Archive for the "Content Marketing" Category
Infographic: Statistics that Prove Why Your Real Estate Marketing Needs to Include a Blog
If you’re a real estate marketer who’s not blogging, you’re missing out.
Everyone knows you need a property website to succeed in this industry. But when it comes to making that website competitive, many abandon the brightest idea that would help them in doing so — namely, blogging.
Real estate blogging does its bit for lead generation, SEO, and sales. So if you think your property can thrive without it, you might want to think again.
Search engine visibility
As search engine algorithms get increasingly complex and sophisticated, the quality of your website’s content becomes more and more important. It’s your content that informs search engines about your site (not just keywords anymore), improving your rank in relevant search queries. And the stats bear it out — according to HubSpot, companies that blog receive 434% more indexed pages on average and 97% more links to their website.
Another fact to consider: according to a recent study by Search Metrics, the average word count of the highest ranking content in Google is between 1,140-1,285 words. In other words, long-form content, like blog posts, is one of the best things you can do to improve your website’s SEO.
But don’t be fooled into thinking that quantity outranks quality. Simply pumping out a high word count isn’t enough. Your content needs to be well-written, thoroughly researched, and engaging.
Lead generation
Blog content is ideal to share (and link to) in email or social media marketing campaigns. It can help undecided leads learn about your properties and sway them in a positive direction. Sharing your blog posts on your social media accounts helps give validity and authority to your company, as you disseminate content you created yourself.
A recent study from the Content Marketing Institute found that 67% more leads are generated by companies with an active blog. Not only that, 81% of U.S. online consumers trust information and advice from blogs. So your blog is your best bet in terms of becoming a trusted resource for your audience — leading directly to more effective lead generation and nurturing.
Sales and relationships
61% of buyers report feeling better about a company that delivers custom content and are therefore more likely to buy from that company. And furthermore, HubSpot reports that 50% of consumer time online is spent engaging with custom content — like blogs. And perhaps most powerfully, 82% of marketers who blog daily acquired a customer using their blog, as opposed to 57% of marketers who blog monthly. Blogging helps you sell real estate, and it helps you build lasting and fruitful relationships with your audience.
Check out our infographic for statistics on why your real estate marketing strategy should include blogging.
Infographic: Why your real estate marketing should include a blog
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- 4 Ways a Blog Can Help You Sell Real Estate
- Drive More Traffic and Generate More Leads with Your Real Estate Blog with our Editorial Calendar Template
- Fronetics Real Estate Blog Named Top 60 Real Estate Marketing Blog
Archive for the "Content Marketing" Category
July 6 is One of the Busiest Days of the Year for Real Estate Searches
Real estate searches peak after holidays, and July 6 is one of the biggest peaks of the year. Are you ready to make the most of it?
If you’re a real estate marketing professional who puts your feet up after the holidays — it’s time to reconsider your strategy. Unlike the post-holiday retail lull, real estate searches actually pick up as potential buyers use their downtime to go online to consider real estate investment.
Now is your chance to capture those leads.
Here’s how to take advantage of the post-Fourth of July uptick in real estate searches.
Publish blog posts on a normal schedule
We all know that blogging can help you sell real estate in all kinds of ways — from increasing search visibility to nurturing leads. But did you realize blog posts are the gifts that keep on giving? The majority of traffic will visit your posts months after they’re published. We’ve found that 80% of our page views occur on blog posts published at least six months prior. Bear that in mind when you’re creating your editorial calendar: to capture future searches, the six-month mark can be a great time to write about trends or happenings in the coming year.
Search engines reward consistency and predictability in your publishing schedule. So, keep your normal frequency throughout the year, and it will help your rankings during high-traffic times.
Be strategic about social media to capitalize on real estate searches
Social media management can be an extremely time-consuming task, so dialing back your posting on the days when you know that prospects won’t be spending time online can help you conserve resources for the high-traffic days. July 6 is definitely a day when you should maximize your social media output, both in terms of frequency and quality. This doesn’t mean posting constantly, but it does mean it’s a great time to unveil new content, post interesting statistics, and interact with your followers. Chances are, many of your competitors will be shut down for the holiday, and your posts will be front and center in your prospects’ newsfeeds.
