30 May Digital Marketing Growth Strategies for Real Estate Professionals with Lael Sturm – CREPN #198
Prior to the internet, Sales and Marketing were lumped into one sentence. In many companies, they were the same department. The internet provided separation. Now your marketing efforts can be tracked and measured while you attract and nurture prospective clients. Sales is measured by sales presentations and closings.
Lael Sturm founded LPSS Digital Marketing to deliver effective growth strategies and tactics to real estate professionals and other profitable businesses. Below he shares some strategies & tactics that you can implement in your business to attract new clients.
Digital Marketing Growth Strategies
Digital Marketing channels are invaluable for Real Estate professionals who market to individuals. Whether you sell single family homes, commercial buildings or you seek investors to participate in your syndication, it makes no difference, you need a digital marketing strategy. You are no longer limited by the words on a written page. Today, the investors expects more.
The great news is that you no longer need a huge budget to get found. The internet has given the same tools to the entrepreneur as the fortune 100 company. Each have the opportunity to demonstrate their worth and let the consumer decide which option they want to satisfy their need.
Your prospects will look for you online before or after a meeting to determine your qualifications and ability to meet their needs. To demonstrate your expertise, you can use all forms of media; written words, photos and video.
Your ability provide instant pictures and videos to a potential buyer, located anywhere in the world is normal. Theses same potential buyers expect to be able to google you and learn about you without having to call you. If you do not have the information they are seeking, they will find your competitor who does.
This level of marketing used to be the exception. However, in 2019, this is the expected. This is the time for developing digital marketing growth strategies to propel your business forward.
Developing Your Social Media Strategy
The social media options available are numerous In order to be effective, you first have to develop a strategy. This is achieved by first knowing what you are trying to do. Are you trying to be informative, capture leads, or make sales.
Where do you need to be? Website, social media, or email newsletter? Lael says the answer is, “yes”. You may want to buy ads on Facebook or Google. To determine where and how to deploy your marketing dollars, it is important to determine first set some goals so you have measurable goals.
Who is your target audience?
Where are they online, and how can you best reach them?
Set up a step process, where you can build out your presence and add to it as you go.
Having an effective website is critical to being found in the digital age. On your website, you need to have content that speaks to the key search words people are looking for. To refine your website’s effectiveness, there are website tools available to measure how you rank for your key search words. To improve your ranking, you can employ search engine optimization, “SEO” strategies to fine tune your content and raise your online rank.
Social Medial
For businesses, LinkedIn is the preferred platform. You should have both an individual page and separate page for your business that describes your business and how long you have been in business. That said, don’t forget Facebook. These are the two most used platforms for business.
The setup is easy to do, but you need to be thoughtful. Look at what your competition is doing for some ideas.
Social Media Curve Balls
While Linkedin and Facebook are the standards, there are always new platforms.
The current most influential platform is Instagram. For a real estate professional, with great pictures of the property you are selling or leasing, this is a great place to show off. Posting regularly online is necessary to stay top of mind. For Instagram, posting 4 – 7 times per week is a great goal.
Facebook powerful tools
In the past, people would purchase and develop specific websites for a specific property. This is involved and expensive. Facebook allows you to post to your Facebook page each new listing, which eliminates the requirement of building new sites for each property. By utilizing Facebook, you have access to all of Facebook’s features to drive qualified prospects to your site.
Frequency of Sharing New Content
Fresh and new content is key when trying to rank in the Google algorithm. For a site that has not had a new post in 5 years, Google will not look upon your site favorably. Your website needs to be current. You can add new posts as little as monthly.
For maximum effectiveness on social media, it is best to try and post every week day. For the most effective use of your content, it is advisable that you tailor the same content to the platform rather than wholesale post the same to each platform.
Email Newsletter should be sent at a minimum of once per month. Newsletters need to provide value, and cannot just be a sales letter. What can you share with your community that will be informative and inspirational that keeps you top of mind and makes them reach out to you when they are in need of your services?
Results
In order to measure your results, you first need to know what your goals are. Are you looking for likes and follows? Or are you looking for new emails and sales? Each platform will have different results. It takes time, but if done properly, you will be able to grow your following and determine your effectiveness based on your connections with people who want to do business with you.
For immediate results, ads are a great way to create instant results. A properly done ad campaign will present your offer to your ideal prospects numerous times. Normally, it takes 5 – 7 impressions, or “touches”, before the prospect identifies your solution as a remedy to their problem. In as little as 4 – 6 weeks you should have real data to determine how the ad is performing.
DIY
Doing it yourself is not hard. The hard part is doing it well. Many have tried to create digital marketing growth strategies, only to realize less than desirable results. To get on track, those truly looking for growth, hire the services of a firm like LPSS Digital Marketing to sift through and make things work.
Rule number one, Don’t buy followers – lack of engagement is punitive. If you have done this, it will take time to undo the mess. To be effective, you do not want quantity, you want quality. The most followers are not your goal. You want followers who are inclined to do business with you.
Be Authentic
To differentiate yourself, be authentic. Forget pictures in front of a private jet. People with problems are looking for genuine experts who can solve their problem. Demonstrate your expertise and value. What you do may not seem unique or sexy, your perspective is. Share your perspective about what you have learned and you will find people who are looking for someone like you.
BIGGEST RISK
Each week I ask my guest what is the Biggest Risk they see that real estate investors face.
BIGGEST RISK: The BIGGEST RISK is a fear to take action. The biggest risk is not using the tools because you fear you may break the rules and get into trouble.
How to manage the risk: Lael and LPSS recommend that clients educate themselves on 1) the rules of engagement for their industry so they do not break the rules. 2) Learn the tools that are available to help you get the word out to your effective audience. 3) Start small. The internet is not going away. You need to participate and share your perspective.
For more go to:
FREE Social Media Services Guide: https://www.lpss.co/CREPN
Website: https://www.lpss.co/
