You're in the Digital Marketing Business: Making it in the Digital Age
Dick Ingersoll Digital Marketing for Home Builders and Remodelers
Digital Marketing Specialist at The Biz Pro
The digital era has revolutionized almost every aspect of life. The way we communicate, shop, get around, navigate, and educate ourselves has all been flipped on its head. And it’s all to do with technology.
Indeed, adults in America are known to now spend 11 hours per day looking at a screen! Computers, smartphones, and the internet have all but changed the way the world works.
Whether we like it or not, this new reality has significant implications for real estate agents. These days, we’re all in the digital marketing business. Everyone’s eyes are online, which means your real estate business must be too.
The way people buy and sell houses has shifted. To succeed, you have to be a master of gathering leads online.
Are you new to digital marketing, though, and don’t know where to begin? We can help. Keep reading for seven essential tips for digital marketing success.
1. Create a Professional, Fast Website
Most real estate agents will have a website at their disposal already.
And that’s good news.
It’s necessarily the first step to generating leads via the internet. Websites are your primary presence online. Without one, there’s no way for people to find you, no means of sourcing leads, and, with it, little chance of converting in the modern world.
If you don’t have one, then be sure to change that ASAP. WordPress powers over a third of the web and is the go-to source of websites for most individuals and business owners alike.
Alas, having a website isn’t enough. It must be set up for digital marketing success if you’re ever going to use it to its fullest potential.
There’s a lot to this topic! For now, though, work hard on creating a simple, sleek, professional site that loads as quickly as possible.
2. Be Mobile Optimized
Here’s a related tip:
Your website has to function correctly on smartphones.
Knowing the preference of its users for mobile content, Google started prioritizing mobile-optimized sites in search results. In other words, if your competitor’s website works on mobile but yours doesn’t, then they’re probably going to rank higher than you on Google.
Anybody looking for real estate help in your area will click on their website ahead of yours.
It goes without saying how bad that is for business.
3. Know Your Audience
Understanding your target customer is vital too.
Don’t, and there’s no chance of marketing to them effectively.
You might argue that this is true of all marketing- digital or otherwise. And you’d be right! However, it’s arguably more important than ever before. Why?
Because digital marketing offers incredible targeting capabilities, your ads can be directed at specific groups of people with particular interests, demographic details, locations, and occupations.
Moreover, you’ll be creating content and posting on social media too. Both channels rely on in-depth audience understanding. You know what the content they want to consume, the problems they have, and where they spend their time online.
That’s all invaluable in terms of driving results.
4. Create Content (Start a Blog)
Content marketing is a cornerstone of digital marketing.
It’s an essential method for generating traffic and leads. Even better, you don’t have to spend any cash in the process! Including a blog on your website is an ideal way to do it.
Roughly speaking, you write high-value articles that solve the problems of your target audience. People will then find and click it as the post starts ranking in search engines (primarily Google). Once they’re on-site, you can offer them something in return for their email address.
And voila, you start generating new leads to maneuver down your funnel.
5. Pick a Social Media Platform
Half the world is on one social platform or another.
Be it Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok; you can use social media to reach your target audience with ease. With the right approach, you can develop your brand, enjoy newfound exposure, and drive people to your real estate website.
You can’t overstate the power of social media.
All it takes is one viral video to skyrocket your business to new heights of success. Better still, you can do it all for no money.
The trick is finding a platform that suits your audience. Figure out which platform they use most (e.g., Facebook is generally used by older individuals) and post valuable content at the right times to cultivate a following.
6. Leverage Influencers
It’s never been easier to get your business in front of an audience.
Now, it takes time to generate a following on social media. But many people out there already enjoy vast audiences that can serve you well in the meantime.
Known as influencers, these are the celebs of social media. A modern marketing strategy is to find relevant influencers and work with them to promote your service to their audience.
It’ll cost you money, but the rewards can be well worth it.
7. Build an Email List
Our final tip is to focus on email marketing.
This old dog of digital marketing is still one of the most effective strategies out there. The direct access offered by an email address is invaluable for driving interest and custom.
Work hard to drive traffic to a specific page of your website that’s dedicated to collecting email addresses (known as a landing page). By offering users something (such as a free real estate consultation or e-book) in exchange for their email address, you can set about growing your list.
Having collected their contact details, you can send personalized, helpful emails to cultivate a relationship. From there, it’s a matter of marketing your products/services to generate sales.
Embrace Your Digital Marketing Business
We live in a digital world in which the internet plays an ever-larger role.
For any business (real estate related or otherwise) to stay ahead, it must embrace this digital side of life. That can feel like a daunting prospect. However, with the right guidance and support, you can and will enjoy newfound success with a digital marketing business model.
Want some professional support with the task? Click here to view our services and get in touch today.