5 Strategies For Real Estate Marketing That Work

Real estate is one of the most competitive markets in the world.

The growth rate of US real estate sales has increased significantly since 2019. And since 2000, the number of realtors in Florida has tripled.

But in 2022 the real estate market began to experience a downturn. Interest rates are increasing, fewer people want to sell their properties, and production at most real estate brokerages is down.

Snagging clients in this climate is no small feat. What makes it even more challenging is that 73% of buyers only meet with one realtor during their search.

With so many realtors out there, it’s vital that you differentiate your real estate company.

You must ask yourself: “What makes my real estate company so special? Why would clients choose me from among thousands of other realtors?”

Your next question should be, “How do I communicate this for maximum impact?”

This is where real estate marketing strategies are key to success.

In this article, we will unpack five real estate marketing ideas that will greatly improve your ability to get new clients.

In This Article, We Cover the Following:

Create a real estate marketing plan
Get the basics of real estate marketing right
Different digital marketing ideas
Public relations and traditional real estate marketing ideas
Create a real estate lead generation machine

Create a Real Estate Marketing Plan

The most important thing you can do as a new real estate brokerage is to begin selling right away.

But the real estate market is saturated with well-established brands and innovative services.

This means you’ll also need to understand your market if you want to identify, plan, and achieve your goals.

Developing an actionable business plan that focuses on doing the things that matter, at the time they matter most will help you to do this. Your marketing plan is the most important part of your real estate business plan.

You’ll need to understand:

What’s the market like?

You can spot emerging opportunities by doing daily research that includes looking at property listings and reading real estate articles.

Localizing your real estate marketing efforts will also make you more competitive, so make sure to familiarize yourself with your local market. Average house prices, property demand, commission rates for real estate agents, and other details will enable you to pinpoint gaps your company could fill.

You should also tap into the firsthand experiences of people who are buying or selling. For example, online discussion forums or social media conversations are a gold mine for discovering unmet needs.

Here are some examples of the best real estate forums out there:

Read this article to discover more options.

Who are your competitors?

By looking at what your competitors are doing, you can determine where the market is saturated or where there might be opportunities to alleviate buyers’ pain points.

Start by considering what the big boys are doing right. Companies like Coldwell Banker and RE/MAX are successful for a reason, so decide which real estate marketing ideas could work for your company.

Then think about what they’re doing wrong.

Take a look at where they might be disappointing buyers to determine if you could meet these needs.

Creating your real estate marketing plan

Now that you have a detailed understanding of the market, your competitors, and how your company differs, you can begin crafting your real estate marketing plan. Here’s what it should cover:

Describe your target audience

List the characteristics of your target customer so that you have a clear grasp of who they are. This includes their age, interests, location, income level, education level, etc.

Articulate your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

You should be able to explain what you offer that others don’t clearly. Your USP should be concise and accessible so your target audience can easily understand it.

Pinpoint the features that set your company apart

Aside from your USP, your organization will have other characteristics that make it unique. Perhaps it’s the special way your employees interact with customers, or maybe it’s an unusual service. Clearly spell out all the ways your company is different.

Buyers report that the qualities they value most in realtors include communication skills, negotiation skills, responsiveness, in-depth knowledge of the market and the purchasing process, and honesty.

Be clear on budget

Your budget will have a massive impact on what kinds of real estate marketing initiatives you’ll be able to execute, so make sure your real estate agents have sight of these details.

Select your media channels

The messaging you choose depends on the channel you use. Whether you go with traditional real estate marketing, digital marketing, or perhaps both, your team needs to know where you will promote the company. Your customers will also determine which channels you use.

For example, if you’re targeting a younger market, social media platforms are an effective real estate marketing channel as this demographic spends more time online. This requires messaging that’s concise and impactful, with compelling visuals that instantly get the person’s attention.

If your target market is slightly older, email marketing works well, as most people in this age group use this channel. In this case, your messaging should be narrowly focused on their interests, with high-quality images that showcase what you have to offer.

Create a timeline with milestones

The ultimate goal of increasing sales becomes much more manageable when it’s broken down into smaller steps. This is why it’s important to give your team clear deliverables and deadlines to keep them focused, on track, and accountable.

Decide on the metrics you will use

You won’t know if you’re getting closer to your goal if you haven’t chosen metrics that reflect performance. Sales should always be the most important goal, but think about which secondary targets will support sales best.

