18 Clever Real Estate Marketing Ideas

It’s 2025, and the strategies in real estate marketing are evolving faster than ever. What worked last year might not cut it today, so staying ahead of the curve is key. The good news is you don’t have to reinvent the wheel — you’ll only have to tweak your approach and focus on what works. 

I’ve updated our list of strategies to improve your marketing. So, grab your coffee and dig into our best real estate marketing ideas.

Brand and engagement marketing ideas

Creating your brand story is one of the most important steps in establishing authority in your market area. Your brand should reflect who you are authentically to give your target audience a way to make an emotional connection to you.

1. Create a personal brand rooted in your values

Start your real estate journey by creating a personal brand that resonates with your target audience. A solid brand does something that a website or glossy headshot never will — it helps you build a unique selling proposition. Every agent has access to the same marketing tools, from artificial intelligence (AI) to gorgeous templates, so what sets you apart? Your brand.

To start defining your brand, consider what your clients need and what you bring to the table that others don’t. Define your brokerage’s mission, vision, and core values to guide your marketing strategy. Your branding should reflect your values and align with the people you want to attract. So think about why you got into real estate (besides the potential of making gobs of money). 

Remember, don’t try to be something you’re not. The right client will connect with you for the right reasons.

Pro-tip: Jump on the fast lane to success and hire experts to create your brand. Agent Image focuses on high-quality design and award-winning service, allowing you to scale your business smoothly to the next level. Use our link to sign up for 20% off any website package!

2. Create a compelling slogan

Once you’ve defined your mission, vision, and core values, you should clearly understand your real estate brand. The next step is creating a memorable slogan summarizing your value proposition. Think of it as your one-sentence elevator pitch.

Summing up your value prop in one short sentence isn’t easy, but a compelling real estate slogan can significantly boost brand recognition. It helps communicate who you are and who you work with and creates a personal connection with your audience.

3. Generate referrals from local businesses

Experienced agents know that local business owners can be a sweet referral source. Who else is as plugged into your community as the local salon owner, restaurateur, or florist? They know when people are getting married, divorced, or making other life changes that might lead to a transaction. So, if you want to generate motivated referrals, you can’t go wrong building these relationships.

You’re probably already working with several types of businesses, like photographers, movers, contractors, staging companies, home inspectors, insurance agents, etc. You might consider hosting an event together. Try some of these ideas:

• Host a workshop with a qualified home inspector to educate potential military homebuyers about the VA inspection process.
• Invite a lender to a first-time homebuyers event to help boost the prospecting potential. They can help answer questions about how to get started.

These work equally well as in-person events or online webinars. Creating an informational event around a specific real estate topic is easy, but you need a strategic marketing strategy to get a good turnout. Use Facebook Events, print marketing, organic social media posts, and emails to get the word out.

Looking for a free referral network to boost your lead gen efforts? Sold.com delivers high-quality buyer and seller leads that convert easily. And you don’t pay for any leads until they close!

Visit Sold.com

4. Get real results from freelance designers

As you scale your business, it’s important to find ways to continue creating content and marketing materials while being able to focus on serving your clients. This is why learning to hire and work with freelance designers is one of agents’ most essential marketing skills. Here are four tips for getting the most out of your consultation with design professionals:

1. Share your mission, vision, and values statement so they understand your brand.
2. Decide on fonts, brand colors, and style before hiring a designer.
3. Find a designer who fits your needs and budget.
4. Don’t rush feedback — take time to absorb the work before requesting changes.

Apps like Canva and Adobe Express offer great templates for DIY-ers — but you’ll want to work with a pro at some point, especially if you want your marketing materials to hit the mark. Even using services like Tailor Brands for logo design requires knowing what you want and how to communicate it.

Looking to elevate your real estate branding? Fiverr connects you with freelance designers who can create custom logos, business cards, social media posts, and other real estate marketing materials tailored to your style. With so many budget-friendly options, you can get quality designs without breaking the bank!

