The holiday season is a great time to build lasting relationships with your clients and form new ones. Make the most of this moment with an exciting Christmas real estate marketing strategy that targets everyone on your list – so you can start the New Year strong.
With the busy summer season coming to an end, many real estate agents find themselves looking forward with eager anticipation of their favorite time – Christmas!
Winter is famously an off-season in real estate, with less work involved in preparing homes for showings over holiday break.
But while it’s okay to scale back and enjoy the Christmas season, make sure not let yourself fall into complacency all month long. Because the holidays are actually the perfect time for real estate agents to get out there and reach more potential buyers and sellers!
The hustle of summer is behind them, so it’s easy enough that they can scale back a bit without feeling like their jobs have been taken from under them!
We know we’re always excited about fun Christmas marketing ideas for this season – so we’ve compiled a list of our best Christmas real estate marketing tips for the holiday season! The goal? To encourage you to make the most of the important yet underutilized Christmas real estate marketing season.
1. Remind clients that you’re still available in the Christmas season
While a variety of factors play into annual real estate slowdowns, one factor is that clients assume that agents will be uninterested in or unable to get involved with sales during the holidays.
And when reassured, many will be happy to move forward with listing their homes or exploring opportunities for buying.
There are many easy ways to do this. To name a few, you could:
Mention your availability in your e-newsletter
This is a quick and easy way to let clients know your holiday schedule and keep you at the top of their mind as they do their Christmas shopping.
Use social media to stay in touch
It’s not just real estate agents who have time off during the holidays, and your clients (current and potential) are likely using their extra free time checking their social media feeds more frequently during the Christmas season.
So make sure to share your holiday availability on all your social media channels.
2. Show your real estate clients your appreciation
One of the most important aspects of a lasting relationship with your real estate is showing your appreciation. And what better time to do that than during the Christmas season?
There are many different ways you could do this, but here are a few easy ideas:
Send a Christmas e-card to clients
A card can go a long way in letting clients know that you are still invested in getting their sale (or purchase) closed during the holiday season.
A personalized Christmas e-card is a great option, since it’s completely free to send, and easy to share with tens (if not hundreds) of your clients past, present, and future!
Send a handwritten note to clients
Digital marketing may be crucial in today’s competitive real estate landscape, but if you want to go above and beyond, a handwritten note will always get a more positive emotional response! These heartwarming throwbacks to Christmases past let clients know that you truly care.
Even if you haven’t worked with some clients for years, they will be glad to keep in touch. Tell them that they’re on your mind, that you’re grateful to have worked with them, and that you wish them the best as they enjoy their homes and their lives.
Show appreciation with client gifts
The closing gift has long been a client expectation. A carefully selected gift shows that you appreciate your clients while also ending the entire process on a positive note. And the Christmas real estate season is the perfect opportunity to give a holiday twist to this time-honored tradition!
Small tokens of your appreciation can also provide a valuable reminder of the role you’ve played in previous clients’ lives. This keeps you top of mind. It also increases the chance they will refer you to their friends, colleagues and other potential clients, or even work with you again as they become second-time homebuyers (and sellers!).
Tread carefully with this idea though…
Good intentions can sometimes lead to legally and ethically dubious territory. Take a close look at Section 8(a) of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), which prohibits kickbacks and exchanges of value as compensation for referrals. In other words, you’ll need to make it abundantly clear that there are no strings attached to your gifts.
3. Attract new real estate leads with paid ads
The nurturing process takes a long time…
So to close a great deal in spring, you should begin building relationships with prospective clients as early as the fall. And if you need a quick boost to get your lead nurturing process started, you can run paid advertising around the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons.
Wherever you decide to advertise, this approach will give you quick and effective results thanks to ad targeting. But we recommend using one of the following advertisers for your Christmas real estate ads (or mixing all of them!):
Google Ads
Google Ads brings potential clients to your website based on their search intent…
So it’s a great option for finding buyers and sellers who are already in the consideration stage of their buyer or seller journey!
They’ll be directed directly to your website to solve their unique real estate problem, where they can learn more about exciting real estate opportunities.
Facebook Ads
Facebook Ads are the best for building your social media following and attracting future buyers and sellers to your brand at the exploration stage. Plus, it gives you access to Instagram, where buyers often look for home promotions.
Other Ads
Other sites like Craigslist or LinkedIn also offer great paid options. Ultimately, where you advertise is entirely up to your goals.
