Real Estate Marketing Ideas: 12 Tips to Grow Your Agency

I don’t need to tell you that driving an old, beat-up Hyundai Excel to meet a potential client lowers your chances of closing a deal and robs you of credibility. 

What you may not know is that your online presence could be ruining your chances of meeting the client in the first place.

Digital platforms are a great tool to get your name out there. Some top real estate agents have made it big in the industry due to SEO and their imaginative use of social platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter.

The digital age has created countless opportunities for realtors to get creative with their marketing. You could create visually appealing posts and design campaigns that make a splash in the real estate market. 

You could also create polls on social media asking people about their dream homes. Or you can use video content to give potential buyers an inside look at homes they are interested in. 

Ideas abound. But just like any marketing venture, it helps to do your research first.

So, where should you start? Here are seven tips to get your real estate marketing ideas in motion:

1: Start by Creating a Mobile-friendly Website for Your Real Estate Agency 

By now, you should fully understand that the world is going mobile. Mobile usage surpassed desktop in the second quarter of 2017, and the gap has been widening since then. Currently, nearly 60% of all web traffic comes from mobile devices. 

So, if you want to make a good first impression and build your online presence, get on board with the latest development trends and create a website that renders beautifully on any device. 

Plus, most people search for property listings online before visiting an open house or meeting with an agent. And without a website, that means you’re nowhere to be found. 

So, if you want to get more leads and showcase your listings, you’d want to make sure your website is mobile-friendly and optimised for search engines. It’s the only way to ensure potential buyers and sellers can find you when they search for you online.

So, how much does it cost to create a mobile website for your real estate agency? Well, the cost can range anywhere from a few hundred dollars to thousands, depending on the complexity of your website. 

But if you want to save money, consider using WordPress and one of the many real-estate themes available on the market. They are often cheaper and can be easily customised to your needs. 

Another option is hiring a web developer that specialises in real estate websites. That will certainly cost more than a theme, but it’s often worth the investment if you want your website to stand out.

2. Build a Strong Reputation Online

In the world of marketing, we call it “branding.” As with an offline business, you want to be seen as trustworthy and reliable by potential buyers and sellers.

You don’t want potential clients to think twice about working with you because they don’t know who you are or what your agency stands for.

To build a strong online reputation, start by creating social media accounts on all the major platforms—Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Then use those channels to showcase your listings, educate your followers about the real estate market, and engage with potential clients.

You also want to start a blog where you can regularly post content related to real-estate topics. That will help build trust with potential clients and show them you are an expert in your field.

The idea is to be proactive about your online reputation. Remember, this is not a one-time activity. You must continually work on maintaining a strong online reputation to ensure potential clients have a good impression of your agency.

First, you want to audit your current online presence to see what needs improvement. Just run a simple Google search using your agency’s name or the term “real estate agencies in [your local area]” and see what comes up.

Check the local three-pack (Google’s local search results) for your business and see how many reviews the listings have. Those are the numbers to beat.

You can also search for any negative reviews and address them head-on. Respond to all online reviews, both positive and negative, to show potential clients that you care about their opinions.

And don’t forget—you can always solicit positive reviews from past customers who had a great experience with your agency. 

Steps for improving your online reputation:

• Set up a GBP (Google Business Page) with accurate information. After that, you want to get as many of your customers as possible to review your profile
• Create social media accounts on all major platforms
• Frequently post content related to the real estate market
• Respond to online reviews, both positive and negative
• Solicit positive reviews from past customers 
• Use different SEO tactics to get your website to rank higher
• Include links to your website in all your profiles
• Run Google Ads or Facebook Ads campaigns to increase visibility 

You also want to create and implement a feedback system. Provide your clients with more than a few ways to review your business and let them decide which is more convenient. RateMyAgent is a good starting point. But you also want to consider Google Business Profile, Yelp, or even creating surveys on SurveyMonkey. 

Even more important, you want to monitor all the reviews coming in and address them promptly. Respond to reviews as soon as they pop up, and take the time to thank your customers for taking the time to give their feedback.

3. Be Strategic About Your SEO

Two websites dominate Singapore’s search market for buyer-related search terms: PropertyGuru and 99.co. While it can be incredibly hard to outrank them, you can still optimise your website for local search terms and optimise your site for longtail keywords to boost your search engine visibility.

If you have a budget for it, you could enlist the services of a content marketing agency to help you create more content for your website. Content marketing is a great way to boost organic search visibility and attract more customers.

You can start by doing thorough keyword research to uncover the most relevant search terms for your real estate business. If you have limited resources, use a free keywords tool like SEMRush or Google’s Keyword Planner to get started.

