The way you market your brand will depend on the brand itself, and your industry. With over 106,500 real estate companies in the United States alone, it’s important that your marketing stands out. You also want to show yourself as an authority in the area you serve, not just in terms of the housing market, but the culture and neighborhoods.
Whether you’re a marketing company, an in-house marketing team, or a realtor who wears many hats in your firm, this is a good time to get creative. Here are a few of our favorite creative real estate marketing ideas.
Make Sure You Have an Optimized Website With Listings
Most of your customers will probably do their initial house hunting online. Make sure that your website is fully optimized and accessible for both mobile and desktop. It should have an aesthetically pleasing but simple design and easy navigation so that your audience can easily find what they need. This is also a good place to post your current listings so that potential clients don’t have to find them through a third party platform.
Start a Blog
Content marketing is a great way to build SEO for your website. And a blog is an excellent way to share your expertise about the industry and about your local area. Some real estate brands will start a blog where they can post news about a recently opened listing. While this is a good idea, you shouldn’t stop there. Try creating blogs about:
- General home buying and selling advice
- Moving or home maintenance advice
- Great parks, beaches, or must-see destinations in your area
- Things to do in your area
- Holidays in your area, etc.
Get On Social Media
Just a website is not enough in today’s day and age of digital marketing. It’s a good idea to get set up on social media where you can interact with your clients, as well as post any news and updates. Some real estate brands will even post their listings on social media. Facebook still reigns supreme among realtors, between the ability to post current listings and the ad promotion system that they use. LinkedIn and Instagram are also excellent options for real estate brands. Make sure that you use hashtags on social media, too, to make your posts easier to find.
Post a Local Pop Quiz
One fun way to get some engagement for your real estate company’s online presence is through a bit of regional trivia. You can post a full quiz and share it on social media or rotate trivia questions every week or so. If you create a full quiz, don’t forget to add a call-to-action for your brand at the end. A few ideas for trivia questions include questions about:
- Famous people from the area
- Famous events that happened in the area
- Old local business establishments
- Schools and parks
This is a fun and creative way to show that you know the local area well and to build a community with your audience.
Start Email Marketing
Create an email list based on the contacts you’ve made and try to send out at least a monthly newsletter. This is another place where you can promote your current listings. You can also create a short article or two to make up the bulk of the newsletter. This can be a bit of advice about buying or selling a home or simply an update about your business. Newsletters are a start and a way to build an email list. From there, you can also send out promotions and other news to your contacts.
Hire a Photographer
It’s easy to tell the difference between a few photos taken by phone and professional work done by a photographer. If you want your real estate listings to truly shine, consider hiring a photographer. They will take into account things like lighting, photo editing, and brightness in order to create the best possible photos of your properties. You can add these to your listings to really catch the eye of any house hunters.
Create Pinterest Boards
Once you have those beautiful photos of your listings, add them to Pinterest. Many Pinterest users look for inspiration for their dream homes, and they may stumble onto your home listing. When adding the pin, make sure that it is properly labeled and that the link leads back to your listing. In the comments of the PInterest post, you can add a description that will get picked up by Pinterest’s search function so your pin reaches more eyes.
