7 Content Marketing Tips for Real Estate
Real estate agents know a strong online presence is important for bringing in new clients and helping clients find the perfect home. However, it’s not enough anymore to simply have a website — you now need a website backed by a rockstar content marketing strategy.
Content marketing is the key to growth for any small business, and it comes with it’s own set of best practices for real estate marketers.
Here are 7 content marketing tips for real estate. Be sure to add any other tips you have for real estate marketing in the comments below.
Content Marketing Tips for Real Estate
1. Use Engaging Images
The fact is clients see the images on your website and social media posts before they read your written content. So you have to make sure the images you use appeal to them and speak to your brand’s personality.
For a real estate agent, this may mean images of people and families will resonate more strongly with your audience.
Images of people cooking in their homes, kids doing homework, a family eating dinner and a couple relaxing on a sofa while watching TV are all good examples of engaging and relatable images for people looking to buy or rent homes.
2. Make Your Message Obvious
It’s true people on the internet have short attention spans and are quick to hit the back button if they don’t find what they’re looking for immediately. People come to your website and read your content to get information; make sure you show them what they’re looking for right away and as clearly as possible.
In other words, you need to get to the point immediately. You don’t have much time for long-winded introductions that don’t offer value to your potential home buyer or seller.
Use descriptive headings and subheadings, keep your copy concise while remaining informative, use bullet points when appropriate, and use images to convey more emotion.
Possible subheadings for an article about how to pick a location for your next home:
- Shopping in the Neighborhood
- Crime Stats of the Neighborhood
- Nearby Schools
- Restaurants/Parks in the Neighborhood
- Gyms/Running Tracks in the Neighborhood
Think about the questions customers ask before they buy or rent a home, and make sure the answers to those questions are clearly visible on your website.
3. Blogging Is Now a Necessity
A blog is now the most foundational element of any good content marketing strategy. A blog keeps your content and website fresh for search engines — sending important signals your website is alive and well — it offers an opportunity to publish keyword rich content, and it provides answers and solutions to possible clients.
Possible blog post topics for a real estate firm could include:
- Biggest real estate trends in [location]
- General real estate trends
- Interior decoration tips
- Tips on how to buy/rent an apartment/house
- Tips on how to sell/rent out an apartment/house
4. Maintain Up-to-Date Listings on Your Site
One of the easiest ways to draw people into your website, as a real estate firm, is to host property listings.
This is one of the most popular searched items in real estate, and it could be a great way to capture some local organic search traffic.
When hosting listings, make sure your listings are always up to date, have high quality photos, present clear and concise property information and offer an easy way for clients to get in touch with you.
5. Tell a Story Through Your Content
Your content should not only inform, but also resonate with readers on an emotional level. People often make purchasing decisions, even ones as important as purchasing a home, with emotion and feeling, so it’s critical your content elicits the right emotional reaction.
Possible stories for your real estate content marketing:
- The story behind your real estate firm — make a human connection to your business
- Stories of how people found their dream houses through your firm
- Customer journey stories — show what kind of people can find their dream homes
6. Customer Reviews
As mentioned above, you can use past customers by telling their stories through your website and social media pages. But, you can also ask past customers to review your firm and publish these reviews on your website and social media pages.
Encourage your happy customers to go on Facebook, Twitter or whichever platform your audience uses most and write their own reviews. This gives the reviews a ring of authenticity which they won’t have if you simply reprint them with the customers’ names.
7. Showcase Your Culture and Express Your Why
We already know people make purchasing decisions with emotion and feeling — and in fact, people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. Use your website and your content to express what you believe in and why.
For example, if you’re dedicated to helping families finding the perfect houses to raise their children, make sure this message shines through. If your aim is to help everyone buy a home, no matter what their budget, start with this sentiment. Or perhaps you specialize in helping first-time home buyers by simplifying the process of buying a home — this too can be a powerful why statement.
Content marketing is all about offering valuable information to teach your customers about your service, your company and your personality. Done well, content can be the key to your business standing out from the crowd.