Marketing real estate ideas for social media

There’s no denying that you must have an online presence for people to build trust in you. Use some of these creative real estate marketing strategies to help save time, stress, and frustration in building your social media marketing strategy.

5. Master social media content creation

You must post often to scale your social media and generate leads. However, quality matters as much as quantity, so creating high-quality content that fits your brand and works for all social media platforms you use is essential.

An easy way to stay consistent is to use real estate templates from companies like Coffee & Contracts, LabCoat Agents Marketing Center, and Agent Crate. These providers offer social media content, real estate marketing ideas, and professionally designed templates.

Here’s my take on the best resources for social media content creation, plus links to our in-depth reviews if you want to dive deeper:

Platform	Best for	Review	Learn more
	Increasing engagement on social media and email	Coffee and Contracts review	Visit Coffee and Contracts
	Those on a budget who want automated social media posting	Agent Crate review	Visit Agent Crate
	Teams who want an easy-to-use mobile app with a design studio and direct mail feature	LabCoat Agents Marketing Center	Visit LabCoat Agents Marketing Center
	Editing real estate videos using its Wix Video Maker	No review yet	Visit Wix.com
	Hiring freelancers who can create and edit all types of content for agents	No review yet	Visit Fiverr

6. Adopt social media strategies from top influencers

To generate more leads through social media marketing, learn from the most successful real estate influencers and marketers and adapt their strategies to fit your style. As Tony Robbins says, “If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do.” 

Follow real estate influencers you resonate with and see which topics get the most engagement. Share your perspective on those topics, add them to your marketing calendar, and stay consistent. Make sure to put your personality and unique ideas on their strategies, and don’t copy them directly. Not only is copying exact content unethical, but it won’t be authentic to your brand.

The more consistent you are, the more the algorithm works in your favor. Here are five real estate influencers to follow on Instagram:

• Taya DiCarlo (@tayadicarlo) for fun and educational reels
• Leigh Brown (@leighthomasbrown) for humor and actionable advice for buyers
• Glennda Baker (@glenndabaker) for no-nonsense advice for buyers and sellers
• Chelsea Peitz (@chelsea.peitz) for real estate social media advice and lifestyle content
• The Broke Agent (@thebrokeagent) for real estate humor and viral memes

7. Use Facebook Messenger ads to boost open rates

If you’re looking for smarter marketing ideas for real estate agents, try Facebook Messenger ads. Unlike crowded news feeds, Messenger feels more personal. It’s a great way to connect with many Facebook Messenger users over 45 — the same demographic as home sellers.

Here are six steps to get you started:

• Set up an Ads Manager account in Meta.
• Choose the engagement objective.
• Set the engagement option to “Messaging apps” and select Messenger or Instagram.
• Set your ad duration, designate your audience, and choose your ad format.
• Customize the greeting people see after clicking on your ad.
• Review, edit, and publish your ad.

Once you start receiving leads through your ads, use LionDesk’s customer relationship manager (CRM) to automate texts and keep prospects engaged. If you’re unsure about signing up for its services, LionDesk offers a 14-day free trial!

Marketing ideas for more real estate referrals

Well-established real estate agents know the secret to success is getting referrals. Use some of these real estate agent marketing ideas to help generate more referrals and grow your business exponentially.

8. Automate your review-collecting process 

If you don’t ask for client reviews, you leave money on the table. But let’s be honest — agents get busy, forget, or feel awkward bringing it up. The longer you wait, the more challenging it is to reconnect with past clients.

Instead of manually chasing down past clients, savvy agents automate their review-gathering process with reputation management platforms like Birdeye. These platforms have tools that reach out to your clients to ask for testimonials. There is less friction and awkwardness, so you get more reviews on more websites.

9. Build social proof with video testimonials

A few years ago, a handful of 5-star Zillow reviews was all a realtor needed. While they are still a crucial part of your online presence, they are simply not enough. With fake reviews everywhere, people are growing skeptical of written real estate client testimonials. They’re just too easy to fake.

