The Power of Modern Geographic Farming for REALTORS®
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"Geographic Farming" is one of those phrases that might have been completely new to you, like "Sphere" when you first entered real estate. And maybe even today, you're not completely sure what geographic farming entails.
While it's not a new real estate marketing concept, it's worth giving it a second look. The principles and best practices of this traditional approach can be amplified when we give it a modern spin. It can help you identify opportunities, stand out from your competition, and ultimately work with more customers. So, in today's episode, I'm sharing how to leverage the power of geographic farming for REALTORS®!
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When I first started in real estate marketing (back in 2014), I had a pink leather notebook that I carried everywhere. Inside, you can find to-do lists, interviews with real estate agents, and marketing ideas. What's so interesting about this notebook is that it's the perfect representation of my entrance to real estate.
While I was already a pro marketer, I'd just started my role as the Director of Marketing for a Brokerage. So, this was many years before I grew into a Chief Marketing & Tech Officer, was in Inman news, was here sharing ideas on the podcast, or owned Ideas for Real Estate.
This was my rookie year in real estate.
If you looked inside (and got past my impossible to read cursive), you'd find an entire section on the marketing strategy of "Geographic Farming."
While real estate marketing has evolved since then, those core principles remain relevant. They've also helped guide me as I've figured out what works and gained the experience to put my unique spin on this classic concept. But before you can learn how to implement it today, we have to start with what it is.
What is Geographic Farming for Real Estate?
Geographic farming, or simply "farming," is a real estate marketing strategy that involves identifying a local area (often a neighborhood or smaller community) and directly marketing to that area. The goal is often to generate listings, but farming can also be used to work with buyers and brand yourself locally.
One technique that's been used for many years is to choose a geographic farming area and send postcards to the homes in that area. These postcards might feature market stats, recently sold homes, and generally encourage the homeowners to work with you as their agent.
Combining geographic farming with direct mail was and is the go-to form of marketing for many agents and the strategy I first learned.
Essentially, what you are doing is choosing a location where there is opportunity and putting your efforts into marketing to that area. It doesn't have to be postcards and direct mail. It just has to be targeted to a specific area.
Why Geographic Farming Works
While real estate agents have been leveraging farming for years, it still works because it's strategic. But let's drill down even further into why...
Farming Brands You Locally: If you want to be known as the "go-to agent" in a particular market, this strategy will work for you. Since you are putting more effort into marketing to a specific neighborhood or community, over time and with the right marketing, you'll become known for that area. Whether you're a new agent or an experienced listing agent, you can work towards branding yourself in your neighborhood of choice.
Farming Gives You a Consistent Plan: If you've ever struggled with getting started with your marketing or finding a strategy to focus on, farming can easily be your guide. You'll know exactly who you are marketing to and which geographic areas to focus on. That way, you can stop hopping from one idea to the next and finally start gaining momentum.
Farming Maximizes Your Efforts: Instead of spreading your marketing across a variety of channels, campaigns, and strategies, farming allows you to narrow in. This, in turn, makes you more efficient with your time and resources because it's concentrated in one area.
Farming Connects You With Your Ideal Customers: The beauty of farming is that you're deciding the areas to focus on. This means that you're looking at price points, lifestyle, and the buyers and sellers who are interested in those areas. You're establishing WHO you want to work with, and farming provides you with HOW to connect with them.
Farming Can Be Done By Any Agent: While a listing agent with a history of sales in a neighborhood definitely has an advantage, that's not to say you need a certain level of experience to make this work. In fact, you can be brand new to real estate and use farming as a way to build your business. Everyone has opportunity with farming.
However, while we know that there are opportunities, farming won't work if you're not strategic about choosing your areas to focus on.
Choosing a Profitable Geographic Farming Location
Over the years, I've had many conversations with agents about farming and choosing the right area to focus on. Often, agents pick neighborhoods without doing their research. You might love a community for the price point, want to work a neighborhood near you, enjoy the amenities offered, or have sold a home nearby. None of these reasons should be deciding factors when choosing a geographic farming area.
Research comes first.
First, we want to determine if there is opportunity in that area, and we do this by analyzing the real estate market conditions and local competition. Then, we can look at your competitive advantages, preferences, and related experience.
I don't want you to waste time and not get results because you were excited about a geographic area that turned out not to be the best choice. In a typical real estate market, we first start by looking at the Turnover Rate of a neighborhood. The Turnover Rate helps you determine if there's enough market activity in an area to make it a good farming area.
Calculating Turnover Rate: You don't need any fancy math to figure this out. All you do is look at the number of homes that sold over the past 12 months and divide that number by the total number of homes in the neighborhood.
In this example, there are 200 homes in a neighborhood. In the last 12 months, 10 homes have sold.
(10 ÷ 200) = .05 - > To convert to a percentage, you multiply by 100. So, (10 ÷ 200) x 100 = 5%
This would be a turnover rate of 5%
Now, in today's market, you're likely to see higher turnover rates. However, I've always heard to look for a turnover rate of about 5-7%, with the exception of luxury neighborhoods, which tend to be lower.
