed. They provide the content, and you offer something that keeps your name in their minds.
Gift certificates are easy and work well, and cash always inspires, but maybe it’s a wreath to enhance their efforts or a night out at a local, well-respected venue or restaurant. See below for ideas on cross-marketing with others in your area.
Give Back to Your Own Community
Do good and be a better marketer by combining your efforts at the office. Collect canned goods, blankets, socks, coats, or other goods for needy families or groups. But collect at the office so that people stop in to see you.
Maybe each donor gets a raffle ticket for a single gift. Then, when you donate the goods collected, be sure to take photos and share the result and the winner in your newsletter. As clients come by your workplace, even for a moment, you get face time during a busy time of year. That’s a win for you too.
Real Estate for Kids – Gingerbread Style
For a small investment on your end, you can create community and meet new prospects; therefore, marketing your business. Advertise an event where families decorate gingerbread homes at your office. These can be pre-made kits or made with simple things like Graham Crackers and canned frosting.
With a little hot cocoa, eggnog and cheesy snacks, this will be a memorable day for all. Provide a simple way to transport the creations home. And, of course, each family will take home your latest collateral materials too, along with any prizes you decide to award.
Co-Market with Another Local Company
Expand your base of prospects by sharing the marketing with another organization. Maybe the local bakery donates the gingerbread house parts or demonstrates how to make one. Forge affiliations with local restaurants, cooking schools, kids-party venues, or home cleaning companies—they provide prizes for your efforts, and you marketing to their database of clients, also.
Expand your reach, collaborate locally, and become the local go-to real estate franchise in town. By encouraging people to spend their money locally, everyone benefits.
Hunker Down and Look Ahead
After the fun, decorations, and games, don’t be afraid to hunker down for yourself. You have data to review, projects to work on, holiday e-cards to send to your customers, and your own home to decorate. The quieter office time will be a good time to initiate projects that have been on hold during the busier months.
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So, grab a hot mug o’ cheer, sharpen your pencil, and work on how you will refine next year’s real estate franchise plans. End the year strong by enjoying the creative marketing options that cold weather brings.
Anne Daniells is a co-owner of Enterprising Solutions, a professional services firm specializing in corporate communication and financial improvement for businesses where she shares decades of corporate and entrepreneurial experience—including franchise ownership—in her writings on business culture. She has authored hundreds of articles for publications including AllBusiness.com, TweakYourBiz.com, and MSN.com. Reach out via her website for more on where corporate culture, communication, and human architecture collide.