Working in real estate is not an easy job, especially when you’re getting paid based on what you deliver. The most successful real estate agents are those who are constantly improving their business through marketing.
Whether you’re a buyer’s agent or a seller’s agent, you should always have clear marketing strategies to make a name for yourself and get qualified leads. In fact, top agents usually advise beginners to spend the bulk of their budget on marketing as growing your customer-base early on will pay off tremendously in the long run. In this blog post, we share 8 of the best real estate marketing tips we could gather for real estate agents to strengthen their marketing efforts in 2018 and beyond.
Real Estate Marketing Tips #1: Write Engaging MLS Descriptions
It’s important to create listing descriptions that are compelling and make prospective buyers feel like you’re speaking directly to them. Thus, taking your time to write the perfect description is important and worth your while. According to a study by Zillow, the optimal length for a listing description is about 250 words. While property listings with emotional angles sometimes work, the same study found that using terms that actually describe the real estate property is the best strategy. “You could write the most descriptive copy in the world, but if your home doesn’t fit the buyer’s needs, they aren’t going to come to see your home, let alone purchase it.”
For property buyers, what ultimately seals the deal is the property’s location, size, and condition. So, real estate agents should highlight the top reasons that make a property for sale a wonderful place to live. Moreover, the words you choose can have an indirect or hidden meaning that’ll have a negative effect on your listing, so remember to use the right words for your real estate ad. For example, Zillow suggests using words like granite, landscaped, and stainless and to avoid words like nice, potential, and fixer. The right words can even sell the property for more than its original listing price!
Real Estate Marketing Tips #2: Take Professional Pictures
After writing a compelling listing description for your property, it only makes sense to upload stunning pictures. Humans are visual creatures – we get attracted to what is visually appealing. Thus, pictures can make the difference as to whether a prospective buyer looking for homes for sale online clicks on your property listing or not. As a real estate agent, you need to make sure the pictures you’re using will give prospective buyers a good first impression of the home and invite them to walk in the front door.
Note: To increase your visibility to property investors and homebuyers, click here.
With today’s advanced technology, there’s no good excuse for using poor-quality pictures in your property listings. The best real estate marketing tips to give here are to use pictures that are well-lit, have good composition, highlight impressive elements of the listing, and are pleasing to the eyes. The easiest way to get gorgeous, high-quality pictures is to hire a professional photographer. According to a Redfin study, property listings that are photographed professionally sell faster and for more money than those photographed by an amateur.
Real Estate Marketing Tips #3: Invest in 3-D Tours/Video Marketing
Want to stay ahead of the competition in the real estate business as an agent? Invest in video marketing! Our brains process images quicker than text. So, if you really want to attract your prospective buyers’ attention, visuals are the way to go. Using 3-D tours for listings can show off the property and allows potential buyers to get a better idea of the actual space it provides. In addition, 3D cameras and drones are important when marketing a property for sale online as they’ll showcase the neighborhood and features of surrounding areas.
Related: These Are the Tools Successful Real Estate Agents Are Using in 2018
Yes, it’s not exactly cheap but, like all good marketing strategies, this one has a great return on investment. All the top real estate agents in the industry use video marketing as they’ve realized that it pays off down the road. When people discover and share your content, it strengthens your brand’s status as a hot real estate agent among your competition.
Real Estate Marketing Tips #4: Optimize Your Website
A professional website is an important tool for marketing your listings. It can be a game changer for a real estate agent. However, most agents build a website and then forget about it. To become a successful real estate agent, you should constantly improve your site to increase your ranking on Google and other search engines. Here are real estate marketing tips on how to do that:
- Make your website customer-friendly: A website that is easy to use and allows users to navigate smoothly will keep them longer than a poorly-built website.
- Blogging and creating valuable content: Write blogs that answer your clients’ questions, provide information on real estate, and are fun to read. This will help your website gain credibility, attract new prospective buyers, and get more qualified leads in the long run.
- Send newsletters to your leads: Don’t forget your email leads. Sending them email newsletters regularly will increase their interest and motivate them into buying a property.
- Rank for keyword searches: Property buyers search online for certain factors like livability, crime rates, and school districts. For a real estate agent, these are keywords for your website/blog that you want to appear in search results for.
- Google AdWords: This advertising platform promotes websites with digital ads that pop up whenever a potential buyer is searching for services similar to the ones you offer. It’s a great way to drive traffic to a real estate agent’s website!
Real Estate Marketing Tips #5: Agent Profiles/Lead Generation Programs
Don’t have your own website? That’s OK, you can get qualified leads through other websites like Mashvisor. We work with property investors looking for agents to buy investment properties. So, when you subscribe to Mashvisor as a real estate agent and sign up for one of our plans, we’ll provide you with a number of qualified leads through our Lead Generation Program and you’ll have full control over who you’d like to work with.
To learn more about our services to agents, read Lead Generation Program: The Unique Approach of Mashvisor.
In addition, we also offer agents a FREE feature which is the agent profiles. You can claim your free profile and fill it with your information to attract real estate investors searching for investment properties on our platform. You’re also able to post your own blogs on your profile to show your knowledge and experience in the real estate industry. Thus, with this agent profile, you have the chance to reach a wider audience where you can find qualified leads and clients.
Interested in a free agent profile? Click here to claim yours!
Real Estate Marketing Tips #6: Be Active on Social Media
The real estate industry is built on networking and more people are turning to social media in their search for properties for sale. So, it only makes sense that agents should be online as well. However, one mistake that real estate agents make with social media is only posting their property listings. This doesn’t provide any value to anyone who isn’t currently on the market to buy a home.
Instead, what you should do is share valuable content (like blogs and infographics) and engage with your social media network. Encourage them to share their own thoughts and comments, and respond to them when they do. When done right, real estate marketing on social media adds strength to your brand, keeps your name on top of prospective buyers’ mind, and draws new clients and leads your way.
Related: Generate Leads: Tips for Any Starting Real Estate Agent
Facebook is a great example that most of the top real estate agents use. It can be a powerful tool to promote your blog and build up an audience of potential clients for your real estate agent business. Other social media channels that you can optimize include Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.
Real Estate Marketing Tips #7: Go Offline
In this digital age, it’s easy for a real estate agent to focus on social media marketing. However, some of the traditional, old-fashioned ways of marketing still work and get you noticed! Even though you should definitely know how to market your property to millennials who are driving the real estate industry, there are still baby boomers and retirees that don’t use devices and computers. These could just be your prospective buyers, so you need to think about ways to reach them as well. Here are some traditional marketing strategies that are worth holding on to:
- Advertising with banners
- Direct mail marketing
- Seminars for first-time homebuyers
- Cold calling
- Print proposals and brochures
In addition, experienced real estate agents will tell you that the best marketing strategies feature a combination of the digital and the traditional.
Real Estate Marketing Tips #8: Track the Effectiveness of Your Strategies
Not all marketing strategies will yield the same results. That’s why you need to track what works and what doesn’t. If you don’t track and analyze the results of each strategy to find which one works, you might be spending money on marketing that’s not even effective. For example, you could be spending a lot of money on your real estate agent website, only to find out that most of your qualified leads are coming from your Facebook page.
The Bottom Line
Having a solid marketing plan will help you approach your work with purpose and achieve your goals. If you found these tips helpful, make sure to share them with your team.
What great tips do you have to share with other agents?
Remember to sign up with Mashvisor to give your real estate agent career a boost with our Lead Generation Program.