What Digital Marketing Channels Should Real Estate Agents Focus On? Real estate agents must regularly generate new leads for their business. Most people who buy a home plan to spend many years there, creating special memories with their family and friends along the way. They will not return to you to buy another home in the very near future in most cases. As such, you’ll require new leads to help stay afloat as a real estate agent and sell homes. This is true for commercial real estate agents as well, since most businesses maintain a regular location for as many years as possible, particularly after they’ve purchased the property. No matter how long you’ve been in the real estate business, digital marketing is a useful tool that helps create the new leads necessary to make your business – and bank account – thrive. It also provides the means to connect with former clients who can provide excellent references to prospective future clients. It is important to learn the digital marketing channels that are available and which are best for your needs.
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THE BEST DIGITAL MARKETING CHANNELS FOR REAL ESTATE
Although there are a handful of offline marketing channels that exist which provide substantial benefit to a real estate agent, digital marketing is the best way to reach the maximum possible leads. Most people turn to the internet when they need a product or a service; make sure it is you whom they see when it is time to hire a great real estate agent. Buying a property is an important step in anyone’s life and it isn’t one they take lightly. Customers want an agent they can trust, who they feel is an expert, and who is on their side. Your online presence helps build that credibility that you want and deserve. It is imperative to learn, understand, and utilize as many digital marketing channels as possible if they’ll help generate the leads and the success that you desire. However, do not waste time using channels that do not really produce the results that an agent wants. Instead, utilize the top digital marketing channels and sit back and watch your business thrive.
PROFESSIONAL WEBSITE FOR REAL ESTATE AGENTS
A mobile-friendly, professionally-designed website is critical in today’s digital world. Many people begin their search for an agent online. Without a website, you’ll miss out on the chance to reach many prospective clients. Your website provides consumers with the chance to learn more about your agency and why it is you who they should trust during this very important time in their life.A well-designed, informative, professional website is one of the best ways to reach your audience. More than 80% of all six-figure real estate agents in Canada have their own website and so should you. Already have a website? Maximize the benefit of each web page by providing consumers with content relevant to their needs. Many real estate agents maintain a blog directly on their website. This may be useful for your business as well since it provides the chance to give customers the answers to commonly asked questions and detailed information that showcases you as a real estate expert.
Customers have no reason to go anywhere else when neighbourhood information, local listings, and other viable information is right there on your website for them! Your website should be simple, contain easy search tools for listings, contact information and great, high-quality colour photos of the properties that you’re selling. And, most importantly, it must be easy to navigate and each page should load quickly. Do things differently than the other guys. You want to outshine the competition, after all. Clients become frustrated with slow-loading, difficult to navigate pages and may take their needs elsewhere if this is their experience on your website. Ensure that you maintain your site and those aren’t worries anymore. Don’t forget SEO, or Search Engine. Optimization, when creating your website. SEO helps get you noticed in the search engines by when certain keywords are used correctly in your page content. Without it, your website may not get the attention that it deserves. Since every website that enters the virtual world is subject to SEO, why not put it to work for your business?
CREATE A MOBILE-FRIENDLY WEBSITE
Don’t stop there, however. It is imperative that you create a mobile-friendly website that is accessible from a smartphone. A mobile-optimized website is one that shows pages and pictures on a smaller smartphone screen without compromising or shrinking the pages. Google penalizes businesses without mobile-friendly versions of their website, which could halt your SEO success. Furthermore, you’ll miss out on great leads if the site isn’t mobile-friendly. Approximately 76% of all internet users access the mobile website that is mobile-friendly. Do not miss out on potential clients because your website isn’t made to accommodate
TEXT MESSAGE MARKETING
More than 48 million people prefer SMS contact from businesses. They’ve already ‘opted-in’ to receive text message marketing from at least one business and enjoy the exclusive and last-minute offers they receive. Participate in SMS marketing and keep the personalized connection with customers that you need. SMS is easy, affordable, and since you send messages only to those who’ve asked for them, you aren’t wasting any of your marketing dollars. What’s so special about SMS marketing? First, there is a 96% open rate, meaning customers will see your message when it is sent. Furthermore, most of those messages are opened and read within three minutes of being sent! Finally, more than 23.8 million people will use an SMS message received from a business to make a purchase. It is important to be the first person on the mind of an individual who is ready to buy a home.
PPC ADVERTISING
Pay Per Click Advertising, or PPC, is extremely beneficial for real estate agents since it provides them display advertising alongside other websites within a search engine for specific keywords related to their business. Yes, your real estate agency listing is featured at the top of a search engine for keywords that you’ve pre-selected, right there with the top-ranking, trusted websites. Your name is the first on the list; the first name they see. Since you pay for PPC advertising only when someone clicks on your ads, marketing with the channel is more affordable than many other digital channels. And the stats speak for themselves: PPC clicks lead to a 50% higher conversion rate than organic searches! It is certainly important to obtain many organic search clicks, but you also want to put your money where it works. PPC advertising certainly offers incredible results.
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Nearly everyone uses social media these days. And so, it is important that your real estate business has its own pages on various social media sites so that people think of you when they’re ready to buy, sell, lease, or rent property. Social media sites provide the possibility to create a stunning page that helps showcase your skills and expertise in the real estate industry. Plus, regular posts keep your name fresh in customers’ minds. An abundance of social media tools enable real estate agents to further engage with and capture the attention of their audience, including live stream videos, groups, virtual reality capacity, and more. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube are among the best social media platforms for real estate agents to use to reach a broad range of people.
EMAIL MARKETING
Email marketing provides offers and information to contacts on a specially selected, opt-in list that you’ve previously made. Approximately three billion people currently use email marketing and the numbers are only expected to grow. Email marketing is one of the oldest digital marketing channels, offering real estate agents across the world phenomenal benefits since its inception. Since email marketing targets people who’ve expressed interest in the services that you offer, it is much easier to close a sale with the help of the email marketing messages. Furthermore, expect a great ROI when using email marketing. Every dollar that you spend is likely to yield $38 in return. How’s that for a few minutes of work?
FINAL THOUGHTS
Enhance your career as a real estate agent by implementing the above tips into your marketing strategy. It is much easier to get a large audience today than ever before, especially when the right marketing techniques are used. Each of the channels listed above provides the opportunity to build credible leads and showcase your talents and expertise to people interested in what you offer. It is important that techniques are used that work to enhance business as you know it to be. Each of the channels here provides substantial results for real estate agents. Real estate agents across the country to understand how important it is to reach customers on a personalized level. With this information, you can now kickstart your business and get ahead of the competition. It’s time to shine!
