The real estate industry is a booming business sector. According to the National Association of Realtors, there were 5.34 million existing homes sold in 2018. And based on a survey by U.S. Census Bureau there were 667,000 new homes sold in 2018 as well. These figures go to show that this industry is something would-be realtors should look into.

However, as the industry becomes a dog-eat-dog world, realtors find it hard to stay on top of the competition. With so many real estate companies vying for buyers’ attention, realtors would have to think of an attractive marketing strategy. And one effective way that should gain them traction is through digital marketing.

In this article, we give you 5 cost-efficient and effective digital marketing methods and tips to boost sales.

Create a user-friendly and appealing website

Any realtor knows how a website is vital to represent their business. Firstly, prioritize user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) when creating your website. You want to make sure to give your audience a seamless browsing experience by keeping the design clean and easy. Secondly, keep your menu options limited and keep up with web design trends. Here are some of them:

• Nude colour palettes
• White space
• Grids, shapes, and patterns for divisions
• Carousels and videos on the homepage
• Interactive chatbots
• Minimalist design
• Mobile-friendly navigation
• High-quality visuals

Lastly, since you’ll also be making landing pages within your website, it’s important to make it sell. On your landing page, ensure that you have a prominent call to action to lead users to the bottom of the sales funnel. Whether it’s visiting your site, signing up for a newsletter, or scheduling an appointment, call to action buttons will help you achieve your goals.

Establish an email marketing campaign

Email marketing is one of the most lucrative digital marketing strategies to date. In fact, almost any business has a well-thought-out email marketing campaign. You can diversify your email campaigns; here are some ideas you can start with:

• Welcome email series
• Promotional emails
• Seasonal emails
• Social media connectivity invites
• Event announcements
• Follow-up emails
• Post-purchase email series
• Newsletters
• Relevant content

With email marketing, there is no shortage of tools you can use online. But one that’s at the forefront of email advertising is Mailchimp. This platform is an all-in-one email marketing tool that can expand your email list through sign-up forms. It’s easy to build one from scratch as the platform provides ready-to-use templates.

Once you’ve exhausted all your possible contacts, you can then start making your email campaigns and use its features. One feature that offers high open and click rates is audience management. This is where you can segment your email list according to demographics, interests, locations, and more.

Video content and virtual tours

One way to make viewing better for a realtor’s audience is to go beyond still images. Video marketing is on the rise and will not hit a downward spiral anytime soon. On your homepage, you can craft a video of different homes and their interiors.

Social proof will also gain business traction nowadays. Instead of putting written buyers’ testimonials on the site, ask some of your satisfied customers to say something about the properties they’ve bought. Put these testimonials together into one cohesive video and make sure to display it on the site or any landing page.

Another one that will genuinely attract your audience is to create a virtual tour of real properties. This is a good deciding factor for buyers on whether or not to attend the open-house viewing. Virtual tours give them a snippet of what to expect. And anyone who’s ready to pay cash for a home or commercial properties will appreciate this marketing tactic.

Have a content marketing plan

Content marketing is a facet of digital marketing and it is considered as one of the most affordable advertising techniques today. For instance, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) levels the playing field for small and big real estate companies. Ensure to make your content SEO-friendly.

If you’re crafting blogs, make your on-page SEO topnotch. Take time to do keyword research and follow white hat SEO. Additionally, incorporate the keywords on your URL, H1 tag, title, image alt text, meta descriptions, and more.

Lastly, a new trend in SEO is using synonyms instead of repeating the keywords a couple of times throughout your content. These are just a few tips to bring your blogs closer to search engines’ first page.

Take advantage of user-generated content on social media

User-generated content (UGC) is content that is shared by unpaid contributors. These can be images, videos, blogs, or just about anything that social media users share because they believe in the brand.

For example, Coke’s “Share a Coke” campaign made the rounds online. They had these customized Coke bottles with people’s common names. And they asked users to upload an image of them drinking these personalized bottles.

Think of a creative way to make users share the content of your brand. Whether it’s a recent event, a picture of a company giveaway, or a favourite interior design they love, pick out a winner and give them something special in return.

Author Bio:

Sarah Brooks is an avid blogger and frequent traveller who loves to share tips on home improvement, renovation, and home staging. She is currently working with PearleyDeanMarketing, which aims to help realtors to find out motivated seller leads through organic SEO.