Epiphany Marketing and Rocky Road ice cream…

by Sean Purcell

Real Estate Renaissance Man

Author website

I have talked about and written on Mayoral Marketing before.  The basic premise of marketing, according to this theory, is to build a community of people who would elect you mayor.  This concept leads to some useful details on how we should go about marketing in order to accomplish this election.  (Hint: it’s a campaign)  The problem though, is that Mayoral Marketing explains the how of marketing, but not the why.  I know, the “why” seems obvious: the goal of marketing is to generate potential clients and closed transactions, right?  Wrong.  That’s the objective; that’s the end result to be gained.  But the question of “why” is a question of purpose.  Does everything that makes up the how lead to the objective.  In other words: what is the actual GOAL of our marketing?

The goal of marketing is to place us with the potential client at the moment of epiphany.  Let’s call this Epiphany Marketing.  What am I talking about?  Most people don’t just suddenly decide to buy or sell a house.  Usually, something else happens; they’re walking along when all of a sudden:

• They hear that cousin Bernard just bought a house.  BAM! (moment of epiphany)  “If my dopey cousin Bernard can buy a house, I certainly can.”  At which point the good marketer wants to figuratively (if not literally) be standing right there in front of them.
• They meet with their CPA and find out how big their tax liability is for the year.  BAM! (moment of epiphany)  “I need to buy a property and get some deductions… right now.”  Again, a good marketing campaign puts you there in their mind even as they have the epiphany.
• They’re walking along and the beautiful, young wife says, “honey, you know I love you.  That’s why I’m so excited to be pregnant” … (wait for it) … BAM!!  “I need a bigger house!”  The goal of any good marketer, when that tender and touching moment arrives, is to be standing right there between the both of them.

This is alternatively known as Mind Share as well as Top of Mind Status – but I like Epiphany Marketing.  It’s a fun word: epiphany.  Try it and see what I mean.  Say: “BAM!…  Epiphany Moment” out loud a few times.  It’s fun, right?  Now here’s the tricky part: you can’t talk all about real estate if you want to be there during the real estate epiphany moment.  Sound counter-intuitive?  Think of ice cream.  Everyone loves ice cream.  But if your marketing campaign consisted of you walking along with your potential clients doing your best Forrest Gump ice cream routine (“There’s chocolate, and there’s chocolate chip, and there’s chocolate fudge, and there’s…) pretty soon one of them is going to look at you funny.  “It’s 6:00 in the morning and I’m on my way to the gym.  I don’t care about ice cream!” After that they don’t listen to you any more.  Pretty soon you see them walking with some other ice cream guy; only that other guy isn’t boring them to death with butter brickle’s latest “days on market” stats.  He’s talking about getting in shape or the traffic or whatever else interests the potential client.  Oh sure, he still works ice cream in there somewhere:  “Boy, this traffic is flowing real smooth this morning… like a vanilla soft serve.”  But he’s patient.  Eventually, the potential clients are walking along and the pregnant one gets a sudden craving for Cherry Garcia and BAM! there’s the epiphany.  Guess who’s standing there with their 97 Flavors name badge on and a Listing Agreement for a cone?  See what I mean?  That’s how you end up seeing the neighbor’s house listed without you.  Too much talk of ice cream.

So, your objective is business.  But your GOAL is to be engaging and to be  interesting and most importantly: to be THERE when they have their Epiphany Moment.  When it hits them BAM! they need to buy or sell a home… you want them to have a taste for you.