Digital transformation has pervaded nearly all segments of society, and entrepreneurs across industries should learn to adapt to thrive. If you’re an estate agent or run a real estate business, adopting a digital marketing strategy is a must.
Digital marketing is an umbrella term for any form of advertising and marketing done on the internet. Platforms and channels used include social media, search engines, display advertising or pop-ups, email, websites, mobile apps, video streaming platforms, podcasts, online business listings, and so on.
In the property sector, professionals and organizations can expand their brand presence, widen their target market, and grow their sales margins significantly with digital marketing, as opposed to resorting to traditional forms.
More importantly, when planned and executed well, digital marketing costs significantly less and drives more measurable results than print ads, billboard displays, and TV and radio ads.
But with so many platforms and channels to choose from, you might be asking, “What are the best options for real estate?” If you’re looking to grow your real estate business, here are some digital marketing strategies you can employ:
Build a user-friendly website
Regardless of your niche, it’s important to have a website that serves as your digital home. Much like having an office or a physical store, your website will be your customers’ main touchpoint for discovering your services, credentials, and contact information.
You can use your website to make a lasting impression on potential buyers or renters. Make the most of your website by making it user-friendly, attractive, and informative. Keep the content clear, concise, and engaging, and use high-quality images and graphics. You should also invest in making it responsive, accessible, and compliant with industry-specific regulations.
Create virtual home tours
Virtual home tours are a mainstay in real estate, and they have become even more popular during the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, surveys have shown that virtual tours receive over 40 percent more clicks compared to listings that use images.
And with more clicks, your website will receive more traffic, get higher search rankings, and, therefore, increased sales. You can do either a 360 video tour that lets users explore the property at their own pace, a regular guided video home tour, or a live stream for more real-time impact.
Make your LinkedIn profile stand out
LinkedIn is the go-to social media platform for professionals, but it also serves as a tool for potential clients to cross-check your credibility. So it’s important to maintain an accurate and up-to-date profile highlighting your best accomplishments and qualifications.
Other ways to stand out on this platform are making connections, using a high-quality headshot and cover image, using visual media, writing blogs, and asking for recommendations.
Create a YouTube channel
Video is perhaps the most powerful digital marketing tool to date, especially in an industry where visuals matter. Sell properties faster by creating high-definition guided video tours and posting them on YouTube. Optimize your descriptions to make your videos visible and add your contact information or the link to your website on the description or the video itself.
Regularly blog on your website
The real estate industry is a highly competitive and saturated landscape. So establishing a solid online presence is no walk in the park. One way to secure higher rankings on search engines is to post informative and engaging blogs on your website.
Well-written and keyword-optimized blogs can boost your site’s freshness and relevance score, allowing your website to become more visible when potential clients conduct a Google or Bing search.
Manage your social media pages
Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are also useful for estate agents. These platforms allow you to promote your website and listings, engage with clients in real time, build a community, and even advertise.
Facebook, for example, has a robust paid advertising platform that’s pretty straightforward to use and manage. Plus, it comes with useful features like Audience Insights that take you on a deep dive into your audience’s behavior, demographic and psychographic data, and so on.
Try paid or display advertising
Real estate businesses and estate agents can make use of display advertising services like Google Ads. This platform allows you to display ads across the search engine’s network of partner platforms, websites, mobile apps, blogs, and affiliate sites.
You can also opt for search engine marketing, which allows your ads to show up on the search engine results pages (SERPs). You will then only be charged once a user clicks on your ad. This is a cost-effective strategy as you’ll only be displaying ads to a hyper-targeted list of audiences.
Digital marketing encompasses many things, so it can be challenging to choose which strategies are worth employing. But these are some of the techniques that real estate businesses and professionals swear by, so they’re worth a try!