Digital marketing is becoming increasingly popular in the real estate industry because of its ability to reach a large audience at a relatively low cost. In real estate, digital marketing is applied in order to maximize the leverage of reaching out to the target users through various channels, such as:
- Blogging
- PCC or Pay Per Click
- Social Media
- SEO or Search Engine Optimization
- E-mail Marketing
Instead of just focusing on selling a property, real estate companies focus on generating leads.
How does digital marketing in real estate benefit customers? The arrival of digital marketing in the realm of real estate has given buyers more options to choose from than ever before.
How does digital marketing in real estate benefit realtors? Since you can measure the return on investment for each dollar spent on digital media, real estate is one of the top industries incorporating digital marketing.
Real Estate Digital Marketing Strategy
Digital marketing is an essential part of today’s marketing landscape and is inseparable from any industry or business. Therefore, the real estate industry needs to establish a digital marketing strategy that generates leads and conversions.
Best Strategies
1. Search and incorporate software that streamlines your online marketing
If you can’t easily execute your activities with the right tools, your Real Estate marketing ideas aren’t good for anything.
The vast majority of an agent’s time is spent on activities like meeting with clients, showing listings, sending emails, and making phone calls. It’s essential that you spend time developing your digital marketing plan.
2. Write content for your website
Planning and creating posts and pages takes time. It is important to have a good real estate agent and marketing plan no matter how experienced you are. When you figure out the kind of content your audience wants, it will be a lot easier to provide it. Most sellers and buyers use real estate websites to learn about agents, their markets, and what distinguishes them from other agents. It is essential to have a content marketing strategy for real estate in order to understand your users’ needs and what motivates them to use your product or services.
Some of the most read web pages in real estate are:
- Area and community pages
- List-based articles
- Educational blog posts
3. Make the most of your website
A website is essential for an effective marketing strategy. Without a website, your marketing activities will not be as successful in establishing yourself as a leading agent in your market. Make sure your website is as optimized as possible.
Optimize your On-Page Real Estate Website Elements
This is no longer the case where a few keywords are all that is needed to make search engines love your real estate website. In order to improve your website’s ranking on search engines, you need to implement a more complex and comprehensive strategy.
Some of the On-Page elements are:
- Distinct copy of content that educates.
- Create user-friendly navigation and design elements.
- Keywords are implemented in prominent areas.
- Develop many pages to showcase housing markets, company info and listings.
You will need to create Calls to Action that are appealing and have a clear value proposition in order to draw in your audience.
4. Develop Drip Real Estate Email Marketing Campaigns
Email marketing can be an extremely effective way to reach potential customers and generate revenue. Drip campaigns delivered via email are increasingly effective in moving leads further down the marketing funnel.
While most real estate companies/agents focus on generating leads, many forget about what to do once they have them. Drip email campaigns are the most effective way for agents or companies to nurture their leads. It ensures that your brand remains at the forefront of people’s minds who are interested in buying or selling products.
Digital Marketing for Real Estate: Statistics
Some statistics to let you know how digital marketing is influencing Real Estate Industry:
1. 80% of all home buyers are searching online
Most people looking for homes these days start their search online, wanting to know as much about a potential home before they see it in person.
2. 83% of home buyers see pictures of the property online
The majority of buyers spend a lot of their time researching homes before making any decisions, and they would prefer to see or take a virtual tour of the homes before committing to anything.
3. 52% of the prospects used an iPhone in their home search
Mobile phones are important and you need to optimize your presence on them. **If a user lands on your site from their phone and finds it difficult to navigate, they will likely abandon your site.**
4. 49% of the leads come via referrals
There are many benefits to building a strong brand for yourself and your company, such as personal referrals and repeat business from former clients.
5. Social media is used by 91% of realtors
Most realtors and companies use social media as a free marketing tool.
6. 33% of buyers buying for the first time are researching online
These trends suggest that you should create an optimized online presence. Content for first-time buyers should be straightforward and easy to understand. Try to make your content engaging and informative without being too salesy.
What do these stats mean? If you want to be successful you’ll need to have a strong online and social media presence.
Top 10 Digital Marketing Trends in Real Estate
Here are the top 10 digital marketing trends that you need to be aware of in order to stay ahead of the curve.
1. Being mobile-friendly is important
In the past, mobile purchases were higher than those made on laptops or desktop computers. Most people use their smartphones for business purposes to increase versatility and save time. Realtors should create websites that are mobile-friendly to ensure they are relevant and engaging users.
2. It’s the app time
There’s an app for everything today. If you want your business to be successful, you should have an app. If someone creates an app that covers all aspects of the real estate industry, they will become very wealthy.
3. Develop quality website content
You should regularly check to see if your website is causing your business to lose potential customers. Therefore, it is important to cut down your website to concise information and each list valuable.
4. Target all search engines
Currently, people generally only consider Google to be a trustworthy search engine. However, research indicates that both Bing and Yahoo have kept a stable market share for search engines. It is important to use all three platforms to get a comprehensive view.
As digital media becomes increasingly prevalent, it becomes more difficult to dislodge. Social media has been connecting millions of people every day. There are over a billion active users on social media sites every day. Why not market to them?
6. Growth of inbound marketing
The old form of marketing, Outbound Marketing, is no longer effective and Inbound Marketing is becoming more popular because of its unique style. Inbound Marketing is a way of marketing that focuses on creating and sharing interesting content online in order to attract customers and leads. This is often done through social media, blogs, and videos. Use this inexpensive marketing approach to attract home buyers.
7. Heard about digital storytelling?
In the past, YouTube was the only place where people could watch video clips. Nowadays, there are many other places where people can watch videos. Today, Facebook announced that 76% of its users in the United States say they watch videos on the site. Users say they want shorter, engaging video clips to support a brand, rather than longer, boring paragraphs. Digital Storytelling can be used to create stories that resonates with users.
8. Analysis should be your love!
You don’t need to break up with your current partner, but you should start paying more attention to your analytics. Although it may seem daunting, immersing yourself in the tech world is one of the best ways to grow. With Google Analytics, you can track your website traffic and get useful insights about your visitors. This tool can help you understand who is looking at your website, when they are looking, and where they are looking from.
Google Analytics provides endless opportunities for targeting consumers with the power of data analytics.
9. LinkedIn will be bigger
It is a professional networking platform that helps users share resumes with professionals in the same industry. How is LinkedIn useful for real estate? If a home buyer wants to purchase a property, they can get a full picture of your credentials. We all like when an operation is transparent, and LinkedIn makes it easy to be transparent. This company has expanded its easy-to-use interface and page analytics in order to attract more users.
10. Live-streaming apps are a must
Periscope should be on the checklist of real estate industry. It allows anyone to film any event they want. This is what is required for an open house! Although consumers may not be able to physically visit a home they’re interested in purchasing, Periscope allows them to take a virtual tour of the property instead. This provides them with the opportunity to assess whether or not the home is right for them, without having to be physically present.
