Real Estate
Written By Katerina
Real estate developers need to be both creative and comprehensive when marketing their properties. There are a variety of channels and strategies available to help them attract buyers; from email marketing, web design, social media, SEO and content marketing, paid ads to referral marketing, quality photography and videography, and more.
The real estate marketing ideas we discuss in this article will help you reach your target audience and resonate with them. They'll also help you create a buzz about your property and generate meaningful interest in what you have to offer.
Having a strategic real estate marketing plan allows real estate developers to track their progress, see what's working, and make necessary adjustments along the way. It also allows them to set goals and budget accordingly. But where do you start?
Here are some unique real estate business marketing ideas to get your project moving.
What is your target demographic?
As you investigate how to market your real estate development project, knowing your target demographic will help you tailor your marketing efforts to appeal to the right people. Who are your potential clients? First-time buyers? High-net-worth families seeking a second or third home? Investors?
Knowing your audience will help you create targeted property marketing materials and choose the proper channels to reach them.
The following are ways in which you can know your target demographics:
Using census data - You can find out a lot about an area's demographics by looking at census data. This publicly available data can give you insights into the age, gender, income, and education levels of those living in an area. It can also provide information about an area's housing market.
Researching the competition - Look at who your competitors are targeting with their marketing efforts. 90% of Fortune 500 companies that are using competitive intelligence to gain an advantage over competitors, showing the value that is available in this space. Approaching correctly can give you valuable insight about who is interested in buying or renting in your area.
Creating buyer/tenant profiles - Another way to get to know your target demographic is to create buyer or tenant profiles. This involves creating a fictional character that represents your ideal customer. Once you have a profile, you can better understand what type of marketing will appeal to them.
Conducting surveys - Asking current or potential customers about their needs and wants is a great way to get to know them better. You can conduct surveys online or in person.
Analyzing your website traffic - If you have a website for your property, you can learn a lot about your visitors by analyzing your website traffic. This data can tell you where your visitors are coming from, what type of device they're using, and how long they stay on your site.
What to include in your marketing strategy?
Once you know your target market, it's time to start thinking about what to include in your marketing strategy. You should design your marketing strategy to generate interest in your property and get people talking about it. Here are some ideas to get you started:
Video courtesy of Illa Bimini
1. Web design
Creating a strong web presence is important for any business, but it's vital for real estate developers. Your website is one of the first places potential buyers or tenants will go to learn more about you. It’s the primary place where you display your properties and provide information about your company.
Your website design must be professional and modern. The content should be well-written and informative, including high-quality photos and videos of your properties. This will give potential customers a good idea of what your properties look like.
Your website should also stand out from the competition, capturing and conveying your unique brand attributes. In your research and discovery phase, investigate the latest real estate marketing trends in website design to collect ideas on how to make yours stand out. One way to do this is to focus on your unique selling points and highlight what makes your properties different from others on the market.
Some factors to consider when building your website include:
User experience - your website should be easy to navigate and use. It should also be mobile-friendly as more and more people are using their smartphones to browse the internet. According to Statista, mobile devices generated 54.4% of global website traffic in the first quarter of 2021.
Search engine optimization - your website should be designed with search engine optimization (SEO) in mind. This will help your website rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs), making it more likely to be seen by potential customers.
Call-to-action - make it easy for potential customers to get in touch with you. Include your contact information on every page of your website and use strong call-to-actions (CTAs) to encourage people to reach out.
2. Social media
Make sure you're active on the social media platforms that your target market is using. You can use social media analytics tools like Hootsuite Insights to help you figure out which platforms your audience is using. Once you know where they're active, you can create a social media strategy that targets those platforms.
Ensure that your social media accounts reinforce your brand. For inspiration, you might look to Villa Bella Canggu’s real estate Instagram account. Note the strong visual branding - every photo uses colors from their brand palette.
Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are great places to run ads. You can use these platforms to target potential customers in your area with ads for your properties.
3. Email marketing
Email marketing is a great way to stay in touch with potential customers and keep them updated on your latest listings. You can use email to send out monthly newsletters, share new listing information, and run promotions.
When creating your email list, target potential customers in your area. You can buy a list of email addresses or use a tool like MailChimp to create a sign-up form on your website.
Once you have a list of email addresses, you can send monthly newsletters. Be sure to include information about your latest listings and any promotions or discounts you're running.
One of the benefits of email marketing is that it's easy to track how many people are opening and clicking through your emails. This will give you an idea of how effective your campaign is and whether or not you need to make changes.
Image courtesy of graphic designer Anica van der Merwe for Hotel Luce, Italy
4. Branding
Your branding should be consistent across your marketing materials, including your website, social media accounts, email newsletters, and print materials. Your branding should include your company logo and a consistent color scheme and font.
It should be designed to appeal to your target market. If you run a hospitality brand, you know how crucial first impressions are. The same should happen for branding in real estate development. Your logo, color scheme, and overall design should make a strong first impression that tells potential customers who you are and what you're about.
