Real estate marketing is changing all the time. We’re seemingly always coming up with fancy new technologies and methods to sell homes.
But the question is—do any of these new ideas and tools actually work?
In short, some do.
But, that’s why I’m going to list the top six marketing methods that you should be using to market and sell homes effectively in 2020.
1. Video Marketing
Video is the King of the modern world.
By 2022, it’s estimated that 82% of consumer traffic will be by way of video.
This is troubling for the real estate agent not using video. You may not be in business soon.
Video marketing does a few things.
- It’s far more engaging.
- Shows more of your personality, which is what your clients and prospects are looking for.
- Builds trust.
- Makes you look successful.
The fourth reason may be subjective, but people are more willing to work with brands that use video. 300% more likely, to be exact.
So how should you use video marketing in real estate?
Agent-Led Property Tours
You should start by creating video property tours of the homes you list. But instead of just holding the camera in front of you or hiring a videographer to film the property, put yourself in front of the camera.
This covers a lot of necessities at once.
Being in front of the camera means you’re showcasing your personality, building trust, making yourself look super successful and special, and grabbing much more attention from your audience than you would with the standard property tour featuring cheesy background music.
You really cannot go wrong with an agent-led property tour.
Create Content
When you don’t have listings, or even when you do, you should be creating valuable content with video.
YouTube is the second most popular search engine in the world, second to Google. (By the way, YouTube is owned by Google if you didn’t know). Therefore, you need to be utilizing the platform to create and share content.
Whether your content is geared towards prospects, millennials, other agents, or someone entirely different, you need to be doing something.
Share your experiences in real estate, methods you’ve used to sell homes, give out some of your secrets.
Sharing secrets isn’t a problem because the truth is that most people will never act on them. If they do, it could be one person out of 100,000.
Trust me, by giving away free, valuable information like candy, you’ll have a better return.
It’s possible to generate a ton of leads and sales from digital content. You just have to commit to it long-term if you want to see results.
2. Build a Quality Website That is Optimized for SEO
This is my favorite marketing method of all.
You may ask, how is a real estate website a good marketing tool? I never get leads from mine?
I will start off by saying—your website is the most powerful tool in your entire arsenal. Even more than videos.
Want to know why?
Because you have full control.
It is yours to decide your brand’s image, your policies, your job description, your methods, and everything you do.
When you post videos on the internet. Yes, the engagement is high, your personality is displayed, and your ideas are shared. However, viewers will still see you as a “Realtor who does more than the standard Realtor”.
This doesn’t help differentiate yourself from the upper echelon of agents.
Instead, the goal of videos is to drive viewers back to your website.
On your website, they get to see who you really are.
But it’s even better when people can discover your website without having to watch your videos.
This is where search engine optimization (SEO) comes in.
What is SEO?
SEO is the way Google ranks your website in the search results. The higher your ranking for a search query, the more traffic you’ll get.
The best part. It’s FREE!
My favorite method to generate a large amount of traffic to my website is by writing this blog, which is now ranked in the top 50 best real estate blogs by Detailed.com.
You can watch my video on how to start ranking a real estate blog on Google below.
How Does This Help Me Market Homes?
No one is just landing on a real estate website for fun. They have intent.
They made it to you for a reason, which could possibly be their next real estate transaction.
They could see one of your listings featured on the website and buy it, or even send it to someone they know who may like it.
The bottom line. If you’re getting free traffic from Google, it’s the most powerful form of marketing, and it’s free with high user intent.
3. Print Advertising
Print advertising will always be a timeless method of marketing. I really don’t see a situation where businesses stop mailing things to people.
As long as your mailbox exists, you can rest assured that there will be mail in it.
But how can you market effectively in the modern age with print advertising?
In real estate, you’ll want to create a community with your direct mail. You don’t want to spam prospects with the typical “Need an agent? Hire me!” postcard.
That won’t get business.
But if you go with something like “If you would like market updates about your local community, check out our website for free market reports”.
I’m a big believer of giving away information for free. If you charge a fee for your information, then surely someone else is giving the same stuff for free and thus, they’ll win the prospect too.
Your direct mail should be an invitation for free information, nothing more.
4. Facebook/Google Ads
The fact that there are real estate agents not utilizing the power of social media ads or Google Ads in this era of business is frightening.
Not knowing how to do it is not an excuse. Here’s one of my favorite guides to using Facebook Ads.
Google Ads are a little more complicated, but here’s a great guide to get you started.
Listen, it’s 2020. You need to start going digital. The best way to start making a splash is by building your website and forming a content strategy. The next best thing is to use digital ads to draw prospects to your content.
Digital ads give you the opportunity to increase brand recognition, drive traffic to your website, help get traction for your content, generate leads, and make sales.
Plus, it’s incredibly cheap compared to other marketing methods that have lower conversion rates.
5. Facebook Marketplace/Craigslist
Facebook Marketplace is free to use. Craigslist will cost you $5 to put an ad up.
The simple fact of the matter is that you can create sales by posting listings to the Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist.
While sure, they’re not the highest converting of all channels. It’s certainly worth the $5 and few minutes of your time to potentially make a sale.
6. Host Open Houses
As always, the coveted open house is a way to generate leads, sales, and create brand exposure.
While the theory of the open house has been under fire for the past couple of years due to its low conversion rate (5% chance of selling the home).
Here’s my takeaway.
Agents are not being trained to sell the home they’re hosting. They’re being trained to get leads.
Just look at the results I get when I type in the search phrase “open house conversion rates”.
All the information is about how agents can convert visitors into leads to make sales later down the line. Nothing about an actual statistical analysis of open houses. The only reason I know that it’s a 5% conversion rate is due to the book Success as a Real Estate Agent: For Dummies.
This is a problem. Not for agents.
For clients. The people we’re “trying” to help.
So, here’s my challenge to real estate agents looking to market their listings better.
When a client requests an open house, do it yourself. Don’t outsource it to another agent.
When you’re there, forget about building your database with more leads. Forget about your own business or how many sales and leads you’ll need to meet your goals for this year.
Focus on selling the home you’re in. The home you’re being trusted to sell.
I won’t guarantee that you’ll make the sale, but I will guarantee that your efforts will come closer to creating one than before.
I’ll also guarantee that the visitors will be impressed and respect you. If they take your business card, they may have some work for you in the future.
Final Thoughts
I anticipate 2020 and this decade will be the era where real estate marketing becomes more and more digital.
There are tons of agents that are still stuck in the past and “dialing for dollars”. They’re missing out on a lot of new opportunities and progressions.
This world is changing and never, in the history of business, have industries stayed the exact same forever.
It’s time to adjust. Either move with the trends and pioneer a new era. Or fade away with the old.
It’s our choice to make.
Stay Classy.
