Archive for the "Current Events" Category
What You Should Know About Real Estate Chatbots: An Introduction
To reach your future customers, don’t ignore the significance of real estate chatbots in shaping the content marketing landscape.
Chatbots are the latest trend in artificial intelligence for marketers, and the real estate sector should be taking note.
Real estate chatbots can help automate and improve some of your marketing and customer service efforts. But to get the most out of these automated systems, you first need to understand what they are and how they work.
What is a chatbot?
A chatbot is a computer program that simulates human conversation using auditory or textual methods. Basically, it’s a software that communicates with your customer inside a messaging app, like Facebook Messenger. Chatbots are similar to email marketing, but rather than ending up in your inbox, they communicate through a messaging app.
Real estate chatbots are typically used to converse with potential clients at the very top of the funnel — people you don’t know, and who might or might not be ready to move on to the next stage of the process.
Why are chatbots so popular?
As our mobile devices continue to change the way buyers receive and interact with our brands and properties, messaging-app usage has skyrocketed. In fact, 2017 saw a 69% increase in messaging-app users from the previous year. Business Insider reports the number of people on messaging apps surpassed the number of users on social networks. From iMessage to Facebook Messenger, mobile users are leaning more toward this newer technology to communicate with friends and family.
Why the big drop for email? Because people are buried in emails. For example, the average office employee receives 121 emails per day. Of those 121 emails, only around 20% are opened — and click-through rates are even lower. More and more companies have stuffed inboxes with repeated emails. Over-communication is the number one reason that readers unsubscribe to your email list. Chatbots have alleviated the inbox drama.
How can a real estate chatbot help my business?
Quality messaging without the spam
Real estate chatbots take the spam out of email marketing. When companies market on a messaging app, they create an easier way for leads to receive educational messages about their brand and properties. Chatbots are an easy and fun way for potential buyers and renters to engage with your brand, getting answers to their questions and quality messaging about your products and services.
Ease of tracking and segmenting
Your brand will also appreciate the ease of tracking and segmenting your leads through chatbots. Take Facebook Messenger for example; using messenger bots, you can identify who your potential buyers and renters are in less than a minute. No other platform (email, social media) can get you that information as quickly or efficiently.
Increased audience engagement
Getting your audience to subscribe to your real estate chatbots is much easier than email subscriptions. Why? The ease of usage and lack of friction on messaging apps creates a more positive customer experience. Businesses can set up chatbots to message any user who comments on your social media pages. They can retarget people who have left your site, offering special discounts or promotions on your properties. And chatbots can also nurture the sales process by notifying you of potential customers that request a specific action during their interaction with your chatbot.
How do I create a chatbot?
There are plenty of chatbot-building platforms available online. Before you pick a platform, make sure you do your research. Here are three of our favorite chatbot-building platforms.
1. Chatfuel
This chatbot engine will do most of the hard work for you, ideal for those lacking programming experience. MTV, TechCrunch, BuzzFeed, British Airways, and Adidas are said to have used Chatfuel to create their chatbots, along with almost 20,000 other users across the globe. The user interface is easy and slick, meaning you could create a chatbot in less than 15 minutes!
2. Chatscript
Launched back in 2011, ChatScript is a “next generation chatbot engine,” which has won the Loebner Prize (awarded for the most human-like examples of artificial intelligence) four times. It provides an open source framework for developers to build and deploy chatbots.
3. Facebook ‘Bots for Messenger’
At its F8 developer conference in April, Facebook launched Bots for Messenger, a tool which allows developers and businesses to build chatbots for its Messenger platform (which is used by almost a billion people). Developers build bots, submit them for review, and then Facebook decides which ones get onto Messenger. The three main capabilities are its send/receive API, generic message templates, and the ability to customize the welcome screen users first see when interacting with your bot.
Messaging automation is the new email automation. Brands will be looking to join the chatbot craze for the ease, convenience, and the positive audience experience. Have you tried a chatbot program yet? We’d love to hear from you about your experience.
Related posts:
- 10 Social Media Statistics for Real Estate Marketers 2018
- Social Media Trends for 2018 Real Estate Marketers Need to Know
- 10 Must-Follow Blogs for Real Estate Marketers
Archive for the "Current Events" 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 "Current Events" Category
Fronetics Real Estate Blog Named Top 60 Real Estate Marketing Blog
Feedspot named Fronetics Real Estate among the best in the category of real estate marketing blog or website.
We are pleased to announce that Fronetics Real Estate’s blog was included on a list of the best real estate marketing blogs.
Feedspot’s Top 60 Real Estate Marketing Blogs & Websites for Real Estate Marketers features a number of valuable media resources for the industry. Fronetics Real Estate is honored to be included — particularly since we’ve only been live for 6 months.
Feedspot reports it chose the top real estate marketing blogs from “thousands of top real estate blogs in our index” using search and social metrics. They are ranked on the following criteria:
- Google reputation and Google search ranking
- Influence and popularity on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites
- Quality and consistency of posts
- Feedspot’s editorial team and expert review
At Fronetics Real Estate, we aim to be a go-to resource for developers, property management companies, and other real estate entities when it comes to all things marketing. Though our blog is relatively new, our team has been creating and driving digital marketing strategies for real estate for many years. We’re proud of our many successes for our clients.
