One of the biggest challenges real estate agents face when building a digital marketing strategy is content. The word itself is vague and obtuse, and unless you speak digital you might not even know what it means. When I speak with agents about their digital content strategy, it’s not always clear and well defined.
Most agents have no issues setting up the web properties needed to house the content (websites, social media pages, etc.). But once their digital real estate is built, it often sits empty with no content to offer.
In many cases, it’s not because the agent is lazy, they just don’t know what to post. So if you’re an agent who wants to take control of their marketing but you’re short on ideas, this article is for you. Here are 7 content marketing strategies that will work for real estate agents in 2022.
1. Listing Strategy
Your listings are your money makers so this is where your strategy should start. Your listing strategy is broken down into 3 main components:
- Listing images/videos - get good at taking pictures and property tour videos, learn how to edit an image/use a video editor
- Property descriptions - conduct Keyword research, write long descriptions, implement keywords, use urgency
- Syndication - get listing URL, curate it across all platforms and web properties
If you can implement these 3 strategies, you’ll be set up to win out of the gate. Images are critical, because this is what the user sees first. User behavior studies have proven that people will always click on the nicest image.
Once they click on your ads, your property descriptions will not only provide a call to action, but will also rank higher because of longer content and keyword optimization. Finally, once your listing is live, you can automate the syndication process to save you time and get your listings in front of the widest possible audience.
2. Video Strategy
Video content has grown to become almost indispensable for real estate agents doing business in 2022. The pandemic changed how people buy, sell, and rent properties. One of the biggest pieces of technology we relied on to help us sell properties during COVID was video. Listings with 360 tours and video walkthroughs outperform picture-only listings in all cases. So, if you want to stay relevant in your marketing strategy in 2022, get good at taking videos.
This includes learning the basics of shooting video and using video editing software. Try to shoot at late or early times of day with good lighting for the best videos. And once you have the video content created, post it everywhere you can, not just your listings (YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Website, etc.). Bonus points for setting up an automation app to handle the posting for you (Try Integromat or Zapier).
3. Market Reports
In real estate, selling your knowledge and expertise to clients comes way before selling a house or a rental. One of the best ways to promote your knowledge is by creating monthly, quarterly or yearly market reports. It’s not as difficult as you think. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Data from MLS - every MLS has different rules governing data access for agents, but most will allow you to pull a csv file of the most recent years of sales and rental data for your market. Call them up, and figure out how.
- Spreadsheet Skills - get good at filtering, sorting, and referencing data in spreadsheets. You’ll be able to build some powerful sales tools, it’s worth the effort
- Infographic Generator - tools like Canva will make a graphic designer out of anyone. Easily create infographics from pre designed templates, save your templates for later, and produce professional and attractive market reports for your area
- Automate It - if you have some basic coding skills in html and css, you can use this app alongside Integromat to automatically create, post, and syndicate your market report infographics!
Once you have your market report created, be sure to write up an overview of the data and your thoughts on relevant market trends. This can be a simple 100 word social media post, or an in depth housing market report posted to your website blog. If you’re really tech savvy, you can even create a page on your website that shows a real-time real estate data feed to display average rent prices, median sales prices, and more.
I can’t stress enough how valuable this information is to clients. It also triggers the search algorithms that power the largest search engines and social media sites. The hardest part about digital marketing is creating content that will generate engagement, and nothing drives engagement like well presented data. Not only will this grow your following and inform your clients, but it will allow you to create valuable digital assets that will generate business and referrals.
4. Review & Testimonial Campaign
Your digital reputation is more important than it's ever been. We’ve seen so much of our industry become digitized in the last few years, and it doesn’t look like that trend is slowing down. So if you haven’t started building your online reputation yet, 2022 is the year.
Every deal you make is an opportunity to build it. Think of your online reviews like the digital word of mouth that will either earn you or cost you clients in the future. Getting reviews isn’t hard, it just takes a bit of tact. Follow these steps to get it done right.
- Setup Client Survey - once the deal is closed, send out a digital survey either via email, text, messenger app, or all three. Be sure to let them know you're sending it and stress the importance of it. Offer incentives to complete the survey if it’s helpful.
- Create the Survey - ask for sincere feedback on the survey. Be professional, and ask if they’ll leave a review at the bottom of the survey. Include a link directly to the page you’d like them to leave a review (Facebook, Yelp, Website, GMB etc.)
- Setup Reminder - most clients won’t do it on the first send. The more you ask, the more reviews you’ll get. Setup email and text message reminders. Use incentives to your advantage.
- Automate It - using apps like Integromat, you can automate the entire review process from a spreadsheet.
By setting up an online review campaign like this, you’ll be well on your way to building your online reputation as a top agent in your area.
Conclusion
These 4 real estate content strategies will not only help you close more deals in 2022, but it will set you up for success for years to come. Other content strategy ideas like newsletters and blogging are still relevant in 2022, and can still be very effective at building your own digital ecosystem. However these 4 are the most relevant now, and they likely will stay that way for years to come.
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