Why is marketing for real estate so important?
The world is online, and real estate is no exception. For people to find and buy their next home with you, they first need to see you!
Marketing for real estate agents is an excellent way to get in front of your potential buyers in the moments that matter most during the home buying process.
Things like having a great website, having a strong social media presence, creating a blog, and writing about topics that will add value to your clients will begin to play an even more significant role in your career success.
4 Online Success Essentials When Marketing For Real Estate
There is no denying it. More people are online today than ever buying groceries, watching videos, playing games, talking to friends, and searching for their next home. We will walk through and answer today how you should be marketing yourself online as a real estate agent.
The first four topics we will cover, “4 online success essentials”, are more straightforward and a little more obvious for most. However, they are still valuable, nonetheless. Below that section will be 7 out of the box ideas that you may not be expecting that will help set you apart from the rest of the competition.
All right, that’s enough briefing. Let us dive in!
Essential #1 When Marketing For Real Estate: Your Website
Having a website gives people the ability to find you online when searching google for homes near them. Throughout the search process of finding the right house, people turn to the internet to browse all the listings in their area or get some more information on the people near them that they can trust and will walk with them through the process.
A website is a place online where you tell the world all about you and what you have to offer the world. Some things you can do with a website are:
- display virtual walkthroughs of your local listings,
- show off your excellent testimonials from past clients,
- link to your social media profiles,
- create a blog talking all about the things you know best in real estate.
- Display your contact information everywhere to give people the ability to get in touch with all the home buying needs.
The possibilities are endless here with what you can potentially use your website for, but hopefully, this helps you create some ideas of your own!
Some pros of having your website are:
- A good looking website makes you look like an authority in your industry
- Websites are working for you even when you are sleeping
- Extend your local reach
- You can educate your customers, which builds trust
- Showcase your work
- Enhance your online presence
- Useful lead generation tool that runs 24/7
- Analytics tools allow you to get powerful insights about the customers that view your website
- Uncapped growth potential
Having a website is a must when you are marketing for real estate. If you are unsure of how to make your website and would like some help, check our recommended web development specialists.
Image Source: Meet Kevin
Essential #2 When Marketing For Real Estate: Social Media
Social Media
If you didn’t already know this, social media is like a giant party online where people are socializing and networking with other people that they may have usually never met prior.
Even if you are showing up to the party a little late, that’s okay! You still have time to become the life of the party and make some great connections. Just remember, social media is all about talking to new people and being apart of the conversations you otherwise wouldn’t be able to.
Here are some of the platforms you need to be aware of:
According to Buffer.com, Facebook is the largest social media platform out there, with more than 2.2 Billion users. You need to be here! The platform allows you to grow your network quickly, potentially turning into future buyers over time.
One of the most incredible opportunities for you to be apart of within Facebook is the online groups. Facebook groups allow you to join in on the conversations already happening around the core market. Are you unfamiliar with the process of joining a group? Follow these simple steps:
For Desktop
- Go Facebook.com and log into your account.
- Click on the groups’ tab within the top navigation bar.
Click on the search section on the left-hand side of the group page.
Seach “real estate.”
Search through the groups available to you and join the ones you wish to be apart of.
For Mobile
1. Open up your facebook app.
2. Click on the groups’ tab in the bottom navigation bar.
3. Search for “real estate”.
4. Search through the groups available to you and join the ones you wish to be apart of.
Don’t spam these groups with your listings or anything that could become annoying. The main focus of joining a group is to join the conversation revolving around real estate. When more people see your name and face commenting on posts, the more credibility, you will create for yourself and what you do.
Making new connections is a marathon, not a sprint, so patience is required!
If you are great at taking pictures or have a good team behind you that knows how to take photographs, Instagram is your place to shine. It is a great place to share sales and pictures of happy past clients. Your goal is to have awesome attention-grabbing pictures that will not only leave a lasting impression but also make people remember your name and want to come back for more.
Don’t be afraid to make your content unique here. For example, say your clients’ birthday is coming up, perhaps post a picture of your client saying happy birthday and tag them in it! What a cool way of showing off the cool people you work with; plus, your clients will love you even more for it.
Linkedin is 277% higher than Facebook at converting visitors into leads according to an article by Hubspot. The reason is that LinkedIn is more of a professional setting, meaning there will most likely not be cat pictures filling up your timeline.
Linkedin is a great way to educate people on relevant topics regarding real estate. Like Facebook, you don’t want to go in thinking that pushing your properties will make people want to buy more from you. Social media is all about being part of the party and adding your thoughts to the mix. When you appear as an expert and people recognize your face/name popping up more, you will eventually pop up first in their mind when they are ready to discuss buying real estate.
