Have you ever heard of digital transformation in real estate marketing? Have you noticed any trend changes in the real estate sector? You are a keen observer.
More and more agencies and companies are turning to online platforms to market properties. This is the right place if you want to learn how to start moving into the realm of new real estate marketing techniques or deepen your knowledge if you already use the power of the internet to promote your agency.
To fully leverage the possibilities brought about by digital transformation and to learn its techniques, I recommend taking a look at the Digital Marketing Certification Course.
It is a comprehensive training program that equips you with all the necessary skills to make this industry a force for your company and potential clients.
What is Real Estate Marketing?
Real estate marketing is the application of techniques and strategies from traditional marketing in the construction and real estate sectors.
Since the 1920s, there have been traces of the use of this discipline, but companies preferred to use it as sales support without giving much importance to customer demands.
Subsequently, precisely from the 1960s onwards, those operating in the real estate sector understood the importance of listening to customer demands and thus adopting a pull strategy (i.e., understanding the market and not pushing products into the market) by selling properties even before their construction.
Sales Orientation vs Market Orientation
Sales orientation is a marketing approach that places sales at the center of the business. In this phase, companies focus more on getting rid of unsold goods without considering customer needs.
Market orientation is an approach that puts the customer at the center of the company’s sales processes. Market saturation has led companies to produce goods that can be sold rather than selling goods that can be produced.
This difference can be understood with the 2007 recession, where the US economic bubble, particularly subprime mortgages, caused a severe crisis in the real estate sector.
Sales orientation, rather than market orientation, led to a considerable number of unsold properties and a subsequent slow recovery of the real estate market worldwide.
Modern Real Estate Marketing
So we have understood how socio-economic analyses carried out by companies before carrying out a real estate marketing project are fundamental for its success.
Real estate companies nowadays collect as much data as possible in the pre-project phase, such as the demand and type of clientele related to the area, and subsequently, they set up a multi-year advertising strategy divided into various phases and with different objectives depending on the time remaining until the commercialization of the properties.
Since the ’90s, there has been an increasing need to combine technological development and software with traditional methods such as real estate listings in newspapers or advertising through paper flyers.
This change in trend is greatly facilitating the work of real estate agents and construction companies, who have realized how real estate marketing for agencies and companies is creating new branches of specialization and making some of the previous methods obsolete.
Aside from the increased efficiency and simplified processes thanks to new technologies, the web can be used as a real revolutionary lever in real estate transactions.
The well-studied and optimized use of the web can guarantee greater transparency, eliminating annoying frictions and misunderstandings between the parties involved in a real estate deal, just as it happens in other sectors of online sales.
What does Real Estate Marketing do
After seeing the development of real estate marketing in the construction and real estate sector, it’s time to look specifically at the areas in which this discipline operates:
- Competition analysis and in-depth study;
- Market analysis and its key factors;
- Real estate marketing enhancement;
- Property estimation;
- Drafting a plan with different levels of communication;
- Coordination and supervision of communication.
Real Estate Web Marketing
Various start-ups and professionals in the sector have realized the potential of the online world and, through excellent real estate marketing plans, have carved out a niche more or less significant within the real estate market, where they can operate and increase their audience and consequently their business.
Today, builders, investors, and real estate agents use real estate web marketing to boost property acquisitions and sales.
Now I will show you some case studies that will help you understand how the web can help your real estate agency and/or company, starting from the basics.
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Airbnb and the Community
Since its inception in 2007, Airbnb has set out not only to connect two parties for the rental of a room or apartment but also to create a community where the customer feels part of something greater, namely, to feel “at home” in a foreign country or another region far from our own.
The Californian company quickly established itself as a competitor to hotels and private rentals worldwide, becoming one of the largest “hotel chains” on the planet alongside names like Booking.com and Trivago.
I would like to explore with you the strategies they have employed in real estate marketing and content marketing to promote their idea and build a fan base:
- Neighborhood guides: a service closely related to Airbnb’s main offering, fostering customer loyalty.
- Stories: telling the experiences of hosts and guests, promoting service transparency, and instilling a sense of security in future consumers.
- Social connection: expanding the community through the use of social media.
- User-generated videos: storytelling that portrays the user’s concept of travel and the inclusion of these videos on Airbnb’s online channels.
- Symbols: giving each host the opportunity to create a banner representing themselves and their home.
