How to Make Your Real Estate Marketing Drive Sales in 2025

Geoff breaks down the difference between brand awareness marketing and direct response marketing, arguing that only direct response generates real conversations and conversions. He gives a single, specific text script any LO or agent can send to old leads today. Best for LOs who have stale lead lists sitting unused.

Takeaways you can run this week

• Pull your old lead lists from the past 10, 20, and 30 weeks — open house registries, old inquiries, unconverted leads — and text each one exactly this: 'Are you still interested in buying a home in [your market]?' No pitch, no context, just send it.
• Send the same direct response message as an email to your full database — subject line and body can mirror the text: one question, one call to action.
• Audit every piece of marketing you're currently running and label it honestly: is it brand awareness (people learn who you are) or direct response (people take an action)? Cut or rebalance toward direct response if you want near-term conversions.
• Partner with a letter/direct mail vendor (Geoff mentions 'Lender Letter Partners') to scale the outreach to old open house registries you don't have time to text manually.

The playbook

1. 1. Gather old lead lists: open house registries, unconverted leads from 10, 20, and 30+ weeks ago.
2. 2. Sit down with the list (Geoff's cue: Starbucks, no need to talk to anyone).
3. 3. For each name with a mobile number, send one text: 'Are you still interested in buying a home in [City/County]?'
4. 4. For email contacts, send the same single-question message to your database.
5. 5. Wait for replies — every reply is an open conversation; move each into your follow-up sequence.

Worth quoting

“All conversion happens in conversation.”

“Are you still interested in buying a home in Orange County? Send that. That is direct response.”

Best for

LOs and agents who have months of unconverted leads or open house registries they've never followed up on.