SEO Title: 6 Ways Digital Marketing is Transforming Real Estate Business
Meta Description: Learn how digital marketing is transforming the real estate business through SEO, website design, social media marketing, lead generation, automation, virtual tours, chatbots, and blockchain.
We work with several Realtors® and real estate brokers, helping them with SEO, website design, social media marketing, and lead generation. When you work with many clients in the same vertical market, it is hard not to become immersed in that niche. After all, if you are expected to be a subject matter expert and speak in a relevant way about your clients’ needs, requirements, and goals, you need a real understanding of their market.
Fortunately, I have worked in the real estate marketplace for many years, on and off since 1991, helping real estate brokers and associates create positive change for their clients and improve the way they market their businesses online.
With more than 4 billion internet users, representing around 59% of the global population as of January 2020, the online space has become an essential part of marketing. The digital landscape presents a wide range of opportunities for businesses to make their brand stand out. Real estate digital marketing is one area where that transformation has become especially clear.
Today, buyers and renters do extensive online research before making a decision. They browse listings, compare neighborhoods, look at photos, watch property videos, and shortlist the properties that capture their interest before scheduling a visit. Because of this, a strong online presence and a clear digital marketing strategy are now critical for success in the real estate industry.
Digital marketing has also redefined the way Realtors® work. With potential buyers and investors beginning their tours online, agents can save time and effort while still giving prospects a better property experience. Digital tools make it possible for multiple people to view the same property information at the same time, ask questions, and move closer to a decision without requiring an immediate personal visit.
Ways That Digital Marketing Will Transform the Real Estate Industry in 2020 and 2021
Increased Exposure
An obvious point, but one that cannot be ignored, is that digital marketing is one of the most effective ways to attract attention to your real estate brand. No matter the size of your real estate business, digital marketing can help you customize your message, reach your ideal clients, and grow your network of buyers, sellers, renters, and investors.
Through social media, for instance, you can conduct useful research on your target customers and learn what makes them connect with certain brands, agents, and property listings. You can see which posts get engagement, what questions people ask, what neighborhoods receive attention, and what type of property content drives action.
A strong online presence also helps build credibility. When a buyer or seller hears your name, one of the first things they often do is search for you online. If your website, social media pages, reviews, and property content all look professional, you create confidence before the first conversation.
This is where real estate SEO becomes especially important. Search engine optimization helps your website appear when people search for local real estate terms, property information, agent services, and neighborhood-specific questions. A strong digital marketing strategy can help Realtors® and brokers reach prospects before competitors do.
Automated Marketing Roles
As a Realtor® or real estate broker, your time is extremely valuable. You may barely have enough time to complete all of the digital marketing tasks required to scale your real estate brand. Realtors® are often expected by brokers and management to run their business like a business. At the same time, brokers and support staff are busy keeping the office running and making sure agents have a place and platform to work from.
Meanwhile, real estate marketing requires a hands-on approach. You need to create quality content, stay visible, engage with prospects, and customize your marketing for buyer and seller needs. This may include both organic marketing and paid campaigns.
If you are an individual contributor and do not work with a team or assistant, it can be difficult to get everything done in a day. Preparing campaigns, writing content, posting listings, sending emails, and following up with leads can quickly become overwhelming.
The good news is that Realtors® can now use marketing automation platforms to make better use of their time. These tools can help real estate professionals reach out to prospects in an automated way, stay in front of potential clients, and continue communication with minimal manual effort.
When set up correctly, automation tools can help deliver targeted content, manage email campaigns, remind prospects about your services, and nurture buyers or sellers over time. This is especially valuable for real estate because not every lead is ready to act immediately. Some people may take months before they are ready to buy, sell, or invest.
In 2020, these tools became more affordable and accessible, and we can expect that they will continue to become easier for real estate professionals to use as competition increases.
Augmented and Virtual Reality
One of the biggest challenges in real estate marketing is that potential buyers and renters usually want to see a property in person before making a final decision. Integrating augmented reality or virtual reality into your digital marketing efforts can help you create stronger property experiences before an in-person visit happens.
Virtual tours give potential buyers an inside look at the property, the layout, and sometimes even the surrounding area. They help prospects understand what it may feel like to live in the home, building, or neighborhood.
Today, more technology firms are launching augmented reality and virtual reality tools that make this easier for real estate managers, brokers, and agents. These tools were expected to become more accessible in 2020 and 2021, giving real estate professionals new ways to present their listings online.
Drone video is also an effective option. Using a drone inside and outside the home can help create a more complete property tour. Exterior drone footage can show the neighborhood, lot size, surrounding amenities, and overall location, while interior video can help prospects understand the flow of the property.
Strong visual presentation builds trust before a conversation even happens. It also communicates professionalism, success, and attention to detail. When paired with a clean and conversion-focused website design, virtual tours can help turn online interest into real inquiries.
Influencer Marketing
Before now, it was often enough to depend on advertisements to get people interested in your brand. But that approach is not always enough today. People want authentic experiences. This is why a potential client may be more likely to listen to a real person than to a standard advertisement.
For real estate professionals, influencer marketing does not always mean working with celebrities or major online personalities. It can mean building relationships with local influencers, neighborhood pages, local businesses, mortgage professionals, designers, builders, relocation experts, and community leaders.
The key is to connect with people who already have the attention of your target audience. If your ideal clients are young families moving into a specific town, then local parenting groups, school communities, and neighborhood lifestyle pages may be valuable. If your target audience is investors, then financial content creators or local business voices may be more relevant.
To improve this marketing model, Realtors® can also use memorable hashtags and consistent content themes that potential clients can easily recognize.
