You may not be a professional marketer but, in 2020, to stay competitive and keep winning instructions, estate agents need to be using the best property marketing tactics to stand out and beat the competition.
Here’s 12 of the best real estate marketing tips any estate agent can add to their marketing campaigns this year.
To get the complete lowdown on Property Marketing Mastery for Estate Agents, click here.
Download our FREE checklist of 50 marketing ideas for estate agents in 2021 >> here. |
1. Google My Business
The box in this images shows Google Places. Google Places is a list of businesses that come up when someone searches for one in Google.
As you can see, it comes up with the business name, reviews, contact details (which can be used in one click if someone clicks the listing) and one click access to the business’ website.
With 86% of people looking for a local business using a search engine to find one, making sure that your business appears here is a must in 2020. Even more important when you consider that 50% of people who search for a business “near me” end up actually visiting that business!
2. Ask For Testimonials
People – your future customers – trust other people more than they trust you. The fact is that one of the biggest fears people have with estate agents is trust.
An endorsement by a real person goes a long way in establishing trust with new vendors and buyers. Where possible ask people to provide a photo with their testimonial and, if possible, ask them to leave an additional review at a destination like Google.
#ProTip Use a personalised video to request the testimonial. A video request is more likely to be acknowledged and will make the receiver feel like you really added a personal touch! |
3. Create a Newsletter
Not everyone you have or will come across will be ready to buy or sell today but one day, that could change. A great marketing tip for 2020 is to ensure that when that time comes, you are first in mind.
By creating a newsletter that you can share with existing and potential customers, you are ensuring that those customers encounter your business consistently. This way, they will not forget you and will think of you first when it’s time to instruct an estate agent.
Any newsletter should be customer focused – providing them with information that they care about or want to know. Don’t use it as an opportunity to push for a sale.
4. Give A Great Gift After Closing
We’ve heard of estate agents sending “care packages” to recently closed clients including things like cinema tickets or vouchers for local restaurants. This is clever for two reasons.
One, it boosts the chances of you getting a good review and even referral from this person and two, this is a great opportunity for that customer to share what you sent with their friends. If the care package was particularly attractive or effective, there’s a good chance that person may take to social media and share it, and in the process your business, with their network.
5. Get More Emails With A Great Exchange
An email list can be a goldmine. It’s important to keep building your email list and a great way to do this is to exchange something your potential customer would want for their email address.
This could be an e-book or some kind checklist. It’s a good idea for the exchange to be connected to something your target customer is looking for. An example would be “How To Sell Your House” – a search made 1000-10000 times in Google each month.
If you’re thinking about hiring a creative agency to help you produce content such as ebooks, check out our blog on what to look out for when hiring a marketing agency here.
6. Hire A Pro For Superior Photography
With buyers spending 60% of their time on a listing looking at the photos and vendors researching your listings before instructing, hiring a professional to carry out your photography and other visual marketing is no longer an option.
Properties sold with professional photography sell faster and for more making this is no brainer change for effective marketing.
7. Host A Community Event
Most of your customers are going to come from your local community. It therefore makes sense to make sure people in your community not only know you but “like” you.
Hosting a community event as part of best property marketing tactics is not about gathering people to offer valuations or explain why now is a great time to sell. It’s about adding value and increasing your awareness with people.
A great example we came across – an estate agent held a bi-annual community paper shred. The agency promoted an event where locals from the area could shred up to 5 boxes of paper – providing a saving of £77!
8. Write A Little Note By Hand!
Obviously, estate agents are having to turn a lot of their attention to digital marketing with more and more people spending the majority of their time online. This doesn’t mean that traditional marketing is dead though – it just has to be better!
The primary reason why traditional marketing such as leaflets struggle is because it feels like spam. People receive the leaflet and without even looking at it, chuck it in the bin.
A better strategy: a handwritten note in a bold colour envelope – looking like something interesting that someone would want to open. Most estate agents (or anyone else) takes the time and effort to do this so it stands out. This personal touch is much harder to ignore and bin! Use traditional marketing as an opportunity to build a personal connection with people and stand out from your competitors.
9. Produce Long Form Content & Get Found In Google
Long form content is a piece of written content on your website of at least 2000 words (although a 3000 minimum is better). The content is is optimised for a particular keyword; a keyword that you want to be found for in Google (example “Estate Agent in Croydon”).
Google favours two things when deciding which websites are going to show when a customer searches something:
- Load speed
- Length / Thoroughness of content
In short, make sure you have pieces of content of at least 3000 words that cover the who, what and where of the things your customer is searching for.
To find our more about the basics of content marketing (such as blogs & other written content) for estate agents, click here!
10. Get Remarketing!
Remarketing is when you retarget someone who has already engaged with your business. As most people don’t convert on first impression (in fact research suggests it takes 8), you want to ensure that you retarget people who (for example) visit certain pages on your website.
A great method for remarketing is to use Facebook ads. To do this, you will need to ensure that the Facebook Pixel is loaded into your website. Facebook can then send ads to people who have taken certain actions on your website so that you can reach those 8 impressions and increase the chances of getting a conversion such as winning an instruction.
11. Host A Webinar
Looking back at the Estate Agent funnel, we can see that once a person has become aware of your business, they then need to develop “like or trust” in order to be more likely to convert with you.
A webinar is an excellent way to get customers through this part of the funnel quite quickly. In fact, webinars can increase your conversion rates to up to 19%.
A great example: when seeking new vendors, hosting a webinar on the best practices for selling their property at their desired price could be (a) very attractive to them but (b) showcase your expertise and make it easier for them to choose you over another agent.
A good webinar will provide the person watching with a lot of value – remember the aim to build trust and showcase your expertise. You should include a “call to action” asking the watcher to take the next step at the end of the webinar – even better if this is incentivised with a good offer or promotion.
12. Manage Your Portal Listings Like A Pro
Your portal listings are still going to be your primary online marketing for attracting potential buyers. Vendors are also looking at estate agent listings before instructing. Therefore they must be managed properly!
This means using the tips in our ultimate guide to creating winning listings such as professional property photography and pricing effectively but also ensuring that you follow the fundamental advice.
Rightmove advise these simple tips to keep your listings optimal:
- Add at least 5 photos
- Include a floor plan every time
- Refresh your listing every 14 days