All About Real Estate Digital Marketing Strategy

Online presence is no longer an alternative for realtors, companies and agencies to thrive in the real estate sector. It is primary. Especially, since the pandemic imposed social distancing and work from home.  

• 97% of homebuyers used the internet to search for homes in 2020 (National Association of REALTORS)
• 82% of real estate agents planned to improve their social media presence in 2021, and 44% of realtors gained success in 2020 (The Close)

Have a look into real estate digital marketing in detail. 

• How does digital marketing for real estate help?
• Popular real estate trends that digital marketers cannot ignore in 2022
• Creating an effective real estate digital marketing strategy

• Social Media Marketing
• Content Marketing For Your Website With SEO
• Virtual Tour Marketing
• Email Marketing

Real Estate Digital Marketing

Whether you are a property owner or real estate professional, find out why digital marketing is essential in the growing industry. 

How Does Digital Marketing For Real Estate Help?

Search Engine Visibility For Long-Term Growth

93% of online experiences begin with a search engine, according to Forbes. 

Now, good real estate branding can help investors or homebuyers trust your services. Because the marketplace is crowded and building credibility is challenging. Once there is optimal search engine visibility, you will generate brand awareness and more leads. 

Knowledge of Target Audience Beyond Your Locality

Not all homebuyers will be of the same demographic. If you are spending your marketing campaigns on the wrong audience, you will not stand out from the competition. 

In the real estate business, the focus areas of the target audience are

• Type of Customer – One who is a first-time buyer between the ages of 20 and 35. For the first time buyer, budget is the main concern. The other is the move-up buyer who is older and requires more space for his/her family.
• Type of Location – For the first-time buyer, proximity to work, transportation amenities, etc are essential. On the other hand, the move-up buyer looks into neighbourhood safety, proximity to school, luxury, etc. 

Based on this demographic, you can reach out to prospects, not just in your local area but also in other regions. Through marketing research and analysis, you can communicate the right message to the specific target audience. 

The marketing communication then becomes more valuable for your prospects. They will not think that you are selling them. This is how you can attract more homebuyers who belong to a particular niche in and out of your locality. 

Video Marketing Increases Conversions

According to a stat from Lemon Light, 86% of homebuyers prefer video to research a community. Other studies have shown that links to pages with embedded videos get 157% more organic traffic. 

The reason is video is easier to communicate information. You can build trust by putting up information on the properties and your services. 

Helping Potential Clients in Every Stage of the Sales Funnel

You can strengthen your sales funnel strategy with digital marketing and the home buying journey a smooth process for the prospect. Right from the awareness stage to purchasing. 

Using popular internet marketing content formats including blogs, videos, FAQs, etc help during the consideration stage. It is important to keep the potential clients involved by addressing their concerns. Only then will they will think of buying. 

When it comes to decisions (or evaluation), there are Customer Relationship Management tools that real estate professionals go for. Salesforce is one good example. 

CRM systems collect and segregate customer data to give insights on leads and compare. When there is a dip in sales, these tools help identify the lack. As a real estate digital marketer, you can then shape future marketing communication accordingly. 

Popular Real Estate Trends That Digital Marketers Cannot Ignore in 2022

Millennials Are Becoming First-Time Buyers  

A FinancesOnline’s 2021-2022 report states millennials are the largest buying demographic. They are tech-savvy and use smartphones every day. If real estate agencies do not use online marketing, there are lesser chances of reaching out to these first-time buyers. 

Artificial Intelligence to Automate Tasks

Artificial intelligence plays a significant role in automating tasks and predicting outcomes. In digital marketing, AI can predict the needs of a customer and create customer behaviour data in real-time. 

Nowadays, AI-powered chatbots are taking the centre stage to generate leads. They engage the prospect and better yet, they are accessible 24/7. 

Augmented/Virtual Reality For Virtual Tours

A Goldman Sachs study shows that the virtual reality market can generate $2.6 billion by 2025. With AR/VR technologies, offering virtual tours can give a great sense of how the home feels. This way prospects don’t have to visit the property but have an emotional and sensory experience.  

Creating an Effective Real Estate Digital Marketing Strategy 

Find out how to do digital marketing for real estate industry.

Social Media Marketing 

As you learned above millennials are the largest home-buying group, they are also the main social media users. The majority of Facebook users are between 24 and 35 years of age (Statista). 

According to desa NINJA, an average Facebook user spends 37 minutes on the platform. And, the conversion rate for every 100 leads is 1 to 1.5. 

So when you choose a social media channel for paid real estate marketing, Facebook should be your priority. You can run targeted Facebook ads for your demographic. 

Facebook live streaming can also generate a lot of traffic. According to Oberlo, live steaming contributes to 17% of internet video traffic. And, Hootsuite says that Facebook Live Video generates 6x more engagement than regular videos. 

For your social media marketing efforts, use Instagram. Features including Stories and Reels can be great to inform potential clients about the interiors, neighbourhoods, amenities, etc. 

Then you have client testimonials to bank on. Communicate your success of closing a deal with a homebuyer and post it on Instagram. 

Pro Tips 

• Post consistently. You can set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound) goals
• Engage and interact with followers regularly
• Share insights on the real estate sector
• Offer social proof through customer testimonials, past awards, etc

Content Marketing For Your Website With SEO

Your website should be the focal point of your digital marketing efforts. It should have a  professional appeal. 

Some benchmarks to consider are

1. High-quality pictures 
2. Good descriptions
3. Navigability 
4. Mobile-friendliness 

Once you have a robust website, invest in creating a content marketing strategy.  SEO or search engine optimization should be next on your priority list. Check out SEO guidelines for increasing ranking on search engine results. 

Pro Tips

• Audit your website by checking out the site structure and page structure
• Check site and page loading speed
• Look into page responsiveness for mobile
• Create a profile on Google My Business
• Your address and where your real agency operates should be present on the website
• Focus on local SEO by targeting keywords with your city name
• Use multiple content formats – blogs, interviews with local business owners, case studies, FAQs on your services, videos, etc
• Place testimonials of your previous clients on your website
• Embed a video in your ‘About Us’ section

Virtual Tour Marketing

The idea in digital marketing for real estate is to engage your prospects in the best way possible. For your listings, you can offer 3D virtual tours that your leads can access from mobile, tablet or desktop. According to Better Biz Works, virtual walkthroughs increase leads by 50% than conventional listings with photos. 

Virtual real estate hosting can help you generate leads outside your city as well. 

Pro Tips

• Choose live streaming through apps such as Zoom, Google Hangouts, etc 
• Or go for static videos that you can later upload on YouTube
• Promote open-house sessions on social media and generate leads through registration
• Ensure the sound and lighting are of optimal quality
• Highlight special sections of the property, the neighbourhood, proximity to outdoor recreation spots, etc

Email Marketing 

Emails are one of the best ways to grow your network in your real estate niche. They are necessary for building and nurturing relationships with your clients. Also, Campaign Monitor states every demographic uses email. 

Pro Tips

• Personalise your emails with the name of your subscriber
• Automate the schedule of sending emails
• Welcome new subscribers and keep in touch with past customers or clients
• Provide information on recent real estate trends
• Offer the best reasons for your target audience to subscribe to your email list
• Keep easily understandable and short subject lines with emojis, punctuations, etc
• There should be one call to action to avoid confusion among your subscribers

Parting Thoughts

This was all about real estate digital marketing strategy. Digital marketing is essential for the real estate industry just like any other sector. It is fiercely competitive everywhere. If you are inspired to get into it, consider the many options and learning levels available in digital marketing courses.