Why Content Marketing for Real Estate Agents is More Important Than Ever ?
More than ever, all industries have been forced to dramatically increase their online presence. With the COVID-19 pandemic affecting in-person sales and marketing methods, businesses increasingly must improve their online messaging to continue making sales.
This trend is significant for the real estate industry. Historically, the industry has been more reliant on traditional marketing methods, like print advertising, and on in-person meetings. However, real estate agents are increasingly embracing content marketing as an efficient and reliable means of growing their business.
To adapt to a changing world, real estate content marketing is crucial to the success of your business. If you are new to content marketing, there are several key strategies that are especially effective. Here are a few of them:
1. Selling Experiences
Content marketing for real estate is reliant on a lot more than publicizing bricks and mortar. The buildings themselves are secondary to the experiences that families will have while living in these homes and neighborhoods. To attract potential clients to a property, show them that you have an intimate knowledge of what it looks like to live in this community. What will their daily lives look like? What kinds of memories will they make in these places?
Focusing on experiences allows you to create content that is topic-driven. This means writing about topics that homebuyers care about: local restaurants, school systems, day care options, etc. Such material requires in-depth knowledge of a particular geographic area. This kind of specialization adds to your own authority and builds confidence with clients.
2. A Focus on Social Media
Among all available forms of content marketing, social media has recently emerged as one of the most effective. In 2020, close to 44 percent of agents surveyed had gained a new client due to posting on social media. Only referrals are consistently more effective for obtaining new listings.
What kinds of posts are successful? Generally speaking, infographics that convey simple statistics and highlight key trends are well received. This is an especially effective tactic for reaching visual learners, who may find images and infographics as easier ways of digesting current real estate trends. Such posts provide a “snapshot” of the industry, which can propel potential homebuyers to take immediate action. Canva is a particularly effective tool for creating graphics.
Other great social media content includes honest revies and testimonials. As it becomes increasingly difficult to discern what online content is genuine, “social proof” makes a significant difference in building customer trust.
When surveyed, 82 percent of real estate agents said over the next year they will focus on “improving their social media presence.” This is a trend you don’t want to get behind on!
3. Create Quality Content
While social media may be dominating the real estate content marketing game, that’s not to say that other forms of content are not also valuable. Blogs are a consistently effective means of proving your own expertise in the industry. By determining what your customers want to know about a particular geographic area, you can easily answer their questions before they even contact you. This kind of content will improve your search engine rankings and ensure that your web page receives more traffic – increasing the likelihood of making a sale.
Videos are another popular method of sharing your expertise. It adds a personal edge and show first-hand that you are the one with the expertise (as opposed to content copied from other sources). Younger audiences are especially drawn to visually stimulating content. They also love podcasts. It’s one way of sharing information unobtrusively into homebuyer’s increasingly busy lives. Instead of having to search for content and take the time to read it, audiences can listen to the latest real estate trends while driving to work or doing the dishes.
Producing a variety of content is key. To really stand out and differentiate yourself, you want to reach your audience using as many resources as are available to you. This includes eBooks, email campaigns, and white papers. While social media might be the core focus of your real estate content marketing strategy, diversity is also important.
By following these simple steps, you are guaranteed to increase your online visibility and establish your brand as an authority within the real estate industry. It is also better to be more specific with your content, appealing to demographics within neighborhoods where you do business.
If you need further advice to create a new content strategy or improve upon an existing one, Writer Army is here to help. We have extensive experience dealing with the real estate industry, and our team is comprised of skilled writers across the country who can write intelligently about niche markets. We can help you develop a content marketing strategy and create the effective content you need to get it off the ground.