Here are a few suggestions of the keywords to optimise your site for and the corresponding search volume per month:

• Property for sale in Singapore (7800)
• Rent a flat in Singapore (6600)
• Affordable housing in Singapore (1300)
• Real estate agents in Singapore (7020)
• Condo for sale in Singapore (3500)

Note that these are high-volume, high-competition terms you won’t rank for overnight. Be strategic about your keyword selection and start by optimising for medium-competition keywords before moving on to more competitive ones.

Examples of low to medium-competition keywords include:

• Property for rent in Singapore (2600)
• Room rental Singapore (1200)
• Investment properties in Singapore (500)

The idea is to look for keywords with high search volume but low competition (or ranking difficulty). You can use the keyword difficulty score in SEMrush to check that.

Once you’ve finalised your list of keywords, you can start creating content around those topics on your website/blog and social media channels. You can also create content for local publications or guest blogs on other sites related to real estate in your region.

#4. Content Marketing Might be Your Secret Sauce

You need a content marketing strategy that identifies your target audience, their needs, wants, obstacles, and what information they’re searching for online, where to find it, and how to create it. Content marketing is a powerful tool for attracting organic traffic to your website as its customer-focused and tailored to their needs.

Create content such as blog posts, videos, podcasts, eBooks, case studies, infographics, or even webinars with interesting topics to draw people in. Share these on social media channels, email newsletters, or other properties you might own to build engagement and start conversations.

Remember that success doesn’t come overnight with content marketing – it takes time to nurture an audience and create a relationship with them before they become your clients. So be patient and persistent.

Here’s where the trick is:

While creating content for your website, you want to look for specific search terms that correspond to a client’s priorities. Once you know what they’re looking for, you can build content around it so you can be found when someone takes to the search engines.

For example, if your clients are looking for a luxury apartment in Singapore, use longtail phrases like “luxury apartment for sale in Singapore” or “how to find a luxurious condo in Singapore” and create content to help them find what they are looking for.

Here are some content ideas that can help you get started:

• Home buying tips & tricks
• Fun facts about the local neighbourhood 
• Advice on how to choose a real estate agent 
• Property market trends in the area 
• Home staging tips & tricks 
• Financing options for home buyers/sellers 
• How to pick an ideal location for your property purchase 
• Checklist for first-time home buyers

Each content piece must be strategically written to provide value. While at it, you must ensure you have a clear call-to-action at the end of your content, prompting readers to connect with you or visit your website. 

5. Site Retargeting is Likely Your Best Bet for PPC

Retargeting ads provide significantly higher returns than any other form of PPC ads. That’s because it allows you to target potential clients that have already visited your website and show them more ads related to their interests.

Here’s how they work:

Someone visits a real estate site, say, abcdrealestate.com. They look at a few listings and then leave to cook dinner or run other errands. The retargeting ad provider tags the website visitor with a cookie. Now, when the same person visits another website or a social media platform like Facebook, he’s served with your display ads. 

Even better, the ads served will be based on the visitor’s interests and what they were looking for on the real estate website. 

Retargeting ads are a great way to remind potential clients of your business and services whenever they surf the web. That should help you stay top-of-mind for them, so you can be their first choice when they’re ready to proceed with purchasing.

6. Affiliate Marketing is Another Great Way to Generate Leads

Affiliate marketing has been around for a while now, but it’s still under-utilised by real estate agents.

If you haven’t heard of it before, affiliate marketing allows another website or blog to promote your services and products in exchange for a commission on each successful sale. It’s an effective way to generate leads without investing significant resources in Organic SEO or PPC ads.

Affiliate marketing allows you to display ads all around the web without worrying about SEO or PPC costs. It allows you to target loyal customers of another website and expand your reach outside your existing network.

It’s an excellent tactic to build your brand and get more people to visit your website. You can even use it to cross-promote sales with other real estate-related products and services.

Here’s what you want to do:

First, you want to create a suite of ads promoting your real estate agency. You can choose from various formats, such as text ads, banners, audio clips, or videos.

Next, look for an affiliate program such as Commission Junction or ShareASale and join it. That will allow you to easily match up with other websites and blogs interested in promoting your services.

You want to offer websites that promote your agency an incentive based on the number of clicks, impressions, registrations, or sales they generate. 

You can even review the applications from the publishers and select the ones that best fit your target audience.

Finally, you want to monitor the results closely and tweak your campaigns as necessary. Affiliate marketing can be a great way to get more leads and sales, but you must ensure you get the most bang for your buck.

7. Get Head of Trends, Investigate Chatbots, and Automate Tasks

In the past few years, there has been a massive rise in the use of chatbots for business. Chatbots are AI-powered programs that can interact with users on a website or app and complete various tasks.

How do you invest in a chatbot, and why? 

