Real estate can be a tricky business, especially if you are starting new and don’t have much of an experience in your basket. And for newcomers, it can get seriously tough since you only get paid when you deliver results. So, you not only have to learn about the tricks and trades of the industry, but you must learn it quickly as well because your livelihood depends on it. The competition out there is brutal and Digital marketing for Real Estate is difficult. So whether you are an FSBO first-timer (or it has been a while) or you are new on the block realtor, this guide is for you.
If you are nervous after reading all this, then don’t worry, we have got you all covered. We will help you learn the tricks and trade of the real estate business in this piece
To begin with a bit background, in recent times, the real estate industry has seen real ups and downs. After the Global Financial crisis of 2008/2009, the real estate industry was at an all-time low, and by 2012 it hit rock bottom with only (999,000) members. However, gradually it has recovered, and the number of members has increased as well.
It means that competition that there is cut-throat competition these days and there is no room for a mistake. Not only must you understand your customers, but you must be aware of their needs to successfully sell their investments. Which means you need to be an excellent marketer and have both online and offline presence to attract potential buyers. A successful real estate agent needs to have an active, engaging, online presence because most buyers start their house hunting quest using internet search.
So, here are the best way and practices to improve your real estate listings
- Boost your Online Campaigns: Remember that people don’t buy listings, instead, they purchase lifestyles and choices when they are looking for a house. So, it is crucial when marketing, that you focus on developing a story which fulfils the needs and requirements of buyers. Also, when attempting to attract potential buyers you must work on special online marketing campaigns to boost your page views and lead captures. For that, you must identify the appropriate keywords and phrases to create an online campaign. From there, you then broadcast your online campaign so that it garners the maximum number of viewers on Google, Facebook, or Twitter.
- Good Quality Photos are Key: The first thing that attracts a customer when they are engaging online is the pictures. Doing online boosting campaigns will bear you no good if the photos of that place are not of the highest quality in nature. You need to set up a budget and hire a professional who can shoot for your listings and achieve the result that you have targeted. However, if cannot afford such services, then shoot your own photos. This option may be more beneficial because you are already familiarized with the landscape of the property, and its surroundings. Be wise and plan, make use of natural lighting and if needed be artificial lights can be used as well. Additionally, to increase the appeal, make sure your photos are consistent as you move from indoor to outdoor areas.
- Create a Descriptive Blog Post: There is a saying the more the effort that you put in, the more you are likely to succeed. In our case, effective marketing is the key to success. The issue with listings websites is that there is only a little information that they can hold. To overcome this issue, create a blog post with descriptive information regarding your listings. Not only is this out of the box marketing but with the time you can engage with a larger audience and can build trust amongst the customers. Another benefit of creating a blog is that you have direct control over the page content. Additionally, you have ample space to feature photos along with descriptive information for each one.
- Create Short Videos: To differentiate yourself from the competition, you must create impactful videos that directly engages your target audience. With the help of VR, you can provide them with virtual tours to help overcome those little shortcomings that pictures and blogs fail to address. With the help of videos, you can also control the narrative and provide an in-depth view of the proper. Consider hiring a professional videographer to shoot and edit these pieces. It’s a worthwhile investment as it will no doubt increase sales.
- Make use of Listing Portals: Registering on popular listing portals that are similar to Squarespace for realtors can generate more leads and increase your outreach drastically. Not only that they can provide and help you with marketing campaigns, but they can give you a good return on your investment. One drawback of using such portals is that either that might charge you some fee on sign-up or they might charge some percentage on your sales.
- Start with your Local Community: One way to gradually build trust and reputation in the market is to start with the people you know. If you develop a good word of mouth within your local community, it can spread like wildfire and can set the tone for all your future dealings. Since you are far more aware of the problems and issues of the local community, you can address them better than an outsider would. To reiterate, it’s worth the effort to get residents vested in your business because it can provide you with more leads and contacts.
- Create a Website: Once you have landed and you are generating a lot of interests, what you need to do next is create a website. Not only would this show your professionalism, but it also would help generate trust amongst your buyers. Also, it would boost your campaigns, as you can feature or promote your featured listings and directly control all the contents of that page. You can also track the traffic on the site and can learn ways of improving engagement with the customers.
Work with Other Listing Agents: Collaboration is the key to success. One way to be successful is to make sure that you are collaborating and working with other individuals. In order to expand your potential outreach, what you need to do is work with other listening agents who can get you your best-qualified customer. It’s a two-way street and sharing your listing with them means that you might have to share their listing as well. Since both of you can benefit from it, it would be in your mutual interest to work together.
Bonus Tip: Use Geo Targeted Category Pages to Attract Search Traffic
It makes perfect sense to optimize each and every real estate listing when posting on popular real estate platforms. However, don’t forget about the importance of creating geo-targeted category pages on your own website. Unlike individual listings, category pages remain relevant all year round, and the search volume tends to be pretty high for area-based searches
For instance, there are approximately 200 searches per month for the term ‘3-bedroom apartments Houston’. To increase the likelihood of ranking organically for this keyword, it would be very valuable to create a page on your website filled with listings for 3-bedroom apartments in Houston.
Naturally it makes sense to only produce geo-targeted pages for areas that you operate in. The underlying point is that these pages have the potential to pull-in organic search traffic all year round if you set them up correctly.
For additional real estate marketing tips like this, be sure to check out this selection of digital focused real estate marketing tips.