The Real Deal About Real Estate Marketing

Generating leads is important in any industry, but in real estate especially, getting new clients is the key to success. The question is how do you generate leads in real estate? How can you reach potential clients and entice them to do business with you?

The answer lies in innovative marketing techniques, including both digital and traditional marketing. It’s important to mix the tried-and-true with the totally new, and here’s how you can achieve that with Appleton’s full-scale real estate marketing services.

Social and Online Marketing — Instagram is Key

There are various social media channels and effective social media tactics that can be great for real estate and development companies. But Instagram in particular can generate the engagement needed to make your campaigns successful. Studies show that users are 58 times more likely to engage with a brand on Instagram over Facebook and 120 times more likely than Twitter. This means increased commenting, liking and sharing of your company, which will lead to higher brand awareness and, in turn, more business.

If you’re a realtor, most people initially choose to look at houses based on their curb appeal, so Instagram is a great way to showcase the homes you offer. In addition, real estate marketing professionals, such as brokers or property managers, can use the platform to highlight happy clients in front of their new space, whether it’s a home or commercial property, and even testimonials from these clients.

If you’re on more of the development side, Instagram is a highly visual platform that’s great for displaying work you’ve completed recently or in the past. There’s power in being able to show potential clients the process and end result, rather than telling or trying to describe it to them. On Instagram, photos or videos are a must, so it’s important to invest in high-quality photography and videography, while strategic copy can be used to provide further details and hashtags increase reach and awareness.

Email Marketing — Get Personal

This may seem like common sense, but it’s surprising how many companies don’t do personalized emails. Market futurist, Faith Popcorn, proclaimed that this is the age of Egonomics — everyone wants to be an individual, not a nameless lead. By personalizing emails and email marketing campaigns, your real estate or development company goes the extra mile to show that you care about your client or potential client on an interpersonal level. Use the client’s name, speak in a conversational tone and, if possible, follow up on any events or awards that are occurring in real-time. By creating personalized, compelling email campaigns, you’re showing the client that they are important to you, and that can lead to new business.

Video and Film — Press Record

Leveraging the benefits of video marketing for your real estate business can elevate you above your local competition. From house reels and commercials to time lapse videos and testimonials, video marketing is a prime real estate marketing tactic that allows individuals to really get a feel for your company.

Seventy-three percent of homeowners say they prefer to work with a real estate company that creates video reels for for-sale homes. By producing these teasers, in addition to including pictures on social media or campaign landing pages, potential buyers get a full view of the property. In addition, for any real estate and development company, our video marketing team recommends using drones to give potential buyers an even better view of the property. By providing aerial views of commercial, residential and industrial properties, in addition to ground footage, potential buyers get that 360-degree perspective. With so much footage, we also add special touches to make the videos feel real — kids’ drawings on the fridge, family pictures on the wall, a well-lit office space with plenty of greenery. Little things like this help potential buyers envision themselves in the space; in fact, these details make the house or office seem like a place that’s waiting for them to move in.

In addition to video reels, real estate video marketing can also include time lapse videos that show the process of properties being built. This is a very popular tactic for social media channels because it gives users a full-scale inside look into the process and the end result within seconds. Video testimonials of happy clients are also great video marketing materials for your website and social media channels. Showing these clients in the locations you helped them get into and asking them questions that reflect your expertise are key in video testimonials.

Media Buying — Location, Location, Location

Ad placement near prime real estate locations could make your company the link between dream and reality. Begin with thinking about where people have real estate on their minds, the upcoming hubs for residential and commercial locations. You want to be top-of-mind when people see their space in real life. Achieve this by placing out-of-home advertisements on billboards and transit. Research shows that out-of-home advertising results, on average, in a 180% return on investment. Seeing your advertisement will seem like destiny and potential buyers will be inclined to give your company a call. Curious about the different types of billboards? Read more about which billboard would be best for your business.

Public Relations — Become Newsworthy

Real estate lead generation is also possible with a tactical public relations strategy in play. What are the newsworthy opportunities your business is participating in? In PR, newsworthy means that your news is impactful, timely, relevant, interesting or local. If you’re sponsoring a high-profile real estate conference, recently won a prolific award or are involved in a charitable initiative, these are all things that may be deemed newsworthy public relations. From press releases and media alerts to full-scale PR events, an expert public relations firm can help you get the word out.

Traditional Marketing — Howdy Partner

Traditional marketing methods, such as print, radio, television and outdoor billboards, are one of the most familiar marketing tactics to clients. They offer tangible ways to reach your audience and they can be used to support your online brand. Something as simple as a dynamic business card or brochure can make an impression on people and make your company stand out among others. Direct mail is also a great way to reach specific audiences that may be looking to buy a property in the near future.

In real estate and development, trade publications offer your company the opportunity to put in a clever, creative and impactful ad that creates awareness for your company. Couple these print ads with billboards and a direct mail campaign, and you have one advertising campaign that will make your brand top-of-mind for potential clients.

Bring these innovative real estate marketing techniques to life for your company. Appleton Creative is an award-winning, full-service Orlando advertising agency that works with local, national and international clients to deliver impressive ad campaigns, branding, print, web, public relations, social media and video services — all in house. At Appleton, we want to learn about your business, empower your marketing team and be your creative resource. Your advertising goals are worth a conversation: contact us at 407-246-0092 or info@appletoncreative.com