Video Blog

5 Ways to Create a Great Online Video Strategy that Works

Video BlogOnline video continues to explode and increase in popularity. While many have used video to gain followers and eventually leads, and have seen their videos gain a larger reach than ever imagined, many struggle with gaining traction.

For real estate agents and companies looking to use video content to expand their brand messaging and service offering, here’s what you need to know to create an effective video that connects with your audience.

Focus on the content, not the special effects

While you need to have a high-quality video that looks professional, providing authentic, valuable content is still more important. Your natural inclination is likely to think you need a professionally produced video, but internet viewers expect rawer communication and content. You can still hire a professional videographer for a very reasonable price, but you don’t have to spend a significant amount on tons of bells and whistles.

Define your goals

You cannot create an effective video unless you first define what making an effective video is to you. Define your goals. Do you want to increase your page views? Do you want to boost your email subscribers or increase leads? Maybe your goals are of a more intrinsic nature. Perhaps, you want to increase the chatter about your brand or establish your company as industry experts. Before you begin designing what your message is and how you’re going to promote it using video, first define your key performance indicators.

Plan, Plan, Plan Ahead

Before you film, create a transcript. Select one to three really important points you want your audience to take away from your message. Also, choose a concept. Do you want a behind-the-scenes feel, a news brief, skit, or another concept to present those message points?

Create a 10-second or less elevator pitch to begin your video. Remember, this is your first impression and you don’t have a lot of time to make it a good one before people are tempted to stop watching.

Revisit your top points throughout the video and expand on them. Your video should be two to three minutes in length max. Close your video by reiterating your take away and giving a call to action (i.e. visit our website, like us on Facebook, etc.).

Before you film your video, have others objectively review your transcript and video plan to ensure your message resonates. Once you’ve filmed it, have one or two others review it again to ensure that your message is clear, that it resonates on film, and that the video is visually appealing.

Market and Promote

Thousands and thousands of videos are competing for attention online every single day, so the way you market and promote your video has to be very strategic. You can create a branded series of videos in order to create more engagement. What story can you tell by posting multiple parts of your video over the course of several weeks? Time your videos to lead up to a big product launch or new service offering.

Reach out to influencers within your industry and ask them to share it and promote it to their audience. Create blog posts, press releases, and social media mentions around it. Mention it in your newsletter to your subscribers. Another great way to connect with your audience is to put them behind the camera. Not only does featuring a real-life customer help you connect to your viewers, but your customer will likely share the video with everyone he knows, because he’s in it.

Don’t Take a Shotgun Approach

Don’t just blast your video on YouTube and other mass video distribution channels. You want people to come to your website, so you receive the traffic, but also for lead generation. Once they’re on your site, they can explore further.

While you’ll eventually put your video on other distribution channels, it’s important to train viewers to come to your website for quality video content on a regular basis. Make sure that when you do add your video to your website that it’s embeddable and easy to share via social media.

Use these basics tips to create your online video strategy. For more information on using video as an inbound marketing method, read our post, “4 Simple Steps on How to Get Started with Real Estate Video.”

For more helpful real estate tips and information like this, check out our blog. You can also follow us on Facebook.

At iProperty, we provide leading online property management and real estate software,  responsive websites, and more.

Digital Storefront

Have You Digitised Your Real Estate Agency Store Front?

Digital StorefrontAre Bricks-and-Mortar Shops a Dying Breed?

If you wonder how relevant your store front is—and if bricks-and-mortar shops are dying—think again: Amazon recently opened a physical bookstore in Seattle and Google launched a retail store in London. These two companies know the importance of online marketing (that’s where they began), but they also know how much customers still like a physical experience and in-person contact.

Leading real estate agencies are using digital technologies in order to bring the online experience to customers in the real world. What does this look like? It means they’re getting rid of static window displays and banners and utilising digital presentations which have the ability to stop passersby and gain their attention.

Digital marketing in your store front is about immersing your clients in an experience every time they visit your physical storefront or online storefront (your website).

The front of your real estate agency has an important role to play in the digital world. Here are some ways you can bridge the gap between online and offline real estate marketing in order to create a richer customer experience.

Here’s How to Digitise Your Real Estate Agency Storefront

Create Digital Windows

Replace posters, banners, and paper listings in your storefront with digital boards that run a mix of slideshows, video, floorplans, and property listing copy. Showcase your real estate video clips to give buyers and sellers an idea of the level of skill and quality you offer.

Use Smart Technology to Talk to Passing Buyers

Emerging technologies are available that allow you to essentially “talk” to those within close proximity of your store by sending property information to their smartphones. You can equip your storefront with this technology and whenever someone is in range of your office, he or she will receive a message from you.

Make Interactive Content Available

Secure in-office tablets, so that buyers can browse listings or sellers can browse additional information about your services. You can also add slideshows and videos and kit the tablets out with your content, which is much more useful than providing magazines and booklets.

