Real estate marketing has evolved substantially over the past few years. So much more than newspaper listings and brochures, digital marketing gives Realtors the chance to connect with prospective buyers and sellers on many platforms.
Tailoring your marketing strategy to your needs will take some planning, but here are a few of our best practices for real estate marketing to get you started.
Real Estate Marketing Essentials
1. Photos
Photography is the cornerstone of online real estate marketing. High-quality photos are one of the most important aspects of appealing to buyers.
Quality and Variety
Where you once might have taken a couple of photos to reuse for all of your promotional material, the internet and social media have changed the real estate marketing game.
A variety of quality photos is more likely to engage audiences across platforms. Share your photos on social media and through email in addition to traditional media like brochures and newspaper advertisements.
Beyond Still Images
Technology also makes it easy to bring your photography to the next level. Platforms like Facebook support video and 360° photos, which will be more engaging with viewers and give buyers a better view of the property.
Still wondering how to get great photos? Check out our Photography for Real Estate blog!
2. Newsletter
Email marketing is one of the most effective means of reminding contacts about your brand and services.
Informative Advertising
By bringing an offer right to their inbox, you are keeping your business fresh in the minds of potential buyers and sellers. Sending out a newsletter regularly will keep your contacts engaged and informed.
Newsletters are also a means of collecting contact information from contacts as well as encouraging readers to visit your website and social media accounts. Additionally, including convenient links to other platforms will increase your visibility online.
Diversify Content
Putting together a real estate newsletter is easy because of all the diverse content you can share. Of course, you can include new listings, but there are more options that will work to bring visitors to your website and social platforms. Sharing blogs in a newsletter is a great way of guiding people to your website while still providing the reader with something of value.
You can also take the opportunity to share information about events and attractions in your local area. This way, you are sharing helpful info that may be of interest to readers, as well as advertising the neighborhoods in which you are selling.
Check out our Tips for Successful Real Estate Newsletters for more info and tips!
3. Blog
Blogging is the easiest source of content creation for Realtors. With all the relevant topics you can write about, the only limit to your content is your creativity.
Evergreen Topics
If you’re having trouble finding inspiration, you can always review real estate evergreen topics. “Evergreen” is used to describe content that will never age or go out of style. As long as you are writing blog posts, you will be able to use these topics to provide relevant and useful information to readers. You can avoid becoming redundant by researching these topics to see what new trends might be circulating.
Scheduled Content
Because blogs can be written in advance and shared on many platforms, creating a blogging calendar will help you keep track of all of your topics and prevent you from falling behind.
This content can also be set to post automatically, ensuring your content is always going out on time. Using social media management tools can help to keep your content organized and take the headache out of managing several social platforms and media at once.
For more examples of evergreen topics, check out our Our Favorite Evergreen Topics for Realtor Blogging post!
4. Real Estate Website
As the home base of your operations, your website is one of the most important parts of your real estate marketing campaign.
Clean Design
Visitors may get their first impression of your business from your website, so you want a site that accurately represents and flatters your brand while working to convert visitors.
As mentioned earlier, photography is one of the best ways to digitally show properties to a viewer, so have large, high-quality photos of listings is key to catching the viewer’s eye.
Don’t overwhelm the viewer with too much information, and instead use images that can be enlarged and consider including a carousel to display groups of images.
Remember, simplicity is often more effective when it comes to web design, so try to make your website as intuitive and organized as possible.
More than Just Listings
While many visitors may just be there to see listings, there is much more content that can be helpful.
Share community information to intrigue visitors and tell them more about the neighborhood. Share diverse blog content that covers all aspects of real estate that might be of interest or help to a reader.
By filling your site with relevant information, you become more than just a list of properties; your website will become a reliable source of information and will establish you as an expert in the industry.
For more tips on Realtor website design, check out our 7 Web Design Tips For Real Estate Websites!
6. Social Media
With all of the content options available, creating and maintaining a robust social media presence is easier than you might expect.
Listing Information
The majority of social media users check the sites daily, meaning listings posted to platforms like Facebook are likely to be seen by followers. Add in the option to pay-to-promote, and you are guaranteed more potential customers will see your name and the properties you are sharing.
Expanded Content
If social media is the best way to engage buyers and sellers, then it’s also the best place to promote other content like your blog.
Writing a blog is a great source of content as well as a means to educate your follows. People who follow you on social media will appreciate a greater variety of content beyond just listings. By sharing helpful tips and industry information, your social media presence will be much more than just advertising properties.
Check out Best Practices for Real Estate Social Media for more tips and information!
7. Reviews
Online reviews are one of the most trusted sources for an honest opinion about a business, but there are ways of using them to your advantage too.
Consistent Monitoring
The only way to get reviews to work for you is by always knowing what reviews are out there. Make a regular habit of checking all review platforms, including Yelp, Facebook and Google.
By keeping track of your reviews, you will be more aware of the satisfaction of your clients and the reputation you have on review sites.
Catching negative reviews quickly is also important as it can prevent you from losing a future customer or save a current business relationship. Responding to negative reviews is just as important as to positive reviews, if not more so because it gives you the chance to address an issue, improve customer experience, and show readers that you are ready to take responsibility.
Reply and Share
Good, bad, or ugly, you want to respond to all reviews. Whether you are simply thanking a customer for a kind review or addressing the reviewer’s complaint, you want to rely on reviews to demonstrate to readers that you care about your customer base and their satisfaction.
Sharing good reviews will also promote satisfying service genuinely and honestly. Eighty-five percent of consumers actually trust an online review as much as a personal recommendation, so you must be aware of what customers are saying about you online.
For more tips on utilizing and responding to reviews, check out The Power of Online Reviews And How to Manage Them!
The internet has made connecting with potential buyers and sellers much easier, making your online marketing campaign essential to attracting the right customer. Following these best practices will bring you on your way to a successful and strategic marketing plan.
For more information about Real Estate Marketing, check out more blogs here!
Thanks for reading,
Christine
