The online marketing world is vast. Sometimes, being effective means focusing on your community.
By Gwen Moran
Its no secret that the Internet continues to be a significant force in the real estate sector. According to the 2014 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 92 percent of homebuyers used the Internet in some way during the home search process, and 50 percent used a mobile website or app. Forty-three percent of buyers began their home search process on the Internet.
With the proliferation of online media, platforms and applications, it can be challenging to find digital marketing strategies that work. However, some REALTORS® and experts have developed three creative, strategic and manageable approaches that produce measurable results.
Building Community
Marketing expert Allan J. Ross, founder of A.J. Ross, a marketing agency in Chester, New York, says that digital marketing will fall flat if it isnt supported by a personal touch and responsive team. Companies that invest in building relationships and community providing great service and communicating well with clients both online and offline are going to be the winners, he says.
Seth Dailey, CRS, team leader of The Dailey Group in Baltimore, Maryland, part of Keller Williams Realty International, supports his community- and relationship-building efforts offline with his digital marketing. When he hosts parties and get-togethers for clients, he takes many photographs and posts them to his Facebook page. He finds that doing so extends the good will from the event. Attendees tag themselves in photos and continue reminiscing about the event.
That helps us reach out to friends of friends, Dailey says. They see their friends tagged on our Facebook page. The engagement there is so much higher than on virtual tours or anything else that we do [digitally]. So, our community keeps growing.
Daileys team has also built 365Baltimore.com, a website devoted to events and entertainment in the Baltimore area. The page has 20,000 followers. While it was labor-intensive to create, Dailey says that it was worth it because it positions his group as a leader in the community. Its also influential, he says.
You go sit down with a business owner and say that youd love to feature his business on a site with 20,000 followers, and its a big deal. It lets us give back to our clients and also shows that we know whats going on in the areas we serve, Dailey says.
Use Local Advertising Strategies Online
While the Internet is a global platform, you can also employ smart solutions for local online marketing. Tierra Wilson, founder of New Media 4 Agents, LLC, a Phoenix-area firm that specializes in marketing for real estate professionals, suggests looking for ways to winnow down broad marketing platforms to focus on your local market. Sites like Zillow and Trulia are huge monsters that arent going away anytime soon, she says. But you can make them more effective lead-generation sources by crafting an advertising plan around them. Create a profile on each with information about your real estate business. Depending on your budget, she suggests focusing on the specific zip codes you serve, ensuring that your ad appears next to your listings and making sure that any leads generated come to you and not another agent. Be firm with salespeople for these sites and ask a lot of questions, she says.
A lot of times when you talk to Zillows salespeople, they pitch you everything in your area, so when you talk to them, have a goal and know what areas youre going to focus on. Ask what zip codes are important for you, what return on investment theyre seeing in those areas and ask whether anyone else has seen success in those zip codes, she says.
Brian Copeland, CRS, chief of broker services at Nashville, Tennessee-based Village Real Estate Services, invests in Facebook ads by zip code, as well. His team purchases niche listing ads in target zip code areas, offering laser-targeted local exposure on highly trafficked sites. In addition, Facebook lets him reach out to prospective sellers even more precisely.
We have done a lot of tests a lot of trial and error and found that Facebook ads bring our greatest return. So if someone lives in the 37207 zip code and they are going through a life change, such as a marriage or a new child, information that Facebooks ad wizard will tell you, then we will target those people in their Facebook ad streams to list their home with us, he says.
While many opt for Google Analytics to keep track of traffic and where its generated from, Copeland likes Woopra, which tells him how deep people are going into his site when they click through. He analyzes the zip codes that are getting the most attention and increases advertising investment in those areas.
Spend Time on Search Results
With so many people looking for homes online, its critical to spend some time and effort bolstering your local search results. Producing good content on a regular basis is one of the best ways to do so, Wilson says. Content may include blog posts, new listing information, videos, podcasts, photographs, social media posts or virtually anything you create digitally.
Like Daileys 365Baltimore.com, Copelands team publishes content on a hyper-local blog at NashvilleandBeyond.com, where it shares information that would be hard to find elsewhere, such as the opening of a new farmers market and profiles of local neighborhoods.
Wilson says more REALTORS® also should be using video, which can be a powerful tool in enhancing search engine results. Wilson says it doesnt have to be anything fancy sometimes just sitting in front of your webcam and talking about the market or giving advice about getting a home ready to sell is just as powerful because its more authentic. And brief video tours of home listings can help boost a homes visibility in the marketplace.
Whichever mix of digital marketing tactics REALTORS® choose, the goal is clear. Reach out to homebuyers where they live: online.
Find the free recording of the CRS Webinar How to Build Your Marketing Program, with Chris Brogan at the CRS website.
