From growing trends to fluctuations in the economy, the real estate industry has its fair share of challenges to tackle. One major challenge confronting realtors today is the latest advancements in technology, especially in marketing real estate online.

In 2020, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) found that the first step in the buying process of 44% of home buyers is to look for property sales on the internet. Only 16% opted to contact a real estate agent directly.

With Millennials and even Gen Z looking to invest in real estate, realtors have to shift their focus to digital marketing. Aside from reaching a wider audience and interacting with potential clients at a lower cost, digital marketing proves to be instrumental in pushing more leads.

How digital marketing helps your real estate business

Since the creation of Google Adwords in 2000, digital marketing has grown exponentially with strategies expanding from search engines and websites to social media platforms.
That’s why it’s essential for any real estate business to boost its online presence. Digital marketing generates more leads from multiple channels using inexpensive marketing tools such as blogging, social media, and email marketing.
It also allows you to streamline and automate your marketing processes including email marketing which is a more personable and detailed approach in reaching out to your clients and prospects compared to a social media post.
To further engage with your audience, social media marketing can provide good customer service by keeping people updated and listening to their concerns and feedback.
Most importantly, digital marketing equips you with real-time insights and analytics to keep track of your marketing content performance. With access to data, you can easily tweak and modify your marketing strategies based on business climate and trends.
To ensure success in your online marketing campaigns, you should engage an experienced digital marketer to create and manage your presence through your website and social media pages.

Best digital marketing practices for real estate businesses

When it comes to marketing real estate, the very first thing you should do is to define why you’re doing what you do, and integrate it into your brand and marketing. You want leads to resonate with your ‘why’ because they usually make purchasing decisions based on their emotions.
With that in mind, here are some of the best digital marketing ideas to consider:

Create and optimize a website for your business

Building a website for your real estate business will help show prospects what you have to offer. It’s crucial that you present this information since most people do research online before buying anything⁠—especially anything big like a house or office space.
You can use DIY platforms such as Squarespace to create your own website or outsource web development from freelancers or an agency. Make sure to incorporate different elements into your real estate website to make it stand out such as:

• Common page features
  • Company background
  • Contact information
  • Property listings
  • Blogs for buyers and sellers
• Helpful tools and information
  • Mortgage calculator
  • Local map and weather app
  • Neighborhood guides
  • Bylaws and tenant rules

Having a solid web presence also means having an SEO-focused website that can help you get leads. Make sure that you maintain it by regularly updating information or optimizing it for mobile.

Produce content for your website

Once you have an optimized website, you can start a blog and publish SEO-friendly content that will show up in a potential home buyer’s search results. This provides an organic way for your brand to appear on a search results page after a query.
Consider what real estate blog content people will read such as:

• Tips for negotiating a real estate deal
• Real estate investing topics
• Local listings features
• Home staging tips and tricks
• Case studies in marketing real estate
• Client testimonials and reviews

Run social media marketing campaigns

Social media is a great way to open a conversation and forge relationships with current clients and potential home buyers. If applied correctly, it becomes an avenue for free marketing with a wider reach since, statistically speaking, your audience is already on social media.
Post property photos and go live for open houses or host virtual tours. You can also grow your brand through paid promotions that allow you to choose the type of post you want to publish, which target audience you want to reach, and how much the budget for it is.
Recently, a new wave of experiential marketing in Tiktok is generating leads for real estate agents on the platform. More common practices in managing social media campaigns include using targeted hashtags to get to people you’d like to reach and responding to comments on your posts.

Set up a Google Ads campaign

Paid ad campaigns can provide high-quality internet leads. The most popular and effective way to do pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is through Google Ads since it’s the most widely-used search engine. PPC ads work through a bidding system, where people can make offers on specific keywords.
Google Ads campaign management is something that produces results in the long run. When you’re just starting, it’s better to bid on more specific real estate keywords with less search volume to reach a higher ad position in the search results. Later, as you get to know the market better, you can change your plan to include broader keywords or interests.

Partner with other businesses

Real estate advertising shouldn’t just be about your brand’s efforts. Use your connections and partner with related businesses to reach more prospects. Work with local clothing boutiques, home decor showrooms, and coffee shops to promote listings and open house events.
You could also try guest blogging to promote your brand to a broader audience. Co-host a webinar with a local lender or title company on topics about making real estate moves for buyers and sellers. Make sure that you also have a sales pitch at the end of the presentation and a Q&A portion to directly interact with your audience’s comments and queries.

Add Magic to your real estate advertising campaigns

Don’t know how to start marketing real estate listings and services online? Leave it up to a digital marketing expert with the help of Magic. Get matched with a dedicated digital marketing assistant within 72 hours so you can just focus on closing real estate deals.
Magic can help you find a skilled digital marketer who can integrate with your existing SOP and has experience with Google, Facebook, Instagram, and other relevant online platforms. Whether it’s for business ads or social media marketing management, our digital marketing assistants can function as generalists or specialists dedicated to your brand.
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