Maryann Lawler Garcia has been a licensed REALTOR® in Manatee County, Florida, for about 23 years. Born and raised in Bradenton, Maryann has worked for several real estate agencies but didn't feel at home until she joined Wagner Realty in 2017.

"I've only been with Wagner since 2017, but I feel like I've been here my whole career," she says. "I can't believe I was anywhere else. It's such a small hometown that I live in that I knew everyone here already, and it felt very natural."

Maryann is a second-generation real estate agent. Her mother, Ruth Lawler, was a REALTOR® for over three decades.

"I always said I didn't want to go into real estate, mainly because it meant my mom was away from me when I was a child," she says. "After all, she was very successful, she was very hardworking, and she gave a lot of herself to her customers."

Despite initially saying she wasn't interested in pursuing real estate, after leaving a job in a different industry, she began working for her mom on the administrative side and got licensed soon after. She realized how much she enjoyed the people she met and being able to help them through the good and bad times.

"I'm one hundred percent in real estate, and the thing that keeps me engaged every day is the people that I meet, the connections, the helping them sometimes at their worst when they need someone," she explains. "Then also getting to be part of the best as well."

Maryann particularly loves working with first-time buyers. She enjoys watching them achieve such an exciting milestone in their lives.

"First-time home buyers are always so much fun because you've gotten them to such an amazing place, and so that's what I love most about it," she says.

Marketing Beyond the MLS

Along with having her mother to teach her the ropes, Maryann's accomplished career is due in part to her marketing skills and strategy. 

"Any bit of activity is more than if we just throw it into the MLS and wait," she says. "That's not going to sell properties these days."

Maryann recently had a listing known as "The Pink House." Through her savvy social media marketing campaign, which garnered over 11,000 likes, 1,600 shares, and 2,600 comments across more than 15 posts, her sellers were able to accept an offer on their one-of-a-kind, bubble-gum pink cottage home within a couple of weeks.

According to Maryann, the two elements that made her marketing for this home so effective were having the right photographer and telling a story about the home that elicited emotion, rather than simply sharing facts. 

"I work with a great photographer, Showcase Media, who just has an eye for making it different, making it set apart," she says. "So the imagery is always the start, because that's what catches people's attention. But then you have to tell a story, trying to make it connect with someone. It's more than just a house, more than just the four walls, and it's in this subdivision, and it has this many square feet; it's not about that. It evokes a feeling."

Quick to Adopt Technology

Technology is another major component of Maryann's marketing strategy. Having started selling real estate back in 2002, there wasn't much technology available to Maryann back then; however, she was quick to embrace new tools and even train other agents on how to use them as they became available.

"I did embrace technology pretty early on," she says. "I went to a lot of national conventions. I was the trainer for what eventually became the e-sign and backend program that they were introducing at the time, and went to the different local franchises and taught my fellow agents."

Maryann credits her father for her tech-saviness, saying, "My dad was in computer software development, so I get the techie side from him and the real estate side from my mom."

She recently redesigned her website through the DeltaNET® platform to freshen up her branding. In a field with so many salespeople, she believes the most important element of any agent's website is that it helps the user get to know them and what sets them apart.

"I think you have to have a website that looks like you and feels like you," she says. "You're not trying to sell someone from your website; you're trying to have them get to know you. So I wanted it to reflect myself, my area, and my market. I did a lot of work to change up the imagery and simplify the verbiage for a cleaner look."

Maryann feels that one of the most essential features on her agent website is her customer reviews. 

"I love the testimonials," she says. "90% of my business every year is repeat and referral customers, so I've really been working on getting more customer reviews because I know that's what people who don't know me are going to be looking at when they're looking at my website."

Using many of the other features available in DeltaNET, such as the single property websites, Delta Pitch, and Social Connector, Maryann's approach to tackling a feature-packed platform that can feel overwhelming at first is to take it step-by-step, start small, and grow from there.

"I think it's a lot easier if you take it step-by-step and focus on just one feature," she says. "That's how I started. I said, 'Well, I really want to be able to do this one thing. If I can just learn this one thing, I'll use it just for that.' Then I started incorporating some of the other tools."

Maryann expresses how instrumental DeltaNET has been in enabling her to evolve and keep up with the latest technology.

"I love how DeltaNet constantly invents things," she says. "There's always a new feature, a new tool, a new platform, or a new template being created, and I appreciate that because if you're not evolving, you are falling behind. We know that."

Using AI as a Tool, Not a Replacement

The most recent technology Maryann has embraced is Artificial Intelligence (AI). Lately, Maryann has been using ChatGPT to assist her with marketing. One of her favorite uses of ChatGPT is for photo editing. 

"ChatGPT is the AI tool that I use the most," she says. "When I have a listing, I change up the photos so many times. I make small adjustments here and there. I crop them. We have beautiful Florida sunsets, and I often don't pay for the evening or twilight shots. It's very costly to do some of that, but if you put your photography in ChatGPT and you ask it to make it a twilight shot and light all the windows, it comes up with this beautiful image. This changes the way people look at that listing because it's something different."

She even used ChatGPT for a social media campaign for one of her listings to swap out the color of the house in different photos.

"We did this whole advertising campaign around 'Which color would you pick?'" she says. "And I asked ChatGPT to do a mockup of different color schemes and did an ad with those different color schemes to take votes on, which was everyone's favorite. And I thought that was kind of a creative way to say, 'Look, you can paint it any color you want.' While that may seem obvious, many people struggle to visualize it, so this provided them with the opportunity to visualize what it would look like."

Maryann will also use ChatGPT to help her write and optimize content such as emails, blog posts, and social media posts.

"I'll ask it to optimize content for SEO for this area, considering my potential buyer," she says. "I play around with the phrasing, and then I have them rewrite the copy, but then you go a couple of steps further and you say, 'Well, I need a social media post, or I want to do a reel.'"

Maryann believes that when using AI to write content, it's crucial to ensure the voice still sounds like you and your brand. She believes authenticity is the key to using AI while still achieving personal connection.

"I think it's a good tool as long as it stays authentic," she explains. "People call me because they want me, not AI. They want me to be consistent, both in person and in my emails. They don't want AI to write the email."

While there are several benefits to using AI, Maryann affirms that it's important to understand that it is a tool and not a replacement for humans. And for it to best help you, you must provide it with clear instructions.

"AI is not a replacement; it's a tool," she says. "You still have to be the driver. You still need to give it direction, but it can help your business, save you a lot of time, and make you look really good in a relatively quick fashion."

Fostering Authentic Relationships in a Digital World

With her creativity and willingness to use technology as her assistant, Maryann Lawler Garcia can tackle any challenge thrown her way — whether that be staying in touch with past clients, getting new business referrals, or marketing a unique property. She understands that no matter how appealing it is, a listing won't sell without a digital campaign that goes beyond the MLS. Even with repeat business and referrals, you need an online presence.

Maryann is highly respected in her market for her authenticity. She provides customers with the valuable opportunity to get to know her on a personal level. While using technology to enhance her marketing and save time, she ensures her communication is authentic, instilling trust and true connection.

To learn more or get in touch with Maryann Lawler Garcia, visit her website maryannsellsmanatee.com.