The Hidden Opportunities of Lifestyle Marketing for REALTORS
This post originally aired as a podcast!
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People are looking for more from their homes and where they live. They want more options inside the home. Rooms that are multi-use spaces, dedicated offices, beautifully organized spaces, and home gyms were on the rise thanks to 2020. But they are also looking for more outside the home. They want to live in a community that supports their interests, activities, and passions. They’re looking for a lifestyle, not just a home. In this episode, I’m sharing how you can leverage lifestyle marketing in your local communities to attract new customers, establish yourself in a niche, and even engage those you already know.
I first became familiar with the term “lifestyle marketing” for real estate regarding luxury homes, which makes sense because luxury is often synonymous with lifestyle.
When you’re purchasing luxury, you’re often looking for an experience. If you’ve ever stayed in a luxury hotel, then you know it’s about much more than the hotel’s architecture and the thread count of the sheets. From the moment you walk in the door, it’s the atmosphere, level of service, and overall “vibe” of the hotel that makes for an exceptional experience. And when it comes to luxury homes, the lifestyle is often central to the property. For example, you might have a multi-million dollar home on the beach. While the home is exquisite, the buyers are also looking for beachfront living.
Lifestyle plays an incredible role in today’s real estate landscape. Many people are looking for ways to make their lives more fulfilled or to lean into the activities that make them happy. They’re looking for communities and areas that not only support the lifestyle they want to live but are also prime destinations for their chosen interests. Inside and outside their home, they’re looking to live in innovative ways that support who they are as people.
The popularity and desire for a particular lifestyle is an incredible real estate marketing opportunity for you!
By educating and even entertaining people with the experience of living somewhere, you can attract new customers and define your agent branding as a local expert. As a REALTOR, much of your competition will be focused on farming, or marketing to, certain areas. Yet, this strategy takes local marketing to the next level because it’s even more specific and personalized to what your potential customer is interested in. You’re not simply marketing an area of homes for sale. You’re marketing a way of living, and it all starts with identifying your lifestyle marketing opportunities.
How to Identify Lifestyle Marketing Opportunities
Lifestyle marketing is simply highlighting how the unique communities, you already serve, are suited for the various lifestyles that people are interested in.
While lifestyles are often tied with the great outdoors, they can also be tied to interests your area is known for. For example, a lifestyle could be as broad as “healthy living” or more specific such as “golfing” and “boating.” It could even be an interest such as “arts & culture” or “bespoke dining.”
To identify lifestyle marketing opportunities, take some time to simply brainstorm what’s popular in your local area. Do you see common themes from buyers looking to take part in certain activities? Are your local neighborhoods or communities famous for something? Bottom line - what are the interests that would influence someone’s choice in real estate?
Every day people move to where I live, Central Florida, to enjoy the sunshine, theme parks, outdoor activities, and even small-town culture in our suburbs. People are interested in golf communities, 55 plus retreats, equestrian estates, and walkable neighborhoods.
A prime example of lifestyle marketing can be used in Clermont, FL. A bedroom community to Orlando, Clermont is famous for its focus on healthy living and is home to an Olympic training center. People move to the area to take advantage of the cycling-friendly city, miles of trails, and the lakefront lifestyle. Healthy living and enjoying the outdoors are hallmarks of the area and an opportunity for real estate marketing!
Content Ideas for Lifestyle Marketing
Once you’ve established the lifestyles you want to focus on, then you can incorporate them into your real estate marketing through content.
We want to show off why someone would love to call the area home. I like to call this approach to content being the “Travel Magazine of real estate.” You want your content to cover the lifestyle while still supporting your real estate marketing goals.
However, it’s easy to get distracted by a lifestyle, such as waterfront living, and lose focus on real estate. You might be tempted to create videos, blogs, or social posts about “the best beaches to visit for summer.” While this content is interesting and not salesy, it might not help you attract new business. On the other hand, “The 5 Best Neighborhoods Within Walking Distance to the Beach” could attract your next buyer who’s interested in beach living while still engaging those you already know. It’s also an added benefit in SEO to use real estate rich keywords to increase your chance of being found online. Learn more about local SEO here.
Be as descriptive as possible to fully paint the picture of what it’s like to live somewhere, and one of the significant advantages of lifestyle marketing is the variety of content that you can make. You could write a blog post, film a video, create a Facebook page or group, create social posts, or even make Instagram Reels all about the lifestyle you’re promoting.
To help you get started, here are seven creative content ideas to try:
“The best neighborhoods in (insert area) to enjoy (insert lifestyle)”
Ex: “The best neighborhoods in Orlando to enjoy lakefront living”
I like this topic because it clearly promotes real estate in your local area, and this information will be valuable to buyers and even engaging to locals.
