The housing market has been on an incline in recent times across the country. People are seen purchasing and selling homes at all hours of the day. With the ever-increasing demand for properties, buyers and sellers take the help of local estate agents who guide them from the beginning till the end of closing the deal. Estate agents play a substantial role in the entire home buying process, and they need to advertise their services effectively to catch the attention of potential clients. Marketing is the essential factor in the success of any business. Being an estate agent, they have to find a balance between offering quality services and marketing themselves the right way to sell more homes. With too many tools for estate agent lead generation it might be a little overwhelming for estate agents to find the best tactics to make more sales initially. However, following specific marketing strategies and adopting certain tools in the long term will result in closing the best deals.
WEBSITE
The first thing people check for is a quality website when searching for properties or agents online. Having a website boosts the credibility of the estate agencies and individual agents. Making a mark among a sea of other websites takes a long time, but with consistent efforts, it is possible. Additionally, maintaining a steady blogging platform or website will draw more visitors and convert them into potential leads. It is also necessary to optimize the website properly according to the search engine. Therefore, keeping up with the SEO trends is essential when handling a website in the long term.
SOCIAL MEDIA
One of the best ways to spread the word about an estate agent’s information and services is through social media and it is a most important part of the estate agent marketing tools. Mediums like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Houzz, Linked In etc., cater to a wide range of audiences and have turned more effortless for the agents to grab the attention within a quick span of time. Sharing property pictures, new builds, and other aspects will reach the right crowd, who are hunting for properties in the neighbourhood. Furthermore, contacting your customers by focusing on the social media opportunities that are highly used by the customers can lead to more brand awareness and higher user engagement. Creating niche groups on these platforms are another way to bring in the right set of audience than being vague.
EMAIL MARKETING
Estate agents can include a subscription form to their websites and social media posts where the visitors can enter their information like name, email and other details. They can be converted into qualified leads after adding them to the agent’s email list. Email marketing is staying on top of the marketing trends where estate agents can make use of this gem. Instead of spamming the inbox, estate agents can put more effort into crafting creative and informative content. Engaging regularly with the people on the email list will create trust and a better impression on the estate agents.
DATA ANALYTICS
Estate agents adopt multiple strategies and tactics at once to make more sales within a given time frame. It is difficult for the agents to keep track of all the tools, software and working mechanism all at once. They might not be able to figure out which platform or method is bringing them more quality leads and which isn’t working for them. Incorporating big data will provide a detailed overview of the workflows followed by the agents. Determining information through automated valuation methods, time series forecasting and other models can help agents pick the best approach and increase sales accordingly.
CRM SOFTWARE
There are various marketing tools used by estate agents in recent times. The only problem is that they have to be handled one at a time, and trailing the workflow and managing them all together is difficult. With too much to handle, the chances of getting confused are high for the estate agents. To avoid the hassle, using a good CRM will help in managing the social media, email marketing software and other tools in one place. This will help in tracking the incoming leads from different mediums without missing any of them.
CHATBOTS
People browsing for new properties on websites and social media do not contact the estate agent by themselves. At the same time, agents cannot keep track of who is visiting their website the whole day. This is where chatbots come into use in generating more leads and thereby creating more sales. Chatbots are beneficial for new client interaction when the agents are away or unavailable. Setting up a chatbot is more manageable and quicker than before. With a series of interactive questions, estate agents can effortlessly determine the expectations of their clients and proceed accordingly.