Creative Real Estate Promotional Items

Whether it's closing gifts or swag to hand out to prospective clients, real estate agents are always on the lookout for different and creative real estate promotional items. Promo products can help you stay top of mind with your clients and prospects, so they refer you to friends and family, and return to you when they are ready for another round of real estate buying and selling.

You've seen the common items — gift cards to home improvement stores, welcome baskets chock-full of goodies for the new homeowner, magnetic sports schedules, pens with your logo on them... the list is practically endless.

Why go with the common items, though? Try something that will make you stand out. After all, the point is to stay top of mind, to be memorable, and for people to see an item and think, 'That's our agent!' Here are a few ideas for creative promotional items.

Items for daily use

Every sales trainer will tell you that making frequent 'touches' with clients is the key to getting you/your brand locked in their memory. Many real estate promotional items will get looked at once and then shoved in a drawer or box, never again to see the light of day. You've made one, and only one, touch.

On the other hand, items that people use on a daily basis will keep making touches for potentially years to come. For example:

• Engraved kitchen knives. Everyone likes a good knife. Think how often you reach for a knife in the kitchen, and how useful a high-quality knife can be. Many major cutlery brands offer engraving services that will put your name, logo, website URL or other contact info literally in the hand of your client almost every day. Here's one option.
• Branded house keys. One of the best feelings you experience as a real estate agent is when you hand over the keys to a home buyer. People take their keys everywhere and keep them for years. Take advantage of this branding opportunity and imprint your logo and contact info on the key. There are many websites that will brand keys in bulk for very low prices. Here's one example.

Gifts that keep on giving

Gift baskets are wonderful gifts. A basket of snack foods or one full of household items like cleaning supplies are very useful for people in the middle of the chaos that surrounds moving into a new home. The problem is that once the gift basket items are used up, they're gone forever. They don't make a lasting impression.

Why not try a service that delivers a gift on a monthly (or quarterly) basis? You'll be top of mind every time the delivery person knocks on your client's door. Does your client enjoy wine? There are numerous wine clubs that deliver a variety of wines for an economical cost. Check out A Guide To Joining The Best Wine Clubs for ideas.

Clients that don't drink? No problem! Here is a list of 17 food subscription clubs, including chocolates, pies, fruit, and candies. There's even a Bacon of the Month club. Bacon!

Techno swag

Real estate agents love their technology gizmos — phone cases, iPad sleeves, thumb drives, chargers — and so do many of their clients. One added benefit of technology promotional items is that people other than your clients will see them, potentially increasing the awareness for your brand. For a plethora of gizmo options, check out Geek Tech Branding.

Green/eco-friendly gifts

Promote an earth-friendly message to clients and potential clients by providing 'green' gifts like reusable tote bags, coffee tumblers, seed packets and flower bulbs. For tons of branded green gift ideas, check out Eco-Swag.

Unique gifts

One of the most unique real estate gifts I've ever seen was a watercolor painting of a clients' new home. An agent hired (for a very reasonable fee) a young artist from the local art school to paint a watercolor of the home. On the watercolor frame was a small label that said, 'Home Sweet Home' along with the agent's name and website URL. These paintings were always very well received — the agent's clients raved about them.

What about a fire extinguisher with an engraved plate on it? Though not a 'pretty' gift, it's certainly practical. Zillow Premier Agent Ed Surchik with Red Brick Realty in Mesa, AZ gives his clients a branded fire extinguisher at closing. Ed purchases the fire extinguishers at a home improvement store and then takes them to a trophy shop where they engrave his contact info on an attached plate. One client contacted Ed years after he sold them a home to let him know that the fire extinguisher saved their home when a barbecue fire spread to a wall and patio cover. Who do you think those folks will call the next time they look for a home? Maybe the guy whose thoughtful gift saved their home from a fire.

Measuring ROI

You should be measuring the return on investment (ROI) of any advertising that you do. Advertising and promotion is all about cost per impression (CPI) — how much does your business need to pay to send a message to a potential customer?

CPI is calculated by dividing the total cost of the campaign by the number of people reached. Most real estate marketing and promotional campaigns reach a broad audience that might include just a small percentage of interested parties. Once the initial impression has been made, the message is quickly forgotten.

In contrast, a well-chosen gift (and its message) stays with your important contacts long after your recently sold flyers and Fourth of July flags have been tossed aside.

With a promotional gift, CPI is calculated by dividing the cost of your gift by the average number of days it's used. For example, a nice gift might cost $100. If it's a daily use item, that could easily mean 200 or more uses, resulting in an average cost of 50 cents per impression. Compare that with the cost of a mailing or flyer distribution.

Good promotional items stick. They remind people of what you do. That is a good thing. Stay top of mind by giving creative promotional items that people will use and remember.