Real estate marketing today is a fastly expanding field. And it’s a natural wish for every property developer to stay tuned for the most relevant marketing ideas that can help to boost business processes. In this article, I decided to save your time from an additional search and put together the most trending real estate marketing ideas. Let’s take a look!
1. Automate it in a smart way
As customers, we all want to be treated individually (or at least to get such impression). What else do we want? The other thing that is highly desirable is to access customer service anytime we need it. Do you think, it is possible with only human consultants? It is, but it may require more financial expenses than it is necessary to spend in the age of automation.
The solution comes from the side of AI-powered chatbots, which nowadays has become an absolute trend among modern technologies and one of the top real estate marketing ideas 2018.
In real estate, chatbots can provide customers with a quick help in finding and connecting with real estate agents and developers. Also, they can keep clients updated on the latest news and listings and gather information from users that can be used by agents to learn their audience.
Finally, with the help of chatbots, you can drive customer engagement, get advantage from the advanced analytics, make better-informed decisions, and, in turn, boost sales and grow your authority. Wondering how chatbots “look” like in real estate? Then get familiar with Trulia, Riley, and Holmes.
2. Advertising, but different
It’s widely acknowledged that conventional advertising approaches in real estate are not useful anymore. As tools evolve, rules and standards are increasing, and you need to adapt your advertising strategy to them.
So what can you do?
- First of all, I recommend paying more attention to mobile advertising as its part in Internet traffic is steadily increasing (40.1% of Internet traffic comes from mobile devices). Moreover, native’s share of global mobile advertising revenue is going to reach 63% by 2020. Source:stonetemple.com
- As social media advertising is becoming only more powerful, you shouldn’t miss it this year. Particularly, sponsored content desires your attention. Whatever form such content acquires – blog posts, photos, videos – it may become a real hack for boosting your marketing efforts and one of the most valuable of real estate marketing ideas 2018.
- Finally, real estate developers shouldn’t forget about such listings as Trulia, StreetEasy, Zoopla as they usually yield nearly 30% of all leads.
3. A stitch in time saves nine
You need to know your customers’ habits well enough to be able to predict their actions. Google is sure about it and brings one of the most trending real estate marketing
ideas 2018.
The idea is that your prospects’ and customers’ behavior isn’t a constant, but it’s a function that depends on time and various conditions. And so should also be the tools for analyzing it.
Consider that your potential client has his daily habits: he works at one place, he hangs out in another. He may be a firm advocate of ethical consumption and vegetarian which would influence his choice of clothing stores and restaurants. He may be a self-employed one, which would impact his schedule. On the other hand, he may be a “white collar” and a fan of wine degustations and brand costumes. Different lifestyles and thus habits lead to different moments when your potential clients are exposed to advertising information.
Applying modern analytical approaches to learning behavior of your audience means that you are aware of their habits and you can predict their actions and preferences, such as an area they may prefer for a living. Moreover, it helps to figure out the most appropriate moment to let your prospects know about options you have for them exactly when there’s the highest probability to summon their interest. Take a look at how Google put it and how you can make use of its services.
4. More influencers
I have already mentioned sponsored content, which also implies advertising with the help of influencers and opinion makers. And here, I want to emphasize the particular character of them that you need to focus on.
Get prepared that 2018 will become the year when brands stop seeking to occupy a new space. Instead, they will take advantage of connecting with the right influencers and opinion makers that continuously produce content and already possess a warm audience (people who read them and respect their authority). This list will help you get to know top influencers and opinion-makers in real estate.
However, not only influencers who have a significant amount of subscribers matter but, first of all, those who are authoritative in your business field.
5. Customer journey matters
Don’t underestimate the knowledge of your customers’ journey: what questions they have, becoming aware of the problem; what actions they take, considering solutions; what they do, deciding how to solve it. (If you aren’t familiar with the concept of the customer journey, take a look at Hubspot explanation.)
The lack of knowledge of the customer journey often leads to losing clients in property development either at the consideration stage or after the first purchase. One of the ways to avoid it is to systemize all information about prospects and clients with the help of such tools like Propertymate.
If you are not sure about how the customer journey looks in your case, you may need to conduct interviews with potential clients, customers, and salespeople beforehand. But don’t hesitate to spend some time on it to create a map of your customers’ journey and adjust your marketing strategy by it. Although not new, this is one of the most influential real estate marketing ideas 2018.
6. Make it personal
We have already talked about personalization, but I feel the need to clarify and expand it a bit. It’s not only automation that can do it. In fact, just automation can’t do it for you, because personalization starts with the profound knowledge of your targeted audience.