For example, Baccarat Residences in Miami uses a logo on each page and sticks to a consistent color palette throughout their website. You can also focus your brand on the heritage of your business building like The OWO in London.
Some of the critical factors to consider for your branding include:
Color scheme - the colors you use on your website and marketing materials should be consistent. They should also be reflective of your brand. For example, if you're a luxury real estate developer, you might use black and white for a classic look or gold and silver for a more opulent feel.
Font - the font you use should be easy to read. It should also be reflective of your brand. For example, if you're targeting a young, hip audience, you might use a more modern font, whereas if you're targeting a more traditional audience, you might use a classic serif font.
Logo - your logo should be simple and easy to remember. It should be reflective of your brand and easily recognizable.
Business details - include your website, email address, and phone number on all of your marketing materials. This will make it easy for potential customers to get in touch with you.
Your branding should be reflected in all of your marketing materials. This will help potential customers to recognize your company and remember your properties.
5. SEO and content marketing
SEO (search engine optimization) is a process of optimizing your website to rank higher in search engine results. The higher your website ranks, the more likely people are to find it.
SEO is a complex process, but there are a few simple things you can do to improve your website's ranking, including:
Using keyword-rich titles and descriptions. For example, use a location-based keyword such as “Residences in Caribbean,” like Montage Cay Residences does.
Creating high-quality content
Optimizing your website for mobile
Building backlinks to your website
Content marketing is a process of creating and sharing content that is relevant to your target market. By creating blog posts, infographics, and other types of content, you can attract potential customers to your website and generate interest in your properties.
When creating content, be sure to include keywords that your target market is searching for. You can use a tool like Google AdWords Keyword Planner to help you find the right keywords. Once you have a list of keywords, you can start creating content that includes those keywords.
In addition to blog posts, you can also create infographics, eBooks, and video content. This will help to diversify your online marketing content and attract more potential customers.
6. CRO - Conversion Rate Optimization
Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is a process of improving your website to increase the percentage of visitors who take action. It involves testing different elements of your website and making changes based on the results. CRO can take many forms, including:
A/B testing refers to testing two different web page versions to see which one performs better. You can do this by testing different headlines, images, or call-to-action buttons.
User testing is testing your website with real users to see how they interact with it. You can use a tool like UserTesting.com to find participants for your user tests.
Heat mapping is a process of tracking where users click on your website. You can do this with a tool like Crazy Egg. Heat mapping can help you see which areas of your website are getting the most attention and which areas need improvement.
The goal of CRO is to increase the number of visitors who take action on your website. This could be signing up for your email newsletter, requesting more information about a property, or making a purchase.
One tried-and-true way to optimize your digital marketing for conversion is to attend to the placement of your call-to-action buttons, especially on your website. For inspiration, look to Number One Ballsbridge, which places its CTA (register here) on the first screen of its website.
7. Build a funnel
A funnel is a process you use to guide potential customers through your marketing campaign. It starts with awareness, where people are first exposed to your brand. Then, it moves to interest, where people learn more about your properties. Finally, it moves to action, where people take the next step in the process, such as requesting more information or making a purchase.
The goal of a funnel is to move potential customers through your marketing campaign and convert them into real estate leads. By creating a funnel, you can track your progress and see where people are dropping off. This will help you make changes to your campaign to convert more people into leads.
You can see an example of a real estate marketing sales funnel in action on the website of the Muse Residences in Miami.
Starting from the top is awareness - by describing the building itself as well as a project summary.
Moving down, the website captures interest by displaying amenities, features, images of the apartments, and more.
As website visitors continue down the page, they move through the funnel to consideration, where the website displays full prices & floor plans.
Lastly, the website presents a conversion opportunity via the bottom right button where a client can schedule a presentation via Zoom or in person
Image courtesy of Gester Digital
8. Paid Ads
Real estate paid ads are a great lead generation method. They are also an effective way to reach people who are not actively looking for your properties without necessarily breaking the bank. When using paid ads, you should:
Create ad groups for each of your properties. This will allow you to target people interested in that specific property.
Target keywords that are relevant to your properties. You can use a tool like Google AdWords Keyword Planner to help you find the right keywords.
Create ads that are relevant to your target keywords. Your ads should be clear and concise and include a call to action.
Monitor your results. Keep track of your leads and conversions to see how effective your ads are.
Paid ads are a great way to generate leads, but you should use them in conjunction with other marketing activities like SEO and content marketing.
The Spectrum of Real Estate Marketing Ideas
There are no end of opportunities to engage with your market. Other ideas include:
Cold prospecting: including email, direct mail and phone call campaigns
Referral marketing
Affiliate marketing
High quality photography and videography
We can get your real estate marketingmoving!
At Proven Partners, we specialize in real estate marketing. We can help you develop a real estate development marketing strategy to generate leads and grow your business.
We offer a wide range of services, including strategic branding, website design, SEO, content marketing, and social media marketing.
If you're looking for help with your real estate marketing strategies, we can provide you with the tools and resources you need to succeed.
Contact Proven Partners today to learn more about our services and how we can help you grow your business.
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