Content marketing for real estate involves using content published across a variety of platforms to build customer relationships, establish thought leadership, and grow your brand. This approach can be used in any industry, however, it is particularly well-suited to real estate. In fact, you probably use many of the elements of content marketing already. You likely use videos and photographs to get prospective customers interested in properties, for example. You may even have a newsletter you send out to your customers each month.
What you need now is a strategy that allows you to get the most out of your current efforts, and to identify new opportunities to use content to your advantage. After all, 90% of consumers use the internet when searching for a new home. Keep reading for some tips for developing a powerful content marketing strategy for your real estate business.
Choose Your Social Media Platforms
You have several social media platforms and apps to use in your digital marketing efforts. Each one of these serves a unique function. Don’t spread yourself too thin initially. Instead, learn what you can do with each platform, then participate accordingly. Here’s a quick overview:
- LinkedIn is a great place to network with other real estate pros. LinkedIn is also a powerful lead generation source.
- Instagram is wildly popular. It’s a great place to share highly visual content.
- Facebook has universal appeal and is a great place to gain a large audience.
- You can use sites such as Medium.com to host your blog and publish other content.
Whatever you do, choose something and get going. 58% of marketers who have gotten active on social media have increased their rankings.
Explore The Various Types of Content Marketing for Real Estate to Reach Your Audience
Use a variety of content types to appeal to different members of your audience. It will help you to connect with people who have different needs, and who are at different stages of the customer journey. Here are some of your options.
Blogging
This is your opportunity to share your knowledge and insights. Establish your thought leadership by educating your audience, and answering the questions you know they have. In fact, you should consider making your blog the center focus of your content marketing efforts. Just know that your writing must really be on point to gain subscribers, and earn engagement. Consider using a professional resource like TrustMyPaper for writing, editing, and proofreading support.
Video Tours
Use Facebook Live or other tools to take real estate customers on detailed tours of properties. You can also record video tours, then share them on various social media channels.
Photo Sets And Collages
Visual content will always serve you well. Post these on your website, and share them across your social media feeds.
Thought Leadership Articles
Build your reputation as a source of information and insights by writing articles for niche publications in the real estate industry.
White Papers
Don’t miss out on the opportunities that you can gain through long-form content. Share white papers with low funnel customers, or provide them as a helpful resource for educating potential clients.
Find The Right Topics For Reaching Out to Your Audience
Your success depends on your ability to create content that is relevant to your audience. Write about what matters to them to get the engagement you need. Start by finding trending topics by using tools like BuzzSumo and AllTop.
If you haven’t already, subscribe to industry relevant websites and publications. Follow real estate influencers on social, and use their posts as inspiration. Finally, take a closer look at your customer support tickets. Use these to learn the most common questions and concerns your target clients have.
Once you know the topics to cover, and where you will share your content, invest in an editorial calendar. This will help you to create an ongoing content plan.
Get The Tools You Need
There’s a wide variety of tools to help you create great content, share great visuals, and get the furthest reach possible. You don’t have to do this alone. Use these tools to your advantage. There are visual content tools that allow you to create amazing content with great production values. These include video editing tools, photo editors, and tools for creating infographics and other engaging content.
If you use video or plan to share high-quality photos, it may be time to invest in some new video and photography equipment. You can even seek out the services of a drone photographer to capture those cool aerial images everyone seems to be sharing of their properties.
Finally, there is a slew of free and reasonably priced tools that you can use to manage your presence on social media, promote your content, etc. Don’t forget about analytics tools. These help you to track your content marketing efforts, and see what is working for you. Check out this list of powerful content marketing tools for 2019.
Final Thoughts
You can use content marketing to generate leads, develop long term customer relationships, get the attention of real estate industry influencers, and establish yourself as a thought leader. Use the tips above to create a solid strategy that allows you to get the most out of your content marketing efforts.
