Gone are the days when people relied solely on newspapers and in-person networking to discover real estate opportunities. People of all generations are now using online channels to find and learn about available real estate.
Digital marketing has, thus, become a vital part of the overall real estate success factor for all realtors. The majority of real estate agents and organizations have already begun using digital marketing and are now enjoying the benefits that come with it!
As a cost-friendly means of marketing, digital marketing has often become the best way for realtors to attract, convert and retain leads.
- Why Has Digital Marketing Become So Popular for Consumers?
- The Impact of Digital Marketing in The Real Estate Industry
- The Power of Digital Marketing for Realtors
- How Can Real Estate Businesses Use Digital Marketing?
- Digital Marketing – Benefits and Challenges It Can Help Overcome
- Implementing Digital Marketing in Your Real Estate Business
Why Has Digital Marketing Become So Popular for Consumers?
In recent times, digital marketing has changed the way clients and prospects find real estate. Thousands of potential buyers in all sectors of the real estate industry choose to find properties online rather than using traditional mediums.
Why is this the case?
Digital mediums allow consumers to avail property-related information of virtually every property listing, at any time and within the comfort of their homes! It goes without saying that having effective digital marketing that reaches these consumers can have a tremendous impact on any business in the real estate industry.
The Impact of Digital Marketing in The Real Estate Industry
Digital marketing has hugely influenced the way real estate business is conducted. Through the use of digital marketing, realtors can reach a wider audience and a more suitable audience.
In the past, realtors could only reach out to prospects in their region and did not have the means to target their marketing to the appropriate audience. This, of course, limited the success of realtors in many ways.
Thankfully, due to the advancement of digital marketing, this is no longer the case. Realtors can reach an unlimited number of prospects on a global level and can target their marketing efforts towards prospects that are the most likely to be interested in their offerings.
The Power of Digital Marketing for Realtors
The internet has given the power of choice to customers, giving them the opportunity to conduct market research based on their real estate requirements. Today customers can look for properties at any location online and learn more about these before visiting them in person.
As potential home buyers, today spend such a large portion of their pre-purchase stage online, having a strong virtual presence is of utmost importance for a real estate business. Digital marketing has made it possible for businesses to reach these prospects in order to help them make a purchase decision. This can be done by using a variety of digital marketing tactics. Let’s move on to see what are some of the most common digital marketing tactics used in the real estate industry.
How Can Real Estate Businesses Use Digital Marketing?
Real estate businesses can use various digital marketing tools to reach and engage with their specific target audience. Here are a few of the most common.
Real estate professionals can use the power of email marketing to send new property listings, updates on properties, pictures and other visual documents directly to customers. In a report by Smart Insights, real estate businesses have an average open rate of 27% with a click-through rate of 3% for emails. This can help generate new leads as well as retain current clients.
Website
Having a website allows your business to create an appealing online presence and provide information to prospects. In 2018, a total of 68% of all realtors had websites. Having s strong website customized for your target audience improves customer experience and customer satisfaction for all prospective and current customers.
SEO
SEO or search engine optimization guides a webpage’s search engine ranking performance for a particular search term. Effective SEO helps bring prospective customers that are currently searching for properties that are available on your website, directly to your website. Keyword usage, backlinking and improving user experience are just a few ways in which real estate businesses can use SEO to its advantage to find leads.
Social Media
Social media campaigns are a great way for realtors to get the word out about their services. The increasing number of social media users makes it a great opportunity for businesses to reach and engage with their prospects and customers. Studies show that in 2018, 80% of realtors used Facebook and 71% used LinkedIn for real estate purposes. That number has surely increased in the past two years and is likely to continue rising in the years to come.
Visual Content
Almost any digital marketing tactic in the digital marketing industry must be accompanied by strong visual content. Having suitable images or videos allows prospects to learn much more about the property than they otherwise could using only written content. A joint study by Google and the National Association of Realtors pointed out that 51% of home buyers and renters use videos to research the properties and amenities in the area.
Written Content
Written content is a large part of your digital marketing tactic. Whether you are creating a website, making a social media post, sending an email or more, content can make or break your campaign. One of the most popular forms of content marketing is blog writing. A blog is one of the most powerful written content tools for a business. It can provide an answer and advice to questions your prospects are searching for, it helps improve SEO and drive visitors to the website, which all contribute to the success of a business.
Listed above are only a few of the many ways that real estate businesses can use digital marketing. Other common digital marketing tactics are:
- Digital Marketing Strategy
- Pay Per Click Marketing
- Lead Generation
- Content Marketing
- Branding
- Graphic Design
- Marketing Automation
- Ecommerce Marketing
- Video Production
- User Experience
- User Interface
Digital Marketing – Benefits and Challenges It Can Help Overcome
Many benefits are likely to arise for businesses that succeed at strategizing and implementing effective digital marketing. Here are a few of the most prevalent.
Overcoming Competition
One of the biggest challenges faced by real estate businesses is fierce competition. It goes without saying that each of your prospects is surely comparing your offerings with those of your competitors. Digital marketing has the benefit of increasing the chances that your target audience decides to purchase from your business rather than those of your competitors.
Client Acquisition
In this fast-paced market, acquiring clients through traditional marketing methods is not always enough to allow your business to prosper. This is where digital marketing has proved to be valuable. The various tools allow businesses to reach prospects at the right time and place to increase their client acquisition.
Client Retention
Retaining clients can often be a difficult task for realtors. By using the right digital marketing tools, realtors will be able to interact regularly with clients and engage with them in a more personalized manner. This will allow a stronger relationship between the realtor and the client which is likely to lead to higher customer retention.
Cost and Profit
Running a real estate business already has a high operating cost, the last thing you want to do is spend your marketing budget ineffectively. Using digital marketing mediums like social media marketing and email marketing is often a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing mediums and can generate equal if not better results than traditional marketing. These lower costs can help your business generate greater returns on investment for your marketing expenditures.
Implementing Digital Marketing in Your Real Estate Business
There is no doubt that implementing digital marketing strategies can help boost competitive advantage and business performance. However, you must, of course, do it right in order for your digital marketing to perform as you would like it to. For businesses with knowledge and experience in this field, their digital marketing strategy can be strategized, implemented and maintained entirely in-house.
On the other hand, for businesses with a lack of knowledge and experience, hiring a digital marketing agency is a great alternative. Take a look at our digital marketing services to see how they can be suited to your needs. Digital marketing agencies can provide comprehensive high-quality marketing services that help businesses grow and thrive in the real estate market.
