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Write a listing marketing plan in seven steps: define the likely buyer, audit the home's strengths and weaknesses, choose the media, set a budget, set the dates, choose the channels, and decide what you will measure. Do the thinking first and the document last. The finished plan should fit on one or two pages and be specific to that home.
By Tom Van Vechten · Updated
A template is the layout. A plan is the set of decisions that fill it. Agents who start with the template end up with the same document for every listing, and sellers can tell.
This guide covers the decisions. When you have made them, drop them into our listing marketing plan template, which has the wording and the layout.
Step 1. Describe the buyer by what they need, not by who they are. Fair housing rules prohibit marketing to or away from protected groups, so write about the property's features and the needs they serve.
A relocating buyer needs a 3D tour and a floor plan because they can't visit twice. A local move-up buyer cares about the yard and the street. The answer shapes everything after it.
Step 2. Walk the home with two lists.
| Strength | How the marketing shows it |
|---|---|
| A view | Photos timed for a clear sky, twilight, drone |
| A large or usable lot | Drone photos, lot lines, outdoor living photos |
| A good layout | Floor plan and 3D tour |
| Updated kitchen and baths | Extra frames and detail shots |
| Location | Community photos, a map, distances |
| Weakness | Honest way to handle it |
|---|---|
| Vacant and echoing | Virtual staging, labeled, with originals |
| Cluttered or occupied | Prep checklist, then declutter in person where possible |
| Dated finishes | Show them plainly, price accordingly, describe the potential in words |
| Busy street | Don’t hide it. Lead with what offsets it |
| Small rooms | A floor plan with dimensions, so buyers trust the size |
You can't market around a weakness by concealing it. Buyers see it at the showing, and edited photos must be disclosed in California. See the AB 723 guide.
Step 3. Match the media to the lists from step 2. Don't order by habit.
Packages by home type turns this into a short list for condos, single-family homes, luxury, and vacant properties.
Step 4. Price the media list, then add print, signage, and any paid promotion. Compare the total with what you expect to earn on the listing and decide what you are comfortable investing.
Write the number in the plan. Sellers rarely know what agents spend, and seeing it changes how they think about your fee. Our prices are on the pricing page, and the San Diego price guide explains what drives them.
If the budget is tight, cut from the bottom of the list in step 3. Never cut the photos.
Step 5. Work backward from the day you want the listing live.
Check the shoot time against the home's orientation and, near the coast, the marine layer. See the best time to photograph a San Diego listing. Follow your MLS's rules about marketing before the listing is entered.
Step 6. List where the buyer from step 1 will actually see the home, and skip the rest.
Step 7. Pick a few numbers and a review date before you launch.
Agree with the seller on a date to review. If views are high and showings are low, look at price. If views are low, look at the lead photo, the order, and the description first. A new cover image costs almost nothing to try.
Don't put a promised result in the plan. Put the work, the dates, and the review. That is everything you control.
For your next listing appointment
Get the free listing appointment media kit: samples and a one-page marketing plan to show sellers.
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