Do you know that 97% of homebuyers search for properties online? In the real estate business, two things matter the most – networking and reaching out to potential customers through online marketing.
Offline networking can help you connect with leads, but what about online networking? For that, you require a comprehensive marketing plan. A real estate marketing plan is unlike other marketing plans because you need to gain traction and establish a foothold in the market.
That said, an effective real estate marketing plan can maximize your reach and attract potential buyers quickly. By following effective strategies, you can create a plan to set you apart in the crowded real estate sector. Start with these actionable steps for the best results:
Market Research
How will you develop a suitable plan if you don’t conduct market research? To create an effective marketing plan, focus on the research part.
Start by analyzing the current market landscape and understand the key trends. Most companies integrate technology in marketing plans to reach more people.
For instance, you can use Artificial intelligence and Virtual reality to gain traction online. In the real estate business, you can gather data on market conditions. With foolproof research, you can move to the next step – which is the target audience. Identify the Target Audience
A report by HubSpot says that 82% of marketers prefer high-quality data for target audiences, which helps them succeed in their roles. This boils down to identifying your target audience and creating a plan to cater to their needs. You must define key aspects such as location, demographics, and age for target identification.
Besides, creating a detailed customer persona will help you understand the needs of potential clients. More so, this allows you to focus on customized strategies. Of course, if you know what the customer likes, you can focus on that aspect. Competitor research is also significant in identifying the target audience.
Research Your Competition
Understanding your competition can help you with your marketing efforts. How? You can list your competitors, ideally those offering similar services. Access their presence to know their potential reach. There are many ways to access them, including reading online ads or checking their content.
Based on this, you can create your plan. Ideally, you can work on four significant Ps – Price, Product, Place, and Promotion. Check the pricing policies and product range of your competitors.
Further, check the location and how they promote their services. Once you know it all, you can use the information to your advantage.
Set a Marketing Budget
Most companies spend 10% of commission income on marketing. But this is a general rule, and you can spend more if your budget is higher. Besides, hyper-property markets with luxury properties will need more budget for promotion and marketing. Before you set aside a marketing budget, address your goals.
What is your reach?
Are you going to expand your base in the future? Will you integrate with technologies like AI for marketing? Access all the points and decide on your final budget. Ideally, you can start with a small budget and then increase it later.
Focus on Your Content
Once you set the budget, the next step is to focus on content. Content still rules, so you create a plan with relevant content. Besides, your content should inform and motivate your potential leads to take action.
For instance, most real estate companies leverage the power of blog posts to inform. Later, you can share the posts on different platforms to increase your reach.
Video content resonates the most with potential home buyers as they can view the property. Then, you can post HD pictures of properties to increase reach. Good content can drive engagement and reach the target audience.
Choose the Right Platforms
It is time to promote and market your services. For this, you must choose the right platform. According to a report by Sprout Social, there are 5.17 billion social media users worldwide. Looking at the figure, you can leverage the power of social media reach.
Plus, social media has become a key influencer in purchase decisions. Most homebuyers search for properties on social media sites. Here is when you have a chance to generate leads. Ideally, you can develop two social media profiles to optimize your marketing reach. However, the marketing plan should be relevant to the platform you choose.
Track Marketing Metrics
Metrics and data can guide you along your marketing journey. In real estate, measuring the metrics is crucial. Focus on tracking your progress and KPI to foster your efforts.
Though marketing metrics depend on marketing plans, the most common metrics you can track are conversion rates, response rates, site traffic, cost per client, referral rates, etc.
Lastly, determine whether your marketing efforts meet your marketing goals. You can seek help with the metrics part with no technical knowledge.
Conduct a SWOT test
You can identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats by conducting a SWOT test. Besides, this test will help you make informed decisions regarding your marketing plan.
With strengths, you can identify your business goals and weaknesses, which will help you recognize improvement areas. Opportunities can be external factors that can influence your business, and threats can be related to competitors and external challenges. When you are aware of internal capabilities, it can help you create a strong marketing plan.
Planning plays a key role
Planning is the first step to reaching your goal, right? How will you reach potential clients if you don’t plan your real estate marketing strategy? A comprehensive marketing plan can help to expand your reach and build credibility. In addition, you can increase engagement through social media reach.
As most home buyers prefer online platforms for property search, you can leverage the opportunities through this medium. Marketing your real estate business is similar to a chess game, as every move you make depends on market trends and preferences.
Also, creating a marketing plan is a constant process, and you can tweak changes depending on the market conditions. Time to drive the change!