The Need for Digital Marketing in Real Estate
Why focus on digital marketing over other traditional methods of marketing? The answer is obvious. Technology has had an enormous impact on people’s lives and has made dramatic changes to the way we live and work. This applies to the field of advertising and marketing as well.
Digital marketing is much more effective than traditional advertising, provides better returns on investment, better customer retention and enables you to engage directly with customers in an environment they are comfortable in. Digital marketing can also combine traditional methods such as radio or television with online advertising, public relations, social media and mobile technology.
Research has time and again shown that a significant number of consumers do not trust advertising and also don't believe what companies say about themselves. Traditional advertising is increasingly being ignored. The spread of internet has lead to many users - who while spurning traditional forms of advertising - likelier to become a fan of the brand on social networks.
New technology has impacted traditional real estate advertising in many other ways. It is now a given that consumers begin their research using social media. While there is still a heavy emphasis on local press ads to show off listings, this type of campaigns is increasingly falling out of favor with young professionals. As more and more ads are accessible through the internet, local press ads are given the short shift with readers simply skimming the ads.
Traditional advertising operates by sending your message out to as large an audience as possible. This is done with the expectation that somebody will receive the message and act on it. Since all the competition adopt the same strategy, your only option is to be louder than they are, as often as you can and as much as you can afford.
Digital marketing techniques, on the other hand, allows you to communicate with your potential buyers in their own environment. Social media has the potential to reach more prospective buyers than Google, and it also allows agents a great opportunity to find potential new customers. It can be tempting to advertise heavily here. However, this can have the opposite effect and is likely to be viewed negatively. Instead use your social media presence to show the human side behind your brand.
As people can be suspicious of brands and businesses, let your existing customers do the talking for you. Allow happy customers to post unedited reviews and responses. Use different social media channels to target different groups and also create enough buzz. Running competitions on social media platforms is a great way to attract audiences and enhance brand awareness.
In this manner, your presence won't be obtrusive, allowing you to build a relationship with customers even before they consider a purchase. When that time comes, you already have a relationship with them in place.