Content marketing is one of the oldest and most effective forms of marketing. The early days of content marketing started with pamphlets, brochures, and newspaper advertisements and later evolved into blogging and social media as we know today.
As content marketing continues to evolve with new technology tools and the competition increases, the importance still cannot be understated. Nearly all successful brands engage in some form of content marketing, which means you should too.
If you want to use content marketing to boost your real estate business, this article is for you. We’ll discuss eight steps for real estate content marketing success and how you can get ahead of the competition by producing high-quality and valuable content for your audience.
Why Use Content Marketing for Real Estate?
Content marketing encompasses a wide range of strategies and tactics to increase leads, sales, and brand awareness. Here are the main channels you may consider using for your content marketing strategy:
- Social Media: The most popular content marketing channel is social media. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X (Twitter) provide real estate professionals with tools to share valuable information and build an engaged audience.
- Websites: A website is one of the most important parts of any business. Your website is the first impression people will have when deciding whether or not to do business with you, and it also happens to be a great place to provide information about yourself and other helpful tips for visitors.
- Blogging: Blogging involves writing articles or guides for your audience, often about topics related to real estate or current events in the housing market. Blogs are the primary way to do search engine optimization (SEO) on Google and are typically published on your website.
- Email Marketing: As the name suggests, email marketing involves a structured approach to providing valuable content and sales messages through email to your contacts. Most email marketers use email CRM software to manage leads and automate the sending process.
- YouTube: YouTube can be a great way to demonstrate your real estate knowledge through video content. The video format on YouTube can reach a wider audience than social media and, with YouTube Shorts, you can build a subscriber base faster than other platforms.
- Podcasts: Podcasting has exploded in recent years, and for good reason. Podcasts offer real estate professionals a long-form channel to discuss important real estate topics in-depth. You can host a solo podcast or invite guests on to discuss any topic of your choosing (although we recommend sticking with real estate).
Drawbacks of Content Marketing
The content marketing channels above should 100% be in your toolkit as a real estate professional, but there are some downsides to consider about these platforms and content marketing in general.
Playing the Long Game
Unlike paid advertising, content marketing often doesn’t see a direct return on investment (ROI) right away. Building a following and driving traffic to your website takes a lot of time and effort, so you should be prepared to make a long-term investment into your business with content marketing.
Competition
Standing out in the online space can be difficult among the many other real estate professionals you’re competing against. You’ll need to differentiate yourself with unique and valuable content that your target audience simply cannot find elsewhere.
In addition to publishing the content, you’ll also need to spend time promoting it. Posting a short blurb on Facebook won’t be enough to see results. Promoting your content across all your social media channels and elsewhere will guarantee maximum exposure and help grow your online presence.
Time Is Money
As Benjamin Franklin famously said, “Time Is Money.” This phrase hits home when it comes to content marketing.
As a real estate professional, you need to focus on the most important income-generating activities and may not have enough time to spend on content marketing that doesn’t have an immediate ROI.
In this case, you may need to find an assistant or carve out time each day to make sure you are putting the effort into content marketing.
Fighting the Algorithms
Social media and internet algorithms are constantly changing, which means your content marketing results can fluctuate significantly. One day you could be receiving 10,000 impressions on your posts, while the next it could get cut in half or even more.
Staying ahead of the trends and researching experts and their responses to algorithm changes is the best way to increase the chances of a successful content marketing strategy.
8 Steps for Real Estate Content Marketing Success
There’s no surefire formula to a successful real estate content marketing strategy, but there are certainly some steps you can take when just getting started. Keep reading to find out how to get started on the right foot with your content marketing plan.
Step #1 – Have a Clear Vision on Your Objectives
The first step in any marketing strategy is to define your objectives and have a clear vision of what you want to achieve with content marketing.
Like most real estate professionals, you’ll probably be focused on generating more leads and increasing your sales with content marketing. However, some other goals (that often lead to more leads and sales) may include:
- Website Traffic: Many real estate professionals have courses, eBooks, or other digital products for sale on their website. In this case, a primary goal for these entrepreneurs is to drive traffic to their website and increase the sales of these digital products. More website traffic also translates into greater brand awareness and exposure in the digital world.
