Content Marketing for Real Estate

Traditional advertising, social media. There is a lot of channels and strategies real estate agents can weave into their marketing arsenal. But none so powerful as content marketing.

What is content marketing? Basically, it's the creation and sharing of material that doesn't explicitly promote your business. Instead, it stimulates interest in your services. Content marketing allows you to educate and help your ideal prospects so that they grow to know, like and trust you and eventually become your clients. In this article, we'll look at some common real estate content marketing examples and offer some tips and strategies for how to best leverage them for you.

Blogs

Blogs have been around for years now, and are a tried and true marketing method. Regular blog posts make your website "sticky," meaning prospects will visit often and stay longer when they do drop by. With blogging, consistency is key. You need to post often, at least once a week when you're just getting started, even when it seems like no one is reading your posts. Be sure to include keywords your prospects use to find your services. This will improve your site's rankings on Google and make you easier for your ideal client to find.

Articles

As a real estate agent, you have specialized subject matter knowledge and expertise. Expertise that you can share far and wide with your ideal prospects by writing an article. Local newspapers, community guides, and regional magazines all need good, quality content. You could write an article on moving to the area for a community guide, or pitch a weekly real estate column to your local paper. In exchange for money, ask them to put a short bio at the end of each piece including your website and contact info. Some publications might even let you run a small ad in lieu of payment.

Books

Let's face it, there are tons of real estate agents in your local area. But how many of them are published authors? Writing a book has a certain mystique and cache, so adding 'author' to your bio lends you a level of credibility that most of your competition just can't match. Write a book on a topic of interest to potential buyers, such as buying investment properties or things to consider before buying a first home. This book doesn't have to be all that long, and you can publish it yourself on Amazon in ebook and print. You could even offer bulk discounts to other real estate teams or firms.

Don't think you have what it takes to write a book, or simply short on time? Hire a ghostwriter to help you.

Videos

Video marketing is all the rage right now, and with good reason. According to a recent survey conducted by Wix, videos can contribute to a 157% increase in organic traffic to your website's landing page. And 80% of the people surveyed would rather watch a video than read a blog. You don't have to reinvent the wheel or break the bank. Real Estate has been using video marketing for several years now, with virtual tours and video slideshows of new listings. Video doesn't have to be expensive either. I use this microphone ($40) and microphone stand ($21.99). Start small and scale up later if you enjoy using the platform and want to improve production values.

Podcasts

Podcasts have been around for a while, but have just found their footing on a professional level. These days podcasts can be done via video, and you don't need a lot of fancy--and expensive--equipment to get started. Podcasts can be quite technical though, but even if you don't want to start one you can always offer your services as a podcast guest. Check your network for podcasts that focus on your local community. Spread your search wider for podcasts about real estate, housing trends, or other financial topics that might touch upon real estate. Podcasts are constantly in search of interesting guests. Somewhere out there is a podcast host that would love to have you on to talk about who you are and who you help.

Seminars & Webinars

If you enjoy public speaking seminars, or their online cousin the webinar, are great for meeting lots of prospects and getting them on your newsletter. Thanks to platforms like Zoom, you don't even need to meet in person. Just select a topic, put out an invite both online and off, and host your event. The same skills you acquire doing podcasts and shooting videos will hold you in good stead here.

There are tons more content examples I could share, but this covers the biggies. I invite you to give at least one of these a try. I think you'll be pleased at the quality and quantity of prospects it brings into your business.

James Palmer is a freelance content writer specializing in real estate and PropTech. He is a regular blogger for real estate law firm Rabideau Klein and creates blogs and other content for the real estate metasearch engine EZ Assets. James has written copy for Bob Bly, Dr. Al Sears MD, and State Farm. He is also an award-winning fiction author, ghostwriter, and editor. If you need quality content for blogs, books, websites, press releases, and more, email him at [email protected].