Make sure you’re subscribed to our blog for the latest in digital marketing for the real estate industry. And thank you to Feedspot for the recognition.
Archive for the "Current Events" Category
These are the Busiest Day of the Year for Real Estate Searches
Real estate searches peak the weekend after Thanksgiving, December 28, January 1, and July 6, so don’t stop marketing your property during the holidays.
If you’re a marketing professional outside the retail industry, chances are you slow things down during the holidays. But before you settle in for a second helping of leftovers, consider this: according to a study by Realtor.com, December 28 is statistically one of the busiest days for real estate searches.
It makes sense: Potential buyers use their post-holiday downtime to consider real estate investment. Other days when real estate searches spike include:
- the weekend after Thanksgiving
- New Year’s Day
- July 6
It’s important for real estate marketers to be aware of these dates so that you don’t stop all your marketing activities. The good news is that real estate searches are typically lowest on actual holidays, so putting a pause on your pay-per-click advertising, for example, on those days makes sense.
I bring this up because, recently, a client asked to stop all marketing activities between mid-December and New Year’s Day due to “seasonal decline” in sales. While it’s true that December typically sees lower numbers in terms of web traffic, leads, and conversions, that doesn’t mean there is not enormous, largely untapped opportunities for this client — if we are strategic about how we spend marketing dollars over the holidays.
Leveraging the post-holiday uptick in real estate searches
While spending the holidays relaxing with family and friends is something we all deserve, keeping a few strategic marketing activities going can mean big wins for your property/properties. Here are a few things I recommend, and why.
1) Publish blog posts on a normal schedule.
Blog posts are the gifts that keep on giving, meaning the majority of traffic will visit your posts months after they’re published. In fact, 80% of our page views occur on blog posts published at least 6 months prior. It’s a great time to write about trends or happenings in the coming year in an effort to capture future searches.
Search engines value consistency in your publishing schedule, so keeping up your normal posting frequency will help your rankings. If you have the resources to post on schedule, it would benefit you to do so.
2) Be strategic about social media.
Social media management can be time-consuming, so you should dial back your posting on the days you know prospects won’t be spending much time online (e.g. December 25). That being said, you should plan to post on days when you know real estate searches peak (e.g. December 28). 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.
3) Be strategic about digital advertising.
The same goes for digital advertising. Knowing that post-holiday real estate searches peak on December 28, you should budget your pay-per-click and social advertising dollars to spend more on this day. Particularly focus on your Google AdWords spend because 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.
Related posts:
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4 Tools for Determining the Best Time to Post on Social Media for Your Property
-
Peak Season Demands Real-Time Analytics for Perfect Fulfillment
Archive for the "Current Events" Category
Announcing Fronetics Real Estate’s Official Launch
Fronetics Real Estate brings digital and content marketing expertise to residential and commercial real estate clients.
It’s a big day for Fronetics! We’re officially launching our new brand, Fronetics Real Estate (FRE), offering digital and content marketing services to residential and commercial real estate clients.
Over the last two decades, real estate has seen a major shift in buyer behavior, with buyers now conducting the majority of their research online. Content marketing is an approach that puts real estate marketers in charge of the way prospective buyers and tenants perceive and interact with their properties. The strategic creation and distribution of content helps properties:
- Build brand awareness
- Generate prospects
- Lower cost per lead
- Increase occupancy
- Drive sales
- Improve retention
As content marketing experts, Fronetics Real Estate is uniquely positioned in the real estate industry. Firstly, we have a proven history of success with content marketing for real estate. Our clients benefit from having a dedicated account team that works exclusively with real estate clients — they know how to help them succeed.
Secondly, our approach is unique in that it starts with data and ends with measurable results. We design and execute a strategy that aligns with your business objectives. That way, our clients see movement where it matters: lower cost per lead, higher occupancy, and faster sales.
Real estate marketing services
Fronetics Real Estate’s portfolio of digital and content marketing services includes:
- Content marketing: strategy development, content creation, and execution
- Social media: strategy, management, distribution, advertising
- Email marketing: templates, marketing emails, workflows, and newsletters
- Website development: branding, design, maintenance, and content creation
- Paid advertising: pay-per-click and social media advertising
- Sales enablement: reporting and analysis, sales content optimization, automation
Whether you have luxury condominiums, for-rent apartments, a planned community, commercial properties, or mixed-use/retail space, we would love to show you about how Fronetics Real Estate can help you reach today’s prospective buyers and tenants. Schedule a free competitive analysis, subscribe to our blog, or contact us for more information.
Read the official press release.
Related posts:
- When Traditional Real Estate Marketing Methods Stop Working, Try Digital Marketing
- How Content Marketing Increased Real Estate Sales by 37% in 90 Days
- 5 Tips for Building a Successful Real Estate Social Media Marketing Program
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