Compared to conventional marketing, digital marketing offers unbeatable ROI. It allows surgical targeting, choice of media platforms, and you know exactly which channels are working. These aspects make digital marketing a very appealing tool. And the real estate industry stands to gain immensely. Digital marketing allows you to research and build the best methods to reach your potential customers. In this article we look at the main points you need to cover to build a well-thought-out real estate digital marketing plan.
Steps to Build Your Real Estate Digital Marketing Plan
1. Set Your Goals.
Not all real estate businesses have the same objectives all the time. While lead generation probably tops the list there are other desired outcomes as well, such as:
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- Creating desired brand perceptions & boosting brand recall
- Establishing leadership
- Presenting your Projects and Services to your specific TG in the best way possible
- Creating brand advocacy
- Developing your stature as an authority in the industry
- Building positive associations for your brand, and, of course,
- Building and developing leads
2. Define your Target Audience/Group (TA/TG)
Without knowing exactly who your target is, you will end up on the wrong media, using inaccurate messaging and generally bleeding money.
To identify your target audience, consider the group of people most likely to do business with you.
For instance, if you’re selling toys, your target audience would be families with young children. With real estate, your target audience is most likely adults with good credit, upwardly mobile, urbane, and aspirational. You also need to fine tune your audience selection based on your project type, for instance, the audience for farmhouses would not be the same as those interested in city central homes. Real estate players would largely target individuals above 30 – 35. These persons are more likely to be interested in luxury residences and have the financial resources to take advantage of high-ticket opportunities.
3. Identify your Value Proposition (VP)
Knowing your value proposition goes a long way towards creating messaging that resonates with your audience. For instance, green/sustainability certifications, a unique amenity list, a well-connected location, nature, etc.
It goes without saying that developers with high brand equity can rely on their name.
4. Determine the Most Suitable Content & Channels (Media)
Digital marketing channels today offer a wide variety of content options, including video, written, and audio. And you can and should use all of the above. Of course, your choice of media channels depends on your TG. While younger audiences can be reached easily on Tik Tok, which is one of the most popular social media channels. But the users are mostly under 30. They probably aren’t interested or have the resources to purchase real estate. So the channels you choose depend largely on your target audience, what you’re offering, and your objectives
5. Imperatives for Every Real Estate Marketing Digital Marketing Plan
Whatever your content type or media choice, there are some universal goals that all forms of digital marketing for real estate must strive to achieve.
6. Provide Value
Entertaining your audiences is great, but your ultimate objective is to sell a product or service and to do that effectively you need to strongly communicate the value they can expect from your product or service.
7. Establish Your Credentials
People buy from businesses they trust, and you need to establish your trustworthiness. This could be through industry certifications, awards, or testimonials from previous customers. You can communicate this effectively through posts on channels like LinkedIn and Twitter. Blog posts are another good way to communicate thought leadership in your industry.
8. Improve Your Search Engine Ranking
Once you’ve created your content, you still have to ensure it is visible to your audience. And that means search engine visibility. This is essential to the success of your digital marketing campaign. The higher your page ranks the greater the traffic. Statistics show that more than 25% of internet users click on the first search engine result of their query, and less than 15% go beyond the first page.
So you must ensure that you also have a strong Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. For more information, check out our guide to real estate SEO.
9. Enable ‘Stickiness’
The best content is not just consumed and forgotten. Users like to engage with the creator, share it, and comment on it…these characteristics are what send content viral. So ensure you enable this with “like” buttons, “share” buttons, comment sections, or voting features.
10. Be Visually Striking
Consumers prefer visual content over verbal, so make sure you always include interesting, thought-provoking imagery, be it on your website, blog posts…even podcasts—an exclusively audio media—will benefit from a good cover photo.
You can use video to showcase your projects, walkthroughs, actual site images, and rendered images. Make sure the visuals are accompanied by captions and short informative content.
Real estate digital marketing is the answer to lead generation, bringing brand awareness, establishing your position in the market, and turning customers into brand advocates. And there are many different types of content and media channels to help you get there. For regular tips to help you become a better real estate marketeer, stay connected with BSX by subscribing to our channel.
