9 Real Estate Marketing Trends For 2023
Are you looking to be on top of your marketing game in 2023? Do you want to gain an edge over your competitors and capture the most attention? You might be looking for the most effective way to reach your audience, but how do you know which method will work best for you? We have some secrets we'd like to share.
93% of home buyers look for new homes online, so this is where you need to focus your efforts. While many businesses are still stuck with a static website filled with irrelevant information, you can customise your website to incorporate real-time messaging about your listings — directly answering common questions and concerns in order to increase interest and conversion.
2022 has been an absolutely incredible year for real estate digital marketing. The industry saw online real estate marketing hit new heights with an increase in social media engagement and consistent demand from first-time homebuyers. With all of these changes, it's important that agents build a strong foundation for what's to come — and 2023 looks incredibly exciting. But how can you make sure that your business stands out from the crowd? We've compiled 9 awesome digital marketing trends for real estate businesses to use in 2023!
Start Using Video and 360 Virtual Tours
Videos in real estate marketing are here to stay. Top real estate pros know how important video is for converting prospects into customers, and it's not just about throwing a few clips up on YouTube. Buyers love the process — they love going through a house, imagining themselves in the space. You can capture this emotion by letting buyers experience homes through the lens of a real estate agent on video.
Recent studies have shown that virtual tours, in which real estate agents capture a 360-degree view of an interior and exterior of a property using a smartphone app or drone, can boost real estate leads by more than 64%.
Virtual tours are a powerful tool for real estate companies to show off their properties. The solution has the power to engage people who are interested in a home, further educating them about its features and selling points. When paired with other real estate digital marketing trends, such as video content marketing, virtual tours increase brand awareness by 54% and qualified leads by 64%. This is because buyers are able to make an emotional connection with the property from their living room. If you're looking for an effective way to show your property off, this could be the solution for you!
Virtual tours and videos about your real estate properties can help you stand out from the competition, showing off the best attributes of your listings to attract potential buyers. By providing an in-depth look at every part of each property (both inside and out), as well as providing video content that features testimonials from current or former owners, neighbourhood updates, and tips for home buyers, you'll win over more customers than ever before.
Automate Marketing Strategies
Marketing automation is an instrument that can improve your lead generation process when used properly. With the right marketing automation software and a few best practices, you'll be able to engage your audience through automated emails and deliver personalised, real-time messages during the sales cycle.
Market automation software combines all of your marketing efforts into a single platform, whether they're social media campaigns, e-mail efforts, or even landing pages. This means that you'll be able to see real-time insights into how your customers interact with your brand and how they respond to your content. Ultimately, this will lead to more leads, more sales, and a better experience for your customers.
Salesforce automation can help you follow up with past customers, gain new clients, and track activities within your sales funnel. It's a great way to keep your sales team on the same page in terms of messaging and ensure that you keep your prospects informed about your company and its offerings.
Business cards are essential to any real estate marketing plan. Having a complete set of business cards on hand gives realtors the chance to prominently display the information most important to their clients — from contact information and a list of recent property sales to QR code links to social media profiles and a link to an online portfolio.
You may not know this, but most people rely on referrals from friends, family, and colleagues when looking for a real estate agent. They need to feel comfortable with their broker before they can trust them, so they will meet them in person whenever possible. When meeting with a potential client, it's important to sell them on your brand right off the bat — so make sure you're ready to charm at open house events and networking.
Make Use Of AI Marketing Automation
Artificial intelligence is the future, and marketers need to be ready for it. Digital marketing is full of challenges, and it's all about being relevant to your users. Artificial intelligence can help — from making predictions on customer behaviours to streamlining operations across channels. It gives you an edge and helps with every stage of the marketing process.
Digital marketing is all about boosting your ROI and, subsequently, boosting your business. It's about reaching the right people at the right time. At this moment, AI is influencing how marketers create content, survey customers, and even analyse your website.
So how can AI help you in the digital market?
AI can help you analyse your customer's preferences. A key part of digital marketing is understanding your customers. With AI, you could quickly find your customer's wants, find their favourite products, and offer them the best deals.
AI can help you understand your customer better so you can tailor messages to their needs. Data is useful for understanding what messages you should be delivering, but AI can help you to analyse customer behaviour in real-time.
AI can help you tailor messages to customer preferences. For example, you can tailor messages to their needs in your email marketing messages.
Customer service is a fundamental part of every business, especially when it comes to e-commerce businesses. With in-built chatbots and live pop-ups, you can easily engage customers and provide solutions for any issues that arise — all without letting them hit the back button or making an unnecessary call. Client retention and loyalty are all based on a fast, friendly, and effective response time.
Be Authentic on Social Media
People want to work with realtors they can trust, so make use of social media to connect with your community and establish yourself as an expert in the real estate industry. Use hashtags, respond to comments and questions, and post updates regularly — but don't forget that you should never end up sounding like a salesman. Only share your expertise, be helpful, and stay true to your core values.