Examples include leads, website traffic, followers, etc. Communicate which ones matter the most to your team so they can determine whether their real estate marketing efforts are paying off.

Get the Basics of Real Estate Marketing Right

Use your website to sell you and your team

If you don’t have a website, this should be your top priority.

According to the National Association of Realtors, 43% of U.S.-based home buyers look for properties on the internet. And this number is constantly growing.

A website is critical for any real estate company. However, if you are starting a remote brokerage, you don’t have a real estate business until you have a website.

Most real estate websites focus on property listings. This is not a good way to run your site.

Buyers looking for properties will visit large sites like Zillow, and are unlikely to visit individual real estate websites for this purpose.

Instead, people viewing your site want to know about the realtor they’ll be working with. Your site should showcase your team and why your company is unique.

Use your real estate website as a platform for sharing testimonials and reviews, and clearly spell out how your company will meet buyers’ needs.

Prioritise Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

When it comes to SEO strategy, local is the way to go. You can’t compete on a national level, so select keywords that are specific to your area and ensure that local buyers find you on the web.

Start with an SEO audit to determine which pages are in desperate need of optimization.

If you’re new to SEO, then check out this beginners’ guide from Moz.

The most important areas to focus on include:

Real estate marketing content

Make sure your content is easy to read and that it includes relevant keywords. Choose keywords that your buyers use in searches to help your real estate website rank higher on Google. Those same keywords should feature in your professional website content.

Ahrefs is a great tool for doing keyword research, as well as monitoring important factors such as your website’s authority rating.

Page structure

Make sure you include titles, meta descriptions, heading tags, and URLs. Tags and meta descriptions are bits of HTML code that feature in the header of a web page and make it possible for a search engine to know what content that page includes. With accurate titles and meta descriptions, you’ll get more website visitors and clicks.

Heading tags organize your content so that it’s easy to read, while URLs inform Google about the content of each page and how they relate. The more information you include about what people can expect to find on each page of your website, the more likely it is that the right people will find it.

Links

Fix any broken links and include outbound and inbound links that improve the quality of your content. Inbound links sit anywhere on the web and direct people to your site, while outbound links feature on your site and direct people to further content. The more inbound links you have that come from reputable sources, the higher your website will rank because search engines track this. And if you include outbound links that drive people to high-quality content, people will think your website is more legitimate.

Usability

Improve the overall experience by speeding up your website’s loading time and page navigation. Create an accessible interface that makes it clear where users need to go to get the information they’re looking for. Finally, make your site compatible with mobile devices so that people can easily use it on their smartphones.

Tools like Pingdom.com can be used to test your page speed and show where you might be able to make improvements.

Find a skilled photographer

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, and when it comes to selling property this is especially true.

High-quality photos make homes sell 32% faster.

Sharp, beautiful photos of each property have the power to immediately hook a buyer.

As such, it’s crucial to hire a great photographer. They must use cutting-edge gear, have a creative eye, and properly edit each image.

For example, Scott Basile is a photographer from San Diego and his area of expertise is interiors and architecture.

Not sure where to find talented photographers? Here’s a list of some of the best in the real estate industry.

Use Zillow

If you work in real estate you’ll know Zillow well. It’s an online platform that functions as a real estate marketplace. Whether you want to buy, sell, or rent, you can do it all on Zillow.

If you haven’t created a profile yet, now is the time to do so.

With 188 million monthly viewers, you can’t afford to miss out on this kind of visibility.

Use Google My Business

Having a presence on Google My Business is also important. This is a tool to manage and optimize the business profile you have on Google. It appears on Google Maps and the local results of a Google Search. Millions of people use these services because they help enhance company visibility. Plus, it’s simple to set up and list your business!

Different Digital Marketing Ideas

Once you have the basics under your belt, you can up your game with some digital real estate marketing ideas.

Blog for better growth

When you create your own content you offer your customers valuable information that’s free, encouraging them to return to your site. And if the content is SEO optimized, you’ll rank higher on search engines, giving you even more visitors.

Studies show that blogging results in 55% more visitors and 126% greater lead growth.

Create relevant content

But remember, this content will only work for you if it’s relevant to buyers’ interests and hooks them immediately. Hire professional writers if you want to guarantee content that hits the mark every time.

