How Can Digital Marketing Help In My Real Estate Job?

It’s safe to say that in 2022, digital marketing should be an integral part of your real estate marketing strategy.  According to the recent Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report published by the NAR, all generations of home buyers use online search tools to begin their home search.  This is a big departure from how people used to look for homes at their local real estate office.  Now more than ever, it’s important that agents and brokers alike focus on how to effectively use digital marketing for real estate.  

This fact is not lost on most agents.  Many agents want to develop a solid digital marketing strategy but are struggling to adapt to real estate marketing trends being employed by top agents.  This article will teach you how to use digital marketing to help you build your real estate business.

Table of Contents

1. What is digital marketing?
2. The importance of a strong digital marketing strategy
3. 5 Tips to improve your real estate digital marketing strategy
4. Make sure your website is optimized for search engines
5. Use social media to your advantage
6. Use email marketing to stay in touch with leads
7. Conclusion

1. What is Digital Marketing?

Simply put, digital marketing is a way for businesses to promote their brand to potential customers via the internet.  Under the umbrella of digital marketing are some common types of marketing you may have heard of.  These include:

• Website design and development – building a website and/or web application
• Social media marketing – promoting your brand on top social media sites
• Paid advertising – pay-per-click campaigns with Google Ads, Facebook Ads, or ad networks
• Search Engine Optimization – the process of optimizing your website for search engine traffic
• Graphic Design – creating logos, digital display ads, infographics, etc.
• Email Marketing – sending out promotional material to your contact list via email
• Video Marketing – the creation of promotional video content to be shared via digital channels like YouTube

These are examples of some of the common types of digital marketing for real estate agents being used in 2022.    

2. The Importance of a Strong Digital Marketing Strategy

According to this digital marketing for real estate pdf released by the NAR, 90% of home buyers searched online during their home buying process.  According to data from Google trends, people searching for the keyword ‘homes for sale’ has quadrupled since 2004.  At this point, digital marketing needs to be a core component of your promotional strategy as a real estate agent.  If not, you’re missing out on a huge portion of potential leads and referrals that are you using the internet to buy and sell their homes. 

3. 5 Tips To Improve Your Real Estate Digital Marketing Strategy

So many agents want to improve their digital marketing strategy, but they just don’t know where to start.  Here are 5 tips that will improve your digital marketing strategy starting today:

1. Focus on producing great content – In the world of digital marketing, content is king.  Content can mean different things in real estate digital marketing. Content includes your listing descriptions, pictures and property videos, which is often the first thing a prospective buyer sees before ever calling you.  Content could also be a real estate blog that helps educate prospective clients before they reach out to you.  126% lead growth is attributed to small businesses with blogs compared to small businesses without.  
2. Build your own digital ecosystem – Don’t be dependent on the national portals as your only source of lead generation.  Build out your social media profiles and get yourself a professional website.  Create great content and curate it across all of these digital assets.  This is how you can build your own following.
3. Focus content strategy on both buyers and sellers – So much of today’s real estate content is focused on buyers, but ask most real estate agents where most of their business comes from and they’ll likely say “sellers and past clients”.  Make sure the content you’re producing caters to both buyers and sellers.
4. Build a great online reputation – Online reviews are the digital version of word-of-mouth advertising.  Just as having a good reputation can help agents earn more referrals, good online reviews can help you generate more leads.  Don’t be afraid to ask previous clients to leave a review on Facebook, Yelp, or Google My Business.  
5. Set it and forget it – In the past few years, automation tools like Zapier have made it easy for anyone to build complex automation apps that help amplify reach and save time.  You can easily integrate multiple platforms so when you post a blog or listing to your website, it automatically posts to all of your social media pages and even to your newsletter.  

4. Make Sure Your Website Is Optimized For Search Engines

It’s been estimated that 53% of all website traffic originates from search engines.  Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing your website for search engine traffic. This includes performing thorough keyword research, creating a detailed keyword strategy for the website, and writing website content around that keyword strategy.  It also includes making sure your website loads quickly and looks good on mobile devices.  Lastly, it includes building backlinks to your website from other high authority websites.  

5. Use Social Media To Your Advantage

The average internet user spends 2 hours and 25 minutes per day on social media.  This is a great opportunity for real estate agents to reach their local audience.  By posting your content and listings on popular social media websites, you can build your brand and establish credibility locally.  Whatever content you’re producing as a real estate agent, make sure you’re sharing that content on social media.  

6. Use Email Marketing To Stay In Touch With Leads

Email marketing is a powerful tool for real estate agents to drive new business.  You can do this by creating a simple monthly newsletter using your blog content.  You could take it a step further by sending customized listing and market reports to clients.  Email marketing is a personalized way you can sell your expertise and move your clients to action.  

7. Conclusion

In conclusion, real estate digital marketing has revolutionized the way agents, buyers, and sellers interact.  When used properly, real estate digital marketing allows agents to reach a much wider audience and be more targeted and personalized with their marketing message.  It’s also more cost-effective than traditional forms of print and television advertising.  If you focus your real estate digital marketing strategy on the points discussed above, you’ll be set up to win in 2022 and beyond.

Zach Parker is the writer of The Real Estate Digital Age, Teaching Realtors the art of Digital Real Estate Marketing at Realty Biz News Real Estate Marketing & Beyond