When it comes to sectors that literally have their foundations in the physical “bricks-and-mortar” world, there is surely none more obvious than the sector that is all about the buying, selling, and renting of such “bricks and mortar”. Yes, that’s right: we’re referring to real estate.
Nonetheless, that doesn’t mean the property sector is only ever concerned with relatively traditional “bricks-and-mortar” marketing methods, such as high-street window displays and print advertising.
Property Firms Are Now Drawing Upon a Range of Digital Marketing Techniques
Digital transformation is reshaping practically every industry in today’s fast-moving and tech-driven world. Estate agents are very much seeing this, too; among such firms in the United States, digital marketing reportedly accounts for more than half (54.2%) of their marketing budget.
Certainly, in the property sector, well-judged digital interventions can be key for marketing properties effectively and attracting the right buyers or tenants. Here are just some of the ways in which many of today’s forward-thinking estate agents are accomplishing exactly this.
- Leveraging Social Media Platforms
It is difficult to conduct any discussion about how estate agents are marketing themselves and their properties in the unashamedly digital 2020s, without mentioning social media. Sure enough, as of 2023, about eight in 10 (79%) estate agents actively used social media for promoting properties.
You probably won’t be surprised to read that the visually oriented Instagram is an especially potent tool for sharing high-quality images and brief, digestible video tours of buildings. Estate agents use Instagram features like Reels and Stories to highlight distinctive features, such as a newly renovated kitchen or a beautiful garden, in engaging ways.
But the advertising tools of Facebook, too, are useful for empowering estate agents to target specific demographics – ranging from first-time buyers in a particular postcode, right through to high-net-worth individuals on the lookout for opulent beachside villas.
- Tapping Into Search Engine Optimisation and Google Ads
It is well-known these days that estate agents require a strong all-round online presence if they are to attract would-be buyers searching for properties. SEO may have been around for a very long time now – albeit with the artificial intelligence (AI) era now shifting the emphasis towards generative search optimisation (GSO) – but it remains a vital foundation.
When your estate agency is looking to achieve high Google rankings for such search terms as “houses for sale in Peckham” or “Dublin flats to buy”, you can progress towards this goal by optimising your website with relevant keywords, ensuring your site’s pages load quicker, and introducing a more mobile-friendly design. These are, of course, just a few of the many proven SEO techniques.
Getting your property listings seen with targeted SEO can be even easier when you complement your campaign with a well-formulated Pay Per Click (PPC) marketing drive. There will always be people out there actively searching for properties like the ones your estate agency is showcasing. Through Google Ads, you can bid on keywords and display targeted ads to these potentially highly lucrative users.
- Optimising Google Business Profiles and Other Local SEO
Before we move on entirely from SEO, it is worth acknowledging that a laser-focused local SEO strategy can also greatly help boost an estate agency’s visibility when buyers perform locally oriented searches like “estate agents near me”.
Certainly, if your estate agency is serious about achieving online growth, you shouldn’t have merely claimed your business’s Google Business Profile; it is also important to regularly update it, and to add high-quality photos and information on opening hours.
- Offering Virtual Tours And 3D Walkthroughs of Properties
The COVID-19 pandemic can probably be given a lot of the credit for accelerating the rise of virtual tours in recent years. When so many people who would have otherwise liked to go looking around properties in person suddenly found themselves stuck in their own homes, it was a godsend for them to discover estate agents that offered 3D walkthroughs of properties they were interested in.
Of course, it doesn’t necessarily take a pandemic to happen for a given property hunter to feel grateful for the option of a virtual tour on whatever device they happen to be using at the time. Understandably, then, estate agents have continued to use this technology – as offered by software companies like Matterport – to help them reach buyers.
The Digital Marketing Revolution Is Continuing Apace
There you have it; there can no longer be any doubt about the indispensability of digital marketing for any estate agent that seeks to connect with prospective property buyers.
With such interventions as SEO, social media, virtual tours, and others all available and in a state of constant evolution, the most successful estate agents in the 2020s are at the forefront of using these methods and technologies in ways that are both innovative and accessible.