Here is an example from Virginia Capital Realty. The article explains the different appraisals and inspections that a buyer needs to undertake. It offers useful information on a complex topic and highlights the company’s expertise.

It also helps push readers along the sales pipeline by encouraging them to get in touch or download a lead magnet.

Engage in email marketing

89% of marketers use email marketing as their primary strategy for generating leads and it’s also rated as the most effective real estate marketing channel.

With email marketing systems like LeadPages and Aweber, you can collect email addresses and create messaging that specifically targets these individuals. The benefit of email marketing is that it’s more personalized because your messaging can be customized to different target audiences.

Here’s a quick guide to get your email marketing campaign going:

1. Build your email list

You need to get the email addresses of your ideal customers. To do this you will need an email marketing platform, a lead magnet, and the relevant permissions.

Email marketing tools include MailChimp, Flodesk, ActiveCampaign, and many more. A lead magnet is something valuable you offer your audience for free in exchange for their email address. We discuss this in more detail below.

You also need to be transparent that people are signing up to a maling list. Make your call to action clear and explain what they will get in return when they sign up.

Don’t try to trick people into signing up. You should also unsubscribe them or delete all the personal information that you hold on them as soon as they request it. Also include an “unsubscribe” button that is clearly visible.

These are legal requirements for managing an email list. For more information, read this guide to US privacy laws.

2. Create the content

Your content is the mechanism for building a relationship with prospective buyers, so this shouldn’t be rushed. It should be as specific to their needs and interests as possible. Here are three content-based real estate marketing ideas that have proved effective:

A Welcome Email: This is how you make your first impression. Ensure that the email is warm, inviting, and immediately offers value specific to your audience, such as a guide to choosing investment properties.

A Newsletter: This is an effective way of staying in regular contact with your audience so that you remain top of mind for them. Don’t send one too regularly as this can quickly become a nuisance. Also make sure that each edition offers valuable information, tips, testimonials, or real estate listings that appeal to readers. Don’t just tell them that the market is ‘hot.’ For example, you could send readers the latest property listings that have come on the market that day—this way, buyers will look out for your email.

A Market Update: Showcase your expertise and knowledge with a regular market update. This could include an analysis of what has been selling, as well as its location, andprice. You could then provide advice for buyers and sellers. This is a good way of showing potential clients the value of your expertise.

3. Not too frequent

As we’ve mentioned, it’s important to communicate with your audience on a regular basis but not so often that they start to dismiss your emails as irrelevant. One to three times per week is about the right frequency.

4. Responsiveness is key

Whenever someone replies to your communication, you need to answer. Real estate is a fast-moving industry, so if you don’t respond promptly you’ll lose business. But the bigger your real estate business gets, the less likely it is that you’ll be able to address every email.

This is where autoresponders come in. They answer emails for you while you’re busy with other tasks. The autoresponders built into email platforms are usually basic.

On the other hand, your email marketing software should offer several features that allow you to create autoresponder sequences. Check out this article to find out what’s available.

5. Assess your success

Email marketing campaigns are easy to analyze. Your email marketing software will feature dashboards that show you the most important metrics from each email you send.

You should monitor your click-through rate, the number of people who viewed your emails, the number of people who have unsubscribed, and other metrics like these to determine whether you need to make changes to your approach.

Use a lead magnet

A lead magnet is something valuable that you offer in exchange for someone’s information— usually an email address. This often takes the form of a free guide, and its purpose is to generate leads you can target with further online marketing.

In its Not Another State of Marketing Report, Hubspot found that 63% of the marketers interviewed reported that finding new leads was their biggest problem.

The challenge is that people are reluctant to share their personal information. The freebie you offer must be valuable enough to convince them to submit their details.

To achieve this, you need to create a lead magnet that is customized to your target audience. Make sure it attracts a specific person—your ideal buyer. Examples include a cheat sheet, free trial, assessment, quiz, etc.

You can also use tools that generate quality lead magnets: Wistia, Canva, OptinMonster, Hubspot Blog Ideas Generator, and many more.

Here are some examples of great real estate lead magnets:

Market reports

As mentioned before, this could include an analysis of what has been selling, its location, and its price, as well as advice for buyers and sellers. This will be useful for both parties because it comes from trusted real estate professionals with their finger on the pulse of the market (that’s you!). It also saves them time if you do the research for them.

