Real estate marketing has come a long way from its relatively humble beginnings. Thanks to the virtually explosive adoption of the internet around the world, real estate companies can now reach home buyers in numbers that were impossible to achieve with the marketing tactics available to them way back when.
Take newspaper ads, for example. Since practically everybody read newspapers before, running ads in the dailies used to be one of the surefire ways real estate companies could get in front of home buyers, if not the most effective one. Now, as more than a third of home buyers look for properties online, digital marketing is definitely the way to go.
However, you may wonder which digital marketing tactic is the right one for you.
Digital marketing refers to any and all marketing efforts done online, and there are several options you can choose from. It all boils down to your own approach and business needs.
To help you choose the best one for your real estate company, here are seven of the most popular methods and effective tips:
Publish High-Quality Content Consistently
Everything you would usually come across online—articles, images, videos, e-books, podcasts, etc.—is collectively referred to as content.
Think of the internet as a huge, ever-growing library that is full of books of all kinds of topics. Whenever you go online, you could say that you are browsing these “books,” looking for the right information you need.
People would only spend time and effort in reading, watching, or listening to the best content. So, to have the best possible chance of piquing the interest of the home buyers you want to target, you will need to regularly create and post the best possible content that your audience values.
The Characteristics of High-Quality Content
- Adds value. Content that is useful or helpful will surely get viewed and even shared. For real estate companies, such content provides home buyers with information about the properties they want and how to go about acquiring them.
- Actionable. Yes, useful or helpful content is always great, but content that also provides timely information that can be used or applied right away will always come out on top.
- Credible. No matter how great a piece of content is, if the information it provides cannot be trusted, it is practically useless. To make credible content, always back it up by citing reliable sources.
- Engaging. No one will ever read, watch, or listen to a piece of content if it is boring. Some of the ways you could get others to engage with yours is by making article or newsletter headlines interesting and including images and videos alongside unique storytelling.
- Original. There is so much content online, that many resort to plagiarizing the content of others. Never go down this path. You will be penalized by algorithms or the original content owners and will lose the trust of your audience. Always stay original.
Set Yourself Up on Google
Google, the most popular search engine in the world, can be described as an enormous marketplace. To carve out a place for your real estate company where you can engage with home buyers, you need to create and launch your very own website.
It is surprisingly easy to make a website these days. There are plenty of services and apps, called content management systems, that let you build and make yours public in minutes. But if you are not really up for it, you can hire an agency or a freelancer to do it for you.
Make Your Site Mobile-Friendly
Do you know anyone who doesn’t own a smartphone?
Almost everybody owns a smartphone these days.
Some own even more than one!
Our phones conveniently let us browse sites and consume content on the fly. To let everyone access your content even on the go, you need to make your site mobile-friendly. That basically means you need to make your site easy to navigate on mobile devices, like smartphones and tablets.
Some of the Common Ways to Make a Site Mobile-Friendly
- Make it responsive. In other words, the way your site is displayed and arranged needs to change according to the size of the device that is accessing it.
- Make it load as quickly as possible. The longer it takes for your site to load, the less likely home buyers will wait around to see your content.
- Keep it simple. The more cluttered your site, the harder it is for homebuyers to navigate it and find the information they need.
- Avoid using text-blocking ads and pop-ups. Not only are these intrusive, but they also make consuming content a hassle.
- Do not use Flash. Most devices used to support sites that used Flash, but not anymore. Therefore, using it on your site will either slow it down significantly or put it at risk of not being accessible at all.
Use Local Images on Your Site
Local images simply refer to images saved right on your computer. These are more secure than using those that are not local, since the latter are always at risk of disappearing online or being used elsewhere.
If all the images on your site suddenly disappeared and you did not have backups, you will scramble to replace them, while those who visit your website quickly bounce to your competitor.
Build Your Google My Business Page
Google My Business (GMB) is a tool that lets you promote your site and business profile on Google.
Once you set up your GMB account, you will be able to see and connect with potential clients, post updates about your business, and see how prospective customers interact with your business on the search engine.
All you need to do to get yours up and running is to provide a few details about your business, which only takes a few minutes.
Use Social Media to Build Brand Awareness
From Facebook to Instagram and everything else in between, almost everybody uses social media these days, whether it is to keep in touch with dear connections, stay current on the latest news, or check out the hottest trends.
Practically everyone “hangs out” on these sites and apps, so what better way to engage with this audience directly than by building awareness of your brand on them?
Some of the Common Ways to Use Social Media to Build Brand Awareness
- Develop a unique voice and personality for your real estate company. Doing so lets it stand out, making it more likely that potential customers will engage with you.
- Share great content. The better it is, the more likely that people will share it. The more it gets shared, the more people will see it.
- Make sure your branding is consistent across all the channels you use. Consistent branding supports the unique voice and personality that you will develop for your business. It can be done by consistently posting particular types of content with a matching aesthetic. If done well, your company will become known for its unique content, making it stand out even more.
- Refrain from sharing the same content and voice on all channels. Just as you would not share on Linkedin most of the stuff you post on Facebook, you need to tailor the content and voice you will use on each channel.
- Do targeted social advertising. Targeted social advertising refers to the marketing tactic of running ads on social media that are based on your target customers’ characteristics, like demographics and geography. Doing so is one of the most effective ways to get in front of the people that are most likely to be interested in your business.
Hire an SEO Agency with Real Estate Expertise
There are SEO agencies that specialize in working with real estate companies. Having delivered successful results to numerous clients, they have the knowledge, skills, and experience to help your real estate company get the most out of digital marketing.
The Bottom Line
Real estate marketing can be intimidating at first, especially if you do not really know anything about it. But if you take the time and effort needed to get your head around it, you will be surprised how beneficial it can be for your real estate business. Now that you’ve learned all about the ways you can effectively market your business online, you are already off to a great start! Check out our site to learn more about marketing and SEO for real estate businesses.