7 Real Estate Marketing Tips to Help You Stand Out

All of us want to get ahead and be on top of our game. For us to reach that, it’s essential to keep up with consumer demands, as well as the latest technology and marketing trends.

Marketing is not only about posting on the MLS, hosting an open house and spamming your email list. You need to execute Real Estate marketing strategies that can help you in growing your business. 

Here are 7 essential real estate marketing tips and ideas that can help you stand out and be ahead in the game.

1. Brand building

In the real estate industry where we focus on sales, it’s understandable that we want to have quick wins, like scoring a lead from listing platforms like Trulia or Zillow. However, building your brand is something that can be useful for you when it comes to long-term results. 

Gary Vaynerchuk once said: It’s FAR more valuable to build a brand so people come to you.

According to the National Association of REALTORS®, 82% of agents who made more than $150,000 last year had their own websites – in addition to the profile pages on their brokerage’s websites.

This means having your brand known can really do a lot for your business.

You might be a little confused right now, but what does branding mean? In today’s terms, branding refers to the unique attributes which identify your product or service from your competitors. This is not just about your logo and colors, but if you look in a deeper perspective of developing your brand, it can also include a lot of things your voice, messaging, writing, even typography.

Your brand will also determine the look and feel of your website and other marketing materials such as real estate flyers, listing presentation and mailers, which is why it’s so important to figure out exactly who you are as a business, who you’re trying to reach and what makes you different.

Once you’ve got a handle on your brand, it’s important to make sure every aspect of your marketing efforts is consistent, from your social media to your real estate postcards and brochures.

2. A mobile-friendly website

Mobile devices are one of the most used equipment when it comes to accessing the internet. Since you mainly market your business using your website, social media and listing platforms, the importance of a mobile-friendly website is a top priority.

Failing to optimize your website for mobile devices can have a huge consequence for your business and tank your real estate marketing efforts.

According to Google, 61% of users are unlikely to return to a mobile site they had trouble accessing, and 40% visit a competitor’s site instead.

The bottom line is that skimping on a mobile-friendly website will make your real estate business look dated, obsolete and out of touch with the needs of your clients. Getting your site optimized for mobile is easier than you might think. Most of the top website builder today – such as Wix, WordPress, and Squarespace – are mobile-ready by default. 

You need to consider taking care of this before you put the rest of your real estate marketing plan into action. 

3. Content Marketing

People nowadays are craving for interesting, informative and relevant content. According to Demand Gen Report,47% of buyers viewed 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep. Making blogs and optimizing content marketing will keep your audience engaged and will lead to someone contacting you about your business. You’ve got to give them something of value first. Something like your knowledge.

Blogging should be an instrumental component of any solid real estate marketing strategy. But it’s not just the content that you need to work on. You also need to know how to deal with keyword research for you to know what your audience wants to read. 

There are a lot of tools like Ahrefs or Keywords Everywhere where you’ll be able to determine how many people are actually searching for a particular topic. You can use this to know what are the topics that you want to write to gain a more engaged audience. 

4. Instagram

Instagram is one of the most popular social media sites nowadays. Not all real estate agents focus on this since most of the people who use Instagram are millennials. However, this can be a very helpful tool when marketing your business. 

Instagram is where you can showcase your personality and what makes you different from your competitors. Instagram is a creative platform, and your executive headshot and ho-hum pictures of houses aren’t going to cut it here.

You also need to consider distilling your real estate knowledge into bite-sized nuggets of wisdom that can be captured in a single Instagram graphic. 

Although personality is important on Instagram, it’s also a terrific place to bring your listings to life. Combine eye-catching images in your regular feed with exclusive tours in Instagram stories – complete with your own videos and unique commentary, of course.

Remember, you need to connect with the people who engage with your content. Don’t just focus on getting more Instagram followers.

5. Email marketing

Email marketing can be a little more “old school” than some of the alternatives, but still, this is one of the most effective ways in marketing real estate. According to HubSpot, 99% of consumers check their email daily. Email also generates $38 for every $1 spent, totaling a 3800% ROI!

It’s important to adopt the right mindset before you dive in and create your first campaign. Email marketing is not an opportunity to bombard everyone and anyone with unsolicited sales messages since users can simply report annoying emails as spam. You’ll be banished from their inbox, never to be seen or heard from again. 

You can think of email marketing as a chance to offer something of value to people who actually want to hear from you – your subscribers! You can use their pain points. What problems can you help them solve?

You can figure out when to start when it comes to tackling that mountain of information for first-time buyers or maybe getting familiar with a new neighborhood. Do not focus on sending out a purely promotional email. Consider creating an e-newsletter that combines your latest listings with tips and guides.

You can use an email marketing software that will enable you to organize your subscribers into different segments – based on demographics, common interests or even where they are in the funnel. Rather than blasting out the same generalized email message to everyone, make sure your campaigns are tailored to a particular group. This will help you make sure that your subscribers will receive relevant messages. 

6. Chatbots

Chatbots not only enable you to immediately connect with potential clients, but they also help you provide superior customer service to your competitors.

Make use of internet technology. Use chatbots to make sure that your audiences can find their answers within seconds.

Let’s face it, you’re not available to answer their questions 24/7. A chatbot can fill in. When someone lands on your website wanting to know something about a particular property, a chatbot can respond to them in seconds. 

If you think a chatbot is simply there to send automated messages to the website visitors in your absence, however, you’d be mistaken. Chatbots can be programmed to serve relevant answers to specific questions, and capture your visitors’ contact information.

7. SEO

Since the internet takes part in our everyday lives, we always make sure to know more about a product by conducting research. Same with home buyers. 80% of home buyers conduct internet research when considering homes to buy, and 89% use the internet to find real estate agents. This means you need to know at least the basics of Search Engine Optimization.

Make sure you’re set up with a Google My Business listing. This is essentially a snapshot of your business, showing your location on Google maps, as well as your hours, photos and customer reviews – all directly within Google search. Use strategic keywords and ensure that every detail is properly filled out to optimize your Google My Business listing. 

Don’t forget about your blog and website images either. According to seoClarity, Google results now contain images of 34% of the time, which means optimizing your visual content for search engines is essential.

Making a difference in the real estate industry takes time, effort and the ability to keep up with the latest trends and technology. 

On this day, where everyone’s expectations are really high, it’s important to consider the unique needs, interests and pain points of your target audience. You need to make sure to stand out whether you’re crafting a blog post, creating a new Instagram story or sending an email newsletter, adapting a client-focused approach to real estate marketing will make your business stand out from your competitors.

 Contributor: Dannielle Palarca