Buyer’s/seller’s guides

Understanding the buying or selling process is complex and people are aware that they can make mistakes, or be taken advantage of. Providing concise and easy-to-understand buyer and seller guides will make prospective clients more informed, empowered, and confident. This benefits you too. When clients finally come to do business with you, they’ll know what they need to have in place and will have realistic expectations. This will make working with them much easier.

Free home evaluations

Sellers will always want to know what their home is actually worth before entering the market. With the use of in-house automated valuation or a comparative market analysis tool, you’ll be able to submit the report when they fill in their email address.

Social media campaigns

Social media platforms are powerful tools because most people are on at least one platform. Here are the best platforms for real estate marketing.

1. Instagram

This popular platform gives you the opportunity to showcase beautiful photographs or videos of the properties you’re selling. Take a look at this example, where the realtor focused on the interior space to make an impact.

2. Facebook

Facebook has excellent targeting functions, which makes it useful for real estate marketing to your ideal customer. You can even use Facebook Live to create a visual tour of the property.

3. Twitter

This is an effective conversation starter for important real estate topics. Use trending hashtags and quality visuals to draw attention to your company. Answer questions and share your opinion to show your expertise and be at the forefront of important conversations.

4. LinkedIn

Not many buyers or sellers will be searching on LinkedIn, so it’s not worth listing properties here. Instead, you should use it to connect with other professionals in the property sector. This is great for building your team, finding good suppliers, and sharing knowledge and best practice.

Below is a good example from Gary Molner of Lang Realty. Notice that the article is aimed at investors and not buyers or sellers.

PPC advertising

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is when you pay to have your website appear in the sponsored links section of search engines. It is an effective way of increasing the number of website visitors you get.

Here’s a quick guide to get started:

1. Get to know the market

You need to have a detailed understanding of the types of properties you want to sell, the areas you’ll be focusing on, and the buyers/sellers you want to reach. Based on this information, you need to do keyword research to find out which words your ideal customers use when they search online.

2. Getting leads

Now that you know the relevant keywords, you need to capture conversions once people have clicked the ad. There are several platforms that can help you do this, such as Kunversion.

3. Keep in touch

Once you’ve managed to attract a lead, you need to follow up on them to take them further down your sales and marketing funnel. Email marketing is a great way to do this.

Mobile optimization

Even if your website works well, this won’t mean much if it can’t be viewed on mobile devices. Most people have smartphones and it’s their primary way to find businesses, services, and products.

56% of online consumers in the U.S. search for local businesses using a mobile device. And 51% of smartphone users have found a new company or product by searching on their phones.

This means that your website needs to load quickly and function well on both Android and Apple smartphones.

Public Relations and Traditional Real Estate Marketing Ideas

Organize engaging events

Better known as experiential marketing, interactive events can really move the needle in terms of attracting new prospects. Give buyers a tour of the neighborhood they are interested in, or host a webinar that teaches people about the buying and selling process. The goal here is to develop relationships with your customers, so create experiences that will be valuable for them and encourage engagement to build rapport.

For example, a growing trend is to host client appreciation parties for both past and future clients. Some real estate marketing ideas include renting out a nightclub or bar, creating a holiday event like a Christmas party, or even hosting a house party.

Host home viewings

An effective way of attracting more prospects is to invite local businesses to home viewings so that you have an opportunity to engage with them face-to-face. These interactions give you a chance to identify pain points and learn more about what buyers are looking for. Think of these events as a feedback loop that can help you hone your real estate marketing strategy.

Discover the power of drones

You can elevate your photography by making use of drones. This technology has been around for some time, but real estate agents are still not capitalizing on its possibilities as much as they should. Capture unique footage that truly reveals the size and grandeur of each property. You can even showcase the immediate environment so that buyers know exactly what the neighborhood looks like.

In 2020, it was estimated that more than one out of every five commercial drone shoots were for real estate purposes.

So jump on this emerging trend while it counts! Drones that are specifically recommended for real estate photography include the DJI Mini 2 Drone, the EXO Blackhawk, the DJI Phantom, and many others.

Craft creative videos

In the age of COVID-19, virtual tours have become all the rage. And real estate agents are taking full advantage of this approach. Video walkthroughs give buyers a safe and convenient way of viewing the property, and it gives you the power to showcase the property from a specific perspective.

With editing tools, you can put together a video that highlights the best aspects of every property. And you don’t need to spend a fortune either—a high-quality smartphone will do the trick!