Offer Free Wi-Fi

Make your potential clients more comfortable by providing free wi-fi that allows them to browse your properties or offerings on their own devices. Use QR codes or showcase information about a downloadable app that will provide them with real-time updates of listings, open houses, etc.

Provide a “Help Centre”

Consider providing a computer or help centre where buyers and sellers can read informative blog posts for your blog or read client testimonials.

Stay Up-to-Date on Technological Advances for Real Estate

Technology continues to change and advance at a rapid pace. The Internet of Things is connecting devices like never before, which will allow marketers to draw even deeper insights into customer behaviour. Also, wearable technology such as Google Glass and smartwatches will likely continue to influence how consumers interact with digital content.

Despite the growing changes in online marketing, bricks-and-mortar is still important, but the way bricks-and-mortar looks is shifting. In order to connect with clients in a way that truly engages them in this digital frontier, the right mix is essential.

Check out our blog for more helpful tips and information. You can also follow us on Facebook.

At iProperty, we provide leading online property management and real estate software,  responsive websites, and more.

Community

5 Easy Ways to Connect with Your Community for Greater Networking

CommunityWhen you make authentic connections within your community, it benefits you and your real estate agency. Establishing genuine relationships and becoming known as a valuable resource online and offline can help you grow your business and your referrals.

Here are five easy ways to improve your connections and relationships within your local area:

Host Events or Informative Seminars

Host regular free seminars about investing, buying a home, selling a home, etc. as a way to connect with your local community and provide helpful information. You can also host a local sausage sizzle or a Christmas party.

Sponsor a sporting team or charitable event

Sponsor a kids’ sporting team, support a local school, or contribute to a charitable event. By giving back to your community, you build rapport and a reputation for caring about more than just your bottom line. More and more people want to partner with service providers and companies who are socially responsible. In fact, it’s almost a prerequisite with millennials that a company or service provider give back in some way or another.

Stay updated on current issues that have an impact on your community or area

Know how issues impact the people in your community beyond how it impacts their property values. Stay current on zoning laws and changes, so you can advise individuals, investors, and developers.

You should also stay up-to-date on new restaurants, environmental issues, or developments, so you can pass that information on to potential buyers and sellers as well.

Be the one who lends a hand

Be the nice guy or gal who is always willing to lend a helping hand. Word of mouth is very powerful. If you’re always willing to help out, even if it’s just holding the door or helping someone load something into their vehicle, you’ll build your name as someone trustworthy and helpful.

Attend other networking functions and events

Attend networking functions and events that others put on. Collect business cards and names, so you can pass clients on to other solicitors or tradespeople. Don’t just always ask for referrals, find out how you can help someone else out and build your network that way.

For more information on how to connect with your online community, read our post “4 Simple Ways to Show Customers Your Worth as a Real Estate Agent.”

You may also like our post, “5 Important Ways to Connect with Clients Online Beyond Real Estate.”

Check out our blog for more helpful tips and information. You can also follow us on Facebook.

At iProperty, we provide leading online property management and real estate software,  responsive websites, and more.

 

New Website Sticker for iProperty Products

New Andriessen Property Newcastle Website

New Website Sticker for iProperty ProductsAndriessen Property Newcastle was leaving an international franchise group and came to iProperty looking to provide their new company with a modern, & responsive website design, incorporating the branding and colours of their new company.

The new Andriessen Property Newcastle website is completely responsive; working on Desktops, Tablets and Smartphones allowing their staff and visitors to access any property any time.

The new interactive home page contains a great list of ‘must-have’ features, this includes:

  • Property Search Panel
  • Featured Property Gallery
  • Latest Listing on Home Page
  • Recent Testimonials
  • Market Appraisal Request Interactive Form
  • Latest Sold Properties
  • Latest News and Updates
  • Property Videos
  • Buyer and Renter Email Alerts Signup/Login

Along with this fantastic new home page, the website boasts a revamped property grid list view, property information pages, interactive forms and many more professionally designed features.

We wish the team at Andriessen Property Newcastle all the best with their new website and look forward to our ongoing relationship.

If you are looking for a new website, wether you are starting from scratch or want to upgrade to a modern responsive design, contact iProperty today.

APN Home Page  APN Latest Listings

Newsletters Part 2

32 Engaging Real Estate Newsletter Content Ideas: Part Two

If you missed part one in our series on engaging real estate newsletter content ideas, click here to catch up on it.

We’ve been discussing how—despite other online and social media marketing methods—email newsletters are still an important component of any real estate marketing strategy. Creating engaging content that turns readers into leads can sometimes be tricky. Many real estate agents find coming up with valuable content to fill their newsletters difficult, so we’ve put together a list to help get your creative juices flowing.

In part one of our real estate newsletter content series, we discussed the first 15 real estate content ideas, let’s carry on with the rest of our list.