Video testimonials, on the other hand, naturally feel more authentic and are nearly impossible to fabricate. They can be used in your realtor marketing across social media, emails, landing pages, websites, and YouTube. Here are a few quick best practices to help your video testimonials shine this year: 

• Keep them short: Shorter videos are more likely to be watched to the end, a vital engagement signal for most social media platforms.
• Shoot vertical videos: This will make them easier to share on Instagram Stories, Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts.
• Send questions in advance: Make it easy for clients to think of responses, and they will be less nervous on the shoot day.
• Done is better than perfect: No need to make a big production out of your testimonial videos! Sometimes, candid videos shot on your phone work better.

10. Engage past clients with experiential marketing

As any seasoned agent will tell you, five minutes of in-person engagement is worth hours of online engagement. That’s why many top-producing agents invest in experiential marketing — exclusive client events like dinners, wine tastings, educational seminars, and charity drives.

Take annual holiday parties, for example. These parties bring together past clients, friends, and vendors, keeping people talking for months. The best part? These events often lead to new transactions.

11. Give memorable closing gifts

While closing gifts are an excellent way to encourage referrals, most realtors miss the mark by focusing on self-promotion instead of what clients actually want. The best gifts should feel personal and useful — not just another mug with your brokerage logo.

Think about what would make their first day in a new home easier. Moving into a house while everything is still in boxes is difficult. A gift basket with essentials like kitchen towels, a bottle of champagne with flutes, an Echo Dot, or even a pancake mix for breakfast can go a long way. Thoughtful and practical gifts show you care about your clients, while also keeping you top of mind.

Marketing ideas for real estate listings

These ideas, from enhancing curb appeal to crafting creative listing descriptions, will help you market your listings more effectively.

12. Improve curb appeal on a shoestring budget

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), most Realtors recommend improving curb appeal before listing a property for sale. Curb appeal is essential for attracting prospective buyers. It’s the first and last thing people see when driving to the property, and great curb appeal also attracts those who drive by. A well-kept exterior signals that a home is cared for, making buyers more curious to see what’s inside.

Here are some simple low- or no-cost curb appeal fixes to try with your listing.

• Create an inviting seating area on the porch
• Perk up drab brown grass with lawn paint
• Replace the mailbox and house numbers
• Decorate the entrance with potted plants and flowers
• Upgrade porch lighting
• Tidy up hedges and replace dead or scraggly ones
• Add fresh mulch to the flowerbeds
• Powerwash the exterior of the home

For more ideas, check out our curb appeal strategy guide.

13. Create effective listing marketing plans with AI

“Those who list, last” is a well-worn real estate cliche because most successful agents regularly list properties rather than exclusively represent buyers. Whether you’re a seasoned listing agent or still working on getting your first seller client, a detailed marketing plan is your key to success.

Your marketing plan is one of the most powerful tools you have to land listings. Homeowners hire agents for their marketing expertise, so having a detailed plan to showcase during your listing presentation can set you apart. Some essential features of a marketing plan include:

• A strategy for overcoming common objections
• Unique selling features of the new listing
• A thorough and accurate comparative market analysis (CMA)
• High-quality visuals — photos, video walkthroughs, aerial footage, and a 3D tour
• A compelling listing description
• A multi-channel promotion strategy

While your marketing plan sets the foundation, artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT and Grammarly can take your listing descriptions to the next level. These apps help agents create listing descriptions, refine marketing copy, and brainstorm topics. Think of it as the editor you never had. However, keep in mind that AI shouldn’t replace your expertise.

