Nearly every real estate agent has used some form of digital marketing at one point or another. So, you probably already know that adding it to your repertoire as a real estate professional can be an absolute game-changer.

However, there are still a few areas where real estate agents like to hold onto the traditional ways of landing clients, print marketing being one of them.

In this blog post, we’re going to tell you everything you need to know about implementing digital marketing into your real estate strategy and the benefits you could be missing out on if you don’t. Let’s talk about it!

Here’s Why Real Estate Agents Don’t Need Just Direct Mail Marketing

When you think about marketing within the real estate industry, print marketing likely is one of the first strategies that come to mind. But, while print marketing may get part of the job done, going digital in real estate marketing will only expand your opportunities. Direct mail limits your real estate brand greatly.

As a digital marketing agency specializing in real estate and working with real estate professionals daily, we do not recommend only using digital marketing materials. We do, however, strongly recommend you incorporate them. The world is evolving, and almost everyone is using technology, and the opportunities for growth via online platforms are just growing and growing.

Not only can you use digital marketing strategies to distinguish yourself from other real estate agents, but there are also several additional benefits that can get you leads and hopefully turn those leads into clients. Your real estate business will thank you.

Google Search Ranking Improvement

The first place a potential client is going to go to look for real estate agents or a property is Google. People are so used to having information at the tip of their fingers. They don’t waste much time and will usually look at the first few results in a matter of seconds.

Without a strong marketing strategy, you’ll most likely end up being one of the last recommendations to come up when someone performs a search.

Figuring out how to use online marketing tools puts your website and name as one of the top searches on google will drive more traffic to your site, and you will usually get more leads hands down.

So How Do You Do That Exactly?

Don’t just create a website to have one and don’t just write blogs to seem active online. You have to approach everything with a strategy. Everything is a reflection of not only your brand but also your success online in the eyes of Google.

When creating your website, think about the content you are putting in and research the best keywords to use. The same goes for blogs. There are so many resources online that will do the research for you as well, it’s just a matter of seeing which works for you.

Once you do the research and you start posting content consistently that has strong keywords and integrated SEO, your website should gradually increase its position within a google search.

One of the best parts about this is that after a while you can go in and actually see results. You can use google analytics to see which keywords led people to your site the most, where your average position is when someone performs a google search, which links were pressed, and how many people actually landed on your page.

Reach Younger Audiences

In a study from July 2021, researchers found that 57.1% of Instagram users were under 34. Additionally, most young people are likely to throw out direct mail deemed as junk mail. Most of this audience grew up in a society where newspapers were hardly read, and social media platforms skyrocketed.

These young users have become accustomed to receiving information in a completely different way than those aged 35 and up. Because of that, real estate agents must change alongside the trends.

Why is it important to target these young users? Because if you don’t, you’re missing out on a large audience. These users are on their way to becoming first-time home buyers and renters.

As a real estate professional, you don’t want to close any doors. By understanding the trends and changing with them, you will be sure to attract a much larger audience.

However, using these platforms is one thing. Understanding how to effectively use them is a whole other ballpark. Don’t worry, though, if you’re not sure how to get started using these social media platforms. There are simple but effective strategies you can check out here.

Leads From Funneling

With your new digital marketing efforts, you can funnel. Direct mail has a hard time doing this smoothly, if at all. But, what does “funneling” mean?

Funneling is basically a strategized system of providing information to your website or landing page visitors to turn them into leads. In short, it’s going to take your real estate business to the next level.

With direct mail marketing, someone will see a message from a real estate agent and will then have to perform more actions to become a lead. They will encounter your message and then have to seek a way to become an actual lead, whether by making a phone call or looking you up as a real estate agent online.

However, if you get someone to click your website link online and they land on your homepage, you can easily gather their contact information if you incorporate funneling.

Once a visitor lands on your page, you can add a popup message saying something like, “subscribe to our newsletter,” and then they can sign up. Real estate agents can then send valuable information to their subscribers. And, on the other hand, once they receive the emails, you can also set specific actions to happen if they interact with that email, such as driving them back to your website.

That is just one example, but you can tailor your funneling however you would like and is strategically efficient. And let’s be real, people love free stuff! If you have freebies, such as neighborhood guides, that you could offer as an incentive to have someone give you their email, that is a great but simple way to get a lead!

Email Marketing

Using drip campaigns is a great way you can keep in touch with your current sphere.

Once you have gathered leads and email information, you can create monthly real estate newsletters that will automatically send to your sphere. The real estate market is unpredictable, but this is something you can maintain within online marketing to keep things predictable for your target audience.

With email marketing, you can separate your leads into different segments to target specific spheres. For example, if you have leads interested in your divorce real estate services, they would only get emails regarding divorce real estate.

This ability to segment and have drip campaigns tailored to your leads makes the interaction more personable and more likely to address the lead’s needs instead of sending out generic mass emails.

Whether you want more info on drip campaigns as a whole, are not convinced about the benefits of a drip campaign, or just need some ideas to start your drip campaign, we’ve got you covered. You can find the answers to all that and more here.

Data Analytics

One of my favorite benefits of digital marketing is having tangible results right in front of you.

If you’re only using print marketing, you don’t get precise analytics since nothing automatically tracks impressions or engagements. In any real estate business, you have no extra time to go about finding this!

So how do you know what can use some tweaking? Or how do you know if you should market one thing heavier than another? Or how do you know if your marketing is bringing you any leads? And are any of your cold leads converting to warm leads?

With a digital marketing plan, everything is being tracked. You have access to impressions, engagements, clicks, demographics, reach, and even data as precise as the average time someone spends on a specific page of your website.

Using this data, you can make proper adjustments to make your marketing tactics stronger. You will be able to know what is clearly working and what is not working so well.

In today's world, it is a lot easier to reach a large number of people through digital marketing. Hashtags, locations, and the ability to tag popular users or companies make it possible to reach people out of your sphere.

However, although it is easier to reach a large number of people in this digital world, it’s important to remember that the strategies you implement and the effectiveness of each interaction are what matters most. At the end of the day, real estate agents know what will have the best effect on their clients.

Simply using the platforms won’t get you many leads, and they probably won’t be strong ones. But if you can understand the strategy behind incorporating a digital marketing plan, you will set yourself up to reach a much wider audience and gain more leads.

Digital users are used to having the information they are seeking readily at their fingertips. So if you are going to enter the marketing world as a real estate agent, you can put yourself in the shoes of those seeking a service you offer.

What information would they be looking for? And get specific. Figuring this out will help you tailor the content you put out to fit the needs of potential leads best and drive them to become leads.

Ready to go digital? You won’t be in this alone. We put out monthly newsletters for real estate professionals every month to provide them with the best tips to have an effective digital presence. Your marketing skills will be next level in no time, and you can sign up using your email below!

In Real Estate, Should You Stick To Print Marketing or Try Digital as Well?