Optimizing Your Real Estate Digital Marketing Strategy

As we discussed last week, online communities and residential real estate are a natural fit because both real estate sales and social networks are driven by word of mouth and relationships.  Given this understanding, it is not surprising that many brokerage firms have already begun to explore and implement social media efforts.  Getting into the space is an essential first step, but without a strategic approach, this leaves many firms simply floating in the digital space, not effectively marketing to potential customers. 

Most real estate firms that have a basic level of social network presence are still not being found by their target audience because they lack the direction and know-how to place and promote themselves.  Typically, this is because the focus on digital marketing simply involves an in-house individual working in marketing at the corporate level, occasionally updating social media on the behalf of individual offices, or it is done by individual agents making their own contributions.  While realtors should be commended for actively pursuing this emerging world of marketing, this solution lacks direction.   Fuel Lines described digital marketing in this way: "An integrated social media strategy is necessary if a business is ever going to see payoff from participation in social media.”  This identifies the rub: social media presence is not enough, a directed digital marketing strategy and intentional action online is where companies see the payoff.   

Ultimately, the scope of opportunity found online for real estate firms is much larger than an individual casually posting can capture adequately.  120 million U.S. residents are on Facebook and 76% of internet users do research online before making a real estate purchase.  Agents and corporate representatives may generate relevant content, but content creation isn’t just about getting blogs or articles into the space, it is about strategically building community, analyzing how each social media move that is made impacts that community, and adjusting to improve the way those social media interactions drive leads and customer acquisition. 

Successful real estate agents and firms excel at direct selling, which is necessarily complemented by content online, but the effectiveness of each is dependent upon the investment of time, implying that marketing and real estate sales should be connected but not necessarily collaborative.  Online lead nurturing through informative content creation, involvement in relevant communities, and analysis of significant metrics should be a full time investment for real estate firms that want to see full payoff from the investment.  Getting established is a great start, but the execution of a digital marketing strategy is where competitive advantage and unique relationship building occurs.

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