The marketing function of any business is critical to both near-term and long-term growth. But for many real estate professionals, in-sourcing (hiring a full-time experienced person) can be too expensive.
To solve this, here are three models to consider for augmenting your marketing efforts by aligning with outside resources.
ASSISTED. The 'assisted' approach involves building your marketing skills and capabilities through participation in on-going training sessions. Examples of these can be in the form of monthly webinars, online training libraries, software orientation sessions, etc.
PARTNERED. The 'partnered' approach is characterized by active one-on-one coaching by a skilled marketing trainer. Although more expensive than the 'assisted' model, the benefits include faster learnings and implementations.
INTEGRATED. The 'integrated' model involves the dedication of resources by an outside marketing firm, which takes an active role in developing and implementing marketing initiatives. This approach is the most expensive of the 3 models, but can result in the fastest implementation of the most sophisticated marketing initiatives. Plus the cost of this model can still be significantly below the cost of hiring full-time marketing staff.
Regarding which approach is best for your particular business activities, it depends on several factors:
- capabilities of current marketing resources.
- need to accelerate business growth.
- availability of external resources to co-source with.
- risk tolerance for managing a new business process approach.
In addition to which model to utilize, each real estate professional should also decide which specific aspects of its marketing initiatives should be involved with the various models. For example, for your social media marketing support, you may choose the 'assisted' model, but in parallel, may want to pursue an 'integrated' model for developing and implementing your out-reach initiatives that require personal contacts.
