What Should a Listing Agent's Marketing Plan Include When You Sell in New Jersey?
Published | Posted by Dennis Mark Interdonato
- Home Marketing
- Home Selling
- Real Estate Marketing
- Listing Strategy
A listing agent's marketing plan should show you, in writing, how your home will be prepared, photographed, filmed, launched, advertised and shown, and how you'll be kept informed after it lists and after you go under contract. If an agent can't hand you that plan before you sign, you're being asked to hire on faith.
I'm Dennis Mark Interdonato, and I lead The Dennis Mark Group at Keller Williams Realty Ocean Living in Point Pleasant. Marketing is the part of this business I've built the most around. Here's the checklist I'd want any New Jersey seller, in Monmouth and Ocean County or anywhere else in the state, to bring into a listing interview, mine included.
Why should you see the marketing plan before you sign?
Because after you sign, the plan is whatever the agent decides it is. The first two weeks on the market are when most active buyers see your home for the first time, so the marketing has to be ready on day one, not worked out along the way. My article on why the first two weeks set your price explains the timing.
A written plan also gives you something to compare. Two agents can both promise "full marketing." Only the plan on paper shows you what that means.
What should the marketing plan include?
Use this as your checklist. A good plan won't use every item on every home. It picks what fits the property, and it tells you why.
- A market evaluation and a pricing strategy. Marketing can't rescue a price that's wrong for the market you're about to sell in. Ask how the price was set and which homes you'll compete with. You can get a starting number from the home value tool.
- Preparation advice. What to declutter, repair, paint or stage, decided before anyone picks up a camera. See decluttering before selling a home in New Jersey.
- Professional photography, inside and out. Ask who shoots it and how many photos to expect.
- Video. A walkthrough of the home, plus short clips made for social media.
- Drone stills and video, where the property calls for it. A big lot, frontage on the water or a short walk to the beach can be worth showing from above. Ask whether the pilot holds an FAA Remote Pilot Certificate.
- A 3D tour and a floor plan. They let a buyer understand the layout before the showing. Read what a Matterport 3D tour shows a buyer.
- A Coming Soon and launch plan. What goes public, on which date, and how it fits the rules of your MLS.
- Social media and paid ads. Which platforms, what kind of posts, and where the ads run. A good answer names the areas buyers are most likely coming from.
- A property website. A page of the home's own, at its own web address, with the photos, video, tour and details in one place.
- Syndication. How the MLS sends the listing out to other real estate websites, and how it's presented on the big home search sites.
- Open houses. How many, when, and how each one is promoted.
- Agent outreach. Who tells the local brokerages and the active buyer agents that the home is coming.
- Print, where it fits. Mailers and real estate publications.
- Communication. How you'll hear about showings, feedback and offers, and who keeps you on schedule once you're under contract.
What can my own marketing plan include?
I put everything we do, or can do, for a property into one breakdown, and each seller's plan is chosen from it for that home. On my listings, the plan can include:
- Before launch: luxury yard signage, decluttering and listing-prep advice, virtual or professional staging, professional interior and exterior photography, drone stills and video, listing video, walkthroughs, reels and shorts, and a 3D walkthrough with a floor plan. Through my Homes.com membership, every eligible listing I take gets a Matterport 3D tour.
- Online: Coming Soon, Just Listed, Open House, Features and Twilight flyers, a Facebook Marketplace event, campaigns like "Top 5 Reasons to Buy This House," Facebook and Instagram ads, a property website with its own address, and newsletters to my sphere, industry contacts and referral partners. My listings can go on Zillow Showcase.
- Local reach: a blog about the listing, sent to local media as a press release; MLS syndication to IDX websites; co-promotion with industry partners; a town guide for buyers coming from out of the area; and calls to local brokerages and top buyer agents.
- Open houses and mail: a Mega Open House with live video on Facebook and TikTok, directional signs, digital ads, newsletter and office e-blasts, and a neighborhood VIP hour the first Saturday, plus mailers to the neighborhood with a VIP invite.
- Print: Haven Lifestyle Magazine and Homes & Land.
My marketing lead runs the content. In the 12 months to September 30, 2026, 14 of my 17 listings sold over asking, according to Flexmls. Every home is different, and past sales don't predict what any one home will sell for.
What should the plan say about communication?
Marketing doesn't stop at the launch. The plan should tell you how often you'll get updates, how showing feedback reaches you, and how offers are presented. After you accept an offer, it should cover attorney review, inspections, the appraisal and the closing date, and who tracks each one.
On my listings, sellers get milestone emails at each step: what has happened, what's about to happen and what to expect next. My transaction coordinator keeps the paperwork and the dates on track.
What rules does real estate marketing have to follow?
Article 12 of the REALTOR® Code of Ethics says REALTORS® "shall present a true picture in their advertising, marketing, and other representations." New Jersey's real estate advertising rule, N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.1, says every ad has to include the broker's regular business name, and no ad may contain false, misleading or deceptive claims.
In practice, that means photos that show the home as it is, edited images that are labeled as edited, and marketing that describes the property, never who it's for. That's general information, not legal advice. Your listing agent and their broker answer for the details.
How do you compare two agents' plans?
- Get each plan in writing before you sign a listing agreement.
- Ask who does each piece, and ask to see a property website and a listing video they've made.
- Ask what launches on day one and what comes later.
- Ask how you'll see results: views, showings and feedback, and how often.
Before I meet a seller, they get three emails from my team: one about who I am and how I market homes, with links to property websites and videos we've made; an intake form about what matters most to them; and a market evaluation in a slide deck. By the time we sit down, they've already seen the plan take shape.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I get a listing agent's marketing plan in writing?
Yes. Ask for it before you sign the listing agreement, so you know exactly what you're hiring and can compare it with any other agent's plan.
Does every listing need drone photos and a 3D tour?
No. The plan should fit the home. Drone work earns its place when the lot, the water or the location is a selling point. A 3D tour helps almost any layout, and every eligible listing I take gets one through Homes.com.
When should the marketing start?
The preparation starts weeks before the listing date: repairs, staging, photos, video and the property website. What goes public, and when, follows your MLS's rules, and your listing agent should explain them.
What should I hear from my agent once I'm under contract?
Dates and next steps: attorney review, inspections, the appraisal and closing. You shouldn't have to ask what happens next.
About the author
Dennis Mark Interdonato is a REALTOR® and Master CDRE® who leads The Dennis Mark Group at Keller Williams Realty Ocean Living in Point Pleasant, NJ, helping buyers and sellers throughout New Jersey make their next move, with Monmouth and Ocean County as home base. Read more about Dennis Mark.
