From showings and managing listings to staying on top of new potential clients, real estate agents have a lot to tackle each day. A well thought out digital marketing strategy and solid online presence can create efficiencies and ease some of the workload. But where do you begin… Here are five key areas to focus your efforts (from an agency who breeds contenders):
- A User and Mobile Friendly Website
- Maintained Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Database
- Consistent Email Marketing and Social Media Presence
- Optimized Listings/Google Business Profile Management
- Targeted Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Each of these areas, when implemented appropriately, should work in harmony to generate brand awareness, foster consistent communication and maintain your online brand.
A User and Mobile Friendly Website
Is your website easy to navigate on PC and mobile? How quickly can visitors find what they’re looking for? Here are a few areas to consider.
- Access to Listings — Can buyers search for their ideal property on your site?
- Service Area Segments — Different landing pages for each area you provide services boosts and supports SEO
- FAQs and/or Blog — Are your highlighting your experience and providing site visitors added confidence in your services?
- Contact Forms — Is it easy to get in touch with you?
Without a powerful website, you’re losing potential clients. Your website should look great, load fast and make it easy to find information.
Maintained Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Database
To put it simply, a CRM is a digital rolodex. One place to store critical client and prospects and organize marketing efforts. If you’re maintaining your contact list on a spreadsheet, today’s the day to reconsider…
A well built and maintained CRM can:
- Schedule tasks to stay on top of current clients
- Segment contacts into lists and integrate with email marketing tools to see outreach results specific to a person or group of people
- Integrate with social media to gain insight on how contacts are interacting with you
- Assist in sales forecasting across all buying and selling opportunities
There’s a large pool of CRM options available for relators, make sure to identify your priorities and level of technical support needed before selecting yours.
Consistent Email Marketing and Social Media Presence
Email marketing and frequent social media activity keeps you top of mind for consumers and, when done correctly, can also support SEO efforts.
A successful email marketing campaign will get the recipients to engage with you and help drive more sales. Build campaigns with your goals in mind:
- Automate notifications about new listings to prospective clients to keep them informed
- Send consistent emails to boost engagement and nurture your existing audience.
- Write your subject line to tease, or intrigue, the recipient to open your email.
- Track and test your audience engagement
Email marketing should also drive traffic to your social media and support increasing your followers. Frequent and consistent social postings help to:
- Tell your story and humanize you
- Connect with your target audience
- Communicate authority and show authenticity
- Increasing web traffic
You need to come up with a stream of timely, relevant content your audience will like, and then engage across all your social channels. If you visited a realtors Facebook page and they hadn’t posted in months… how likely would you be to reach out?
Optimized Listings/Google Business Profile Management
When customers look up a business online, they expect to find accurate information…and Google is just one of your online listings. The more online directories your business lists itself on, the higher the probability of a customer finding you through online search.
Listing management (which includes your Google Business Profile) is vital because the internet is where consumers research, shortlist and finalize a business they want to interact with. So be sure to claim the Google Business Profile for your real estate business and work with a service or company that can support managing all of your online listings.
Targeted Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
How many times does your website mention key phrases like “homes for sale in Bend, Oregon”?
SEO is about getting your website seen on search engines like Google. SEO takes into consideration the words consumers are using to make searches on search engines and implements those keywords into web content to help drive traffic.
To make the most of your SEO efforts, allocate some of your time to reviewing the content on higher ranking sites within your niche, and aim to write content that’s better than theirs.
So, set up your user/mobile friendly website, send targeted emails to segmented lists in your CRM and stand out from your competitors with managed listings and solid SEO. At Cight Solutions we’ve helped Realtors become contenders… if you want to be a contender, we’re here when you’re ready.
