By its nature, the real estate industry requires you to be social and connect with clients to let them know more about you. Modern digital marketing tools are indispensable for this job: From engaging your audience on social media to sharing virtual property tours with clients, your efforts will not go unnoticed.
Here are six essential tools and assets that you can take advantage of to increase your online visibility, and to attract prospective homebuyers and sellers.
1. Image editing software
Real estate is a highly visual industry, and having high-quality, professional-looking images and graphics is essential for attracting clients.
One user-friendly option is Canva, a tool that makes graphic design easy for even the most inexperienced users. ]
Sign up for a free account to gain access to different templates, stock images (you can also upload your own,) photo filters, icons, shapes and fonts, so you can create visually stunning graphics for your website and social media channels.
2. Email marketing software
Despite the number of communications tools out there, email is still one of the best and most effective ways to stay in touch with current and past clients.
What better tool for real estate agents than an email marketing platform tailored for their needs? IXACT Contact is a robust customer relationship management (CRM) and email marketing platform designed for real estate professionals. You can send out monthly e-newsletters, set up a personal agent website and use automated lead capture.
3. Digital scanning apps
In this paperwork-dependent industry, most modern real estate agents have gotten used to digitizing and sending important documents by email.
Digital scanning apps, like Genius Scan, can streamline this process and help you quickly and easily digitize your documents. All you have to do is snap a picture of a physical document. The app turns it into a PDF that you can then send via email.
The ability to email documents immediately after they’re finalized and/or signed means you can potentially speed up the closing process for your clients, although you should consult your attorney about the legal validity of scanned documents in your jurisdiction.
4. Social media management software
A great tool to help with your social media marketing efforts is Buffer, which allows you to schedule up to 10 posts in your queue per connected social media account. That way, you can plan ahead and ensure your posts are published at times with the highest engagement, and review analytics to see which posts have the biggest impact.
5. Virtual floor plan builder
Take your marketing to the next level by sharing a virtual floor plan of properties. This is especially useful for new construction; potential home buyers can get a feel for the space before they’re able to see it completed in person.
A great example is MagicPlan, which lets you create virtual floor plans on your iOS mobile device. Once you snap photos of a room’s corners, the app lets you fine-tune it and assemble the rooms into a comprehensive floor plan.
If you want to boost your business and increase your digital visibility, these real estate marketing tools are must-haves.
Kathleen Kuhn is the president of HouseMaster. Connect with her on LinkedIn or Twitter.