What can you do?
- segment your audience by development projects (we recommend targeting by development projects with a particular focus on the identification of VIP customers);
- target leads by preferred amenities (in Propertymate solutions, we have included “smart tags” that help to segment leads by preferred comforts, such as a big terrace, park view, high floor, etc.)
- create specialized content for each group (knowing your targeted groups is crucial as it helps to deliver content that is useful for different types of your audience);
- use modern match tools to personalize your customers’ experience (by leveraging existing ones or creating your own with the help of useful APIs).
Using Propertmate solution, you can learn and capture more about your potential buyers. Then see instantly all of the properties which are matching with your leads based on their interests. Finally, in Propertymate, we have a tool for visualizing all the stages of the customer journey, which helps to organize all your data and insights and efficiently apply them to your marketing strategy.
I believe that audience segmentation and creation of the targeted experience are the critical real estate marketing ideas 2018. Together they help to give all customers what they want and thus increase authority and drive sales.
7. Video as the content king
Have you noticed that nowadays people prefer to watch a video to reading an article? Our life has become too fast to waste your time on reading everything that you come across. That’s why experts consider video as one of the leading real estate marketing ideas 2018 to use in a content strategy. However, making advertising videos isn’t the only way you can leverage videos.
Nowadays, almost every field benefits from aerial videos, and in the case of real estate, it’s particularly relevant. What can be more breathtaking than showing a “bird’s eye view” of a development project? Besides, with the help of drones, it’s has become easier than ever. Take a look at Sky Aerial Productions and Skycan.
It’s rare for real estate to create videos of the explanation character. Just think about how helpful it may become for your clients who are confused about how real estate works. In turn, your authority will increase in their eyes as they see that you care about them.
ONE57 Aerial Film – Extell Development Company
8. Stream it
So we agreed that video is a must. But social networks are pushing us to the idea that you can do more than just posting a video record. You can also stream it and let people become a part of what is happening.
You may not get it now if you haven’t tried yet. The trick is that with such a simple thing as a live amateur video, you can create a more profound impression of your work than with hundreds of posts.
There are so many things you can stream. You can show building process, QA sessions, explanation of marketing processes, meetings with clients, etc. Here you can find a mini-course that contains real estate marketing ideas 2018 for live streaming.
While streaming (or looking for ideas for live videos), it’s essential to have your unique feature (something recognizable). For instance, Jerry Cibulski, a broker from Long Island, is traveling with his branded pitchfork and streaming videos from different properties in the form of sitcoms. He has an extensive audience on Instagram and is recognized for his unordinary approach. Don’t hesitate to explore more inspiring examples but develop your style.
9. Interactivity as a key to engagement
Of course, you need to consider different types of content to show your expertise – texts, photos, videos, live streams. But it’s also beneficial to combine different kinds of content by the level of customers involvement.
Think about the difference between reading a long-read post and playing a game. For sure, the latter one is more interactive than the former. For example, you can create a game where customers need to design their virtual apartment.
There is a bunch of superb mobile applications that allow designing an apartment, such as Room Creator Interior Design and Home Design 3D (find more examples in this list). On the other hand, property developers can use such tool as Matterport to create impressive 3D visualizations and VR experiences for their prospects and customers.
10. Print magazines as the new old
Digitalization doesn’t necessarily mean devaluation of a print form. (So at least don’t get surprised that I put it here as one of the top real estate marketing ideas 2018). On the contrary, as we are rarer using something we can touch and flip, it becomes more valuable. That’s why giving way high-quality magazines can become a path to your customers’ heart. Take a look at Architectural Digest, REIT, and Real Estate Magazine to find inspiration.
11. Be closer to your audience
Although marketing is full of generic advice, it works best when you focus on what you would want to experience. (As if you were the customer.)
The truth is that we bring a part of ourselves to every living space and every neighborhood. Thus, we become active “builders” of their atmosphere. Create thing with soul and show it to your clients!
Here are some ideas to get inspired:
- tell the story of an area
- collect and share home stories of real people
- cooperate with local businesses and get in touch with communities
People get engaged when it feels close to them. They want to imagine the life of an area and feel the warm atmosphere of living space. Finally, they want to sense themselves as a part of a local community.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed this list as much as I did. I believe if applied right, each of the above-listed real estate marketing ideas can make your marketing strategy way more competitive. Stay tuned for new articles and don’t hesitate to share what you think about them!
