Marketing Plan for a New Real Estate Agent's First Year

A new agent's first-year marketing plan should start with people who already know you, then build the online assets that make strangers trust you: a Google Business Profile, a website, and local content. Paid ads come later, once you have something worth sending traffic to.

That order matters because your first deals almost always come from relationships. Your online presence is what those people, and their friends, check before they call. This guide is part of our Real Estate & Property Management Marketing Guide, agent track.

License and advertising rules vary by state and by brokerage. Confirm the details with your broker of record before you publish anything.

Quarter 1: Work your sphere

Your sphere is everyone who knows you by name: family, friends, former coworkers, neighbors, your kids' coaches, your dentist. They don't need convincing that you're trustworthy. They need to know you're now in real estate.

Build the list

1. Export contacts from your phone, email and social accounts.
2. Put them in one place. Your brokerage's CRM is the usual choice.
3. Tag each contact by how well you know them and how you met.
4. Add a note on anything you know about their housing plans.

Contact them on a schedule

• Announce your new career with a personal message, not a mass blast.
• Follow up with a short, useful note every month or so: a local market update, a home maintenance tip, an event.
• Call your closest contacts directly. Ask for advice, not business.

If you send marketing email, follow the federal CAN-SPAM rules. The FTC's CAN-SPAM compliance guide says commercial email needs accurate headers, honest subject lines, your physical postal address and a clear way to opt out. You must honor an opt-out within 10 business days. The FTC also says you "can't contract away" that responsibility if someone else sends for you.

Quarter 1 to 2: Set up Google Business Profile

When someone searches "real estate agent near me," the map results come from Google Business Profiles. You want to be eligible.

Google's Business Profile guidelines (checked 29 October 2026) name "insurance or real estate agents" as individual practitioners. A practitioner can have a dedicated profile if they work in a public-facing role and can be reached directly at the verified location during stated hours.

A few points from the same guidelines:

• If you serve clients at their homes rather than at an office, Google says service-area businesses should hide their address.
• Use your name as it appears in the real world, with no taglines or extra information.
• If you're the only practitioner at a branded firm, Google suggests a shared profile named in the format "Brand: Practitioner name."

Brokerages often have their own policy on agent profiles. Ask before you create one. Our guide to Google Business Profile for real estate agents walks through setup, categories and reviews.

Start reviews early

Ask each happy client for a review soon after closing. Make it easy with a direct link. Reply to every review in a professional tone, and never share deal details in your reply.

Quarter 2: Decide on your own website

Your brokerage almost certainly gives you an agent page. The question is whether you also need your own site.

Our article on a personal agent website vs your brokerage site compares the two in detail.

Disclosure rules for your site

Your website is advertising. For example, in California, the Department of Real Estate's license disclosure chart (RE 559) reprints Regulation 2773. It says websites "owned, controlled, and/or maintained" by a licensee are first point of contact materials. They must show your 8-digit license number and your responsible broker's name. In written materials, the license number must be no smaller than the smallest type used.

California also has specific rules for team names. The same chart says ads with a team name must show a licensed team member's name and license number, and the broker's identity as prominently as the team name. Other states set their own rules, so check yours.

If you're a REALTOR®, the NAR Code of Ethics adds its own layer. Article 12 requires that your status as a real estate professional be "readily apparent." Standard of Practice 12-9 says websites of agents affiliated with a REALTOR® firm must disclose the firm's name and the agent's state(s) of licensure.

What to put on a first site

• A home page that says who you serve and where.
• An about page with your story, license number and brokerage.
• Pages for buyers and sellers that explain how you work.
• IDX search, if your brokerage and MLS allow it.
• A contact page with phone, text and a short form.

Explain buyer agreements clearly

Buyers now ask about agreements early. According to NAR's settlement FAQ, the practice changes took effect on 17 August 2024. They prohibit communicating offers of compensation on an MLS and require written agreements with buyers, with touring a home as one trigger. A short buyer page that explains your agreement in plain language helps people feel prepared. Have your broker approve the wording.

Quarter 2 to 4: Publish local content

Content is how a new agent competes with veterans online. You can't match their sales history yet. You can match their knowledge of a neighborhood.

Content that works for new agents

• Neighborhood guides. One page per area you want to work, with facts about housing types, parks, commutes and amenities. See neighborhood pages for real estate SEO to avoid thin, copy-paste pages.
• Monthly market notes. A short summary of local activity drawn from your MLS data, with the source named.
• Process explainers. "What happens after an offer is accepted in [your state]" or "How a home inspection works."
• Short videos. Walk a neighborhood, explain a term, or tour an open house you're hosting.

Publish on a steady schedule you can keep. Two good articles a month beats ten rushed ones. Share each one with your sphere and on social media.

Keep it accurate

NAR's Standard of Practice 12-8 says information on REALTORS®' websites should be current, with prompt corrections when it becomes outdated. Date your market notes and update your guides once a year.

Quarter 3 to 4: Add advertising carefully

Paid ads can speed things up once your site and profile are ready. Start small and measure leads, not clicks.

Housing ad limits

Real estate ads have special rules on both major platforms. Google's housing policy for personalized advertising blocks age, gender, parental status, marital status and ZIP code targeting for housing ads aimed at the US and Canada. Meta requires a Housing Special Ad Category with its own limits. Our guide to housing ad rules on Google and Meta covers both.

Fair Housing in every ad

The HUD Fair Housing Act overview lists seven protected classes: race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status and disability. Describe homes and areas, not the people you think should live there.

Disclosures in ads

Your state's license rules apply to ads too. For example, California's Regulation 2773 lists internet, email, radio, cinema and television ads, and the opening section of streaming video and audio, among first point of contact materials. Ask your broker which disclosures your ads and social posts need.

A simple first-year calendar

Next step

Ready to turn this into week-by-week tasks? The 90-day marketing plan for a real estate agent breaks the first quarter into specific actions. If you'd rather have help with the website and local SEO, see our realtor website design and SEO services or check our pricing.

Frequently asked questions