Despite its ups and downs and sometimes unpredictable trends, real estate is something that we’re all in the market for at one point or another. Whether buying, selling, or acting as an agent, it’s no secret that real estate is an extremely lucrative industry. In 2018, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) revealed that 87% of home buyers hire a real estate agent to help with purchasing their home. This data proves there’s a great need for real estate agents.
As a realtor, you may be wondering how you can get more clients. Below, we’ll be sharing eight marketing tips to gain more prospects. When applied correctly, these real estate marketing tips are sure to add value to your personal brand and help build your reputation as a professional realtor.
1. Create a Website
First impressions matter. Most consumers search the internet high and low before making a purchase decision. Creating a website for your real estate business will make you more visible and allow prospects to get an idea of what you have to offer. Be sure to include high quality images and update your listings regularly. Once prospects see that you keep your listings tidy, they’ll be more likely to keep returning to your site to view other listings. This is also a great opportunity to highlight client reviews, thereby building trust and credibility. Consider adding something unique to your website to create more value for your prospects, such as a real estate blog.
2. Start a Blog
Starting a real estate blog has many potential benefits. By creating a consistent blog, you’re providing valuable resources and information for your audience, coming across as an expert in your field, and increasing your chances of getting picked up for organic SEO. Using various keywords in your blog optimizes your website to appear in search engines when a prospect starts a search.
When writing your blog, be sure to include helpful resources and hyperlinks to add more value to your user’s experience. Sprinkle in a few images between paragraphs, such as active listings, staging samples or infographics. While blogging has multiple benefits, it can be challenging to accomplish when you’re short on time. Consider hiring a content writer to help develop your real estate blog and start getting those hits you’re looking for.
3. Send Email Marketing Campaigns
Coupled with your new real estate blog, email marketing campaigns can have a hugely positive impact on your selling potential. Sending an email campaign just once a month allows you to stay in front of your audience and stay top of mind. In your email campaign, highlight the basic content of your most recent blog post, include valuable, relevant information, and be sure to add around three to four various, high quality images.
4. Get on Instagram
Real estate is an image-driven industry and therefore, every real estate agent should have a strong presence on Instagram. To get started, use a professional headshot for your profile picture, write an attention-grabbing bio, add your website and other contact information. When it comes to posting pictures, be sure to remain consistent in the type of imagery you publish, staying true to your personal brand and aesthetic. Be descriptive in your posts and add relevant hashtags to help your images reach a wider audience.
Instagram offers many different features and it can be quite overwhelming to keep up with the latest trends. Consider hiring a marketing agency to help manage your campaigns on the social media platform. By teaming up with a social media manager, you’re more likely to post consistently and keep up with the latest trends.
5. Partner with Local Businesses
People love supporting local businesses and partnering with a shop as part of your marketing strategy is a great way to make an impact on your prospects. Ask some of your favorite local businesses to place your marketing materials on the counter or racks to help promote your listings. A particularly unique strategy is to enlist your favorite coffee shop or boutique to participate in a pop-up shop in your newest listing. This encourages visitors to come inside and look around, while offering exposure to the pop-up host.
6. Use Drone Photography
As mentioned above, effective real estate marketing highly depends on the images it offers to its audience. Drone photography is an affordable and stunning technique to capture images to use in all of your marketing efforts. Many professional photographers are turning to drone photography to offer their clients unique views of homes, landscapes and events. Use the still images to add excitement to your listing, and supplement your virtual tour with video footage.
To utilize drone photography, we suggest hiring a professional drone photographer as this will guarantee the capture of high quality images and video footage. This can help highlight exterior amenities such as patios and pools.
7. Ask for Referrals
According to the NAR, 39% of sellers use a real estate agent who was referred to them by a friend or family member. To help build your referral list, make it a point to follow up with past clients about two to three months after their move-in date to see how they’re settling into their new home. Include a referral request at the end of your email and encourage them to share your information with anyone they think might benefit from your services.
This is a relatively simple task that can have a big impact on your marketing efforts. Once you’ve sent your first follow up email, save it as a template to use in all future follow up correspondence. Then, all you have to do is copy and paste, and fill in the blanks with the appropriate information.
8. Try Video Marketing
Video is a powerful tool, and this is especially true for real estate marketing. With the high quality lenses and hands-free options that are offered by many smart phones, it has never been easier or more affordable to record your own videos. From promoting new listings to client testimonials - the possibilities are seemingly endless for creating video marketing content. Once recorded and edited, these videos can be used for any of your marketing efforts.
Whether you’re just starting a new career as a real estate agent, or you’ve been in the industry for years, JanMar Agency offers unique and professional services to help build your clientele and get those sales. Call or stop by today for your free one hour consultation!