There is also nothing that says you cannot begin positioning yourself as your own influencer. Realtors® can use video, market updates, local guides, property walkthroughs, client success stories, and educational posts to build authority. Over time, this helps attract inbound traffic, build trust, and generate better leads.
Chatbot Technology
Chatbots are not new technology, but if you are not using one on your Facebook business page or website, it may be worth looking into. Chatbot technology uses text, messaging, and sometimes voice to reach and respond to customers. It has become more accepted and will likely continue to grow in the coming years.
A chatbot can help answer common questions, collect lead information, guide visitors to listings, and provide a more personalized customer service experience. For Realtors® and brokers, this can be very useful because leads often come in when you are busy, showing homes, meeting clients, or outside normal business hours.
As artificial intelligence improves, chatbot technology is expected to take on an even bigger role. These tools can provide accurate answers to customer questions in real time and gather user data that can be used to improve future customer support and follow-up.
For example, a chatbot can ask what type of property a visitor is looking for, what location they prefer, what budget range they have, and when they plan to move. That information can then help the Realtor® follow up with more relevant options.
Services like ManyChat and other platforms have made it easier for businesses to create chatbots that support prospects and clients when the agent cannot respond personally. In this way, chatbots can act as a 24-hour receptionist, sales qualifier, support representative, and lead capture tool.
For real estate businesses looking to explore automated customer conversations, AI automation solutions can support faster responses and better lead handling.
Blockchain
Blockchain technology is often associated with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrency systems. These are highly secure automated payment and transaction systems that have already disrupted parts of the financial services industry. This technology is also positioned to influence the real estate market.
Ethereum, for example, was built in a way that can support contractual transactions. Because real estate involves contracts, payments, ownership records, and closing processes, blockchain has the potential to streamline parts of the sales and closing process.
OpenLaw in Australia previously built a platform to help automate legal and real estate transaction processes. Additionally, some rental development firms, including New Jersey-based 16 Bennett, began accepting Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrency payments instead of traditional cash, check, or credit card payments.
From an advertising perspective, blockchain in marketing may also help track ad placement and verify whether target audiences are actually clicking ads and beginning a relationship with a brand. This can create more accurate consumer engagement data.
Because blockchain transactions are often transparent and secure, the technology may also give customers more control over how marketers use their personal information. When your target clients trust you, they may be more willing to share their information. This can help real estate professionals connect with prospects and offer more customized services.
Final Thoughts
The digital marketing landscape is huge and very promising. However, Realtors® and real estate brokers must understand their ideal clientele. When you understand who you are trying to reach, you can tailor your real estate brand, maintain consistency online, and increase exposure.
The real estate professionals who succeed online are the ones who combine visibility, credibility, and follow-up. SEO, website design, social media marketing, lead generation, automation, virtual tours, chatbots, and emerging technologies like blockchain all play a role in how the industry continues to change.
If you are a Realtor® or real estate broker interested in learning more about how to grow your business online, please feel free to contact Mixed Media Ventures or call directly to start a conversation. We are happy to speak with you and point you in a productive direction.
About Jack Brandt
Jack Brandt is President of Mixed Media Ventures. In his 18 years in the online Internet space, he has worked with organizations of all sizes, from one employee to more than 50,000 employees, consulting them on how to grow their businesses and help their clients and customers achieve their online goals.
He has worked for some of the top Internet companies of their day, as well as some you may have never heard of. In every case, Jack has helped clients achieve their online goals through unique solutions that have helped generate new revenue streams.
Today, Jack leads Mixed Media Ventures and helps businesses with their digital marketing efforts, helping them generate leads, prospects, and clients.
Relevant Mixed Media Ventures Services
Custom Web Development
Custom web development helps real estate businesses create professional websites that support listings, lead capture, mobile browsing, and online credibility.
Mobile Apps
Mobile apps can support property browsing, client communication, alerts, and easier access to real estate information.
Portal Development Services
Portal development can help real estate companies organize property data, user accounts, agent tools, and client resources in one place.
Progressive Web Apps
Progressive web apps can create faster, mobile-friendly experiences for users who want convenient access without downloading a full mobile app.
Website Maintenance Services
Website maintenance helps keep real estate websites secure, updated, fast, and functional for buyers, sellers, and agents.
Marketing Automation and Lead Generation
Marketing automation and lead generation help Realtors® stay in front of prospects, follow up consistently, and turn online interest into real conversations.
Complex Database-Driven Websites
Real estate businesses often need database-driven websites for listings, search filters, property details, agent profiles, and location-based content.
Reputation Management
Reputation management helps Realtors® and brokers build trust through reviews, online visibility, and a consistent professional presence.
FAQs
How is digital marketing changing the real estate business?
Digital marketing is changing real estate by helping Realtors® and brokers attract buyers and sellers online, promote listings, build credibility, automate follow-up, and generate leads through websites, search engines, social media, and online campaigns.
Why is SEO important for Realtors®?
SEO for Realtors® helps real estate websites appear when people search for local property terms, neighborhood information, real estate services, and buying or selling questions. This increases organic visibility and can generate more qualified leads.
What are the best digital marketing strategies for real estate?
The best digital marketing strategies for real estate include SEO, website design, social media marketing, email marketing, virtual tours, chatbot support, online reviews, paid ads, and lead generation campaigns.
How can social media help real estate professionals?
Social media marketing helps Realtors® showcase listings, share local market updates, promote client success stories, build trust, and stay visible with buyers and sellers before they are ready to take action.
Are chatbots useful for real estate websites?
Yes. Real estate chatbots can answer common questions, collect buyer or seller information, guide visitors to listings, and help capture leads outside normal business hours.
Why do Realtors® need a professional website?
A professional real estate website helps build credibility, showcase listings, capture leads, publish helpful content, and support all other digital marketing efforts.
