Do you want to stay on the cutting-edge of the real estate industry this year?
Well, you cannot ignore technological trends that have been transforming the industry in the last few years. In fact, this year will see a shift towards more client-focused applications that promote highly targeted real estate offerings. These include customer relationship management (CRM) applications that seek to provide the best possible customer service.
But there is a challenge: how do you choose the most appropriate application in a market awash with so many?
You need to understand what has worked in the past and what did not work well, if at all. Once you know what works, your task this year is to focus on marketing trends and applications that guarantee results. This is the aim of this article: to highlight real estate marketing trends you need to pay attention to this year.
1. Instant Communication
The money is in the list. This is a popular saying in online marketing. However, you need to go beyond mere lead capture and convert those leads into paying customers. It’s not just a question of generating a ton of leads. It’s also about turning leads into eager buyers. For this, you need effective follow-up systems and tools.
Your ability to communicate instantly with leads while at the same time isolating the genuine from junk requires an effective automated CRM system. The attention span of most web visitors is so short they will sign up into your mailing list and within hours forget they did. You, therefore, need an effective automated, lead follow-up system that keeps subscribers instantly and periodically updated.
2. Personalization
The age of push marketing and “cookie-cutter” systems is long gone. If your communication sounds like it was generated in a “mass communication” factory, no one will pay attention. Personalize your messages in a way that makes customers feel you are directly addressing them, only them. To achieve this impact, send laser-targeted messages that encourage customers in a non-invasive way to engage with your products and brand. You can also create landing pages that speak directly to particular segments of your audience.
3. Data-Driven Decisions
This year will see a consolidation towards data-driven decisions. It will no longer be enough to rely on third-party real estate institutions for current market data. You will need to act on your own data. Centralized data from website analytics, campaigns, sales, transaction management tools, etc., will be hugely important in helping you isolate the strategies with the best ROI.
You will be able to understand what channels are the most effective for your business. The beautiful thing is you can easily measure and analyze online campaigns with a view to establishing what is working, and what is not working. With these results, you can tweak your campaigns accordingly.
4. Paid Social Ads
Today, one cannot just post free ads on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc and expect reasonable engagement. The allure of free public posts is diminishing by the year. Facebook, for instance, has streamlined the number of public posts appearing in your newsfeed. For more exposure, you will need to spend. However, with a modest budget, you can achieve good results with paid social media ads.
5. Virtual and Augmented Reality
This year will see increased use of virtual and augmented reality in open house tours. Clients no longer have to come to your open house to make a decision. With virtual reality, you can take them there, virtually speaking. Providing potential clients with a 360-degree view of your property right from your website is a highly immersive experience. Besides, with augmented reality, they can interact with your house in ways they cannot physically do.