Marketing for real estate agents is a competitive space that demands creativity, staying on top of trends, and consistently delivering quality content to stay ahead of the competition. With an online space that is continuously congested, you need to stand out and attract high-quality leads.
At ICONS of Real Estate, we have worked alongside hundreds of real estate professional to increase their online visibility and grow their business. From these successful experiences, here are our top ten real estate marketing ideas to attract qualified leads.
Start a Real Estate Podcast
Real estate podcasts are a great way to establish your brand as an industry authority. The numbers don’t lie; according to Statista, podcasts have been growing in popularity. Over 413 million people listen to podcasts worldwide, presenting a large audience of listeners and potential clients to connect with.
Podcasts are a great tool for realtor marketing because they are patronized by people interested in real estate. For instance, a listener seeking out a podcast focusing on commercial real estate is most likely highly interested in the niche.
This makes podcasts an invaluable tool for engaging with quality leads, offering them value, and turning them into recurring clients.
The good news is that real estate podcasts don’t have to cost much to get started. Agents don't need top-of-the-line equipment to record videos or audio. Many free or budget-friendly software are used to record and edit episodes.
And with the right professional guidance, your podcast can quickly become the authority on all matters of real estate in your city.
Ready to get started on your podcast? Reach out to us at ICONS of Real Estate. Our podcast guru, Tomas Fonseca, has helped hundreds of agents start successful real estate podcasts that have gone on to create communities of clients that bring in continuous business and referral leads.
Alternatively, you can guest on an episode of one of the top-rated podcasts in the industry, ICONS of Real Estate. Guesting is a great way to dip your toes into the world of podcasting to see if it’s a fit for you.
Digital Marketing And Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Almost every business, especially in real estate, is leveraging digital marketing. To attract qualified leads, it is not enough to simply be seen online. The right people must see you in the right spaces.
Leveraging search engine optimization (SEO) is an easy way to attract the right audience. SEO is meant to enhance your online presence and increase your visibility, especially with the right target.
SEO is effective, as shown by 64% of marketers willing to invest in the medium to enhance their website discoverability.
To get the most out of SEO, however, you must be willing to engage a professional. SEO is a long-term investment that requires commitment. Hiring a specialist enables you to stay focused on what you do best—closing real estate transactions.
Get a Mentor or Coach
The National Association of Realtors presented its findings on the importance of mentors to real estate professionals. According to the professional body, agents who have a mentor or coach earn 20% more than those who don’t.
The greatest advantage of having an expert by your side is that they help you avoid common pitfalls, leverage their vast network of industry professionals, and make the best decisions to attract, retain, and close clients.
Mentors can be senior associates at your brokerage who have impressive track records in the industry. They may be part of a mentorship program within your brokerage, which makes it easier to go under their wings. Alternatively, you can seek out professionals you admire and ask for mentorship.
Coaches, on the other hand, are veteran professionals who understand the importance of an experienced advisor when growing a real estate business. Coaches offer their experience as a service through a real estate marketing agency or individually and have been instrumental in building up some of the industry’s top performers.
You can leverage the power of experience and expertise by hiring a top coach in your city or niche and reap the benefits of personal accountability and informed guidance to grow your career.
Use Email Marketing Campaigns
Email marketing has an average ROI of $42 for every $1 spent. That’s an attractive return for a marketing tactic that’s easy to implement.
To attract qualified leads with email marketing campaigns, ensure that you use targeted and specific marketing to your segmented lists. This means sectioning your lists accordingly for effective communication.
For instance, if you are in commercial real estate, you can segment your lists into developers, property owners, and investors. Each email campaign can then be personalized according to the targeted list.
This personalization means that your messaging resonates with the audience that is most likely to take action and engage with your business.
Invest in Pay-Per-ClIck Advertising
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a short-term marketing tactic used by agents to generate fast returns on their advertising. With PPC, you get returns on your advertising instantly.
PPC includes Google Ads, Bing Ads, Meta Ads, and so much more. It involves creating advertising material or boosting existing online content and paying a fee each time your ad is clicked.
The advantage of PPC advertising includes:
Targeted Reach
PPC advertising employs targeting using segmentations such as demographic, age, occupation, location, etc. For real estate agents, this means you can reach potential buyers or sellers based on their search queries, geographic location, and online behavior.
Geo-Targeting
You can set up your PPC campaigns to target users in specific geographic areas, ensuring your ads reach people interested in properties in your local market.
Quick Visibility
PPCs are attractive to agents who want quick returns on their advertising spend. With PPC, the return is instant, and you can start engaging with clients almost immediately.
High- Intent Leads
Users who click on PPC ads are often actively searching for real estate services or properties, indicating high intent. This can lead to higher-quality leads compared to other forms of advertising.
It is relatively straightforward to set up PPC campaigns. Coupled with other long-term marketing ideas, PPC can quickly become an invaluable source of qualified leads for your business.
