Dominate your local market and grow your real estate business with these 11 tips
It’s not an easy task to find real estate marketing companies, but it is a rewarding one. As realtors know all too well, real estate marketing can be tough and time-consuming.
There are many different strategies that realtors use in their efforts to attract buyers and sellers to their listings, but some of the most effective tactics are relatively simple.
In this blog post, we will discuss nine very strategic marketing tactics that any realtor can employ – even if they’re just starting out.
1. Optimize Your Site for SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Google has become the real estate marketer’s best friend, and if you want your listings to be noticed by buyers on search engines like Google, Bing or Yahoo, it is essential that your site is optimized for SEO – which means optimizing each page of content with keywords related to real estate marketing.
Target people who are looking for realtors in your area.
This will help increase traffic to your website via organic searches (i.e., people who are looking specifically for realtors in their area).
If you don’t have any experience with this sort of thing yourself, there are plenty of professionals out there who can do it for you! Just make sure they know what they’re doing.
2. Market on Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com.
Most real estate marketers don’t realize it, but there are three very popular real estate search portals out there that every realtor should be aware of.
These sites – Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com – contain some of the most extensive online real estate listings in the world. And if you haven’t already guessed by now; they get a TON of traffic.
If you want to make sure your agency is represented on these sites (and potentially gets new clients), all you have to do is sign up for an account with them.
Some real estate agents pay upwards of $5,000 a month for Zillow but get a ton of leads.
The market IS more saturated there than people searching for real estate agents on Google, but there is so much traffic, it may benefit your business tenfold.
3. Utilize Social Media Marketing.
Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn offer realtors a unique opportunity to reach out to potential buyers and sellers in a very personal way.
By creating profiles for your real estate agency on these sites and actively participating in discussions related to real estate (or just general life topics), you can create a strong online presence that will help people remember who you are when they’re ready to buy or sell property.
LinkedIn is the best “business-minded” social media platform to be active on. You can also create a company profile for your agency.
Many real estate marketing agencies that focus on digital marketing spend a lot of time working on social media…and there’s no shortage of platforms, but we feel that LinkedIn and Facebook are the strongest platforms for business growth.
And don’t forget about Pinterest and Instagram. These visual-centric social networks are also useful for the real estate industry, so be sure to make use of them.
4. Send Out Email Marketing Newsletters.
Real estate marketing campaign emails are another great way to keep in touch with your contacts – both past and present. They’re also a great way to introduce new listings or specials that you may be running.
You can create your newsletters in Microsoft Word or any other word processing software, but if you don’t want to deal with the hassle of formatting them yourself, there are plenty of companies that offer professional email newsletter design and distribution services.
All you have to do is provide the content.
5. Place Ads in Local Publications.
One of the most traditional forms of real estate marketing is advertising in local newspapers and magazines. While this tactic may not be as popular as it once was, there’s still something to be said for reaching out to potential buyers and sellers through print media.
If you decide to go this route, make sure you get real estate ads designed by a professional.
6. Host Open Houses.
While open houses may not be as popular as they once were (due to the rise of online real estate listings), hosting an open house is still a great way to introduce your realtor services and properties for sale or rent.
Make flyers with some basic information about yourself and your realty agency, post them in nearby coffee shops, community centers, or other public spaces where people are likely to come across them – then wait for the phone calls.
Remember that marketing isn’t just about getting new clients; it’s also important to keep in touch with past customers so that they feel valued and appreciated – which will only help strengthen your real estate marketing efforts.
7. Collaborate with Local Influencers.
There is real value in partnering with trusted influencers to help promote your real estate marketing services and listings. You can simply ask these folks for a testimonial or you can work together on an event of some sort (e.g., speaking at the same conference).
When searching for influencers, consider looking outside of real estate – perhaps someone whose audience would benefit from real estate advice?
Local influencers will be easier to work with. But if you’re aiming high, you could collaborate with celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey and Tony Robbins, entrepreneurs like Gary Vaynerchuk and John Chow.
Obviously, local influencers are more attainable and budget-friendly.
A great way to find relevant people that will actually care about what you have to say is by using tools such as Followerwonk or Simply Measured.
8. Offer Incentives to Buyers and Sellers.
Offer real estate marketing incentives like free reports, ebooks, webinars, etc., to your buyers (people who are looking for homes) as well as sellers (the homeowners you’ll be working with).
You can start by offering something completely unique that’s not available anywhere else – this will make people want it. Then use various social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to promote these special offers in order to reach more potential customers.
The main point is that realtors should never underestimate the power of giving away real estate-related gifts; they’re an easy way for realtor businesses to attract new leads and show their clients that they’re serious about helping them out.
9. Sponsor Events in Your Area.
One way to get your real estate marketing services in front of a large number of people is by sponsoring events in your area. This could be anything from a charity golf tournament to a local food festival – as long as it’s relevant to your target market, you should go for it.
Not only will this help you raise awareness about your company, but it will also give you the opportunity to network with potential customers and partners.
When choosing an event to sponsor, make sure that the audience is right for you and that there is some overlap between the attendees and your ideal customer profile.
You’ll also want to make sure that the event is well-organized and has a good reputation.
10. Start a Podcast.
Podcasts are a hot marketing strategy, and real estate marketers can use them to get their message in front of thousands of people. When it comes to creating real estate-related podcasts for marketing purposes, you have two options – either interviewing experts or simply sharing your knowledge with the world.
If you want to interview realtors who are successful in your area (or even outside of your market) be sure to ask about what they did that worked so well for them; this will help give realtor business owners some ideas on how they could improve their own strategy.
You can also share helpful tactics when it comes to buying homes, selling houses, etc., which is something anyone looking into these services will appreciate.
If you want to go for the solo route, do some brainstorming and identify your real estate marketing “niche”.
Then create episodes that are related to this topic (e.g., how hiring a realtor works) and distribute them on various platforms like YouTube or Soundcloud; remember, podcasts work best when they’re short!
You can download free podcast publishing tools from places like Podbean and Buzzsprout which will make the entire process much easier than if you were trying to manage it all by yourself – so don’t miss out!
11. Start a Webinar Series.
Real estate webinars provide realtor businesses with an excellent way of reaching people who could benefit from real-life advice about buying or selling homes in their area; this might include millennials interested in purchasing real estate as well as homeowners looking for help moving into a brand new home.
The real estate webinar process is fairly simple – just create a series of real-life videos (they can be as short or long as you like) and release them on your website, YouTube page, etc.
Then promote the links through social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, etc., which should help drive traffic to your site where viewers could sign up for more information about realtor services in their area. If done correctly, this tactic will bring customers flocking to realtors’ websites!
There are so many real estate marketing company tactics that realtors can use to attract new leads and keep their existing customers happy.
The key is knowing how to find the right strategies for your business – some will work better than others depending on your niche, budget, etc. Remember these five tactical tips when it comes time to plan out what you’re going to do next!