We can summarize the key objectives to achieve:
- Get noticed;
- Build trust in your service or product;
- Generate traffic on your channels;
- Sell your image, your products, and your services;
- Build customer loyalty and increase your fan base;
- Continuous growth.
In essence, we have seen how strategic marketing and the creation of targeted content are excellent means to achieve success in your business as well.
Real Estate Video Marketing
This is the example through which a real estate professional can truly be perceived as such and succeed in attracting clients. By doing so, clients themselves will reach out to them, rather than the other way around as is the case in most situations.
This is also thanks to real estate video marketing. After all, we all know how important this is and how much higher the percentage of customers choosing your service is if they seek you out, not the other way around.
Giuseppe Gatti has captured industry professionals by creating and releasing over 500 videos on real estate in less than 2 years. This content marketing approach conveys the “behind-the-scenes” aspect of a serious professional’s work, thereby promoting transparency and qualifications.
This objectively demonstrates why clients should trust you instead of your competitors. Now it is no longer possible to think of real estate marketing by simply publishing ads on behalf of your clients or for yourself in the case of a construction company.
Nowadays, you need to bring the market to your side, differentiate yourself from the competition, and explore alternative channels that can potentially expand your target audience.
Discover your skills and how to apply them in digital professions and real estate marketing for your agency!
The Future of Real Estate Marketing
According to some available data on Il Sole 24 Ore, we can gather some insights into how digital real estate marketing can grow your business in the coming years.
At this point, I can only recommend 6 steps to improve your agency’s growth through digital marketing.
iBuyer
Companies that specialize in the purchase of properties on behalf of private individuals, known as “iBuyers,” are speeding up the market process and increasing the number of transactions.
This will be beneficial for the entire sector, expanding the user base and the opportunities for successful professionals in this field.
Presence on Google and Social Media
As for real estate agencies, an increasing number of them are opting for digital channels such as Google advertising and social media. The goal is to offer customers a service and a product that results from a scientific and objective method that is easily accessible and transparent to all parties involved.
Some benefits of having a real estate marketing strategy in social media include:
- Generating engagement;
- Reaching potential clients;
- Promoting properties;
- Showcasing content (e.g., apartment reels);
- Personal branding.
Discover how to increase, manage, and measure your presence on social media marketing with the Free ebook
Real Estate Content Marketing
The addition of real estate content marketing services, such as 3D and VR technology, halves the selling time and allows industry professionals to make the property available for a virtual visit 24/7. Potential clients can make a quicker initial screening without any unpleasant inconvenience.
Solutions like this also cater to sellers who often have to be available for property viewings during selling periods, sometimes without any actual interest from the buyers who were unable to get a clear idea of the property from the ad alone.
An effective way to disseminate content is through the creation and consistent updating of a blog, through which you can provide new content to your target audience, build your real estate agency’s reputation, and improve search engine rankings.
Email Marketing
Real estate email marketing can be used to communicate specific messages and information to your clients. Email is a tool used by most people on a daily basis, and it allows you to convey a concept differently than a simple phone call.
Moreover, a good email marketing strategy is excellent for customer retention and personalizing messages for each client, thereby generating repeat customers.
Here are some tips for your email marketing activities:
- Create a consistent and persuasive subject line;
- Include numbers and statistics;
- Use the recipient’s name;
- Include questions that engage the recipient;
- Provide interesting content related to the subject.
Google Hotel Ads
Google Hotel Ads is a promotion tool for hospitality establishments that assists users in finding their ideal accommodation for the vacation they are planning.
The user must indicate the address or geographic area where they intend to search for hotels, and the tool compares prices and services while suggesting nearby tourist attractions. If you want to learn more about this tool, click here.
Real Estate Mobile Marketing
After surpassing online traffic from PCs, it is logical to think that apps for mobile real estate marketing will be commonly used and optimized.
Nowadays, the smartphone has become a true extension of ourselves, and the real estate industry can only follow and ride this trend.
My advice is to take part in the short Mobile Marketing Course, which aims to provide the right tools and preparation to manage and grasp the opportunities arising from mobile device usage.
Orientation Coaching
The world of the web applied to real estate marketing has a thousand facets. If you want to learn more and attend courses in this field, let yourself be guided by one of our experts. Request a free one-to-one Coaching Session and expand your professional horizons.
Dive into the dynamic realm of web-applied real estate marketing, guided by our experts – expand your horizons, and request a free Coaching Session now!
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