Summer is here, bringing with it a new quarter and the opportunity to put your real estate marketing strategy into action.

How will you ensure that your real estate marketing strategy propels you forward this quarter and propels your business to the next level? It all starts with planning ahead of time, creating goals, and keeping oneself accountable for achieving those goals.

Here are three key points to keep in mind when you develop your marketing strategy this summer.

1. Establish Goals For The Conclusion Of The Summer

The third quarter spans from July 1 to September 30 – just in time for the dog days of summer. How will your goals for this time period differ from your goals for the first quarter? Here are some summer-specific considerations to consider as you narrow down your options.

• Will you be taking any summer vacations that will affect your productivity or cause you to shift your focus this quarter?
• Is there any seasonality in your market throughout the summer? Do you have any parents that want to relocate before the start of the school year? Is it more difficult to find new clients when so many people are on vacation?
• Will you focus on any summer marketing that you need to plan now? Do you need to develop a Labor Day plan? Are there any summer festivals or events in your area that you should attend

2. Create A Comprehensive Marketing Budget

Setting aside money for marketing will destroy your plan before you even begin. Even marketing tactics that are often thought to be free, such as social media marketing and SEO marketing, involve costs. Examine how you measure annually, what your business's budget is, and how much you can commit to marketing.

Here are some costs to consider:

• New images for your listings if they were taken in the winter and the exterior has altered substantially. This might assist improve the descriptions of your listings.
• Summer festivals, parades, and community activities can all be sponsored. This could involve offering raffle prizes or setting up a booth at local events.
• Advertisements on social media.
• Hiring a college student or summer intern to assist you in creating blog content that will generate visitors to your website.

3. How Can You Help Your Clients In A Unique Way This Summer

Instead of considering generic ways to make the most of summer for your real estate marketing strategy, consider how your specific demographic demands might aid this summer. Do you spend most of your time working outside? Develop your knowledge of area trails, parks, and outdoor summer activities. Is your target population made up of families? Consider strategies to assist parents on summer road trips or to serve as a reference center for summer camp and kid-friendly activities. Spend time this summer thinking about how you're going to help your demographic – making relationships this way helps your business expand organically through recommendations.

Don't Forget To Track Your Real Estate Marketing Efforts

To know how effective your summer initiatives are, you must commit to measuring them during the summer and at the end of the quarter. If your strategies didn't work in the third quarter, you won't want to repeat them in the fourth.

Calculate how much money you spent on each method. In order to estimate how much each client costs, ask new clients how they found you.

Examine your website and social media data. You'll want to look at page visits, time spent on the page, social media interaction, and, most significantly, how many clients you were able to convert as a result of your efforts. Your ultimate metric is lead generation. If you're spending money on social media but not getting any conversions, it might be time to take a continuing education course to build a more targeted approach.

Make A Strategy And Stick To It

The best method to judge your progress is to stick to your strategy while making adjustments as you go. Summer holidays and sunny weather may entice you to get forgetful. Following through on your real estate marketing plan will give you something to build on as the year comes to a close. You'll never know if your ideas are worth repeating (or if you've made mistakes you don't want to repeat) unless you start now and stick to your goals.