Most of us are creatures of habit. For many of us, checking a device, reading the news and briefly scanning the social networks before you begin the day at work is a regular habit.

Social media marketing is relatively new and based on a technology that didn’t previously exist. No wonder it’s a divisive strategy, and many business owners continue to resist it, branding it a fad and a waste of time. Several other business owners believe their particular industry can’t possibly benefit from social media marketing.

Real estate listings are aplenty on Facebook, whether from a friend posting about the house they are selling or "suggested posts" from an advertiser or real estate related content. These kinds of content are gaining in popularity across social media platforms. It's free advertising and often comes with dangers attached.

2017 is just around the corner, and we can no longer put off drafting our marketing strategy for the coming year. With that in mind, these are the prominent trends that will emerge in the new year.

Instagram was once thought to be a platform meant for pictures of kittens, fancy dishes, and artful lattes. Now 85% of top brands are on it, and 60 percent of its 400 million active users log in each day, making it the most engaged social network second only to Facebook.

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.

What is “Drip marketing?” It is essentially the process of drafting emails which can then be automated and send to multiple real estate leads, in order to nurture them through the inbound sales funnel enhancing your relationship in the bargain.

A lot of people assume a career in real estate to be a cake walk. The real estate industry has stronger challenges and rewards than ever before, especially with the recent technological advancements. 

It used to be that buyers or sellers of houses approached a real estate agent for that purpose. That was the traditional way of doing things. However, the times have changed now. Buyers are increasingly turning to the internet to gain an idea of the housing market before they contact a real estate agent.

The success of a real estate business is dependant their performance in the areas of Networking, Referrals and Repeat business. More than 90 percent of Realtors use social media for their business. They cite exposure, marketing, promotional opportunities and relationship-building as primary reasons for using social media. 

You know the ins and outs of real estate marketing for Facebook, regularly post on visual social networks like Pinterest and YouTube and of course tweet regularly to your devoted followers on Twitter.

For the past few years, real estate professionals have overcome the real estate crisis, found creative ways including innovative uses for social media. They are increasingly using photo and videos to enhance listings, along with professional networking sites to hone their sales skills.

The realty sector is adapting rapidly to the world of networking and digitization. In this age when everything and everyone are interconnected, one has to look at developments not only in the property market but those in other business segments as well.

As a search engine, Google can change a lot in a year. The best of SEO practices till then suddenly turn into death sentences for web pages that do not keep up. However, this new report from ‘Searchmetrics’ analyzes and distils the information you need to know, avoiding the hassle of keeping yourself up-to-date.

You have invested considerable time, energy, and money in your website. Now it is time to get returns from your investment. Ideally, your site should be generating ample leads for you. But is it doing enough? Are you satisfied with the volume of leads you are getting? If not, why?

Everybody needs the best for themselves, and realtors too are not any different. That's why posts like “The Best X Apps for Real Estate Agents on the Go’ or ‘The Best Tablet Apps for Real Estate Agents’ get a lot of attention. And most of these articles are full of useful advice for professionals of all stripes, new (and better) tools are always coming out that it’s a chore keeping up.

For most people, buying or renting a new home is a big decision. No surprise finding a trustworthy and reliable Realtor is top of the list for most buyers. And that is why Realtors have to market themselves and their brands just as much as the properties he was trying to sell.

Real Estate Agents are some of the best marketers in the real world. Incredibly brilliant at getting to know their clients on a person-to-person basis, connecting with the local market and getting involved with the community.

In general, Real Estate professionals do not make much use of the professional audience on LinkedIn when compared to other social media platforms. Those who take advantage of the professional network to garner business are few and far between. However, with more than 187 million members across 200 countries, its high time that we give this a thought.

A lot of brokers do not believe marketing is necessary, especially those who are in commercial real estate. Yet, everyone needs logos, websites, email marketing, property set ups, SEO, brochures, billboards, business cards, and print advertising. Right? 

You have two options: you can pretend it’s not happening, keep playing it old school, and keep thinking that marketing is a waste of money. Or, you can approach Marketing as an investment.