Tips for Hiring a Creative Marketing Team

Unless you’re willing, able and talented as a copywriter you won’t want to be writing and designing your marketing materials for long, if at all.  Marketing yourself as a real estate investment professional will, at some point, necessitate the hiring of creatives. Whether you need an impressive brochure to sell space in a new commercial development or just need to write an effective classified ad, you want to hire the right person to get maximum results.

Stay Away from Sales Staff

You may think that simply letting the newspaper, radio station or print shop write and design your marketing materials is the most efficient path to getting the job done. After all, it’s what they do every day and they should know what they’re doing, right?

Not particularly. Few outlets have staff trained in writing ads that sell. They’re trained to sell ads, not your real estate. While the convenience of it can’t be denied, you’re likely to end up with materials that are good enough, but not spectacular in terms of return on investment.

Agency Angst

Advertising agencies can provide a valuable service to those with large budgets, but their bloated costs can be a challenge for the streamlined approach of most real estate investment professionals. Additionally, great care must be taken to focus on agencies that deliver proven results over those who are simply award winning. Award winning advertising campaigns have more to do with artistic merit and popularity than bottom line results for the advertiser.

Find the Right Freelancer

Searching for someone who has the knowledge and skill you need at the price you can afford is not as difficult as it sounds. The key is taking the time to know what you are looking for before you begin. You’ll want to limit your searches to those who understand target marketing. They don’t necessarily have to be specialists in real estate, but they should be specialists in writing copy and focusing on tangible results.

Choose More Than One

Don’t feel that you have to have one writer to provide for all your marketing needs. While that may seem ideal, it’s often better to hire a variety of specialists to deal with different media choices. Hiring someone to write your web copy, another to write your email newsletters and another to write your print brochures and postcards can be a smart decision. Luckily, if the thought of managing several writers is daunting, there are services available that will match writers to tasks without you having to do anything but approve the final copy.

Suitable Tests & Measures

While you’ll want to be sure to get references and see previous projects that are similar to what you’re looking for, the best way to see if a marketing writer or service will fit your needs is to begin with a test project. All their previous records and awards really won’t mean a thing if their work for you won’t meet your needs and expectations. Start with a brochure or print ad that you can test before you hand over all your marketing to one entity.