The success of any real estate business comes down to marketing, and the marketing strategies are often quite a bit different than traditional techniques. Though many things such as determining your target audience and your main purpose are the same, it’s different in that the target audience is often smaller per capita, since people don’t look for new homes as often as they look for new shoes.
The nature of the beast requires a broader marketing strategy to reach a wider audience. If you’re looking to adopt an excellent strategy for marketing your real estate website, check out these tips.
1. Leave No Online Stone Unturned
Everything is online nowadays, and there are hundreds of resources specifically designed for real estate use. Make sure you explore every online avenue. There are website plugins, social buttons, targeted advertisements, listing websites and more at your disposal for an excellent marketing campaign. Listing websites, such as Craigslist, Zillow, Postlets and other online advertisements are some of the best ways to make your property listings known.
2. Spruce Up Your Website
The purpose of online advertising and listings is to get buyers to your website, and if they get there and find that it’s a mess, they won’t want to stick around. Focusing on good website design will help you to not only attract interested buyers, but also keep them coming back.
3. Use Social Media
The best way to market your company across a broad audience is through social media. It’s a huge market with largely untapped potential in the real estate world. It’s a great way to build brand awareness and spread the word that you have properties for sale in certain areas.
“You can [also] use Facebook to create highly targeted advertisements, or simply ask friends to share properties on their profiles,” says a blog post from Green Residential, expert property managers. “This is an easy way to get people talking about your listings.” The blog post goes on to say that Facebook is the most effective network for marketing real estate.
4. Don’t Neglect the Property
With so many online resources available to spread the word about your property, it’s easy to forget about the property itself. However, a well-maintained property can do wonders for attracting the locals. When working to sell or rent a property, focus on curb appeal.
“When selling your home, landscaping determines whether your home feels inviting from the outside,” reports this blog post from Bankrate. “Curb appeal is important to 71 percent of homebuyers when choosing their abode.” In short, you’ll have a very difficult time getting your online audience to tour your property if it doesn’t look amazing from the outside.
5. Invest in Professional Images
When it comes to online listings, it’s not the written list of amenities that sells a home; it’s the photos. Investing in high quality, professional images will help to make your property look like it’s worth every penny of the asking price.
Aside from posting quality photos of the home and the yard, post photos of nearby amenities. As every real estate guru knows, the most important aspect of a property is location, and images of nearby attractions can make the home look even better.
6. Integrate Physical Advertising
It’s important to recognize that even though online advertising will reach a broader audience, physical advertising also plays an important role in attracting home buyers, particularly if it’s used in conjunction with your online strategies. For example, a for sale sign that directs interested parties to your phone number, website, and social profiles can make a much greater impact than only listing the phone number.