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Leverage Client Testimonials and Referrals
Client testimonials and referrals are part of marketing that utilizes social currency to attract quality leads. As the world settles into a digital age, more and more buyers read online reviews before even engaging with the seller to seek their services.
This shift in buyer behavior underscores the importance of driving a customer review campaign to showcase your business’s best side.
Getting reviews is as easy as asking for them. Clients, especially happy clients, are more than happy to tell the world of your great customer service and expertise. Ask your clients to leave you a review in person or online, and make it easy for them to do so by sending a link to your Yelp website or any other site you would like them to review you on.
Additionally, ensure you request that clients refer you to their friends and families. It may seem like a no-brainer, but clients who are specifically asked to give referrals are far more likely to remember than those who are not.
Lately, do not ignore the negative reviews. Not-so-great reviews from unhappy customers are an opportunity to showcase your emotional intelligence as an agent and how you handle disgruntled clients.
Professionally address negative reviews. If there is something you can do to remedy the situation, offer to do so and update the online community. Resolved negative reviews can be even more impactful than a glowing one.
Use the Power of Community
Building a community around your brand is an inexpensive way to ensure the longevity and profitability of your business. Marketing tactics such as PPC may not work, especially if you do not have the budget for them, but communities are organic and sustainable without much financial input.
Communities come in two forms: those that you engage in professionally, such as NAR and other professional bodies, and those that you build around your brand.
The first type of community is dependent on existing structures. For instance, joining an existing professional body means that there are rules in place, networking events, and so on. Existing communities are a great way to join other industry professionals, leverage knowledge sharing, make agent referrals, and stay updated on industry news.
On the other hand, communities built around your brand mean customers and other keyholders who patronize your brand. A good example is GoPro. GoPro has built a community around its brand, such as adventure seekers who use these cameras and post their content on community forums.
This is an ingenious way for GoPro to build Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) with non-GoPro users and retain existing clients by creating a sense of exclusivity around their brand.
Real estate agents can also devise creative ways to rally a loyal community around their brand, ensure recurring business, and attract customers inexpensively.
Get Comfortable With Social Media
Social Media Marketing has long been touted as a must-have for real estate agents. Regardless of your niche, there’s a social media platform out there for you.
Since every other agent has a social media presence, how do you stand out and attract qualified leads? One way is to get comfortable in front of a camera. Guesting on different real estate podcasts can help you get used to a camera, a mic, and talking at a screen, literally.
Additionally, practice makes perfect. Creating content around daily occurrences such as your viewings, your commute, and even your favorite coffee shops will naturally strengthen your social media presence while keeping your followers engaged.
Be specific with your content to ensure that your audience resonates with your services. Share content around your niche, interpret news, and share insights from your indie understanding of current affairs.
Lastly, try out different platforms to see what works best for your type of content. To extend your reach, post short videos on TikTok, answer real estate questions on Quora, and contribute to polls on LinkedIn.
Social media marketing is also a great way to ensure visibility in the long term as your content stays discoverable years from now, bringing in new clients without much effort from your side. So ensure that what you share is valuable, informative, and addresses your clients; pain points.
Invest in High-Quality Videography and Photography
Great photography and videography are dependent on the quality of your equipment. Invest in high-quality cameras and editing software to ensure a crisp and professional-looking final product.
Blurry and dark photography communicate low effort, which can turn away potential clients.
Great pictures create a good first impression, paving the way for you to convert leads into paying customers. Additionally, high-resolution images and video tours provide a clear and detailed view of the property, highlighting its features and layout. This helps buyers get a better sense of the property before visiting in person.
You can either invest in a short course or a workshop on photography or videography. Or you can engage the services of a professional to create the best quality pictures for your properties and gain a competitive edge over your peers.
Increase Engagement Online With Content Marketing
Content marketing is the most effective way to build brand visibility, generate leads, and establish credibility in the real estate industry. Here’s how you can achieve this:
Build Brand Visibility
Agents can showcase their expertise by sharing their insights on industry happenings, neighborhood changes, or ongoing discussions such as the NAR lawsuit.
By showing your insider understanding of complex real estate issues, your followers will see you as an industry authority and be more likely to turn to you with real estate questions and concerns.
Generate Leads
Content marketing can help agents generate leads by using powerful and well-positioned call-to-action to promote their services. For instance, you can upload a YouTube video discussing the NAR settlement. Create content around the ins and outs of the lawsuit and what it means for buyer agents moving forward. At the end of the video, link to your website or share your phone number so clients can reach you.
Establish Credibility
Agents who create content around what they’re marketing and then show when the house is sold build credibility with sellers and buyers alike. With content marketing, your followers can see in real-time as you list, market, and sell properties. This establishes credibility in your work and expertise and will have people soliciting your real estate services.
Content marketing doesn’t have to be complicated. You can start with something as simple as a behind-the-scenes to a home staging or take your clients with you on video for a property viewing. The most important aspect is to keep them engaged and involved by answering comments and questions.
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