In real estate, ‘local’ is everything. You can be a complete expert in all facets of transactions, contracts, and financing, but if you don’t actually know your local area, none of that matters.
And I don’t speak about this from my own experience. Rather, it’s the experience of over 40,000 real estate agents that have worked with Adwerx. They’ve told us that, above all, they want to be seen as local experts for all things real estate.
But short of winning a trivia content about your town, building that expertise into your personal brand can be a challenge. In this, you can’t tell people you’re an expert. You have to show them. Here are 4 top ways you can do that.
Show you’re a local real estate expert with content
Content is a fancy word for writing. The Harvard Business Review notes that, “brands are no longer merely peddling products; they’re producing, unearthing, and distributing information. And because they do, the corporation becomes not just economically important to society, but intellectually essential as well.”
Here’s the best part about content marketing: anyone can do it. You don’t have to be a professional writer. Publishing something new on your site once a week. The rest of the time, your content marketing efforts can be focused on social media, be it Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or all of the above.
And keep it short. While average people researching online want more information, they want it in digestible chunks. Two to three paragraphs is fine. Google prefers content to be about 600 words.
Speaking of Google, that is the real benefit of content to know your local expertise. Because if you use your town name and local landmarks and businesses, your blog or web site will be associated with the searches people do about the area, demonstrating that you truly are a local. You can read more about content marketing for real estate here.
Run digital ads all over your own Zip code
Okay, it stands to reason digital ads such the ads from Adwerx make it into this article, but here’s why: when people who looking to buy or sell a home in your area see your digital real estate ad everywhere they go, they start to associate you with the area.
So if a person is online, researching real estate or mortgages, and then your ad starts to appear all over the web, Facebook and mobile apps, they know you’re a local expert. Because you’re everywhere. Even when you’re ad is shown on national sites like the Wall Street Journal or Huffington Post.
Be a local news source with public relations
Expertise is in demand. As a local expert, you have insights on your town that no one else has. Sharing them on your own blog is one way to get them out. But finding others to quote you about those trends is another. And that’s public relations.
When you read your local paper, who are the journalists covering your area? Take note of them, and create a list of contacts you want to share news with. If you learn about a new development in your area, shoot them an email. If you read a market trends report and understand its unique effect on your city, write a short “pitch” and see who wants to know more.
Public relations experts will tell you to do as much of the work for the journalists and possible. Deliver then a story from start to finish. They’ll quote you and consider you a valuable source on all things local real estate.
Comments(35)