The real estate industry isn’t for the faint of heart. To succeed in this business, you need knowledge, expertise, and most of all – a solid marketing strategy.
Speaking of marketing, here are some real estate marketing strategies you can try to generate more leads.
Online Real Estate Marketing
With most people using the internet to search for their dream home, a new apartment, or their next investment property, online marketing has become an indispensable tool for real estate agents and companies.
Online marketing comes in different forms. Using a combination of these digital real estate marketing strategies can help your business stand out from the competition and close a sale in no time.
Related: Online Lead Generation for Agents: 7 Ways to Beat the Competition
Follow these steps to market your real estate business online:
Start by creating a professional website.
Think of your website as your virtual office. When clients walk into your office, you want to leave a positive impression right away. Before deciding to call you, potential clients will browse your site for information, such as your experience, local knowledge, skills, expertise, and specialization. By presenting these facts in a professional and convincing manner, you can greatly turn leads into successful deals.
Utilize content marketing.
You’re probably aware of the sales funnel. It starts with people becoming aware of your services. Next, interested customers become your leads. At this stage, you nurture them and keep them engaged until they finally make a decision to buy.
But how do you make people know about your real estate business? How do you make them interested and how do you make them choose you over other real estate agents out there? The key is to gain their trust by showcasing your expertise and credibility. This is where content marketing comes in. Think of articles, blogs, videos, infographics, eBooks, polls, emails, etc.
Content marketing is a valuable tool to generate awareness and drive leads. Make sure to provide high-quality content that your clients and prospects will find valuable. It’s also a good idea to automate your campaigns using all-in-one marketing platforms to save time and effort. Such platforms allow you to schedule, manage, and analyze your campaigns in real-time.
Go social.
Statistics show that 77% of realtors use social media to market their business while 47% say that social media marketing gives them the highest quality real estate leads than other platforms. Social media is truly a valuable tool for real estate marketers. Add the fact that 99% of millennials and 90% of baby boomers use the internet to start their home search.
The most popular social media channels among realtors are Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Facebook makes use of user demographics for targeted campaigns while Instagram lets you post stylish photos of the property you’re selling. Meanwhile, LinkedIn is a great place to network with other professionals in your industry.
Use email marketing.
Buying a property is something that people don’t decide on immediately. It takes a lot of research and information gathering before they shell out their hard-earned money. For this reason, email marketing makes a great tool for generating and nurturing leads. But it needs some optimization to produce the best results.
Start your email marketing campaign by making sure that you are reaching out to the right people. You can attract new subscribers by running social media ads to ask people if they want to sign up for your newsletter, asking former clients to subscribe, and creating a whitepaper or ebook on a relevant topic and asking their email address in return.
Email marketing is all about content. Make sure you are sharing something that is relevant and helpful to your subscribers. Send emails regularly and consistently. And don’t forget to analyze your campaigns to know what’s working and what’s not. Some of the metrics to track are your open rate, click-through rate (CTR), response rate, and the most important of all – conversion rate.
Offline Real Estate Marketing
We’re living in the digital age. But it doesn’t mean that traditional real estate marketing no longer works! For the real estate industry, in particular, incorporating offline strategies can help you spread the word about your business and generate consistent leads.
Networking
To succeed in this business, you need to have great connections. Effective networking often leads to partnerships, referrals, knowledge sharing, and mutual benefits among realtors. It can also help you find potential investors. To grow your network, attend events and gatherings of real estate professionals in your area. Be sure to hand out your business cards to everyone you meet.
Related: The Ultimate Guide to Real Estate Networking for Agents
Word of mouth marketing
Nothing beats this marketing approach. Even online marketing cannot beat the impact word of mouth brings to any business. And the best part is? It’s free!
To make sure that your clients spread the news about you and promote your business wholeheartedly, focus on delivering exceptional customer service.
Strive to make your customer’s experience positive by always being there to answer their questions and providing helpful information. Buying a home or investment property can be overwhelming for ordinary people. By making the process easier for them, you are making your customers feel confident and empowered, which results in higher satisfaction. Make their experience special by doing little things that show your sincere appreciation, such as preparing snacks during your open house or sending personalized “thank you” notes to your clients.
Reputation marketing
Real estate agents build on their reputation to find customers. You have to capitalize on yourself (your skills, knowledge, and experience) to succeed. By showing that you are a reputable realtor, you’re giving prospects a good reason to choose you over other agents in the area. You can make a name for yourself by pitching a column to a local newspaper or magazine, or trying to get featured at a local TV broadcast or radio station.
Being a realtor is one of the most challenging jobs. But with the right mix of online and offline real estate marketing strategies, you can boost your sales and succeed in this business.
This article has been contributed by Mike Austin.