Marketing for the real estate industry has historically been expensive and slow to change. Earlier in the days, property marketers are prone to purchasing full colour print ads and they can cost up to five figures. Moving on, billboard advertising became the focus of property marketers, but the problem is that these advertisements are expensive, and it cannot target the right audience. Technology can help save marketing expenditure and make it more efficient. In this article, let me show you how marketing technology can bring more profit for property professionals as we enter a new era.
Digital Strategy & The Homebuyers Journey
The modern homebuyers journey comes in five stages. As the best-informed homebuyers in history, the way we conduct research before making a purchase is becoming more complex. The future of the property market is being shaped by the behavioural and technological demands of the modern homebuyer. These days, we use multiple devices to find more information of developers, prices, and mortgage options because we prioritise choice and convenience. 90% of homebuyers begin their journey towards purchasing a new home with online research. (source:www.marketleader.com) It is from this point on that property developers must adapt their digital strategy to match the homebuyers journey. Marketers must optimise their digital strategies to provide the best experience for their homebuyers during the search, purchase, and post-sales phase.
Optimise Your Website with Lead Management
Your website should be the place customers come with a purpose and leave with a solution. It needs to generate leads and ensure customers do not leave without a transaction. There are two major categories of conversion that your website needs to track. First, it needs to generate leads through micro tasks such as mailers, brochure downloads and social media. Next, we have leads generated through macro tasks such as getting in touch with sales agents, making reservations to preview property, and request for call backs. The homebuyer journey relies heavily on search engines. Property developers should use the ‘one-site approach’ for their website strategy to rank better on search engines. Generally, there will be multiple projects under one developer. Instead of building a separate website for each project, you can build several self-contained websites (microsites) within your main website. Microsites are tailored specifically for your campaign or project, but they will benefit from the history and existing search engine optimisation provided by your main site that has been built over time. Another benefit of this approach is that it will provide fresh pages and content within your existing main website and this will further boost search engine optimisation.
The Value of Video Marketing
Video marketing can help property sellers make connections with their future customers and ultimately sell more properties. Nowadays, most buyers know that photos are not always accurate. A well-made video can either be a virtual tour or aerial footage captured by drone. It is an invaluable asset for property sellers because it can convey more details than a photo or textual description. Based on a research by the American National Association of Realtors, 39% of homebuyers visit sites with embedded videos during their search, and 56% of them felt it was helpful. (source: https://www.brafton.com/blog/video-marketing/real-estate-video/) Property marketers can target audience at all parts of the sales funnel starting with generating valuable page views. Towards the bottom of the sales funnel, you can convince buyers to make the call with an interesting video by inserting a strong call-to-action message. There is more than one use for property marketing videos. It can be a virtual tour using AR or VR technology where the viewer can enjoy multiple views of the property from different angles. Record customer testimonials and share them with your audience. A significant experience from someone they can relate can help build confidence in your project. The length of the video depends on which platform you will use to share the content. Utilise social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp to share live videos. Include relevant titles, descriptions, and hashtags so we can find them at the top of search results. Do not forget to include your sales team’s contact details. The viewer needs to know how to get in touch with your sales ninjas for them to seal the deal!
As a property developer, are you flexible enough to echo the disruptive digital boom? Future homebuyers’ purchasing journey will change as we move into an era that is run by the Internet of Things (IoT). Infra Design has been the creative force behind many successful property advertising and branding campaigns.
Reach out to us now if you are ready to ride this digital wave. Consultation with our experienced team is FREE of charge.
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