- Referral Business: Real estate is an industry that thrives on referrals, which means building a solid referral pipeline can be an asset for many in the field. Content marketing can help build a referral network by connecting with other agents and like-minded individuals who can refer business your way.
- Thought Leadership: Being a thought leader in real estate is a way to establish yourself as an expert and a go-to resource for professionals in your field. Thought leaders are most prevalent on LinkedIn and often share insights and personal commentary on important topics within real estate.
- Local Authority: Similar to thought leadership, becoming a local authority means you’re one of the most well-known real estate professionals in your area both online and offline. To become a local authority, you’ll need to connect with locals and build a significant presence in the area.
Step #2 – Decide on Content Marketing Channels
Next, you’ll need to decide on the content marketing channels most suitable for your business and time commitment.
For new content marketers, it’s best to start on social media. Posting helpful real estate information and advice on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn is a great starting place to get your feet wet with content marketing.
If you already have a website, start a new page on the site for a blog where you can upload long-form articles explaining important real estate content in-depth. This allows you to give personal insight that is often difficult to do through social media.
Once you’ve set up your blog page, start writing articles about basic concepts in real estate you know like the back of your hand. You’re writing to an audience who is unfamiliar with real estate, so topics like mortgage loan options, how to sell your home, and down payment basics will fare very well on your new blog.
Video production, podcasting, and email marketing are advanced forms of content marketing that are more time-consuming and costly, so it’s important to understand those channels better before investing any additional time or energy.
Step #3 – Learn, Learn, and Learn
Einstein said the day you stop learning is the day you stop living, and boy was he right. Since you’re not an expert at content marketing just yet, you’ll need to spend time learning more about industry best practices and how to use the technology tools that successful content marketers utilize.
Research basic fundamentals like how to use hashtags on social media, how to format images, and ways to increase engagement on your posts. Additionally, start learning the basics of search engine optimization (SEO) and how to find the right keywords to use for your blog.
These fundamentals will set the foundation for a successful content marketing journey.
Step #4 – Start Producing Content!
Even though you don’t know everything at this point, it’s important to still get started. Start posting on social media to get the hang of how it works while building your skills and learning more about content marketing.
Like any skill, practice makes perfect.
Step #5 – Engage with Your Audience
Posting high-quality content on social media and elsewhere will encourage your audience to interact with you. They will often give their two cents, compliment you, or (perhaps unfairly) criticize your point of view.
Regardless of the intention behind their comments, it’s always a good rule of thumb to engage with your audience in a polite and respectful way. Engaging with audience members and their comments boosts your account activity and will favor you in social media algorithms.
Step #6 – Measure Your Results
The goal of content marketing is to achieve the objectives you’ve set at the beginning of your campaign. But without measuring your results over time, there will be no way to assess if your strategy is working or if you need to change course.
Many social media platforms and websites have built-in analytics so you can view your impressions, engagement, website traffic, and Google rankings in an easy-to-access dashboard.
Step #7 – Iterate if Needed
Beginner content marketers will likely need to experiment with different approaches and strategies before finding meaningful success with any content marketing channel. We recommend committing to a single strategy for at least one month before assessing your results and changing course if needed.
For example, this could mean a social media strategy highlighting real estate trends and analysis along with photos of your current listings and sold properties. Stick to a posting schedule for one month then assess the results. This may be a good time to pivot and try something new if you’re not seeing consistent growth in your numbers.
Step #8 – Build a Team
As you start to see results with your content marketing efforts and your business grows over time, you may choose to delegate some of the responsibilities.
Hiring an in-house team member to handle your content marketing or working with freelancers are viable options to reduce your workload and focus on more important parts of your business.
Final Thoughts
The journey of finding real estate content marketing success will undoubtedly be a long and challenging one. Thousands of other real estate professionals are competing for the same attention and will be happy to take your clients before you have the chance.
However, a solid content marketing strategy is the key to growing your business in the digital world. Most content marketing channels are free to use, which means you won’t need to continue to spend money on advertising as you gain more traction and build your content marketing skills.
Related: The Guide on Using Instagram for Real Estate
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