Be strategic about digital advertising
The same goes for digital advertising. Knowing that July 6 is a big day for real estate searches, you should budget your pay-per-click and social advertising dollars to spend more on this day. It’s a good time to focus particularly on your Google AdWords spend, as that will capture prospects using search engines to find information about potential real estate investments — as opposed to sponsored social posts, which display your ads in the newsfeed of a prospect who may or may not be ready to buy.
Post-holiday real estate searches present a big opportunity. Seize it.
Related posts:
- 10 Social Media Statistics for Real Estate Marketers 2018
- How to Measure Brand Awareness: A Guide for Real Estate Marketers
- Top 10 Real Estate Marketing Posts 2017
Archive for the "Content Marketing" Category
How to Measure Social Media ROI with Google Analytics for Real Estate
Measuring social media ROI can be a daunting task, but Google Analytics can help. Gauge the effectiveness of your social media strategy using these four data points in Google Analytics.
Many real estate businesses struggle with measuring social media ROI. Even for seasoned content marketers, the collection of data is one of the most daunting tasks. But it’s important to get it right, for several reasons:
To understand how your strategy is working.
- To determine where changes need to be made.
- To allocate appropriate resources.
Don’t waste time trying to track down information on your various social accounts to measure social media ROI when you can find the most pertinent information with a single tool. The best part is: You’re probably already using it. (And it’s free!)
You need data to measure social media ROI
Google Analytics is an incredible tool for businesses large and small looking to gain insight into the who, when, and where of their web traffic. And while it may seem intimidating to the novice, it’s very easy to use once you know where to find what you’re looking for.
Here’s how to start gauging the effectiveness of your social media strategy — and measure social media ROI for real estate.
Step 1: Look at where your traffic is coming from.
How much of your traffic is coming from social media? Google Analytics will provide an overview of the overall traffic sources that deliver visitors to your website, including traffic from social media. This high-level view of your traffic includes:
- Search (people clicking through from Google or Bing)
- Social (Twitter, Facebook, etc.)
- Direct (people typing your site in their browser or bookmarks)
- Referral (people clicking links from other sites to get to you)
- Paid search
- Other
To access this report in Google Analytics, go to Acquisition > All Traffic > Channels.
Go a step further and review the volume of traffic that comes from specific social media networks, by clicking on Acquisition > Social > Network Referrals.
It’s important to have a diverse mix of traffic sources, which should be reflected in the traffic sources report. If a large portion of your traffic comes exclusively from one source, especially if that source is not social media, it is time to reconsider your social media strategy. Similarly, if one network is driving most of your traffic, you should examine when and what you are posting in the non-performing channels.
Step 2: Determine revenue derived from posts.
Make sure to include links back to your site when you post on social media so that Google Analytics can track and analyze them. You’ll want to add a UTM code (aka UTM parameter), which is text added to the end of a URL (after the “?”) to identify the success of a campaign. As an example, the UTM code is in boldface below:
You can set unique UTMs for all of your social media, per channel, or even per update. By analyzing your different UTM parameters, you can determine which URLs are most effective in driving users to your content.
Set UTM parameters through Google’s URL Builder. Once your parameters are set, you can go to Acquisition > Campaigns > All Campaigns to see the revenue from any individual UTM tag, like a post or tweet.
Step 3: Look at how your content is being digested.
Analytics allows you to see how long a visitor stayed on your site, (use the Duration goal to find out). Examine how content and properties resonate with the social media audience by using Set up the Pages/Screens per Session goal or learn how many times visitors from social media play website video with Create an Event goal for specific tracking.
Step 4: What is social media bringing you in conversions?
Google Analytics has conversion funnel reports that show how much social media is contributing to conversions. To set up conversion funnels in Google Analytics:
Use the Goals section and connect any type of conversion event.
- Access your funnel report through Conversions > Multi-Channel Funnels > Top Conversion Paths.
These four insights from Google Analytics can help you determine how effective your social media strategy is in terms of traffic, direct revenue, visitor behavior, and conversions. Use this information to continually measure social media ROI and refine your strategy to get the most out of your social media presence for your brand and properties.
Related posts:
- What Metrics Should You Track in Real Estate Marketing?
