The current state of online real estate necessitates hyperlocal real estate marketing strategies.
Most major cities’ search engine results are being dominated by companies like Zillow and Realtor.com. The good news is they aren’t your competition.
When you go hyperlocal, you can target specific neighborhoods and types of homes with your marketing efforts.
If you want to rank for “real estate Miami”, you will have a difficult time getting close to the front page, which is where most traffic will end up.
If you want to be more successful and have more fun, you should target long-tail keywords like “best real estate agent in Coconut Grove, Miami.”
And if you’re looking for something fun to do, hyperlocal marketing is more than just creating blog posts with a lot of long-tail keywords. You want to create a campaign that your target market will see on multiple channels, and depending on the channel, show a bit more personality than usual.
There are many other ways to create a campaign that is well-rounded.
Big Picture: There’s a Shift in Marketing
If there’s one constant with marketing, it’s always changing.
Most commonly accepted marketing practices will no longer be effective in the next 5-10 years. Essentially, what worked for small businesses in the past is no longer as effective.
The “old” approach to marketing
The old way refers to the traditional methods of doing things. Well, there are actually three “old” ways. Here is a broad overview.
Inbound marketing that is not specifically targeting a particular audience or market, consisting mostly of social media and traditional forms of PR.
- This approach worked when social media was in its infancy, and PR firms were instrumental in crafting messages for large audiences to drive interest. When the competition was low, i.e., companies weren’t expected to use social media, it worked well.
Untargeted outbound: channels such as newspaper ads and billboards.
- While they served an excellent purpose for general branding, these marketing channels were left behind when new opportunities for better, deeper prospect information and insights became available.
Targeted inbound: tactics including SEO optimization and content creation
- In the early days of search engine marketing, SEO optimization was a new skill mastered by a small group of content creators. However, over the years, everyone has been optimizing, and it’s more challenging than ever for content to rank.
The over-saturation of the market and changing consumer preferences have caused these channels to lose impact, opening the door for a new way of marketing: hyperlocal marketing.
Hyperlocal marketing is a method of marketing that targets a specific locality. In this section, we will explore how to effectively market to a specific locality.
There are several reasons why hyperlocal marketing is changing the way businesses market themselves.
The “new” approach to marketing
Hyperlocal marketing is an outbound marketing strategy that is targeted at a specific group of potential customers. It is different from the “old” way of marketing, which was not as focused on a specific group.
Hyperlocal tactics are community-centric, targeted, and multichannel. By combining these elements into a cohesive strategy, it benefits you in a few key ways:
Hyperlocal marketing future-proofs your customer acquisition
By hyperlocal marketing, you have more control over finding new leads and opportunities. You don’t have to rely on outsiders as much to give you access to these things.
If you’re a real estate agent who gets most of your leads from Zillow, you’re going to have to make some changes. If Zillow were to change its commission structure or limit the number of leads per month, you would have no control over that.
If Angie’s List starts charging triple for the same amount of leads, small businesses that rely on Angie’s List for customers will be adversely affected.
The idea is that you can use public records data along with a consistent and organized approach to finding new customers to protect your sales pipeline without having to depend on a large corporation or outside party.
Hyperlocal marketing beats big business by more effectively connecting with prospects
In other words, big businesses have difficulty targeting marketing efforts to very specific local areas.
Home Depot and Lowe’s are not going to call every property owner in every neighborhood across the country to try to establish personal relationships.
Large businesses, like Home Depot and Lowe’s, are often more convenient and have more inventory than small businesses. However, small businesses usually have more expertise on the area and the local clientele.
When it comes to building relationships and long-term customers, they are not able to compete on many levels.
Hyperlocal marketing is a relatively easy channel to stand-up
To create a successful hyperlocal marketing strategy, you need access to the right tools, effective messaging, local expertise, and consistency.
You will be able to build a winning strategy with less overhead and requirements than older marketing channels.
Compared to something like SEO optimization, which can take years to master, hyperlocal marketing has a much lower barrier to entry.
