Real estate is one of the best assets to hold because of the prospect for development and its ability to store value. This means that there is great potential for professionals in the real estate market to capture the opportunities that arise. However, with competition in the space being steep, there are areas of your marketing on which you can focus in order to gain a competitive advantage.
The sheer amount of real estate agents that are active in the market means that in order to conquer your subdivision, you have to focus on strategies that offer synergies. Achieving economies of scale for your promotional efforts results from choosing tactics that offer the greatest bang for your buck; and by bang, we mean actions that bring you quality leads. Let’s look at some marketing tips that will make you stand out and boost your bottom line.
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Digital Marketing
Digital marketing pertains to the promotional efforts you employ on the web for the purpose of closing sales. This can include paid advertising on search engines and websites, your social media marketing and running an email newsletter.
Benefits of Digital Marketing for Realtors
Due to its nature, digital marketing allows for a great degree of tracking and data analysis. When running ads, for instance, you can determine exact metrics that give you a degree of predictability in your marketing efforts. For example, when running ads, you can derive your cost per conversion, or in other words, how much money you need to spend on ads in order to get a lead or a paying client.
Other advantages of digital marketing over other forms of promotion include the ability to communicate directly with prospects and the laser-focused targeting the internet offers. You can choose to direct your message to specific demographics and people with interests that closely mirror your ideal prospect.
Furthermore, digital methods allow you to employ local marketing for the purpose of attracting potential clients within a predetermined radius. By having the ability to target internet users within a limited radius, you can make your marketing more efficient as you will not be spending excess funds advertising to prospects that may not be interested in the real estate you have on offer.
Disadvantages of Digital Marketing for Real Estate Agents
The buying and selling of real estate involves a great degree of human interaction. Both sellers and buyers often need special attention from a competent and knowledgeable realtor. Although the internet is good for obtaining leads, you need to have a strategy in place for getting interested buyers to your properties and potential sellers to trust you with closing the sale.
Having said that, with the right digital marketing mix and a strong call to action, online methods can fit nicely into your overall strategy.
Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Optimization, also known as SEO, relates to the actions required to push your website to the top of the search engine rankings. Most people seeking to buy or sell real estate will start their journey on a search engine; primarily Google. When they search for a term that relates to their interest, for example, “apartment for sale in Jacksonville,” your website needs to be on the first few results if you are a real estate agent in that city.
While search engine optimization used to be about stuffing your website with a whole bunch of keywords and getting what’s referred to as backlinks, or links from other websites to your own, times have changed considerably. Google now has a sophisticated algorithm that ranks websites based on how much value their content offers visitors. In other words, you need to be regularly uploading valuable information to your website that your target audience will find helpful.
Direct Mail
In today’s world of digitally-driven marketing, there is much to be said about print marketing. After the advent and explosive first stages of the internet, it seemed as if print media was going the way of the dodo. Newspapers and magazines, in particular, have taken a great hit from the availability of digital forms of free and subscription-based alternatives.
However, though regular publications are slowly being phased out, the past few years have seen a resurgence in print media along with an increase in direct mail ROI. Where most people were once fed up with their mailboxes being packed with leaflets and brochures, it seems that email inboxes filled with spam are having a similar effect. On the contrary, with conventional mailboxes seldom receiving much in the form of advertising, companies have once again started to use print media in order to disseminate their marketing message.
Integrating mailing integrations direct mailing with digital strategies can amplify the effectiveness of print media resurgence. By using insights from digital analytics, companies can better target their physical mailings, ensuring that leaflets and brochures reach the most interested and relevant audience segments. This synergy between online and offline channels not only enhances personalization but also maximizes the return on investment for marketing campaigns.
The tactile nature of a brochure or a postcard makes direct mail print marketing an effective marketing method when paired with your digital efforts. Recipients are responding to mailings and when used in conjunction with digital marketing research, they can be cost-effective and yield higher conversion rates.
As discussed above, your digital marketing efforts allow you to target audiences that are specific to your portfolio and geographical area. Therefore, once you have interacted with prospects online, sending them printed material with a call to action will increase conversions.
Informative Brochures and Flyers
While in the past realtors would send out informative brochures to entire area codes in the hopes of capturing a lead, you can now make your efforts more cost-effective and trackable. You can also use data from your digital marketing efforts to determine what kinds of stimuli your audience responds best to and use it in your printed material.
For example, your subdivision may have peculiarities that appeal to certain types of buyers. By engaging your online audience, you can determine what features the potential buyers are looking for and create a brochure that drives these points home.
Other than specifically seeking out leads, brand-building is another good use of brochures. Sending out a well-designed leaflet to a specific neighborhood can create the rapport you need in order to gain people’s trust. Rather than spamming a general brochure out to large areas, you can target areas with specific messages that will increase your success.
You don’t need to have thousands of flyers printed with the same message. You may want to target several neighborhoods that are different between them and therefore have different requirements. An experienced direct mail print marketing company can guide you in examining all the available options in targeting various neighborhoods and locales.
The secret ingredient to a successful brochure is its ability to cause the recipient to come in contact with you. This can be done by incorporating a strong and clear call to action but furthermore, by including your contact details. More than your business address and phone number, people that use their mobile devices should be given the opportunity to contact you then and there. This can be done by including your web address, your social media profiles and even a QR code that will expedite the process.
Postcards
Printed postcards are clever instruments in the hands of a realtor. Receiving a post card offers an extra degree of personalization and if done right, it can cause a prospect to be even more receptive to your message.
Finding a Knowledgeable Print Media Specialist
When embarking on a campaign using print media, you need more than someone that can provide the brochures. Finding a company that has a track record working with realtors and that can help you plan the best campaign should be your objective. Contact Wise Pelican today to speak with experienced print media specialists that can help you build a flexible and profitable campaign.