Christmas is here once again. While the holiday season is usually slow in terms of selling and buying property, top real estate agents don’t get complacent with Christmas real estate marketing. Instead, they take advantage of the holiday to promote their business to prospects and past real estate clients. Though most people don’t like moving during winter, there are those that will have to relocate due to a new job or other unanticipated life changes. In addition, there are those planning to move in spring who are already looking for the ideal neighborhood or home. And don’t forget about the real estate investors who never stop looking for deals, no matter the season!
However, Christmas real estate marketing in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic will be challenging for every real estate agent. Due to social distancing rules, it might not be possible to engage with your real estate prospects in-person in local community Christmas events. In addition, giving traditional gifts like candy bars, real estate Christmas postcards, real estate Christmas cards, branded calendars, bottles of wine, or gift baskets would be inappropriate. The National Association of Realtors has provided detailed COVID-19 guidelines for real estate agents. It contains important information that will help keep potential sellers, buyers, and agents from getting infected by the virus during Christmas real estate marketing campaigns.
Since things are not business as usual, you need to think of creative, contactless ways of generating real estate leads. Here are some Christmas real estate marketing ideas to consider for Christmas 2020:
Leverage Content Marketing
During Christmas, homeowners are always thinking of how to tap into the holiday spirit. As part of your Christmas real estate marketing strategies, you could offer your followers relevant tips through your blog, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or a Christmas real estate newsletter. For example, you could provide some décor advice for improving curb appeal during the holidays. Or you could cover the top Christmas decorating trends for 2020. This could include ideas for seasonal toss blankets and pillows, stockings, dinner table settings, tree decorations, and holiday mantles. Finally, you could offer tips for staying safe and healthy during Christmas in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. When you share compelling and helpful content in your Christmas real estate marketing campaigns, visitors will keep coming back to your pages.
Related: 6 Top Real Estate Marketing Strategies for Agents
Run a Contest
Contests are one of the effective Christmas real estate marketing ideas for keeping your audience engaged. For instance, you could run a home photo contest where the winner gets a prize. Ask your followers to submit photos of their decorated porches, trees, living rooms, or gingerbread houses. Alternatively, people could share photos of recent renovations they have done on their properties. Ask participants to post photos accompanied with a specific hashtag. Also, encourage them to share their posts on social media in order to get more votes.
Preferably, the winner should be chosen based on the likes or comments on their photos. The prize could be an electronic gift card to a local restaurant or store. Besides creating a buzz among your followers, such contests will also help generate more quality leads for your real estate business.
Decorate and Post Current Property Listing Photos
Though things may slow down during the holiday season, there are still people out there looking for their dream home. To grab the attention of potential buyers, one of the best realtor marketing ideas is to share pictures of your current property listing after it’s been decorated for the holidays. However, be sure to keep the decorations to a minimum. If the seller still lives in the home, ask that (for the pictures), they leave out any personalized or over-the-top decorations. Be sure to include pictures of spaces that potential buyers would focus on during showings (views from the windows, closet spaces, etc). Don’t forget to add captions and written copy that provides additional details.
To reach a wider audience with your Christmas real estate marketing, consider using Facebook to create paid real estate Christmas ads for your listings.
To generate engagement on social media, you could create a contest for your listings. Ask your followers and fans to vote on the home they love the most.
Send Virtual Christmas Cards
COVID-19 has made it difficult to send real Christmas cards this year. But you can always send out e-cards!
Since you might not be able to send physical cards this year, be sure to send your clients and prospects an e-card as one of your Christmas real estate marketing ideas. Show them some appreciation for their business or engagement in 2020, and wish them a happy holiday. To personalize your real estate Christmas card messages, be sure to address your recipients by name. Avoid the generic and annoying ‘Dear friend’ or ‘Dear customer’ salutations. To create unique and personalized cards, you can use tools like Venngage, Canva, Picmonkey, and Pizap.
Partner with a Local Charity
During Christmas, a major part of real estate agent marketing is corporate social responsibility (CSR). Look around your community and identify a need that you can meet. You could even consider partnering with a charity organization like Feed the Children, Samaritan’s Purse, Transparent Hands Foundation, and Americares Foundation. Share your campaign on social media and encourage your followers to contribute. Showing support for your community will boost your reputation as a business and boost lead generation.
Incorporate Christmas-Themed Virtual Tours
In their guideline, the National Association of Realtors encourages their members to limit in-person showing as much as possible. Unfortunately, that means no Christmas-themed open houses this year. The good news is that you can use virtual tour tools like CloudPano, Kuula, My360, Panoskin, and Matterport for Christmas real estate marketing. Get rid of all the clutter and tidy the space before shooting the virtual tour. Decorate a little but keep it simple. To ensure that the rooms are as bright as possible, switch on all the lights and open all curtains. You can upload the videos on YouTube and share them on your social media platforms.
Related: 12 Best Real Estate Marketing Tools for Agents in 2020
Host a Virtual Christmas Party
Most people might be a little tired of Zoom meetings by now. However, a virtual party this time of year would be a nice change of pace. Help clients and prospects who are practicing social distancing get into the holiday spirit by hosting a virtual party.
Start with a little online research and planning on how to host a virtual party. You’ll need to put together a guest list and send out invites. When the time comes, consider using a festive virtual background or even decorating your space. Play some holiday tunes and prepare some fun virtual games for your guests.
Ask for Testimonials
Research shows that 88% of customers check reviews to determine if a business can be trusted. Getting testimonials can therefore be a powerful strategy for Christmas real estate marketing, especially since most people tend to be in an uplifted and positive mood around this time of year. This means more people will likely agree to your request and positive moods lead to better testimonials! Simply ask the clients that you’ve worked with within 2020 to share their experience. The testimonial should mention a specific problem and how it was solved. It’s also a good idea if they highlight how you managed to overcome any challenges brought on by COVID-19. Don’t forget to include the client’s photo – or better still, a short video.
Conclusion
Whether you are an established or new real estate agent, these tips will come in handy for real estate lead generation as you come to grips with the new reality of COVID-19. Whatever Christmas real estate marketing ideas you implement, be sure to measure your performance. For example, on social media, which posts receive the most clicks? If you sent out a Christmas newsletter, how many readers actually opened it? This will give you an idea of what is working in the winter real estate market in 2020.