Deep Dive: Let’s Start with The Old Way
This is why the old way was so popular for so long, because it was effective.
In the past, the best way to connect with large audiences was to use generic messages and hope that your advertisement would be relevant to a small number of people.
Targeted campaigns, as we know them today, did not exist in the past. The main goal was to get your advertisement seen by as many people as possible.
The Great Debate: inbound vs. outbound marketing
Inbound marketing is a type of marketing that encompasses creating content or utilizing social media in a way that promotes awareness of a brand. The goal is to attract visitors who could turn into customers.
Inbound marketing refers to marketing activities that bring visitors in, rather than marketers having to go out to get attention. Inbound marketing includes creating blog posts, social media, website and SEO optimization, email nurture campaigns to warm leads, and more.
Outbound marketing is a technique in which businesses attempt to reach potential customers through mass communication. This is in contrast to inbound marketing, which instead relies on customers coming to the business on their own.
Outbound marketing techniques can include cold calling, list building, direct mail, events, cold email marketing, and more. It is not bad that outbound marketing interrupts people. If you put thought, care, and purpose into your ads, your messaging will be surprising, delightful, and helpful to your audience.
For example, a homeowner has multiple broken floor tiles because of movement of the earth beneath the house. They haven’t had time to look for a tile specialist yet, but they need someone with that expertise to come and make repairs.
You receive a postcard from a company that specializes in repairing tile in your area. The homeowner can call the tile specialist and arrange the appointment.
The problem the homeowner had kept happening, and the tile specialist got a new job because of it – which could result in the homeowner using that specialist’s services for a long time.
Each type of marketing has its pros and cons:
Inbound:
Higher intent audience – They are actively searching for a solution Conversations are often initiated by the audience when they fill out a form or request more information Content needs to be optimized so your audience can find it Someone who is not part of your ICP may become an unqualified lead The algorithms around social and paid advertising are constantly changing. What worked last week might not work today.
Outbound: Marketing is targeting the right ICP Marketing and sales team can see more immediate results Can be scaled for a sales team. A team member can complete daily call-downs by being given a phone script and a list of numbers. Your audience may not be expecting outreach, and may not appreciate a sales call or email. There are increased regulations around outbound marketing that every marketer should be aware of.
Targeted vs. untargeted marketing:
Targeted and untargeted marketing have their purposes.
Targeted marketing relies on marketing to specific people. Although it may seem perfect, it is usually more expensive and difficult to accomplish.
A more targeted marketing approach increases the likelihood that your message will reach the right audience. You can customize your message to address the specific pain points and problems of your target audience. The process of acquiring data to identify the right audience can be difficult. The success of a message depends on how well it is matched to the audience it is intended for. This requires a deep understanding of that audience.
Untargeted marketing is less expensive and more available than targeted marketing approaches. If you want to reach more people, you should try using less targeted marketing efforts. If you want to reach more people, you’ll need to target people who are outside of your total addressable market. When marketing, people often hope and pray that they will find the right people at the right time.
Leveraging a combination of tactics provides 4 types of marketing:
While using the marketing quadrant helps us understand the tactical nature of marketing efforts, the reality is that you’ll fall within one of the four segments that utilize a combination of tactics:
- Untargeted Inbound
- Untargeted Outbound
- Targeted Inbound
- Targeted Outbound
Each segment can be the right option depending on the business and customer base, so here’s a quick overview of the four types of marketing:
Untargeted Inbound Marketing
Content and publicity campaigns that are not aimed at a specific audience. Marketing that targets a local audience can be difficult for some business owners to effectively execute.
In this case, small businesses are often told to use word-of-mouth marketing. Although it is easy to do, it is difficult to make it an effective tool for driving new customer growth.
Untargeted Outbound Marketing
This refers to marketing techniques that are not directed at a specific group or target, like ads that are placed where everyone in a certain area will see them.
Type of marketing where you pay for your message to be seen by people, regardless of whether or not they are interested in what you are selling. Usually not effective because you end up paying to show your message to people who are not interested, and thus a wasted effort. If you don’t carefully target your advertising, you might end up wasting a lot of money trying to reach people who don’t need your services.