“Why (insert area) tops the nation for (insert activity or lifestyle)”
Ex: “Why Central Florida tops the nation for 55 plus communities”
Cite industry studies or news outlets to add authority to your topic.
“How the city of (insert area) actively embraces (insert lifestyle)”
Ex: “How the city of DeLand actively embraces arts & culture”
Is your local government or economic development board going out of the way to promote something? If so, lean into this movement for your area.
“Why (insert lifestyle) love living in (insert area)”
Ex: “Why cyclists love living in Clermont”
The phrase “living in” further ties your content back to real estate versus “Why cyclists love Clermont.”
“10 reasons (insert lifestyle) enthusiasts should move to (insert area)”
Ex: “10 reasons fishing enthusiasts should move to Orlando”’
This topic could help you attract people from outside of the area.
“The complete guide to (insert lifestyle) in (insert area)”
Ex: “The complete guide to waterfront living in Orlando”
Exactly as it sounds, this is the one-stop piece of content that goes in-depth on the lifestyle.
“Relocating to (insert area)? Here’s how to experience (insert lifestyle) like a local”
Ex: “Relocating to Orlando? Here’s how to experience the theme parks like a local”
Give tips that only you, as a local, would know to fully embrace the lifestyle, but don’t forget to mention local real
Get creative and have fun with your lifestyle marketing. As you can see from these ideas, you have many options that can be turned into a variety of content. Learn more about content & what to post on social media for Realtors here.
Visuals are essential. So, consider investing in a video or even professional photos that you can use throughout your marketing (bonus if you’re in the photos!). The richer you can make the details, and the more you rely on your local knowledge, the better. In fact, lifestyle marketing can be a cornerstone in your agent branding.
Branding Yourself with a Lifestyle
Getting out in the community and sharing your experiences can help people get to know you while establishing your expertise. Further establish your agent branding by choosing a lifestyle and making it a key pillar in your marketing strategy. Often real estate agents are wary of limiting themselves to specific areas or defined niches.
However, have you ever considered branding yourself with a lifestyle?
Start by choosing a lifestyle that you’re already interested in or passionate about. Then, your authenticity and knowledge will shine through in the content you create.
For example, if you’re somebody who loves to garden, could you make that a part of your marketing? Many other people love to garden as well, and their outdoor space is a key factor when making any real estate decisions. You could share “neighborhoods with huge backyards that are perfect for the avid gardener” or “which communities have community gardens” or “how to choose a home that’s right for your future garden.” If you have an interest, likely, other people (who buy & sell homes) do as well.
Incorporating lifestyle marketing into your branding allows you to be super specific and target like-minded individuals. This shared interest and connection will go a long way to helping you form relationships, and the entire strategy can have many additional benefits as well. Learn all about real estate agent branding in my two-part series here.
Hidden Benefits to Lifestyle Marketing
There is excellent potential in choosing a lifestyle and figuring out the questions or topics people would like to learn more about! By creating high-quality, relevant content, you’re serving with your marketing and not selling.
It’s also a creative form of marketing that not every other agent in your market is doing. By figuring out where your interests and others in your market intersect, you’re positioning yourself to be found online or recommended through a referral. This strategy is ideal for attracting new home buyers or sellers and even engaging your sphere of influence or network. People enjoy learning more about their local communities and the interests they love as well.
If you constantly share new homes for sale, your sphere might start to tune you out on social. However, if you’re sharing insightful information about activities and interests in their local area, this type of content can also engage them. And an easy way to engage them is to use lifestyle marketing content in your email marketing.
Next Steps to Implement?
People are looking to learn about the experience of living somewhere, and living beyond the home is incredibly important to today’s homebuyer.
Take time to identify the lifestyles in your local markets, and I’d encourage you to think outside the box. What makes the area a great place to call home? What activities do people enjoy doing in that area?
Once you’ve analyzed potential lifestyle marketing opportunities, you can do some deeper research as well. I’d encourage you to listen to Episode 52: Where to Find Creative Real Estate Content Ideas. In it, I talk about tools you can use to evaluate the popularity of a topic. By doing this, you’ll know just how popular a lifestyle is and what people are searching for online when it comes to that lifestyle.
Once you’ve decided the lifestyle/s you’ll be promoting, make a point to talk about it at least once a week. You could make a post on social with a photo and caption, film a video, or even write a blog. Consistency is crucial. To be known for a lifestyle, you can’t talk about it a handful of times. So it’s important you keep talking about it! Bookmark this post for the seven ideas and plan out a month of weekly content at a time. Then, start simply and work your way into even more creative ideas.
One of my favorite parts of real estate marketing is that we’re not just promoting homes. We’re promoting communities, lifestyles, and what it’s like to be a local in an area. So use your local pride to show off what makes the area unique and how interests tie so closely into real estate. I bet you’d be surprised with what you come up with!