5 Online Marketing Tips for Real Estate Agents

As a real estate agent, or virtually any other type of business for that matter, building an online presence is crucial for success in the modern world. People invariably turn to the Internet when they are looking for a new home to buy, and long gone are the days when the majority of buyers would go browsing through the advertisements in the windows of high-street estate agencies. While you probably already know about the importance of having a website and maintaining social media profiles on the major networks, the following takes a look at some of the online marketing tips that concern real estate businesses in particular.

1 . Focus on Visual Content

A real estate agent is very much a visually orientated business, yet amazingly, you’ll still sometimes come across property advertisements that don’t even feature any photos! Far more common, however, are poor quality thumbnail photos that fail to give the viewer enough information to hold their attention, let alone encourage them to get in contact. As a real estate agent, you can never have too many high-quality photos in your portfolio, and it is important to feature both interior and exterior images for all of your properties. However, the photos accompanying your ads aren’t the only ones of import: you’ll also need to choose attractive cover photos for things like your website header and social media profile headers. These cover photos present a great marketing opportunity, since they can help to capture the spirit of your brand.

2. Maintain a Personal Blog

For most people, buying a home is the single biggest transaction that they will ever make in their lives, so it makes sense that trust is usually their first priority. By maintaining a personal blog, website or profile that is connected to your real estate agent, you’ll be able to show the more human side of your business and build up a more meaningful relationship with your clients. Blogging is also a great way to deliver helpful, value-adding content that both your readers and the search engines will appreciate. Through comments and forums, you can also respond to peoples’ queries and set yourself up as a respected authority in your niche.

3. Create Local Content

Many buyers are just as interested, if not more so, in the surroundings of the places they’re looking to buy. They will likely want to know about local facilities, such as schools, shops, public transport stops and entertainment venues, so it is essential that you provide this information in your portfolio both for the benefit of sellers and buyers. You may also want to consider showcasing the areas that you serve not just by focussing on the basics, but also by creating presentations that will be genuinely helpful to people who are thinking of moving to the area. You can choose from an extensive variety of content formats, including infographics, videos and slideshow presentations. Don’t focus only on the specific properties that you are selling.

4. Know Your Target Market

Of course, a thorough knowledge of the target market is essential for any type of business, but it is even more important that you use this information to reach out to the right people. For example, the channels and methods that you use to market luxury properties towards wealthy buyers will be very different to advertising cheap rentals to students. You should apply your knowledge of the target market to your paid online advertising campaigns and when formulating your content strategy. Advertisements featuring family homes should focus on family-orientated facilities in the area, while those seeking bachelor flats will likely be more interested in entertainment facilities and public transport in the region.

5. Provide Up-to-Date Content

Providing relevant and current content is an absolute must if you want to have any hope of building up trust. If people call up to arrange a viewing having seen one of your properties online, yet the property has already sold, they’ll quickly lose patience and turn elsewhere. Always make certain that your website and any other online portals that you have access to are kept up-to-date. Remove old listings immediately, and maintain a clear line of communication between you and the sellers in order to make certain that all of the information in your property portfolio is kept current and accurate. A lack of such information will only turn people away in droves and give you a bad reputation in a highly competitive industry.