In a real estate market defined by limited inventory and high interest rates, creative marketing is often key for brokers to keep a foothold and stay top of mind. Phoenix Agent spoke with four brokers who are leading the way with new marketing initiatives to find out how they are reaching clients amid the ultra-tight competition. 

Doug Hopkins, My Home Group

Locals have probably heard this Phoenix agent’s voice before — his television commercials and regular spot on the 98KUPD radio show “Holmberg’s Morning Sickness” are well-known in the area:

“Hi, I’m Doug Hopkins and I want to buy your house.”

Hopkins first became something of a celebrity during the early 2010s on “Property Wars,” a Discovery Channel series. “I decided to capitalize on that fame and start running commercials during the show,” the My Home Group agent shares.

Nowadays, Hopkins has dialed back his television ads and doubled down on radio — and he’s spending significantly less than he used to on his marketing efforts. However, he’s diversified his strategies.

Hopkins recently hired a videographer and while, admittedly, Hopkins finds being followed around by cameras a little odd, the videos are generating a lot of interest online. Along with that, he and his team have started taking deeper dives into their existing leads. “We have an intake department that takes the leads and holds them to a higher standard, and new software to follow up with leads and nurture the leads we do have,” he said.

Hopkins prefers a slower, more calculated “rifle approach” to a “shotgun approach” when it comes to marketing. “A lot of people are handcuffed to their home right now — they can’t afford to get rid of their payment,” Hopkins explained. “We have to be more precise in our marketing — who we’re marketing to.”

Becoming more strategic in this market was imperative to Hopkins. “There are so many companies that are coming after our business. We have our sphere of influence and can keep assisting our past clients, but our spheres are getting hit by other Realtors or big companies. They’re getting hit from all sides,” he said. “If you don’t keep up, you’re going to get left in the dust.”

“I’ve seen top producers who are now barely making it because they don’t know how to reinvent themselves,” Hopkins added. “If you’re not changing with the times, you’re getting left behind.”

Jen Nelson, The Nelson Group – Realty Executives

During the pandemic housing boom, Realty Executives agent Jen Nelson says she and her team were so busy, marketing sometimes fell to the wayside. “Things were happening at the speed of light,” she said. But now that the market has slowed, Nelson says her business has actually increased. “We’re very strategic in both our print and social media advertising,” she said. “Just about every weekend, we have material going out to our markets and our feeder markets.”

“In everything we do, there’s push marketing and pull marketing. We really love pull marketing,” Nelson shares. “[Like] ‘Here’s a beautiful property, here, meet the team.’ It’s a lovely way of attracting clients who really want to work with us.”

While Nelson’s marketing budget has increased significantly, she still hopes to expand further and is currently in the process of hiring another marketing professional. “We don’t skimp on our marketing at any price point,” she asserts. “We think any client deserves the same level of care.”

Since the real estate industry has evolved to include a lot more videos, Nelson and her team have recently enjoyed intentional video marketing, like the “Hot Ones, Hot Homes” chicken wing challenge posted to the Realty Executives YouTube channel. They also shoot three to four videos per listing in order to have compatible content for each social media channel, keeping clients’ listings at the top of everyone’s feeds.

Ultimately, Nelson’s brand ethos is ‘approachable.’ She’s the agent who drops off coffee for busy clients or takes them to dinner after a long day. 

“Everyone has a little bit more time right now — you don’t have to buy a house on day one,” Nelson said. “So, presenting the house — and yourself — in the best possible way is really important. We really love to present the house in the best possible and most professional light.”

Dallas Peagler, The Brokery

For Dallas Peagler, a Realtor at The Brokery, the pandemic shifted the way his clients thought of their home. “The pandemic caused a lot of people to realize how important their home is to them,” he said. “Maybe they were spending more time in their homes, or working from home, or wanted their home to be a refuge.” And in turn, Peagler’s marketing had to adapt.

Peagler realized that as business wasn’t coming in as steadily as it was several years ago, it was time to start targeting the specific markets he wanted to work in, like Scottsdale, Arcadia, Arcadia Lite and Paradise Valley. His marketing efforts in these neighborhoods have shifted towards a more grassroots approach, using mailing campaigns and targeted social media.

“We want them to see the same marketing materials from us on a repeated basis,” Peagler said. “We’re putting more time and money into building brand awareness.”

When it comes to his marketing budget, Peagler says he’s definitely spending more money than he was a couple years ago. “You didn’t even have time to market before — the demand was so great that as soon as you put the sign up, you were getting showings,” Peagler said. “You didn’t even have time to spend money and the house was sold … we’re getting back to longer days on market and a more traditional sales process.”

Now, The Brokery’s social media strategy is centered around their Instagram, which features luxury listing photos as well as top producer news and snapshots of client events. The brokerage is also active on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Peagler believes these micro-marketing efforts go a long way in showing clients that they’re a top priority. “You want to get as many eyes on the property as you can. Clients want to know you’re working hard for them and not just waiting for the phone to ring,” he said. “It’s important for your clients to see you’re spending money on their listing and working hard for them, and getting the home sold for the best price.”

Mike Weinstein, The Recon Group at West USA Realty

For some agents, though, marketing is not the top priority.  Mike Weinstein, co-team leader of The Recon Group at West USA Realty, said that his company’s marketing strategies have not changed over the past several years. In fact, their marketing budget has shrunk — even though business hasn’t slowed down. “We’re just returning to ‘old school’ methods,” Weinstein said. 

For Weinstein, that means being able to meet anyone and engage in a deep real estate conversation. “For us and our team, our focus has always been on having real estate conversations with people as our number one source of lead generation,” he said. “What has changed is we’ve doubled down on having conversations surrounding building real estate wealth. After the pandemic, people saw all these people making money from real estate and they wanted in.”

But how can those conversations grow? For existing clients, The Recon Group hosts a lot of outreach events. Meanwhile, they also work to utilize their sphere of influence — in other words, everyone in their database whom they can pick up the phone and call. For people they don’t have a relationship with, the discussion usually begins like this: “What questions can I answer for you about real estate?”

Weinstein also has a different approach to social media and technology. While he admits they’re important, he says some agents lean too hard on these tools. “I think those things have made us, as agents, lazy. We hide behind technology and we’re expecting technology and social media to generate those leads and business for us,” he said. “For me, they’re just an enhancement of good, old-fashioned prospecting. If you’re not picking up the phone and calling people, it doesn’t matter how great your social media is.”

When he does use social media, Weinstein likes to keep it educational. “We want to create questions,” he explained. “Pics with sold signs don’t generate interest.”

The Recon Group recently launched a podcast, “The Real Estate 401K Show,” as well as an instant messaging feature on their website. He said the main goal behind these efforts is to get potential clients asking thought-provoking questions and, in turn, spark real estate conversations.

“When I’m having a real estate conversation, I already know what their objections are,” Weinstein says of his clients. “The market’s going to crash, high interest rates, et cetera. [But] You have to be able to talk, to articulate and explain to people why they shouldn’t be scared. Create questions.”