Quora
When people have questions and want answers from people that know, they turn towards Quora. Answering questions on Quora can be another excellent opportunity for you to earn credibility and show your expertise. Consider this a simi-free way of marketing for real estate (only costs time). If you can answer questions and add over the top value while doing it, the possibility of someone becoming your client becomes higher. Add value upfront, and eventually, you will reap the fruits of your labor.
image Source: Quora
Reddit is similar to quora in the sense that you can provide your expertise for questions others are asking. Still, I highly recommend that you consider using this platform alongside quora if you are looking to add value to people that want your inside knowledge and expertise. It can also be a fantastic resource for connecting with other like-minded people and finding a community of real estate professionals.
Image Sources: Reddit
Essential #3 When Marketing For Real Estate: Create Your Blog
A blog is fuel to the fire when it comes to organic traffic (people finding your website through their online searches on places like google, bing, and yahoo). When people get into the housing market and need guidance on where to look, what houses are in their budget, what the best neighborhoods are, or which district has the best schools, you are going to be there with open arms and an answer to everything on their mind.
Blogs allow you to convey your knowledge and expertise about the topics you love.
If you are an expert regarding industrial real estate and the things that trip up most buyers, talk about it.
Do you know everything about real estate investing and how to find the best deals on the market? Great! Talk about it.
The bottom line here is that blogging allows you to add value to potential clients and show your expertise in the process.
Want to get started and need guidance?
Check out this excellent in-depth article from Neil Patel that goes through the entire process of setting up your website and starting your very own blog.
Image Source: Trulia
Essential #4 When Marketing For Real Estate: Contact Information
Put Your Contact Information Everywhere Possible
This one should not shock you too much; put your contact information EVERYWHERE.
If you have your website up and running already and aren’t posting your contact information and social media links for the world to see, you are missing a huge opportunity!
The goal is to make it as easy as possible for potential leads and customers to get in touch with you.
When you reduce friction for the buyer, they will be more inclined to do business with you.
6 Out Of The Box Marketing Ideas For Real Estate
The four online success essentials listed above walk you through the core set of ideas to get you started online in real estate. Suppose you were already aware of the basics and were looking for new and out of the box tactics, this section is for you!
- Start a referral network Facebook group. Invite local businesses to join that would like to participate in the mutual win-win party. This idea may not drive results instantly. However, if you get enough people in there that want to see you win as badly as you want them to win, everyone reaps the rewards of happy referrals.
- Connect with influencers/people who have your audience’s attention and ask if they would be interested in collaborating with you. Often, people will be interested in working with you if they can get something out of it as well, such as more valuable content for their audience. Look for ways to give as much value to them with the expertise you possess. If you can make it a win-win for everyone, everyone will be happy and get what they want!
- Create an irresistible value-adding offer such as a detailed travel guide that lists all the great food places to try, fun day activities around the area, or an ebook about “the ins and outs of buying your first home.” These examples of what you can do, but the point here is to think about how you can add value to people who may be looking to buy in your area and will need help home shopping in the future. After you come up with your value adder, you want to put it up on your website or social media platforms and exchange their best email address and name. Doing this is a great way to get people on your email list and create a relationship with them. If done right, your audience will turn to you (the knowledgeable real estate agent who has added value upfront for them) when ready to make a real estate purchase.
- Make a youtube channel dedicated to a niche area of real estate. Some examples of this are – everything first-time buyers need to know, how to get the best deals when home buying or video walkthroughs. Think of how you can stand out and make content about the topics you understand the best. For some inspiration, check out Ryan Serhant, Meet Kevin, Graham Stephan, and BiggerPockets. You don’t want to copy what they are doing, but maybe you can use them as reference points and think about putting your unique spin on the subject.
- Host a webinar where you teach about various topics you hear buyers asking about the most or just by doing a Q&A session with your followers. You can do these webinars for free on youtube, Facebook, periscope, and younow and just let people know when you will be doing it, accompanied by a link to the broadcast. Suppose you don’t know many people and or would like to get in front of a broader audience. In that case, you should consider collaboration with someone who has a bigger audience interested in hearing some of your expertise. Another way to get in front of more people would be to connect with the owner of groups you are in on Facebook that you think would benefit from your information. See if they would be interested in having you do a live webinar for their audience.
- Create virtual tours for your listings. With everyone spending time at home nowadays, you have the opportunity to “bring the house to them” per se. You can record video walkthroughs and show off all the great things about your properties.
Conclusion
- Being online as a real estate agent is becoming increasingly more important for gaining new clients
- Having a website shows you as an authority and adds to your credibility
- A strong social media presence and adding value upfront will pay off down the road
- Blogging allows you to talk about your expertise in the real estate industry and increases the potential for more people finding your site.
- Putting your contact information everywhere possible online makes it easier and more convenient for likely customers to get in touch with you.
- Don’t be afraid to implement out of the box marketing ideas to help grow your presence online and expand your reach.
Marketing for real estate agents isn’t easy. With so much competition out there, for you to succeed and rise above the noise, you need to be actively growing and expanding into areas you usually wouldn’t. Take these tactics and implement them!
Thank you for hanging out with me today. I hope there was some value you can take from these tactics that will help you grow your business crush your sales goals!
If you would like help with your real estate marketing efforts, click on the button below to learn more about the services we can help with!
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