Here’s an example of a quality cinematic experience where the real estate agent talks to the audience and takes them through the property.

Real estate agents go 3D with a Matterport

If you want to take videos to the next level, you’ll need to invest in a Matterport 3D camera that will piece together a 3D dollhouse of the entire property. This gives buyers the opportunity to explore it through virtual reality. Now they can experience what the space will look and feel like, wherever they are.

This innovation is one of many 3D and VR experiences that will become more common in the future. That’s why it’s important to use this tool while the approach is still novel.

Traditional forms of real estate marketing that still work

Create a memorable real estate business card

While business cards may seem old-fashioned, they still perform an important function— especially if you get creative about it. This is a quick and impactful way of showcasing your brand, so make sure the design and content of your card is both attractive and attention-grabbing.

Some effective techniques include adding a QR code to create a gateway to your site, integrating a photo of yourself so people can connect a name with a face, or including iconic imagery from the area you’re selling in.

Tap into referrals

Referrals are still a core real estate marketing strategy because they work!

In fact, 41% of sellers found their realtor based on referrals from family and friends.

The best way of requesting this from buyers is to give them time to settle into their new home before reaching out with an email. After asking how they are, you can subtly request a referral if someone they know ever needs a realtor.

Ask for testimonials

One study found that the use of testimonials can bump your revenue by 62%.

Testimonials are powerful because they offer feedback from existing customers, so prospective buyers are more likely to believe them. Ask clients to share their feedback in writing so that you can use it on your website and other marketing collateral. Just think of the kind of impact a testimonial like this can make on your website!

When traditional advertising is still worth it

Before digital marketing strategies emerged there were plenty of other ways to get your brand noticed, many of which we still use today. For example, billboards are everywhere you look, and this is because they still work. Every time a person drives past one they are influenced by the messaging, and over time this is likely to influence their actions. Handing out flyers is another traditional marketing strategy that can quickly and easily boost local awareness of your company.

Buy quality branded gifts

In such a fiercely competitive environment, you need to go the extra mile. And that means surprising your clients with corporate gifts that make your brand stand out. Gifts are effective because this is another way in which you are cultivating a relationship that ultimately determines whether you close the deal or not.

Put effort into coming up with useful and unusual gifts such as a luxury gift basket, an interior design consultation gift card, smart technology, or a gift card to a wonderful local restaurant.

Keep track of performance

As with digital marketing, you need to find ways of measuring your performance when it comes to traditional marketing. Without this, you won’t know whether these techniques are working, which means you could be wasting time and money on activities that don’t make a difference.

Tried-and-true methods include:

Customer surveys.
Unique numbers on flyers to count how many people contact you.
QR codes to track the performance of each campaign.
Using your traditional marketing material to drive people to digital platforms.

5. Create a Real Estate Lead Generation Machine

The more leads you have, the more deals you can do. That’s why lead generation is vital to every real estate business.

You can ensure that your brokerage works efficiently by creating a system that provides real estate agents with enough leads to keep them working at capacity.

This has the added benefit of keeping your agents happy. They’ll be doing what they love and what’s most profitable for them—selling properties.

At a recent Paperless Pipeline industry roundtable, we heard from one of our customers, Daniel McClam, President of Hawks Real Estate in Charleston South Carolina.

His real estate business has created a unique lead generation system. He uses it to buy properties and sell them wholesale to institutional investors—but there’s no reason a similar system couldn’t be applied to traditional real estate brokers or even a commercial real estate professional.

How it works:

Buyers provide Hawks with a specification of the kind of property they want to purchase. For Hawks, the buyer is an institutional investor—but for you, it could be a family looking for a larger home or first-time buyers seeking an affordable apartment.
Hawks has specialist software that they use to identify properties that match the specification. It also finds owners who are likely to want to sell their property. For example, this could be homeowners going through a divorce or instances where the owner has died.
A call center based abroad makes hundreds of daily calls to these property owners, asking them if they would consider selling.
If the response is positive, the lead is passed on to an agent who manages the sale.

This system benefits all parties. The seller can sell their property, the buyer gets their dream home, and the agent gets a hot lead.

Conclusion

Your real estate marketing should be a powerful driver of sales. We’ve explained that while planning and understanding your market are critical, action is even more important. You should spend more time doing and less time thinking.

Remember, don’t waste your time and get marketing your company today.