But wherever you choose to advertise, it’s important to customize your target audience as much as possible! This will ensure that your marketing dollars are spent on highly qualified leads who are likely to convert.
Be sure to use holiday-oriented keywords and seasonal content to attract attention. Keywords like “buying a house during the holidays” or “selling a house in the winter.” These terms and concepts will make your efforts more relevant to prospects who are looking to buy or sell on the Christmas real estate market.
4. Offer seasonal advice on your real estate blog
Don’t neglect your blog during the holidays, either.
Your future clients are at home with their families – bored and looking for something to engage with. So give them what they want!
This is an excellent time to score new leads with optimized blog posts that contain relevant keywords. And don’t forget to add a strong call to action into all your articles to encourage readers to sign up for your email list...
So you can follow up with your new lead in the New Year!
Some great Christmas real estate blog ideas worth exploring include:
- How to avoid last minute real estate problems at Christmas time
- 7 ways you can use the holiday season to boost your sales
- Preparing your home for Christmas: decoration tips from the pros
When all is said and done, success in real estate often comes down to lead nurturing. If you begin reaching out to leads early and engage them with helpful blog content, you’re sure to see success during the holiday season – and beyond!
5. Send a special Christmas real estate newsletter
A year-end email newsletter allows you to look back on the past twelve months and share your accomplishments, challenges, and any lessons you learned on the way.
Most importantly, you can share how your clients made a difference.
Your newsletter should also include a holiday greeting, and of course, some great real estate content.
Ideas for your Christmas real estate newsletter:
- The top 5 trends in the industry that we saw in 2021
- What to expect in 2022 – predictions from our experts
- Our favorite houses of the year – including before and after photos!
- Check out our holiday hours (yes, we are still available for your real estate needs)
6. Get involved with charitable events
Christmas real estate marketing doesn’t have to be all about business. As a real estate professional, you should strive to be a committed member of your local community.
Plus, if you demonstrate that you are aware of local causes and are eager to help out, you’ll grow ties to potential clients and strengthen your place in the community.
This could mean:
- Encouraging participants to sign up for a charitable event on your Facebook page
- Sending charity drive or event reminders to your email list
- Sharing behind-the-scenes footage from the event in your Instagram Stories
- Recapping the event in your monthly email newsletter
Charitable initiatives are a true win-win, since they benefit community members, but can also increase your reputation, boost the exposure of your brand, and strengthen your other marketing initiatives!
The charitable event itself can also be a marketing opportunity!
For example, if you get involved in a charitable holiday 5K, you could sponsor the race so that your real estate logo is featured in event programs, on signs, or even on the T-shirts given to race participants.
If you’re still not sure what charitable initiatives would fit best with your real estate business, consider these 3 ideas:
- Host a charity auction. Encourage local businesses to donate gift cards or products to charity by hosting a silent auction in which all proceeds benefit a local cause.
- Donate a percentage of all commissions earned in December to a charity of your client’s choice. If your clients are passionate about a certain charity, this can be a great way to give back while also showing them you care about their interests.
- Volunteer your time. There are many local organizations that would love to have the help of real estate professionals for one-time or ongoing projects. This is a great way to connect with potential clients and make your face knows in your community, while also doing good.
7. Prepare for the New Year with a fresh marketing strategy
In the winter Christmas season, less homes are usually on sale. So use this extra time as an opportunity to prepare your future real estate marketing strategy.
It’s important to plan for the new year before it starts. If you think about it early, then you can start off the year with a bang!
Some steps ideas to get you started on your after- Christmas real estate marketing strategy:
Set some achievable goals for the upcoming year.
- Reflect on what worked and what did not in your marketing strategy over the past year.
- Analyze your leads and clients to see where they came from and how you can replicate that success.
- Start planning out your content calendar for the year – make sure you have a good mix of blog posts, social media content, and email newsletters.
- Think about any new marketing initiatives you want to experiment with in the upcoming year. A new year is a great time to freshen up your real estate marketing strategy!
End the year on a high note with your Christmas real estate marketing strategy
Christmas real estate marketing offers a chance to find new clients and strengthen existing relationships, all while preparing for the new year. Don’t let the holiday season go to waste — use this time to lay out your marketing goals for the new year and keep clients thinking about you.
Something as simple as a custom Christmas card can let clients know you care about them and your community. You’ll be amazed by the positive response you receive!
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