Chatbots can take over mundane tasks, freeing up more of your time and resources for larger projects. They can also be used to capture leads, book appointments, and provide customer service. Plus, they can be used to monitor trends in your industry and provide you with data-driven insights. 

Investing in a chatbot is an excellent way to automate mundane tasks, collect valuable data, and get ahead of trends. Doing so can help optimize your marketing campaigns, improve customer experience, and increase efficiency. 

So, how do you go about implementing one?

Mobile Monkey is a great option for businesses looking to get started with chatbots. This platform allows you to create, manage, and optimize your bots without writing any line of code. You can also use Mobile Monkey to create custom campaigns and incentives, deliver content such as tips, articles, and videos, and track performance metrics. 

Here’s a hypothetical conversation between an AI chatbot and a customer: 

Customer: “Hi, I’m looking for some information about your home listings.” 

Chatbot: “Glad to help! You can take a look at our home listings here. We have a range of homes available in different sizes and locations. Is there anything specific you’re looking for?” 

Customer: Yes, I was looking for a home in the suburbs, something with a good size garden, a swimming pool, and a garage. 

Chatbot: “No problem! We have a selection of homes that match your criteria. Let me show you our listings so you can decide which one is perfect for you.” 

Customer: “Fantastic, that would be great.” 

Chatbot: “Great! Here’s a list of homes that match your criteria. Take a look and let me know if you need help deciding.”

8. Develop an Email Marketing Campaign

Email marketing is a great way to reach and engage with customers, build relationships, and convert leads into sales. It can also be used as a powerful tool for customer retention. 

Creating an effective email marketing campaign can be a challenge in itself. You’ll need to create compelling content that drives engagement, craft effective subject lines to grab attention, and design engaging visuals or use video to make sure your emails stand out.

Here are some ideas for the email sequence to create:

• Welcome series: Send a few emails introducing your brand, explain what sets you apart from competitors, share customer stories, and introduce your product or service. 
• Nurture series: Give customers helpful information and valuable resources to help them on their journey.
• Promotional series: Offer discounts, deals, or bundle packages to drive engagement and sales
• Reactivation series: Reach out to customers who have gone inactive and offer them special incentives to come back. 
• Referral series: Ask customers for referrals and incentivize them to share their experiences with others. 
• Thank you, series: Show customers appreciation and thank them for their loyalty. 

An effective email marketing campaign will help you drive engagement and sales, build customer relationships, increase loyalty and retention, and ultimately grow your business.

9. Employ Virtual Staging

If you’re hoping to maximize the potential of your listing, virtual staging can help. Virtual staging uses computer-generated imagery to “stage” or decorate spaces in photos.

It gives the buyer a sneak preview of what their homes could look like after moving in, helping them imagine themselves living there. That can be used to great effect for vacant or still-in-construction listings.

Virtual staging can be a great way to help your listings stand out from the competition and capture buyers’ imaginations.

Why this works

A 2023 study found that 85% of listings with virtual staging sold 5 to 23% higher than homes without virtual staging. That’s because they trigger the buyer’s imagination, making decoration and design ideas come to life – a minefield of possibilities to help them envision their own future home.

So, how do you get started with virtual staging? Look for professional virtual staging services that provide high-quality images to help your listings shine. Examples include VRX Staging, Virtual Staging Properties, Virtual Staging Labs, etc.

10. Partner with Local Businesses

Local businesses can be great marketing partners for real estate agents. If you want to increase your reach and boost brand recognition, perhaps you should consider partnering with a local business to promote each other.

For example, if you partner with a nearby furniture store, they could provide discounts to your clients when they purchase furniture for their new home. You could promote the store on your website and social media.

You can also consider partnering with local restaurants, home improvement stores, and other businesses your clients might need.

#11. Use Drone Photography

Drone photography can be a great way to show potential buyers what your listings have to offer from a different perspective. Drone shots are unique and captivating, and can even help set your listings apart.

They’re also a great way to capture the surrounding area, giving buyers a more comprehensive overview of the property.

Before using drones for your listings, you want to check with the local laws and regulations to ensure you’re operating within the legal guidelines. 

Let your creativity run wild, and find new ways to incorporate drone photography into your real estate business.  

12. Actively Utilize social media

Social media is a powerful tool for real estate agents. Not only can it help you build relationships with potential buyers, but also keep current clients informed of the latest developments in the industry.

Take your social media game to the next level by regularly sharing useful content and engaging with users. You can also use Facebook Live to give virtual tours of the properties, creating a more immersive experience. 

You can even use Instagram stories and TikTok videos to showcase your listings in a fun and creative way. Lastly, don’t forget to leverage Twitter for networking purposes.

Be sure to take advantage of all the social media platforms available to you and use them as a marketing tool for your real estate business.