The real estate industry is known to be volatile for experiencing ups and downs over the past years. A research conducted by the National Association of Realtors shows that realtor memberships decreased drastically in 2006 during the financial crisis. Fortunately, the industry has recovered in 2014 with the increasing number of realtors and, from then on, the competition has toughened more than ever.
Realtors have realized the power of real estate marketing and they are in constant search for strategies to increase their sales. They have come to realize that the internet has played a crucial role in this competition since buyers tend to rely solely on several online platforms to compare prices, look at different photos of houses, and to conduct extensive research before buying a house.
Luckily, we have looked into the most effective marketing strategies you can use to level up your game in this fierce competition. Whether you’re an agent renting apartments to college students or selling million-dollar homes in New York City, get started with these tips today.
Engage in Different Social Media Platforms
You probably know the importance of social media in connecting with prospects. But what you should know is that Facebook is never enough.
According to our friends at Minus the Agent, “It takes a lot of work in building your actual potential clients. You’d be surprised how a lot of Realtors have developed ways in managing their social media accounts. This only shows how crucial for you to have your social media presence in several platforms. You could explore Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Pinterest, or even Snapchat! Play around with advertising on different platforms. Our friends over at Follow Up Boss have a great real estate advertising guide to help get you started.”
Twitter hashtags can help you get through to your clients without spamming them with follow requests. Hashtags also help you become up to date with Real Estate issues that are already trending.
If you want to show certain images or share specific information about your listings, Pinterest is a good social media tool. Don’t forget that you can link these platforms to your website to expand your marketing efforts.
Great Website Design
This is the main tool in the business. This is where realtors craft their marketing strategies and gather potential leads. This is why many realtors invest so much money in creating the best website, and implementing a great SEO strategy. If a buyer suddenly thought of buying a house, the first thing they would do is to go to their search engine, type in the house that they want to buy, and visit the first website that appears on their screen.
Another thing that you should consider is the features of your website. It may be aesthetically good but if it’s not user-friendly, chances are, buyers will leave your website uninterested. And this is the last thing that we want to happen.
Adding a mortgage calculator to your website helps too since it sets you apart from other websites.
Spice Up Your Website with Interactive Blogs
So you have a website and that’s good. But you shouldn’t just stop there. Adding a Blog page is a great way to establish your online presence. You can start creating content that will encourage interactions among your readers. You can also link your social media platforms to your blog to generate traffic.
Don’t forget to include keywords as well. Add keywords that relate to real estate to help your website rank in the first three pages of Google search and take advantage of Local SEO. It’s worth taking some time to check out noteworthy real estate blogs to take inspiration from before starting your own.
Explore Content Marketing
You should create content that has substance and then look for external sites that you can use to market this content. When you share this content, include links to your website or blogs for users to visit and learn more about the property you are selling.
LinkedIn and Quora are some of the platforms that can help you market your real estate property via content marketing. You can also use a timeline maker to create infographics that make your newsletters, social media feed and blog posts more engaging. Try making a timeline for selling a home or a checklist for choosing a realtor, for example.
Upload Fun, Engaging, and Informative Videos
Did you know that this is one of the commonly used tools in the industry? Realtors have branched out from posting pictures of their listings to creating videos that attract buyers and homeowners.
You need not spend a lot of money in editing your videos since technology has rapidly adapted to the needs of its end-users. That means that there are readily available software and applications that you can use in recording and editing your videos.
But you can always have the option of hiring professionals to produce high-quality videos that even includes clients’ testimonials.
Here are some ideas that might help you in coming up with a video that you can use in promoting your business:
- Interview videos
- Listing videos
- Case study or review videos
- Special offer videos
- Live stream Q & A videos
- A home buyer or seller advice videos
Generate Leads
Maybe you’re thinking, “I have all my social media platforms up and working. Now, what’s next?”
It’s never enough to have tons of followers on Twitter or fans on Facebook. The next step would be to convert those “fans” and “followers” to leads. And this is always the tricky part.
You can start by creating a lead generating tool. For example, a home appraisal tool that will help in the real estate business. After a user completes the form, you can try and ask for their email address in exchange for sending them the results.GetVoip recommends using a CRM to manage your emails for future use in promotions, offers or using a real estate script in sync with a tailored email sequence to make a deal with them.
Focus on a Certain Niche
Ideally, you would want to target everybody. But in a saturated market like real estate, you might want to try niching down to attract certain people that you know will be your great audience based on data analysis.
This means that you can choose to sell only to senior citizens, divorcees, families with pets, or even to bachelors.
To thrive in this kind of strategy, you have to know everything that there is to know in your chosen niche. Know what kind of houses that are commonly purchased if you’re catering to bachelors. Or perhaps, know what is an ideal neighborhood if you choose to sell to families with kids and dogs.
Hire a professional real estate photographer
Nothing beats the effect of posting high-quality photos to attract potential buyers. Sure, you can do it yourself but there’s no harm in hiring professional professional 2D floor plans as well.
Ever heard of drones? Do you know how fun your videos can get if you use drones? All your photos will be able to capture every angle, all the surrounding areas, and reach that part of the house that you didn’t think is reachable. It can even be used to provide convenient virtual tours to your clients. And there are some great options for drones under $500, too.
Maximize the use of advertisements
By now, you know that social media platforms offer a room to advertise your business. You can pay these platforms to publish posts with certain publishing schedules. You can start running social media campaigns hoping to have a higher return on investment.
Facebook and Instagram have paid ads that you can use to target potential clients. Pay per click is also another option if you wish to add traffic to your sites but this can get too costly. The cost of Ads on Instagram for real estate is high, exactly for the same reason as CPC costs are high.
Lastly, you can choose to sponsor local events in your community to promote your business. This can bring good rapport and earn your clients’ confidence as they know that you support meaningful and life-changing causes.
Engage in Trade Shows
Even though digital marketing has proved to be the most effective strategy in real estate, you can always venture on trade shows. This is a form of marketing that will never be obsolete.
You can introduce new products and services using catalogs, booklets, business cards and networking. If you host or participate in a trade show, you will learn that establishing personal connections with people has more impact and can get you more long-lasting pool of clients and leads.
Always remember that it’s easier to prove your credibility if you engage with your clients or prospects in person.