Targeted Inbound Marketing
Information that is published online on popular platforms like Zillow and Yelp, or that is published with high SEO optimization, is information that is likely to be seen by people who are interested in it.
If you craft your message well, it is likely that the right people who are interested in your services will see it, making it an effective marketing tool. However, inbound high-targeting marketing is expensive and saturated.
Targeted Outbound Marketing
The most cost-effective marketing strategies are those that are highly targeted and involve directly reaching out to potential customers, such as through direct outreach emails, social media messages, door-to-door visits, phone calls, referrals, and targeting specific geographic locations.
Hyperlocal Real Estate Marketing Strategies
1) Blog Consistently
Your website is the starting point for your digital marketing strategy. Your blog can help to expand your home base and make it more useful.
Whenever you add a blog post to your website, you are also adding another web page.
You can target a specific keyword phrase for every neighborhood on your city’s page.
If you continue to use email, your list of contacts will begin to increase. If you use this method, you will be able to share all of the content you produce more effectively, making your entire marketing campaign better as a result.
2) Create Informative Area Pages
You should create separate pages on your website for each individual neighborhood that you service. This will help your website be more easily found by potential customers searching for your services in specific areas.
Provide your readers with detailed information about local school districts, restaurants, and demographics. Tell them the good and the bad. If there’s a haunted house in the neighborhood, let the neighbors know.
This is a great way to boost your ranking on Google for long-tail keywords while providing value.
3) Create Area-Specific Lead Magnets
You can create an eBook or PDF guide and offer it for free. People will not have to pay any money, but they will have to give up their email address.
If you want to create downloadable guides, we recommend collecting all the information you want to include and searching Fiverr.com for someone who can translate it into a PDF.
A market report with statistics for a specific area could also be created. Talk about how the local population is changing. Show them the housing market trends. Make sure they are aware of how much they will gain or lose.
Provide them with the necessary data to enable them to make informed purchasing decisions, and you will be perceived as an expert. Oh, and get that email address.
4) Contribute to Local Newspapers
Write a regular column for a local newspaper in which you share your expertise and local market knowledge. If you have unique information and know how to write well, it is not difficult to write for a local paper.
Creating a print newspaper can help with local branding and establish your expertise to those who prefer traditional print media.
5) Write Guest Posts for Relevant Local Blogs
Guest blog posts can help to improve the success of your own website. You could contact a business in the home inspection or construction field and offer to write a blog post for their website. This could help you gain some exposure and potentially attract new clients.
Community
If you want to be seen as a leader in your local community, you need to use these strategies.
6) Contribute on Local Forums
If you live in a city with a large population, you should be able to find a local forum. If not, I suggest going to TripAdvisor by searching on Google like this:
TripAdvisor Forum + your city name.
People often ask questions about local neighborhoods in these places. Answer their questions! When relevant, link back to content on your site.
By being active and engaging on the forum, you create goodwill among other members. This could lead to someone recommending your services to someone they know.
7) Help Organize Community Events
Here’s a great chance to take a leadership position.
You don’t have to spend hundreds of hours on this. You may have the opportunity to attend a community event without even trying, since you spend so much time in your local area.
Brainstorm ideas for an event, find a venue that can accommodate the event, and identify individuals or groups who can help promote the event.
Make an appearance and see how it goes! If you improve your skills here, people will see you as a community leader – and you will deserve it.
8) Speak at Community Events
This is a great way to market your brand and have fun at the same time!
9) Support Local Causes
Just volunteering a few hours of your time is enough to give you the reputation as somebody who is generous. You can get bonus points if you become a regular at your favorite charity.
10) Do Interviews at Events
Conduct short interviews with people and post the videos of the interviews on your Facebook and YouTube accounts. It’s great that you’re keeping up with what’s happening in your community.
The content creators will get high-quality content for free to send to their audience, and in return, the creator’s name will be publicized.
In addition, you can include a link to your website in the blog post or in the author byline.
