Tips on how to create a powerful online real estate marketing campaign

Tips on how to create a powerful online real estate marketing campaign How to Be Effective with Online Real Estate Marketing Online marketing has leveled the playing field for real estate salespersons across America. And with the emergence of syndicated real estate websites, it has become a lot easier for agents to market their listings. If you’ve heard of other agents taking it online, then you should follow suit as soon as possible. Don’t think it’s because you’ll be left out, but because for the most part, your customers are spending more of their time online rather than offline. Listed below are a few tips our subject-matter experts here at 360training.com have rounded up to help you get started on developing your very own online marketing campaign: Understand the psyche of the online consumer. How many times have you heard that the key to developing a marketing campaign is by simply knowing your consumers? The same goes for online marketing, needless to say. However, you must take into consideration that your online consumers may have different traits, sensibilities and tastes compared to your offline customers. To give you a hint, your online consumers already know what they want; that’s why they’re online in the first place! As Seth Godin puts it, “Selling to people who actually want to hear from you is more effective than interrupting strangers who don’t.” Create an online presence in at least five top websites. Comscore reported in February 2010 that over 55 million consumers have visited a real estate website. So syndicate your listings in websites like Trulia, Zillow, Realtor.com, and other sites that get a lot of traffic. It may be a little time-consuming to key in all the details about your listings on these websites but it will all be worth it once you people see your listings and customers start calling you. Engage your customers. Take advantage of social media. Social media is where your consumers get updates from their friends and colleagues, and it is where they also keep others posted on what’s happening in their lives as well. Use this opportunity to be seen. Send out information about your listings, helpful advice and updates on your social media channels and interact with both consumers and authorities in the field. Facilitate your social media engagement by using software like    Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, SocialOomph, Posterous to consolidating with your Facebook, Twitter and Linked In profiles, scheduling posts and cross-publishing. Establish your authority by providing helpful advice for customers. Answer forum questions and be specific in providing step-by-step advice to customer inquiries. Who knows? These customers may be your next clients. Also, create a blog where you can publish tips on buying and selling real estate properties locally. Google your competition and see where they are failing and where they are winning. Find loopholes in your competition’s online marketing strategy and presence and take advantage of creating a presence in that particular area. Also, study the strategies that work for them and find ways on how you can incorporate those strategies to your own. Get your hands dirty with SEO! Search engine optimization (SEO) means optimizing your blog or website to make it easier for customers to find you, not to mention be at top of Google Search results. It may involve some real, techie stuff and you may have to enlist the help of an SEO specialist to do it, but SEO always provide quantifiable results. Whatever happens, always remember to ask your customers for feedback and remember to thank them for visiting your listings. Also, don’t forget to provide your contact details so that you can readily attend to your readers and potential customer’s queries.