Real estate is a highly competitive market. For many brokers and agents, it always pays to get ahead of the competition and drive more sales. In a world that’s quickly becoming digital, the advantage you are looking for as a broker or agent can be found online.
A study by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) and Google found some interesting results:
- 47% of first-time homebuyers searched the internet for a home.
- 52% of first-time homebuyers started their search online.
- 77% of first-time homebuyers drove by a house they checked online.
As you can see, clients are actively searching online to find their future homes. That’s why it’s more important to make sure you are ready to engage with clients online in a way that translates to real-life business.
Having an effective real estate digital marketing strategy allows you to stay connected with potential leads and expand your network. Most importantly, consistently marketing yourself online could potentially boost your sales.
In this handy guide, we’ll go over various digital real estate marketing strategies to help you get an edge over the competition and build a respected and recognized real estate brand:
- Email Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
- Mobile-Friendly Web Design
- Search Engine Optimization
- Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Email Marketing Campaign
Purchasing a home is a huge decision for any client. It could take months or even years before clients decide to get in touch with a real estate agent.
Instead of simply waiting for potential buyers to visit when they are ready, you can use email marketing to start nurturing your relationships with them and show competence.
“The secrets to having a successful email marketing campaign are consistency and engaging content.”
When the time finally comes for them to find an agent, they already have someone they know and trust.
The great thing about email marketing is that it helps nurture leads and maintain past relevancy with previous clients. The Direct Marketing Association in the UK also found out that for every $1 spent on email marketing, you can expect an average return of $42.
You can use email marketing in several ways:
- As a welcome email to new subscribers and prospects
- Email follow-ups to clients about how they’re enjoying their new home or requesting a referral
- Weekly or monthly email newsletters about real estate and recent trends
- Email announcements for open houses or upcoming events
The secrets to having a successful email marketing campaign are consistency and engaging content. Plan and prepare your emails ahead and decide on a manageable frequency, like once or twice a month.
Then, focus on crafting engaging content by optimizing your copywriting and introducing helpful topics. The more relevant your content is to a client, the more likely they’ll open your email and be interested.
Social Media Marketing
The importance of social media in real estate internet marketing cannot be overstated. You can have a wider community reach, improve organic growth, and efficiently manage your brand through social media.
According to NAR, more than 47% of real estate businesses say that social media gave them the highest quality leads. For real estate enterprises, social media is a gold mine.
“A rule of thumb in developing an effective social media strategy is to share varied content for a broad audience.”
However, posting real estate-related content on your social media account once in a while just won’t cut it. An effective social media marketing strategy is what yields the results you need.
Like email marketing, social media marketing relies on the consistency of your posts and the engaging quality of your content. If you want to take advantage of social media, consider posting the following types of content regularly:
- New and existing listings
- Case studies or relevant blog posts on real estate topics or tips
- Client success stories and testimonials
- Your real estate business’s track record and milestones
- Property photos
- Open house announcements
Which social platform should you choose? Real estate professionals found that Facebook (97%), LinkedIn (59%), and Instagram (39%) are the top picks.
- Facebook: This is one of the best marketing mediums for real estate agents. Having a business account on the platform gives you access to your posts’ performance. You can also run relevant ads by targeting specific demographics.
- LinkedIn: This is an effective platform to reach out to B2B and B2C real estate clients. Hubspot learned that LinkedIn has 3x higher conversion rates than other ad platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
- Instagram: It’s one of the booming social media platforms for real estate. You’ll be able to share photos of your properties, listings, and upcoming events. Instagram Stories is the perfect channel to do quick property updates every day. Similar to Facebook, you can also run targeted ads on IG.
If you’ve done social media marketing before, you have a pretty good idea of how difficult it is to create and maintain your digital presence. One simple rule of thumb for developing an effective social media strategy is to share varied content useful to a broad audience, not just potential leads.
Mobile-Friendly Web Design
Having a real estate website helps you build a strong online presence and branding. But that is not enough. You have to ensure that your site is accessible to anyone looking for properties, no matter what device they’re using.
Smartphones and other mobile devices are changing the way people interact with businesses. Industry studies learned that 58% of millennials found their home using a mobile device. Google follows the mobile-first index rule, which means it prioritizes the mobile version of a company’s website over the desktop version during a search.
What does this mean for you? Your website should be mobile-responsive. It must adjust easily to any screen and have visible elements on any device.
Creating a real estate website is often a challenge, given the many photos, content, and links. Hiring a professional web designer ensures a responsive web design that’s SEO-ready.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
More and more consumers are using the internet to find or buy what they need. Homebuyers are no exception. A large number of your target audience is online. Investing in search engine optimization (SEO) is the best way to get noticed and drive traffic (and leads) to your website.
“Developing an effective SEO strategy for your website involves research and the right approach.”
If done correctly, your website and web pages will show up higher on search engine results pages (SERPs) during relevant searches.
Keywords are one of the basic aspects of SEO that can make a difference. Including specific keywords in your website content increases the chances of your website ranking higher.
In addition to keywords, these other SEO elements can drive your ranking:
- Backlinks
- Meta titles and descriptions
- Social media pages
- Online directories
Developing an effective SEO strategy for your website involves research and the right approach. Here are ways you can leverage SEO to increase your searchability online.
Concentrate On Local SEO
Local SEO is a branch of SEO that optimizes your website for local search results. So, if a potential homebuyer searches for a house in your area, your listings would show up first.
Search engines and prospects all need to know if you are legitimate. To do that, you need to have a valid NAP (name, address, and phone number) registered in various listings or citations.
Examples of these citations are:
- Google My Business
- Google Maps
- Trustpilot
- Tripadvisor
Get Listed in Local Web Directories
Local web directories help give your website authority and rank higher in local searches. As such, you must be listed in as many directories as possible, including:
- RedFin
- Zillow
- Trulia
- Compass
- Zoocasa
- Realtor.com
- Yahoo! Homes
- Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate
Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Pay-Per-Click or PPC is the perfect pair for your SEO initiative. It can generate new leads faster for real estate agents and brokers. PPC ads can be placed on major search engines like Google, Yelp, Yahoo!, and Bing. However, Google Ads is the leading provider of PPC services.
PPC ads may appear on top or at the bottom of the search results pages or as banner ads on third-party websites. You can easily spot them because they have an “Ad” label.
PPC quickly boosts traffic to your website and often provides higher ROI. It’s beneficial to real estate businesses because:
- Targeting your ads to someone at the early stages of their homebuying journey improves your chances of getting their business.
- Paying to show up on top of search results can fast-track lead generation.
- PPC allows you to track conversions and what kind of ad strategy works best.
- You manage your ad budget better and pay for actual site visits only.
- You can use PPC to generate more interest for a listing from the right demographic.
Take Advantage of Digital Marketing
Digital marketing is becoming more relevant in running successful businesses, especially in real estate. By reading and understanding this guide, you are already one step closer to getting that competitive advantage and building a reputable online presence.
If you’re interested in learning more about our digital marketing services for real estate agents and brokers, contact Dadri-io. Our team can discuss online marketing solutions to increase your traffic, leads, and sales.
Get in touch with us today.