The Goal
Real estate revolves around a vicious circle of marketing and focusing on deals. You focus on marketing when there are no real estate deals. After that round of marketing is successful, you get busy and don’t keep up with the marketing.
When you’re not busy, there are no more leads because you didn’t do more marketing. This is the time to break that cycle. Having a plan means keeping yourself from falling back into this cycle.
But what is the goal of your plan? What does it focus on? If your plan covers the following four aspects, then you’re good to go:
- Growing your database
- Increasing referrals
- Improving your lead conversion
- Enhancing brand awareness on social media
Audience
The first step of implementing a plan is deciding who your target is?
Relevancy is key in this step. By segmenting your audience, you can produce relevant content. If your real estate digital marketing strategy tries to appeal to everyone simultaneously, you will definitely be ignored.
Most of the content in real estate focuses on the buyer, but seasoned realtors know that their actual business comes from past clients and sellers.
So going after only buyers 95% of the time doesn’t make sense. Hone in on your target audience and witness the magic of digital marketing.
Channels To Use
All of them. That’s right. Being omnipresent works wonders in this day and age of digital marketing. Provided you do it right! Tailor your message for every social media channel. For instance, what makes a great Facebook post won’t work for Twitter.
Types Of Content Suited For Real Estate
A typical month of marketing should consist of targeting sellers mostly instead of buyers and promoting your listings in the meanwhile.
It’s recommended to target past clients or sellers 3 out 4 weeks of the month. You should also market every listing you get while running these campaigns.
You can create a teaser with a ‘coming soon’ campaign. Soon after that, you can run the ‘just listed’ campaign. Your database will be grateful to get a sneak peek before everyone else turns your content into a magnet.
After listing the property, you can market it further by hosting an open house or offer a price reduction for the first ten potential customers. Who doesn’t love a bargain?
Show off your success by considering a ‘just sold’ campaign. The sale is a testimony to your skills and let the results speak for themselves.
Budget To Put In Real Estate Digital Marketing
Creating a budget for your digital marketing needs is necessary so that you don’t get carried away. A budget depends on your goal and which platforms are being used.
Be prepared to spend 50% of your marketing budget on digital ads. This includes everything from designer salaries to lead qualification services.
Proven Ways for Realtors to Boost Sales with Digital Marketing
1. Create a User-friendly Website
Often, your business loses clients because of your slow-loading website, it isn’t user-friendly, or it doesn’t work with smart devices. Real estate websites can be chaotic with so many links and photos causing more trouble than it’s worth.
This is why it’s integral for your business to have a successful SEO strategy which can create a website that has relevant content that attracts potential clients.
Make sure you list all your available properties in an easily comprehensible way. To show them that you’re in it for the long haul, it would be ideal to include a list of services they may need, such as cleaners, movers, and home inspectors.
2. Spend Time On Search Engine Optimization For Real Estate
Real estate digital marketing strategy is built on SEO since most people will start with a Google search when looking to lease, buy or sell a property. SEO is the only way to boost your website’s ranking in organic search results.
Your content should primarily be focused on local SEO since many people search for “houses for sale in {city}.” 70% of buyers search for a specific location, meaning you could miss out on big business if your website and social media aren’t SEO-based.
However, Google and other search engines are constantly changing their algorithms, so it’s critical to focus on your SEO more than one time. Keywords are a basic aspect of SEO that can make a significant difference.
To include keywords in your SEO strategy, make sure that you include high-ranking keywords such as your location and your industry throughout your blog content and website. There are other elements of a strong SEO strategy, including:
- Backlinks
- Meta titles and descriptions
- Social media pages
- Online directories
Because content is such a valuable asset to a good SEO strategy, make sure that you update your blog regularly.
Typically, the material that is ranked highest on Google is between 1,140 words and 1,285 words, so it may be a good idea to write high-value, long-form content on a regular basis.
3. Utilize Google Ads For Quick Results
Google Ads is a cost-effective way of generating new leads based on personalized ads. It works because it’s simple.
Your designed images and text for your ad gets clicked on, and you pay. This strategy gives you a trial run for different ads, assesses the effectiveness, and then you pay for what works.
Paid Searches is much faster than SEO and lets you hit the ground running when implementing a real estate digital marketing strategy.