Here are four AI tools you can use to write better real estate marketing copy this year:

AI copywriting tool	Best for	Starting monthly price	Learn more
	Everything from short marketing copy to e-books, lead magnets, and listing descriptions	Free	Visit ChatGPT
	Copywriting templates so you don’t have to start from scratch	$39 per seat	Visit Jasper.ai
	Creating workflows where agents can automate large-scale content creation and tasks	Free	Visit Copy.ai
	Cleaning up all writing, including emails, listing descriptions, social media captions	Free	Visit Grammarly

14. Enhance listings with virtual staging & VR tours

If you’re selling an empty home, consider virtual staging to help buyers visualize its potential. A spare room can be transformed into a kid’s room with bunk beds or as a home office. It’s one of the simplest yet most powerful real estate marketing ideas that can make a big impact.Besides that, using virtual reality (VR) in real estate can enhance listings further by letting buyers explore properties remotely through immersive 3D tours. Many tools, like Zillow, are available today to create interactive virtual tours that make potential buyers feel they’re walking through your listings.

Give your listings an edge with Zillow 3D Home tours, which let buyers visually explore properties from anywhere. This feature will make your listing stand out in Zillow search results. Best of all, creating a 3D tour is free with the Zillow app!

Real estate marketing ideas to boost visibility and communication

The more accessible you are online, the easier it is for your audience to connect with you and develop trust. Try implementing some of these additional realtor marketing techniques to increase your exposure.

15. Create a buyer presentation

Successful agents know that buyer presentations are just as important as listing presentations. Especially in the wake of the NAR settlements, you must try to go through a proper buyer presentation with your leads. According to the NAR, most buyers interview just one agent before deciding — so creating and practicing an informative buyer presentation is key to attracting more this year and beyond.

Here are tips for delivering the perfect buyer presentation:

• Break the ice with small talk
• Tell them exactly how long the presentation will take
• Ask specific and open-ended questions to build a buyer profile
• Don’t mislead your clients — ensure they understand the commission structure and their responsibilities along with yours
• Let your buyer do most of the talking
• Role-play your presentation with another agent before doing it live

16. Write scripts & pre-record videos for text messaging

Text messaging is one of the fastest ways to connect with leads. Most people open text messages within five minutes, which is way faster than an email. If you’re using it in your real estate marketing, you need to be ready to respond quickly.

The good news? Many CRMs, like Wise Agent and BombBomb, let you save text templates and send pre-recorded video messages. Your text messaging scripts don’t need to be perfect — just ensure they are clear, friendly, and to the point, much like our recommended text messaging scripts.

Stay connected with your leads using Wise Agent’s built-in text messaging feature. Quickly follow up with leads, send appointment reminders, and keep conversations going — all from one easy-to-use CRM.

17. Launch a real estate podcast

Starting a real estate podcast is an incredibly effective way to showcase your communication skills, personality, and local area knowledge. Use your podcast to spotlight local businesses, interview other adjacent business owners (think vendors, like local lenders or photographers), or spew some of your market wizardry and real estate expertise.

Invite expert guests on your podcast to boost your credibility and build your audience quickly. If you’re lucky enough to have a local influencer with a decent following in your area, seek them out and offer to work with them. Consider being a guest on someone else’s podcast too, where you answer questions about your area’s current real estate market.

For some inspiration, check out our roundup of the best podcasts for real estate agents — these could give some structure on how to approach creating yours.

18. Create neighborhood spotlight videos

Make videos highlighting specific neighborhoods or communities in your market area. Showcase any unique features, amenities, schools, and local businesses that stand out to give your potential buyers a wide-lens view of what it’s like to live in the neighborhood.

Neighborhood videos can be simple and made in either long or short form. A great strategy is to post long-form videos on YouTube and break them into shorter clips for your social media pages. Using real estate hashtags and geotags can help boost visibility and attract more leads.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Your take

With the endless variety of marketing tools out there claiming to do everything except wash your dishes, figuring out what works for your business can take a lot of work. Worse, many agents chase the latest fads and waste time learning the ins and outs of the latest shiny object. If you want to make real gains in marketing this year, you need to think strategically about the marketing strategies you use for your business.

Do you have any killer marketing ideas for real estate that our readers should know about? Let us know in the comments.

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