What is pull and keep marketing, and are you doing it? Maybe you are. But if you’re not, you probably should be.

Although the concept is not new, I’d never heard the term until I read an email from Graham McGregor. He wasn’t writing about real estate marketing, but as I’m sure you know, good marketing crosses product lines.

The first step in pull and keep marketing is to pull those prospects in.

To do that, you need to offer them something of interest. It may be the home search function on your website. It may be your monthly market report, or it could be a special report related to your niche.

These you can make available on your website and on your social media posts. You can also add links to them in any mailings you do. Of course, you can make the offer in person when you meet people at open houses or even in social settings.

The second part of Pull and Keep Marketing is keeping them.

Once someone has shown an interest in what you have to offer, you don’t want to let them go until they become a customer or client – or they tell you to go away.

What’s the best method for keeping those people you pulled in?

Of course the answer is by staying in touch. But how? And how often?

Once they’ve opted in to receive your initial offering, keep mailing to them.

What you should send depends upon where they came from. Most of those searching the listings are would-be buyers. But of course you can’t assume that.

Your first response to them might be the latest issue of your market report. When you send it you can let them know that you’ll be sending helpful advice for buyers. However, if they’re thinking of selling, you also have advice for sellers, so just “click here” to receive those tips.

Whoever they are, do remind them that you will not sell their address and they can opt out at any time.

If these prospects have offered a telephone number, call them now and then. A live person is more interesting than an email. Just ask if there’s information they want that they aren’t getting – and offer to provide it.

Buyer prospects:

Our Nurturing Internet Buyer Leads letters would be a good start for buyers. This set of 12 letters, plus a special report on buying new construction, does far more than say “Choose me!”

Each letter offers a tip or suggestion that future home buyers can use to help ensure that they’ll find a home to love for years to come. And, of course, each letter keeps you and your helpfulness on their minds.

Seller Prospects:

For sellers, we have the Seller Advice Letters. This is a set of 18 letters covering everything from pricing, to getting a house ready to sell, to understanding the many parts of a purchase offer, and more.

Niche Prospects:

If they opted in to receive a niche-related report, then send them more of it! Use the letters you would use if you were prospecting to homeowners in that niche.

How often to contact prospects is a big question.

I can only answer you with my opinion, because there is no hard and fast rule.

I think that making contact every week to ten days should keep you on their minds. But if the niche situation is urgent, such as the need to sell before the house is lost to foreclosure, then every 2 or 3 days would be more realistic.

If you’ve gone 3 or 4 months without any response, you might drop back to twice monthly, but don’t give up on people. You never know when they will suddenly decide they need you, and email marketing costs almost nothing.

No matter what mailing schedule you’ve chosen, do add to it when there is a reason to do so. For instance, when you have a new market report. You could also add your just listed/under contract/ just sold notices. Those show that you are a busy agent – getting things done for your clients.

Some guru marketers say you should mail more often.

Some marketers write every day. One much-followed guru mails 2 and sometimes 3 times a day. It didn’t take me long to unsubscribe from that list, because I got tired of hitting the delete button when I saw his name. The first few emails were interesting, but then they became annoying.

I wouldn’t write every day and don’t plan to start. But if you’re comfortable with it, do it. Then pay attention to the response. Testing is, after all, the only way to know if something works.

Along with the prospects you gain with pull offers, remember to keep your sphere and past clients!

I know. I nag about this all the time. That’s because it is important. If you forget them, they’ll forget you.

And I speak from experience when I say that seeing a past client go to a different agent next time WILL hurt your feelings (and your bank account).

It’s your job to stay in touch with past clients. It is not their job to stay in touch with you – or even to remember where you work or how to reach you.