Photos and videos of your real estate properties can only do so much. They may capture people's attention and show off your beautiful homes, but you need to establish a relationship with these potential customers beyond the screen. The best way to do this is to talk about yourself — what you're into and why you love real estate. Post photos and videos of your life, as well as articles that relate to your passions.
Focus on Relationship Building and Client Retention
It's important to have a quality website and good customer service — but don't let that overwhelm your personal touch. Building relationships with customers is fundamental to marketing success, so always strive to be helpful and treat every customer with as much care as possible.
When visitors stumble upon your site, where does your marketing funnel guide those users? Are you relying on advertising to bring in customers, or are you taking advantage of other tactics, such as leveraging word-of-mouth and personal relationships, to encourage new customers and positive brand visibility? With ads, a business will get only one chance to pitch its products and services — but with referrals, you have many chances to pitch your products. Make the most of these opportunities by building personal relationships with your customers instead of relying on your ads.
Launch Engaging Relevant Email Marketing Campaigns
Email marketing isn't new, but it's certainly not dead, either. It's been found to be one of the most effective ways to get in front of your audience and convey your message. This year, with the introduction of more advanced tools and more robust analytics, email marketing will gain more traction than ever before.
Email marketing is an incredibly effective tool for real estate companies. In fact, a recent study showed that real estate companies that use email marketing can expect to see a 26% conversion rate. This means that email marketing yields an ROI that other forms of real estate marketing simply cannot compete with (with the exception of PPC advertising but more on that later!).
Analysing website demographics is one of the easiest ways to determine how you can attract more customers. When it comes to your customers, you should start breaking them down into different groups based on their interests and behaviours. When you have a better understanding of your customer personas, email marketing will become easier. One of the most effective ways to get people to visit your property website is by using exclusive real estate deals and promotions.
Have A Go At Influencer Marketing
The real estate landscape is changing fast — and it's become more important than ever to make your presence known. Customers are looking for brands that will show them you're worth trusting through your real estate marketing. What better way to show them your dedication than with a niche influencer campaign?
Social media is a great way for real estate agents to boost their online business and gain new clients, but it's important to be careful about what you post. More than 50% of people, according to a study by the Keller Williams Realty Institute, say that professional social networking sites are trustworthy and reputable.
Listing agents should be more than capable of writing compelling copy that converts leads into listings. By becoming active in social media and continuing to post about the real estate industry, listing agents can become a much-needed adviser for aspiring homeowners. Guest blogging is also a great way to market themselves as an expert in their specific niche — as long as they keep their posts scannable and relevant, they'll see better click-through rates and conversion rates.
Whenever you collaborate with other brands, you can innovatively reach their customers — and vice versa. It's a two-way street: through joint marketing endeavours, you can reach each other's target audiences and influence them in new ways. Collaborations with other businesses are a great way to engage your customers and attract new ones.
Your Website Should Be User-Friendly, Fast, and Mobile-Responsive
No one wants to wait—especially not website visitors. While the general rule of thumb is that a page should load in less than 4 seconds, most pages take an average of 3.9 seconds to fully render and display. Additionally, with the rise of mobile internet usage, it's become even more important for sites to load quickly on all devices. Improperly optimised websites have lousy load times, which can ultimately contribute to site abandonment. Without fast loading times, people will bounce before they even get to your website content. As a result, you'll lose out on potential customers and sales.
While you might be tempted to do everything yourself and save money in the process, it's more important to consider your end goal. If you're trying to attract buyers, then a website that's slow to load and complete with broken links isn't going to get you anywhere. Even if search engines are ranking your site well, it's unlikely that the average consumer is going to take the time to figure out why they can't get past a certain webpage. Hire a professional web developer to ensure your website is up to speed - literally.
Revise Your SEO Strategies
SEO is one of the major components for real estate agents to pursue. Implementing SEO strategies into your marketing plan is the best way to generate leads to your business, and it gives your website a better chance of appearing on top during relevant searches.
Google changes its algorithms all the time, so it's important to keep your SEO on top of them. It will always require that you are using high-quality keywords, backlinks, directories, and more. It is an ongoing process that supports the bulk of your marketing efforts. Hire a professional to ensure you're doing all optimising all the correct optimisation points and not missing out on crucial SEO practices and elements that could massively hinder your organic performance.
Ready For Real Estate Digital Marketing 2023?
If you're still stuck in old-fashioned techniques, then you're missing out on building stronger relationships with potential buyers and realtors. You might also be missing out on opportunities for new business and positive brand exposure.
We have some of the most experienced SEO, marketing, and social media experts to help you get ahead in your industry — so contact us today. We'd love to learn more about your business goals.