When we talk about real estate, there are a lot of things people think of; from creating a home for their family, to investing into properties that will bring significant returns.
And at the intersection of all the possible aspirations are the realtors, working hard to find the right property for every client’s needs.
However, if we as realtors and real estate businesses want to attract clients, we need to promote ourselves. And there’s nothing like real estate content marketing to do the trick.
Today, we’ll take a look at 8 new ways to get clients with real estate content in 2019.
Let’s dive in!
1) Real Estate Content for Recent Transplants
More and more people each year are moving across countries and states. And while they are looking for the perfect property, they’re also looking for more.
They want to know about culture, neighborhoods, safety, and even activities for their kids.
When a person from Chicago who wants to move to Denver is exploring their options, they’ll likely want to know about the activities in the area.
And that’s exactly why focusing real estate content marketing on local guides for people who intend on moving (or have recently moved and are looking for the perfect property) is a great idea.
When we create content that focuses on more than just the property, we can convey the real experience of the neighborhood for our clients.
We’re also giving plenty of additional value that isn’t strictly in our job description, making ourselves more trustworthy.
By creating mini-guides (or even more comprehensive guides) like Thrillist does for major US cities, every realtor can make moving and working with them all the more desirable.
This is a good real estate content strategy for all kinds of audiences; from people still in the awareness and consideration stage, to people who are sure but still have to find the right neighbourhood.
Content for Property Investors
This kind of content also works well for real estate businesses who are trying to attract property investors.
If we show our clients – investors – the state and the potential of the neighborhood in which they’d like their property to be located, we’re allowing them to gauge the real value of the real estate they’ll be acquiring.
After all, if a neighborhood is thriving (with the trend of developing even more), the value of the property is sure to increase.
Implementing the Strategy for Realtors
Realtors can create their own guides with the help of local communities.
However, creating local guides depends on the target audience (families aren’t going to be interested in the same activities as singles) and requires a lot of research.
Fortunately, there’s another option: outsourcing content creation.
Draft cooperates with writers who are experts in real estate, and who conduct their own research. Each article can be tailored to our clients’ preferences and the best part is: it’s done in 2-3 days.
2) Social Media Real Estate Content Marketing that Showcases Atmosphere
Real estate images have long been a staple of each listing for a reason. Using social media gives us even more opportunities to use the power of visuals.
When reaching out to individuals, we can highlight best features and the unique atmosphere of each property (or neighborhood).
Instead of simply taking photos with the intent of showcasing each room on the website, our photos can show details and convey the experience of living in the property or in the neighborhood.
For example, James Gallo does this perfectly on his Instagram:
Instead of just taking photos of the rooms, he’s showing his potential customers what they could be doing in the house.
If only they buy it.
Drastic Makeovers
If we’re dealing with fixer-uppers, we can also showcase the makeovers.
There’s nothing like seeing a house that had shabby carpets and holes in the walls suddenly turn into a Cinderella at the ball.
It’s also inspirational, so potential customers may just decide that they want to do the same and dial our phone number immediately.
Extra Tip:
For extra impact, we can also guide (potential) customers through the process of fixing up their own property by turning it a blog post or a guide.
There’s no need to do any extra work if we’re using Draft, either.
All we have to do is send over the steps and images, and Draft’s expert writers will create the perfect piece to attract clients who love getting their hands a little dirty.
3) Marketing Real Estate Businesses through Testimonials
While most real estate businesses place testimonials on the front page of their websites, they can be used for more than that.
Since many potential customers and/or investors have similar questions, why not conduct an interview with different happy customers and turn it into a FAQ article?
This has double benefits:
- It provides the social proof we need to successfully market our businesses.
- It answers common questions and educates, while showing the potential customers that we’re successful at resolving other clients’ similar needs.
It’s trust & education in the same place, at the same time.
If possible, it’s a good idea to go all-in with customer interviews:
- Show the images of the property before and after they’ve moved in
- Interview them on their favorite activities in the city/neighborhood
- What about the property makes them the happiest?
- How have the employees at the real estate business or realtors helped them make the right decision?
It’s best to go as in-depth as possible to really convey the value of our service to each prospective customer, while showing them how happy they’ll be if they buy through us.
Social Proof on Social Media
Since the majority of consumers are more willing to buy if they hear a recommendation from someone similar to them, testimonials don’t have to stop with websites and articles.
For example, Brad Keyes successfully uses them on social media, as well:
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by B R A D K E Y E S (@bradkeyesrealestate) on Aug 3, 2018 at 4:00pm PDT
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The client Brad’s interviewed for this post has also mentioned what he likes the most about the neighborhood, and shared his insider tips.
