Marketing changes fast. Digital marketing moves even quicker. With first quarter of 2016 already in the books, this is a perfect time to think back to a few of the techniques industry experts predicted would shape online advertising this year. Rather than seeing how many words I can type without actually saying anything, how about a quick look at how agents can get the most value from 5 of today’s most popular strategies for generating real estate sales leads.
Email Marketing
It’s 2016. Unless we're talking about wedding invitation, bill, or college acceptance letter, anyone buying property pays much more attention to their inbox than physical mailbox. Real estate agents have been catching on and though paper flyers are still being sent out, many are supplementing them with email blasts and building lists of email addresses anyway they can. Marketers love email because it speaks directly to an audience that has already expressed some interest in the product (otherwise they wouldn’t be on the list) in a captive setting. So how can real estate agents make the most of it?
The key is to develop a few very specific sub lists of different target markets from your main collection of email addresses. Email’s biggest pro is also why it’s so difficult to develop as a consistent acquisition channel. The inherently personal nature of another person’s inbox means they’ll only give away their address for products that genuinely interest them. It also means they expect content in their emails to be relevant to them. Anything else is spam. You send emails because you assume people will read them. Let me promise you the leash is short. A few messages that don’t speak directly to that person’s needs and you’ll be considered spam even if they never officially unsubscribe. Preserve the value of your email list as a marketing tool by not abusing it. Just like when you send regular messages, if the content does not apply to someone you gain nothing from sending it to them.
Facebook Ads
PPC or SEM type advertising on Facebook is becoming very popular. It makes sense. People spend almost as much if not more time on Facebook as they do search engines. Perhaps more interesting for marketers is that since Facebook has access to more personal browsing data than your mother, best friend, and psychiatrist put together, it can offer extremely granular targeting options which can produce click through rates much higher than regular search engine ppc campaigns. That said, you still need a well managed digital marketing campaign to insure ideal results. With metrics and an interface somewhat comparable to Google Adwords display campaigns, agents with a general comfort in social media or SEO will probably be okay running Facebook campaigns themselves. The key to really harnessing Facebook’s true potential, remember it’s power lies in the quality of leads it generates not the quantity. Less is sometimes more and when it comes to targeting “and” can be more powerful than “or”. Like email focus on building the best audiences or the ones most likely to convert instead of getting the largest reach. The Facebook Power Editor allows you to save campaign audiences meaning you can recycle and refine effective ones every time whenever a similar property goes on sale.
Mobile Browsing
Mobile is more important than any other type of browsing. This should be old news. Still, real estate agents can capitalize on the trend by inverting the term mobile friendly. Instead of designing a desktop browsing experience that can be translated to mobile, build something that primarily works on phones while still performing well on other devices. If you still have flash on your site get rid of it. Google hates flash on mobile because it slows page load time and any sites using it will rank lower. Also make sure you're AMP compatible, have double checked redirects and cross links (especially if you have a separate desktop version), and are mindful of the smaller keyboard for any forms or surveys.
Maintain A Blog
Anyone on Active Rain already knows how blogging can help your business. A steady supply of new relevant content helps target keywords for seo, builds a brand identity beyond the person that sells houses, while encouraging the writer to stay engaged with both their industry and community. You can still get more out of your blog. Why not try following up with satisfied customers to share how happy they are in their new home? This content can be repurposed as trust enhancer/endorsement type quotes on your homepage and as an actual review on third party sites. Someone else’s well written posts still gives your site the same seo benefits as any new industry specific content you write yourself. This way you have time to go out and sell houses while the blogging gets done. Regular readers get a break from your voice and you get a piece that proves how great of an agent you are. Everybody wins.
New Platforms
Keeping up with new developments is important any year. In terms of real estate specific technology, I’ve already posted about Ask Avenue, the home search app that acts as a real estate concierge by connecting agents to people with legitimate questions about property in neighbourhoods they specialize in. There is also plenty of buzz around apps that make video sharing easier. Real estate agents have started to realize these programs mean attendance at open houses is no longer mandatory. Snapchat is unveiling new options for advertisers, allowing agents to create stories or short videos promoting certain aspects of a home before quickly sending it to potential buyers. Periscope is also becoming an effective tool for sharing videos. Video inclined agents will be huge fans. Periscope allows for live steaming from go pro in real time and is owned by Twitter for easy integration and amplification. You can take clients on a guided tour of any property without them having to actually go visit!
Comments(1)