Marketing. Can’t live with it, can’t live without it. And though it may sometimes feel like marketing is falling outside of our job description, there’s more marketing in the day-to-day of the running of a real estate business than we may realize.
Now we’re more than halfway through the year, and there are a few marketing trends that have begun to define the real estate world for 2017.
If these five marketing trends aren’t on your radar yet, you should catch up and maybe even jump on the marketing bandwagon.
1. Live streaming and video marketing
Get comfortable in front of the camera, and start streaming!
Instagram and Facebook are making it easier than ever to share videos and create live video events with and for your network.
Think of utilizing live streaming as a means to host a virtual open house or even answer questions that your leads may have on a listing.
It’s an easy way to allow your clients and leads to get to know you and your style too if they’re scoping you out.
2. Content
Content marketing is having a moment, and there’s no day like today to join in with your own blog or social media presence.
Buyers are more informed than ever as they prepare to make a purchase, especially a big purchase like a home.
They’re going to be looking for as much information as possible about you and the homes you’re selling.
Presenting yourself as an expert in the field or at least in your neighborhood will be a huge plus for your leads.
It’s also a great way to hone your SEO chops and get noticed online by people who may not have found you otherwise.
3. Personalization
No, it’s not just you; personalization is everywhere and more and more consumers are looking for it in all of their shopping experiences.
How can you integrate this into your own marketing? By demographics, of course!
Millennials are beginning to filter into the market and their style of making purchasing decisions is very different than that of their parents and generations before.
Keep this in mind as you cater and personalize your selling to better fit within the demographics of your clients.
4. Digital showings
Digital showings are not just a trend, they are the becoming a listing standard as public exposure grows.
These advanced virtual tours allow consumers to navigate properties as if they were walking around and through them in person, which makes it easy for them to visualize the space, gather relevant information and relate to a particular property.
Buyers feel more confident in the decision given the digital access to the property afforded by high-quality virtual tours. Not only do digital showings help consumers make decisions, but they also save you time from unnecessary showings.
5. Social media advertising
Are you already posting on social platforms in a professional capacity? “Boosting” your posts or putting some ad dollars behind those posts is a simple way to add a little extra power and insurance that more people will see the post.
You can take it a step further by trying out the native ad platforms within your social platform of choice and creating more targeted campaigns to your audiences of choice.
Fifty six percent of those in the B2C world who have used Facebook ads have reported that it’s resulted in more business for them. With more and more consumers on social media and online doing research, social is the next great advertising frontier.
Still trending
Videos flying high above crowded beaches and shorelines and aerial shots of wedding ceremonies — drone footage is still as trendy as ever.
And really, what better way to showcase your latest property than with some overhead footage? Although it’s an investment, a drone can be an easy way to improve your listings and stand out from the crowd.
Finding ways to connect better with your network of clients and leads via personalization and advertising on the platforms they use everyday are some of the best ways to market your business, but these trends are shaping up to define 2017 for the real estate profession as a whole.
Start building them into your marketing plans for the rest of the year, and you might just find yourself and your business “trending” too.
Brandon Doyle is a Realtor at Doyle Real Estate Team — Re/Max Results in Minneapolis and co-author of Mindset, Methods & Metrics – Winning as a Modern Real Estate Agent. You can follow him on Twitter.
