Marketing jobs in the Real Estate Industry

Introduction:

Marketing is a diverse and dynamic field that encompasses a wide variety of industries. Whether you are selling shoes or stocks, there will always be a need to have a marketing strategy or marketing experts to help package and brand your product to your target market. The trouble is, it can be difficult to see sometimes how marketing can help a specific industry, specifically the ones that have a recent trend of being pre-dominantly sales oriented. Now while it is true that business often used to combine sales and marketing as one department, there has been a business shift towards separating these departments. This separation has often been in the interest of both departments as each would have their own staff, own goals and most importantly, their own budget. It seems, however, that as time went on, there has been a disconnect between the two. This article will explain how marketing can be beneficial, if not crucial, to success in a particular industry that is synonymous with sales; real estate.

What is marketing?

Put simply, marketing is a combination of various strategies to sell one’s product. In essence, it is a strategy of how business shows itself to the world. It takes into account many different variations in purchasing decisions in order to help the company sell the product. Areas such as branding, promotions, price, and purchase decision making, to name a few, all play into what marketing is.

The way it helps Real Estate is that buying a home is the single most important decision that people make. Although a residence may be where people live, marketing can help turn that residence into an extension of the client’s personality. Marketing can help make that potential buyer find ways that makes the product meet their needs and wants.

How specifically does Marketing help Real Estate sales?

With the boom of sales and prices in British Columbia concerning all real estate, it is easy to think that one does not have to do too much work in order to secure a healthy income off of mediocre sales. For the sake of argument, let us assume that is true. With that, inherently in that statement itself, there is a business opportunity. Those who take the time and the investment to properly create a marketing strategy can move from doing the 1 or 2 sales a month, to doing large scale sales or even 10-15 sales a month. The issue comes into what are you telling your target market about yourself and about your client.

Properly can ultimately market itself; there is little skill in describing a property and its benefits, even in a colourful way. The marketing comes into what type of clients you wish to attract, both looking to buy and looking to sell. This can work for projects of any size such as selling an apartment or selling a development. There is always room for marketing in the real estate industry and it is primarily what separates good realtors from great ones.


What marketing jobs is their in Real Estate today?

Like any other company, there are a wide variety of jobs that involves marketing. Depending on the size of the real estate firm or developer, the jobs can go from anything such as Marketing Manager to Research Assistant. For the purpose of this article, I am going to focus on three jobs that could be available for BBA graduates that while seem to be marketing jobs, do have usefulness in the real estate industry: they are Sales Agent, Accounts Representative, and Marketing Manager.

Sales Agent:

This is usually an entry level position in which you begin to immediately sell the product to the client. Your client is usually of low priority which does not merit the need for an account manager or a marketing manager. You deal with the sale from start to finish, relying mostly on volume and proper sales rather than by customized orders or clients who require more attention.

Your income relies primarily on commission, which makes it important that you understanding marketing as well as sales strategy. You are in a position where your role, if not expendable, is still quite common. The only way you can differentiate yourself between the masses is to show your client that you are doing something the other people are not. Marketing yourself and branding yourself to the client that you want is crucial to the success you wish to enjoy. If you decide that you do not wish to do this, you can make average sales. Average sales in this position, however, equal to stagnation. If you wish to succeed as a sales agent, you have to prove to your client with proper marketing and sales that you are better than the other guy.

The typical salary in this position can range anywhere from $30,000.00 to 80,000.00 per year. The range is so wide because of the commission various depending on the property you sell.

Accounts Representative:

This position is similar to the Sales Agent except that the differences lie in the details. This type of person is usually in charge of a territory or a key group of clients. In real estate, this usually means an investment block or clients who are looking to find property that they can invest in and then flip to turn for a profit. Knowledge of business and marketing becomes essential in the success of this role.

Marketing works in this role by presenting projections and branding different packages for different clients. Each client has their own idea of a good investment and it is up to you to determine what branding you wish to use for your product. This discernment and professionalism can take you to the heights of your position. The average salary in BC for this position runs from $61,000 to 90,000 per year, however, this figure does not include any bonuses nor does it include commission raised from these investments. As such, these numbers reflect a conservative estimate of the level one can achieve.

Marketing Manager:

A Marketing Manger’s position deals more with strategy than with individual sales. Although it is not uncommon for managers to have their own client portfolio, the primary bulk of their work centres on developing a marketing strategy for the firm. Deciding which areas to invest time and money into are crucial to maximizing the resources of your company. Understanding of they key roles each of your employees play, combined with knowledge of the environment you market in is what allows you to earn your generous salary.

Business knowledge combined with marketing strategy, including branding and communication, helps to earn you anywhere from $75,000 to 130,000 per year. This figure does not include any bonuses or commissions that are made from your own personal sales. Since this commission is rare, the figures here are more realistic. However, depending on the size of the firm and the level of clientele, this figure can increase dramatically.

Being in this position allows many marketers to fully expand with their knowledge and experience. A culmination of many years of work comes together in this position. While you can find this position in most companies, with real estate one can truly find satisfaction and proof that their ideas do work.

Conclusion:

Marketing jobs can be found anywhere but that does not mean that they are easy to get. It takes hard work, commitment, a bit of talent and education in your field. The marketing world, like the business world, changes often and it evolves. A good marketing expert will not only be able to adapt, but to stay ahead of the change, therefore making sure they are not caught looking the other way when a change is made.

Real estate is a great industry where one can utilize their skills in order to become successful. People will always need to buy and sell property and if a firm can take advantage of your marketing skills, they and you will be able to reap the rewards of all your efforts.

Sources:

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2. “Marketing Jobs – BC Jobs”. March 2008 http://www.bcjobs.ca/searchjobs.cfm?q=Marketing&title=0&cat=35®ion=1&jobtype=1%2C2%2C3%2C4&city=&empl=1&recr=1&sort=&allSearch=0&adv=0

3. “Marketing”. March 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing"

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6. “Selling technique”. March 2008 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_techniques