Another stat to take note of is the Absorption Rate, which is - if all things being equal (and no new homes were listed) - how long would it take to sell all of the current inventory at the current pace of the market.
I know that percentages and market data, might sound intimidating for some. So, let's look at a real-life example of why this matters with turnover rate.
Say you're interested in marketing to a neighborhood that has 100 homes (for easy math). In the last year, 6 homes sold, making the turnover rate 6%. Of the 6 homes that sold, 3 were listed by the same agent who lives in the neighborhood. The other 3 were sold by 3 different agents at 3 different brokerages.
How many listing appointments do you typically go on before you win the listing? If you list 50% of the homes you went on a listing appointment for, you'd need to go on 2 listing appointments in the neighborhood to get one listing. Could you get 2 listing appointments out of the 6 homes that sold to sell one home?
As you see, you need to be looking at the competition, your stats, and the market stats when you're evaluating a neighborhood. After you've determined the numbers look good, then we can get into where you would enjoy marketing to. This will save you a lot of time in the future because you're already recognized the areas where you have the highest likelihood of success.
But we don't want geographic farming to just be sending out postcards. I promised you a modern approach!
Applying Target Marketing Principles
Last week on the show, I shared that one of the biggest mistakes agents make with their marketing is being afraid to be specific. Instead, I recommended you implement a target marketing strategy to get business, and target marketing is a technique that I talk about frequently on the show.
The framework for target marketing is to choose either a specific type of customer or a geographic area and tailor your marketing to attract that target. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
That's because target marketing includes geographic farming in a modern way. You're establishing the local area where you want to work with buyers and sellers and then implementing innovative strategies to generate business. So, if you haven't, make sure you listen to Episode 64: Target Marketing for REALTORS®: How to Identify & Attract Your Dream Customer and download my related freebie - the Target Marketing Blueprint. Both of those resources will be essential to making geographic farming work for you today.
So, when we're thinking about geographic farming in a modern way, I don't want you to think this is an old-school tactic. While there are traditional advertising strategies associated with it, you don't have to go that route! In fact, I encourage you to leverage a variety of approaches, including digital and social media marketing.
Modern Marketing Ideas for Geographic Farming
Once you've identified a neighborhood or community to focus on and verified it's a strategic choice, then you can get into the fun part - marketing! Some ideas you can try are to:
Create Video Content: Videos about the community and nearby area are always a hit because they're beneficial for buyers who want to learn more about the area. They also establish you as the local expert, which helps you attract sellers. Learn the framework of a successful video.
Up Your Web Presence & SEO: People still head online to Google info about buying or selling a home in a local area. When they do, be there for them with content on your website or blog. Learn more about how to create content online to attract people to you in Episode 42: Approachable SEO for Local REALTORS®.
Share Targeted Posts on Social: Not sure what to post on Instagram, Facebook, or social in general? Easy, let's talk real estate in your geographic farming area. You can share tips for local buyers and sellers, the latest listings, home tours, neighborhood info, a local view into the lifestyle, and more. Instagram Reels would work great for this!
Run Digital Ads: While I don't talk about paid ads a lot on the show, you might want to try Google Adwords or Facebook & Instagram Ads to market to local customers.
Create a Local Lead Magnet: Create a Homebuyers Guide for XYZ Neighborhood or 10 Tips to Get Top Dollar when Selling in XYZ Neighborhood, and use this piece of content as a lead magnet and CTA. Learn the 10 elements of successful real estate lead capture.
Send Consistent Newsletters: Engage new leads and the people already in your database who live in the area or want to move to the area with a weekly or monthly newsletter. You could talk about what's happening locally and also include local real estate content as well. Check out The Marketing Suite for monthly email newsletter templates designed to keep you connected with your sphere and engage new leads.
Create a Facebook Page or Group: Lead a neighborhood Facebook group just for residents or create an open Facebook page all about the community. However, be sure you are in compliance with your marketing if you're actively promoting your real estate business and listings on the page. Learn more about real estate marketing compliance here.
Get Out into the Community: Don't just sit behind a computer or phone screen to engage your geographic area. Get out into the community by attending or sponsoring local events and proactively working to make in-person connections.
As you can see, geographic farming doesn't have to be door-knocking or sending postcards. You might not have ever thought that video or Instagram Reels could be used for farming, but by tapping into what's trending today, you can see success from a proven strategy.
So, for your next steps, I want you to think if there's room in your real estate marketing plan for geographic farming. Will it help you reach your business goals? If so, do some research and establish a profitable farming area. Then, you can apply hyperlocal marketing strategies to today's top-performing marketing ideas.
And stick with it!
If you want to see results, you have to be consistent. You won't become the go-to agent overnight or suddenly be the top listing agent in a neighborhood. Give yourself time to build momentum, stay committed, and dial in on your area.
Your future self will definitely thank you!
Looking for more? Don't miss these top related episodes:
Target Marketing for REALTORS®: How to Identify & Attract Your Dream Customer
What to Post on Instagram & Social Media for Real Estate Agents
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