And while the post isn’t a direct testimonial, the happiness Brad’s client and his kid show is good enough to make a lot of people hire Brad for their next purchase.
4) Harnessing the Power of Real Estate Video Content
Creating marketing videos a couple of years back required a lot of effort and resources. It wasn’t like we could just click a few times and get a perfect video.
Fortunately, that’s changed today.
There are a few ways we can use video for real estate content marketing, from social networks to in-depth materials.
Testimonial Videos
While written content is great, video content manages to convey the personality and shows the people’s faces which is more successful at convincing potential customers to buy through us.
Take a look at what Post & Company are doing.
Their clients are upfront, and the video isn’t too serious – there are enough funny and lighthearted moments to really give us the impression of P&C’s realtors being great people.
Video Tours of Neighborhoods
There are always interesting things going on in the locations we cover, and both our potential and existing clients are going to be interested in that.
Why not highlight the best, most interesting events they can look forward to if they buy a property in that area?
When it comes to investors, these events may just be the thing raising their property’s value, so real estate video content is a win-win, whichever way you look at it.
Virtual Tours
Images are great, but virtual tours of homes are even better. If we can incorporate customer testimonials into them, it’s an additional asset.
This is especially important when working with private individuals (not investors) who want to get a feeling for the property and for the people who’ve lived there before.
And this is sometimes as simple as asking the sellers why they loved living in their house, and sharing it with prospective customers through video.
Live Streams
Even though social media advertising has started to depend on paid methods, there’s still another great way of reaching customers with content:
Live streams.
Most major platforms (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) offer live stream features and the best part is that everyone who likes our real estate business’ page will be notified that we’re hosting a live stream.
We can discuss everything from:
- “Off the record” tips on buying/renting a property
- Recent updates
- Questions (potential) clients have
- New properties
The best part is that clients can get a feeling for our personality and the kind of services and value we offer.
Extra Tip:
We can also turn our blog posts into video content by using a free tool like Lumen5 for extra real estate marketing reach.
5) Use Infographics for Quick Guides
When we need to convey a lot of information without boring our clients to death, it’s best to use infographics.
They’re simple and informative, while also providing the visual stimulation our clients need to comprehend (sometimes complex) information.
Topics of real estate infographics can vary from:
- Updates on the market
- Tips for buying a property
- Various statistics
- Checklists for sellers and buyers
And so much more!
The best part is that they can be easily created with a tool like Canva, and shared across social media.
It’s especially beneficial to incorporate infographics into a larger real estate content strategy that includes blog posts and videos.
After all, if we catch our clients’ attention with simple things, they’ll be more willing to commit to reading/watching a longer piece.
6) In-Depth Guides to Seal the Deal
One of the main things content marketing success relies on is SEO (search engine optimization).
And since Google loves providing its searchers with comprehensive resources on a topic, we can use it to fuel our real estate marketing success.
For example, creating an in-depth guide to selling or buying a property is a great way to reach the first page of Google search results.
This is especially true if we focus on the locations we’re covering.
A guide to buying a property in general is great, but we may not reach the right customers for our area.
Creating a guide to buying a property in a target area will help us reach the exact customers we’re looking for.
Again, using in-depth guides has multiple benefits:
- SEO (Google’s algorithms have a feeling for how broad a topic is, so if our guides cover the most important aspects, we’ll be prioritized in the search results as the best resources for searchers.)
- Client satisfaction (No one wants to go through hundreds of pages of blog posts – they want to learn everything in one place.)
- Shares and reach (People are more likely to share useful content, and chances are, they’ve got friends who are looking for real estate in our target area.)
And the best part is that creating in-depth guides can be as simple as submitting a content request through Draft for as little as $0.10/word.
7) Great Newsletters
Email is the most reliable way to reach our (potential) customers. They’ll even hear a ping when we get in touch!
When written well, newsletters can be a great source of information and trust that’ll drive our customers to buy a property through us.
From newsletters completely focused on information…
… to tailored to each customer’s preferences…
… and finally, putting the realtor’s personality at the forefront:
The best practice advice is to create email campaigns serving different kinds of customers; from those who are selecting the right property, to those who still have questions.
8) Entrepreneurial Content
Finally, it’s not enough to just sell a property. If we want to retain customers, we have to help them reach their goals with that property, as well.
A great way to do just that is by creating entrepreneurial content in whichever format.
We can show individuals and investors just how to maximize the value of their home or their property, offer tips and tricks, and show that we’re invested into this professional relationship.
After all, selling one property is great.
But getting enough trust from our clients to keep working with them is even better.
