My Answer to a Realtor’s Question about Reaching Out to the Military Community

I recently had the following email request from a realtor in the Ft Knox, Kentucky area:

I have several builders in the area as well as clients that really want to get something going with the Ft Knox military community. What are we not doing that we should be doing?

Here is how I responded! I hope you find it helpful and it is applicable to business owners/marketing outside of real estate too!

First, what you are doing right is reaching out to the military community! Your ad at MilitaryAvenue has now been opened XXX times in the last year during a major recession!

I can give you some recommendations from my experiences with the business community while on active duty and as a Partner at MilitaryAvenue.

Are you aware of any outreach programs at Ft Knox through their Public Affairs Office? Do they have recognition programs for the soldiers you can participate in? For example, the Air Force had a quarterly program for the Outstanding Airman, NCO, Senior NCO and Junior Officer which was a breakfast. Business leaders/participants attended and offered a recognition gift as a Thank You! They announced the name of the business supporters as a Thank You to them and it paid to get your name in front of the audience. The PA office will know about this type of program if they have one similar to it.

Are you familiar with Family Morale Welfare & Recreation? They provide programs for the soldiers and families such as tours, outdoor recreation, youth sports and other venues. They have usually have a website and at Ft Knox they have a twitter account! You can keep up with events such as youth sports and other activities through twitter.com. I noticed their twitter account has a list of events. Their account is knoxmwr at twitter.com. They also will have a monthly flier with marketing/advertising available. Have you thought about sponsoring a youth soccer, basketball, etc team? I think it would be a great investment to get a group of builders together and do a sponsorship.

Speaking of Sponsor, the Base/Post Sponsor Banner ad at Ft Knox is available too! The best spot on the site for Ft Knox and it is exclusive.

Do you write? Or have someone who can for you? We really like to post articles on the site from partners with an area of expertise that is informative for the military community! We give full recognition to our writer partners with a link to their ad but ask that the article be informative versus just marketing. So maybe a builder would write about what to look for in a new house and a lender would write about using the VA loan (advantages and disadvantages for example). You could write about current market issues or any number of topics!

Do you follow MilitaryAvenue Answers? Sign up here and when a soldier or family member asks a question about Ft Knox or Real Estate it will come to your in box (only in your area of expertise or location). If you would like to provide an answer be sure to list your contact information so that others who see the Answer recognize a mil friendly realtor. What a great way to help a soldier’s family looking for information about Ft Knox, schools, communities to live in, etc.

I hope this helps and it just came off the top of my head so be sure to send any questions my way so we can help!

Sincerely,

DalePosted byColonel KonThursday, September 10, 2009Labels:Col K,MAPP Tip of the Month