- Measure Social Media Success in Terms of Potential, not Dollar Amount
- The Metrics You Should Be Measuring in Real Estate Marketing (Hint: Not Vanity Metrics)
Archive for the "Content Marketing" Category
Measure Social Media Success in Terms of Potential, not Dollar Amount
Social media gives you access to aspirational buyers and their networks, a benefit that can’t be quantified in dollars. It’s time to redefine social media success.
One of the trickiest things about implementing a social media strategy is that social media success can be difficult to measure. While most real estate professionals acknowledge that a social media marketing presence is important, it’s hard to make a case for resources when you can’t precisely quantify the value in terms of dollar amount.
Of course, you shouldn’t stop recognizing the importance of social media as part of a robust marketing strategy. You need to start thinking about value in terms of potential, rather than an immediate sale or rental.
Social media success in real estate will seem more attainable if you:
- Shift the focus from short-term sale to the long-term value of social media.
- Trust your efforts will pay off, even if not immediately.
- Find new ways to measure results over time.
Social media success comes from access to a new audience
Social media allows real estate professionals to discover and engage with a new segment of the market: aspirational buyers and renters. Suddenly, you are faced with an exciting prospect: access to a population that businesses in the past could not reach. Now that we can find out who they are, their long-term value cannot be overstated:
- They are your potential buyers.
- They can build brand loyalty for your business.
- They can engage with your properties.
According to a recent study published in MIT Sloan Management Review, aspirational buyers are likely to follow multiple brands on social media sites. Over half follow at least one brand that they haven’t made a purchase from. But, “our data suggests that they do plan to purchase in the future,” say the study’s authors. “Today’s followers are very likely to be tomorrow’s customers.”
It’s easy to see the implications for real estate marketing, as you can target your messaging for individuals who may not yet be ready to sign a contract, but who are following your properties with interest.
The social network = social media success
There’s another factor to consider regarding the value of social media marketing. At its core, these are networking platforms. That means you not only have access to a new audience base, but to their connections as well.
Your followers’ engagement on social media can expand the reach of your brand and properties, as they engage with their own networks. Putting a dollar value on such social reach is fairly meaningless — but it has the potential to add to your bottom line both now and in the future. For social media success, reach is an important part of the equation.
What’s more, a recent McKinsey study attributes word of mouth to be the primary influence for up to 50% of all purchase decisions. The study authors go on to say, “Followers who are not yet purchasers can share their experience with the brand, and deepen their commitment to the brand, even prior to that first purchase.”
It’s time we start thinking about social media success in this new way: in terms of potential and expanding value, rather than just immediate dollar amounts.
Related posts:
- 10 Social Media Statistics for Real Estate Marketers 2018
- Social Media Can Be a Strategic Weapon in Real Estate Marketing
- How to Use Social Media Hashtags in Real Estate Marketing
Archive for the "Content Marketing" Category
Content Marketing vs. Sales Staff: Who Does What?
When your content marketing and sales forces align their efforts, they form a powerful symbiotic relationship that grows your brand and your bottom line.
There’s a big misperception out there that content marketing represents some kind of threat to the job security of sales personnel.
It’s absolutely true that content marketing is an inbound approach, contrary to the traditional outbound approach of a real estate sales force. But make no mistake: Content marketing is not a substitute or replacement for an expert sales staff.
In fact, it’s when marketing and sales work in tandem that they’re most effective. They can help each other out to generate more leads, nurture current leads more effectively, and even help close more deals.
Content marketing helps generate a steady flow of quality leads, and it provides targeted information to usher prospects down the sales funnel. But even quality leads don’t turn into sales on their own. This is where a sales staff comes in — to take those leads and cultivate them into new business.
Content marketing vs. sales: Division of labor
For content marketing and sales to work seamlessly together, it’s important to have a clear idea of the role of each. They provide different touch points for leads at each stage of the buying cycle. Here’s a quick primer:
1. Forming a relationship
In this early stage of the cycle, your content marketing efforts go toward opening up a dialogue with potential buyers and renters. Often, potential leads’ first engagement with your property comes when they come across one of your blog posts while searching the web or see one of your social media posts because they’re connected to one of your followers.
