With 2018 in full-swing, it’s important for real estate professionals to make sure they are making the most out of their marketing efforts.
It’s time agents stopped marketing like it’s 2005 and became more aware of how they’re spending their money and how they’re spending it on marketing.
In working with some of the biggest real estate brands in the country, and their brokerages and agents, I’ve seen firsthand what top-producing teams are doing with their marketing — and it’s not that hard.
Top producers pay attention to the trends, and they hop on them. In the video above and throughout this article, I’ve outlined the trends I see among successful real estate agents and how you can start to implement these strategies in your own marketing.
1. Design a mobile-first experience
As of this year, mobile internet users have surpassed desktop users in North America. This means you need to be thinking about your customer’s mobile experience with brand first, desktop second.
Too many agents put their mobile experience and marketing to side in favor of their desktop website.
Mobile isn’t coming — it’s here.
2. Change the type of content you post on social media
If the majority of your social media posts are links asking someone to come back to your website you’re missing an opportunity. Social media networks like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc., reward you for creating native content for each platform.
3. Be more thoughtful with your marketing
The automated route is the easy route, but it’s not an effective one. This isn’t what the real estate industry was built on — it was built on real relationships.
When you’re looking at your marketing efforts, look at areas where you can improve a lot with a little more effort. In a past Inman article, we sat with a top producer to talk about how he continually builds his referral business through hand-written notes. This extra effort goes a long way in building connections.
4. Think Facebook, Facebook, Facebook
If you head to any conference, you’ll most likely hear a speaker talking about how the younger generation isn’t using Facebook as much. Well, they’re right about that; however, last time I checked, teenagers aren’t buying homes.
Facebook owns Instagram, meaning its reach is massive. Not to mention, if you are advertising on Facebook, you can easily put those same ads on Instagram at the same time.
5. Make your customer and community the star of the show
You are not the star, your customer and community are — treat them like it. If you shift your content away from it being all about you and your accomplishments and more toward education and inspiration, you’ll immediately see bigger engagement rates.
Your audience is eager to tell their story.
For example, if you head to Facebook and ask, “What year did you buy your first home?” you’ll see your audience engage at a higher rate than usual. This is because a post like this enables your customers to tell their stories.
6. Use video
With the power of the camera on your phone, there is no excuse for not creating video content. Pull out your phone, and tell people what you love about your community or new listing.
Video is powerful, inexpensive and pretty easy to post directly to social media.
Jordan Scheltgen is the founder of the marketing agency Cave Social. You can follow him on Twitter @cavejordans or connect with him on Facebook.
