Whether it’s my TikTok FYP or my Instagram and Facebook feeds, everywhere I look, the algorithm knows exactly what is on my mind as well as everyone’s in the Real Estate industry:

… the NAR lawsuits and settlement.  

… buyer’s compensation changes. 

… high interest rates. 

Everyone’s thinking about the same things, and all of them have caused uncertainty and unease across the industry, even if it is surfacing in memes and videos like the Georgia realtor telling her buyer, “Sorry, Joan, but I am not driving you all over town until you have a pre-approval letter AND  sign my buyers agreement” or the New York hotshot laughing at everyone and saying “we’ve always done things like this!!!!!!” While these trends have been a gold mine for content creators, times are uncertain and we have about a million views and opinions in the palm of our hands. 

What is the NAR settlement?

In case you’ve been living in your own algorithmic feed and have missed it, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently offered a settlement in response to multiple lawsuits concerning NAR’s policies and their impact on commission prices and home sellers. 

In a nutshell, sellers will no longer be required to offer commissions to buyers’ agents (I encourage you to read more here)– so the expectation is that commissions are poised to become a hotbed of competition and negotiation– a new, nerve wracking differentiation factor on the playing field.

So what’s next?

These factors will all challenge agents to stand out and get laser focused– so the key challenge is understanding how to cut through the noise. How do we (as they say on those social media platforms I mentioned earlier) go outside and “touch grass” and bring the focus back to what’s important?

As someone with one foot in the real estate industry and one foot in the digital marketing world, my view is that we need to get back to the roots of what our business is actually about: 

Relationships. 

At the end of the day, everything we do in the real estate industry is about relationship building, providing value, and being that person that everyone “knows, likes, and trusts”.

It’s time to get back to basics, and to do that at scale.

While it’s important for even the most novice realtor to be thinking about how they are building relationships and marketing themselves, brokers, associations and MLS providers are being looked to more than ever to lead the charge in making it through these unsteady waters of change in the industry. 

While agents are asking themselves how they can stand out, leaders and associations are also asking how they can help and provide value to their members, how they can lean in despite the fear and uncertainty, and how they can empower and equip agents with the right tools and education to find success and keep their careers moving forward.

“For over a year, MLSs were fearful of making decisions.  After the court decision, they were even more concerned.  Now that the settlement has been reached, they are ready to get out there and show their value and they are optimistic about the future.” 

Robert Luna, VP of Business Development www.solidearth.com 

What does marketing have to do with it all?

Okay, so where does marketing come into play when we’re talking compensation, NAR, interest rates, and other brokerage boogeymen?

Effective communication and marketing are critical to maximize relationships, both between agents and their clients, and between brokerages and their agents. That means being able to utilize all the digital channels at your fingertips to get the right message to the right people at the right time– whether you’re an agent communicating a new listing to your clients, or you’re a brokerage recruiting new talent to turn into the next wave of superstar agents. 

This will become increasingly important as the landscape grows more competitive as a result of the current trends and regulations. Agents will face unique challenges in getting their clients’ attention (and loyalty), and brokerages and associations will need to effectively counter the “fear factor” and give their agents the tools to do so, as well.

To do this, however, the industry needs to lean hard on digital marketing tools and tactics that are reliable, trustworthy, and easy to use. 

Digital marketing tools like Constant Contact are at the heart of making agents unforgettable to their clients and associations valuable for their members.

An email. 

A text.

A community update.

An event invite.

It doesn’t sound like much… but if 86% of an agent’s business is coming from their sphere of influence, is there anything more important than being able to effectively grow and leverage that sphere?

Constant Contact and the Real Estate industry

What I love about Constant Contact is that it embodies the heart of the real estate industry: Reliability, trust and relationships. 

Communication is key to all of that. 

It is my desire to get the most affordable and powerful relationship building tool in the hands of every single real estate professional in the world, at a time when they need it more than ever.

We want to make communicating with members easy and consistent. 

We want to make sure real estate professionals can streamline the tools they rely on the most and allow them to work seamlessly together– so they can focus on what’s most important.

“Once we set up a sync between Constant Contact and our AMS, I’ve never had to worry about contact management again. And Constant Contact’s excellent deliverability means that everyone is finally getting their information. 

So simple and so powerful.”

James Benton, President, Waco AOR

We also want to make sure that “Partnership” doesn’t stop with a great discount, but continues on to help build relationships, drive adoption, and drive success for our end users. 

After all, an adoption rate of only 20% is unacceptable when it comes to marketing investments. 

To accomplish all this, we are changing the way MLS and real estate associations see tech partnerships– we’re committed to standing beside our real estate partners to provide training and education to their users through detailed how-to’s, live webinars, on-demand training, community forums, events, and more. 

We’re looking forward to arming real estate professionals with the tools they need to weather whatever trends and current events are coming, and we’re excited to help agents grow their lists, nurture their prospects, and build their repeat and referral business. 

Because if there’s one thing Constant Contact has in common with the real estate industry, it’s that we’re ALL about relationships.