4. Craft A Social Media Marketing Strategy
Social media has transformed the real estate market with unlimited potential to connect with potential customers and grow their business. You can build a brand, provide valuable information, and connect directly with followers to promote a positive image with social media.
Through a recent study, The National Association of Realtors proved that most realtors choose LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram to connect with their real estate company.
Another added advantage is that you can highlight your success stories and give proof of your excellent services. A noteworthy tool that can help you navigate the social media waters is Buffer.
5. Create an Email Marketing Campaign for Real Estate Business
Email marketing is the underdog of digital marketing. It works wonders and brings you an exceptional return on investment. Email drip campaigns have stood the test of time in being effective in nurturing leads through the marketing funnel.
It’s one thing to post real estate-related content on your Facebook account every once in a while, but a full-fledged social media marketing strategy is what truly yields the results you’re looking for. Some ideas of useful content to post on your social media channels include:
- New or existing listings
- Team bios (if you run a real estate brokerage)
- Case studies
- Relevant blog posts
- Success stories
If you’re experienced in digital marketing, you may realize just how difficult it can be to create a social media strategy and to post regularly across all channels. However, tools like Buffer are designed to help make social media content development and scheduling simple and clear.
Most realtors focus on lead generation but don’t follow up on it once they have the lead. With email drip campaigns, you can conveniently nurture those leads and stay on the mind of your potential buyers and sellers.
Consider using tools such as MailChimp to get a jump start on your email campaign.
6. Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Pay-Per-Click – also known as PPC – advertising is an excellent strategy for realtors looking to generate new leads based on ads that they pay for every time the ad gets clicked on.
PPC is a great digital marketing option for real estate professionals seeking potential clients who may genuinely be interested in their offering, as they only pay when someone clicks through their ad.
Often, PPC ads can be targeted toward individuals who have searched for correlated keywords in Google or another search engine.
7. Create and Post Valuable Blog Content
Responsive websites that have a blog often have 434% more indexed pages, helping real estate professionals achieve better SEO.
A blog is a fantastic way to level-up your SEO, build a positive reputation online, and provide your clients with actionable advice on buying or selling a home or piece of property.
A real estate professional’s digital marketing strategy is nothing without valuable content, whether it’s shared on your website or social media.
In addition to your responsive website, make sure that you regularly write content that buyers and sellers can come back to for answers to their most pressing real estate questions.
8. Host Virtual Tours
Virtual tours of a home are incredible pieces of content in a successful digital marketing strategy.
Not only do these tours share video content – which generates revenue 49% faster for marketers than non-video users – but a potential client can get an idea of what a home really has to offer them.
Purchasing a home can be difficult, and as a real estate expert, your job is to make the home buying journey as easy as possible for your clients. Andrew J Carr shared some of the more critical qualities realtors should try to include in successful virtual tours, such as:
- Using real footage of the home, as compared to digital illustrations
- Ensuring the video of the tour is interactive and responsive across all viewing methods (mobile and desktop)
- Making the virtual tour 3D and user-friendly
9. Host a Webinar
Sharing all your expertise as a real estate professional is vital for successful digital marketing. Thankfully, techniques such as webinars and online workshops make it easy to reach a large audience and stay relevant in the industry.
GoToWebinar is a webinar hosting tool designed to make creating and hosting webinar events easy, and it is extremely user-friendly from both ends of the operation.
Digital marketing for real estate professionals relies highly on generating inbound leads, so getting your name and expertise out there is vital for a successful digital marketing campaign.
Digital Marketing Improvements You Can Make Today
Develop buyer profiles
Buyer profiles are the ideal clients that you are trying to target through your content. From new homeowners to existing agents, take time to map out who your audience is, what they do, their average salary, and other characteristics that might impact their decision-making processes.
Start posting relevant content
Whether it’s from your blog or another trusted real estate professional in your brokerage, high-value content is what attracts readers and builds your reputation for being a well-informed expert online.
Try to update your company blog once a week, and include valuable content for a variety of buyer profiles.
Work on improving your SEO
Increasing your rankings on the search engine results pages of sites like Google and Bing isn’t as hard as you may think.
Take a couple of minutes weekly to review popular and industry-related keywords on Google Ads and make sure to include them throughout any copy you develop.
Invest in digital marketing training
In the modern marketplace, digital marketing skills are becoming ever more important in running a successful business. By choosing to invest in digital marketing training, you can ensure that you have the skillset necessary to stand out from your competition.