This is when your sales staff picks up the ball, keeping that positive contact going by developing it into a conversation. It’s your sales team’s job to cultivate an ongoing personal relationship with leads that come in because they encountered your content.
2. Providing information
Now that you’ve established a relationship and your sales team is continuing a dialogue with your prospect, content marketing can step in. Potential buyers spend more time than ever researching properties, considering content such as blog posts, neighborhood guides, and social media posts before making a purchase decision. The content that you share with prospects at this stage of the buyer’s journey should be designed to answer informed questions and tip the scales in your favor.
At this stage, your sales staff should be directly answering questions from prospects. When a lead reaches out with a query, it’s likely that he or she has done a fair amount of research. So your sales reps need to speak specifically to the customer’s needs in a way that content alone can’t do to keep them interested and moving down the funnel.
3. Advocating for your brand
Content marketing increases brand awareness for your properties. It helps elevate your brand position within the real estate industry and keeps your property in their sightlines, even at a time when potential buyers aren’t ready to make a purchase.
When a prospect is preparing to make a purchase or to rent property, your sales staff is the primary advocate for your brand and properties. They should be proactive in pursuing business when leads show interest in your content or when they reach out with questions. They drive dialogue and get to know potential buyers and how your property can suit their needs.
A match made in heaven
When content marketing and sales work together, you’ll see the results hit your bottom line. Curating and creating great content will generate quality leads for your company and can empower your sales force to build relationships with potential buyers and renters — and to close the deal.
Related posts:
- Infographic: Real Estate Marketing Trends 2018
- 10 Social Media Statistics for Real Estate Marketers 2018
- How to Measure Brand Awareness: A Guide for Real Estate Marketers
Archive for the "Content Marketing" Category
Our 6 Favorite Marketing Automation Tools for Real Estate Marketers
Check out these marketing automation tools for email workflows, social media scheduling, and customer relationship management.
Lately it seems like everyone is talking about marketing automation. As real estate buyers increasingly demand personalized experiences through the buyer’s journey, marketers’ jobs are getting tougher. They need to provide custom lead-nurturing content to all prospects in their databases.
And that’s where automating marketing tasks can help.
The term “marketing automation” refers to a variety of tools used to automate the process of personalizing leads’ interactions with your property. The sheer variety of these tools can sometimes be overwhelming — so we’ve pulled a few of our favorites in the categories of email workflows, social media scheduling tools, and customer relationship management.
6 marketing automation tools for real estate marketers
Email workflows
1. Customer.io
This tool lets you send targeted messages to your prospects, crafting them based on how they interact with your property, and making personalized messages simple. You can also keep track of conversions and create customer profiles. Our favorite part? It integrates with your mobile app or website, letting you see data in real time and trigger actions by adding in predefined rules.
2. Constant Contact
This powerful tool has some features that are unique — and can take your marketing capabilities beyond the basics. Beyond setting up and managing an automated database, Constant Contact offers Facebook fan promotion, coupons and deals, and event management.
Social media scheduling tools
3. AdRoll
This is an extremely effective tool for retargeting prospects through re-engagement on Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere on the web. It offers cross-device and cross-platform retargeting capabilities, as well as flexible segmentation, letting you provide customized experiences that dramatically improve your marketing efficiency. It also offers customized budgeting and full control over ad spend.
Customer relationship management (CRM)
4. Pardot
Pardot is an all-inclusive marketing automation suite, but it’s particularly strong for amping up your engagement with CRM integration. It’s a great tool for helping your sales team shorten the sales cycle. And, in addition to CRM integration, it offers email marketing, lead nurturing, lead scoring, and ROI reporting.
5. Marketo
This cloud-based marketing software lets you drive revenue with lead management and mobile marketing. It not only helps build prospect relationships, but it helps you sustain them as well. Best of all, you can try it out for free until you’re sure it’s right for your company.
Bonus all-in-one tool: HubSpot
HubSpot is an inbound-marketing tool that lets you generate leads, close deals, and manage your sales pipeline from start to finish. It integrates beautifully with a content marketing strategy, with the goal of turning outbound leads into inbound ones. It includes revenue reporting, custom-event reporting, custom-event automation triggers, predictive-lead scoring, contacts and company reporting, and event-based segmentation.
What marketing automation tools do you use?
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