Highlights from the Local Housing Market

  1. Interesting or Unique Properties in Your Market

Some houses are just plain interesting or unique and deserve a little extra attention. Whether you have a unique property for sale or there is one in your area, use these properties to pique the interest of your leads. Celebrity-owned homes or quirky houses with one-of-a-kind features naturally draw the attention of audiences, so use this opportunity to engage with your readers.

  1. Client Testimonials for Your Area

For this one, you don’t just want to blast testimonials from clients about your services. Instead, interview some of your clients about how they like their new neighborhood, where their go-to spots are, etc. If they mention how much they appreciated your services, slide that in between the information, so that you still showcase your services without being too forward.

  1. New Developments and Construction

Highlight any new developments or new construction going on in your area. Is a new apartment complex being built? What about a new shopping centre? Keep your readers up-to-date on any new buildings or infrastructure.

General Finance Advice and Home Loan Tips

  1. Tips on How to Save for a Home Purchase

Do some research on the most popular money-saving methods and share past client stories on saving for a home purchase. Follow sites that provide finance advice and share their advised tactics and methods. You can collect quite a lot of these and include a few within each email newsletter as a bonus to your readers.

  1. Advice on Renting or Buying a Property

You’ll likely get some leads who are not yet ready to buy, but are looking for rental properties and dreaming of the day they own a home. You’ll likely also have leads who aren’t sure if buying or renting is the best route for them. Share insight into the pros and cons of home ownership vs renting or advice on how renters can delve into their financial situation to determine if buying is really the right thing at this time. Discuss common leasing issues that arise and solutions for them.

  1. Home Insurance Tips and Insight

Understanding home owner’s insurance and what to watch out for can be tricky for first-time home buyers. Share tips that help individuals pick the right insurance for their needs. You can also provide advice on how home owners can save money on homeowners insurance.

  1. How-to Information on Refinancing a Mortgage

Share advice from lenders on refinancing. Discuss how a person goes about refinancing and what he/she can expect. You can also discuss what costs homeowners can expect during the process.

  1. Pre-Qualifying for a Home Loan

Many homeowners are unable to obtain a loan due to poor credit or a poor financial situation. Educate your leads on how they can remedy their ability to obtain a loan and what it takes to get pre-qualified.

Homeownership Tips, Tricks, and How-to Guides

  1. Information on Renovating a Home

Share tips on how to budget for a home renovation or the best rooms of a house to renovate for the biggest return on investment. Talk to contractors and share their advice; they’ll likely give you great insight for free exposure through a quote in your newsletter or even an interview.

  1. Resources and Round-Ups

Share useful websites where your leads can find information about contractors or other professionals, such as interior designers or landscapers. Compile helpful blog posts from these professionals and send them a round-up of relevant posts that could be useful.

  1. Home Maintenance

Turn to websites that share tips on home and garden maintenance. From mowing a lawn to properly caring for different types of flooring, share top tips for the best home and garden care.

  1. Baby Proofing and Pet Proofing Homes

Parents, especially of little ones, are particularly concerned about home safety. Buyers with pets are also mindful of whether or not a home is secure for their pets. Discuss tips on how owners can safe proof their homes for the ultimate kid-friendly and pet-friendly property.

  1. Homeowner Checklists

Checklists are fun and quick to reference. Many people return to checklists over and over again and even print them out or save them down. Share checklists about common things such as fixing plumbing or cleaning schedules.

  1. How to Determine a Listing Price

Discuss everything that goes into a listing price and how an agent determines a realistic listing price based on a property. Use this opportunity to showcase all that an agent does when he/she values a property for sale.

  1. How to Search for a New Home

Share tips on how to best filter real estate websites or discuss the most user-friendly real estate websites for home buyers to locate properties. You can also send another newsletter that discusses how buyers can narrow their search by getting more specific about areas, etc.

  1. How to Transition Kids after a Move

Share tips on how to transition after a move, especially if children are moving schools or towns. Offer sound advice and strategies from professionals. Discuss how to make the process an adventure as opposed to a dreaded chore.

  1. Community Festivals or Activities

Keep your newsletter current and fun by sharing upcoming community festivals or activities. If a new restaurant or hot spot is opening up in your area, include that information in your newsletter.

 

We hope this email advice has proved helpful for you. Use these ideas specifically or jot down any ideas that these tips stir up.

For more helpful real estate tips and information like this, check out our blog. You can also follow us on Facebook.

At iProperty, we provide leading online property management and real estate software,  responsive websites, and more.

Newsletter ideas

32 Engaging Real Estate Newsletter Content Ideas: Part One

Despite the growth of social media marketing, email newsletters are still a critical component of any online real estate marketing strategy. When Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram (or any other social media networks) make algorithm changes, it can significantly impact the number of people who see your posts and the amount of traffic you drive to your website.

You own your subscriber list, which means you have permission to get directly into your subscribers’ inboxes, so whether or not they see your content or posts on social media, they receive your updates. So, while email newsletters might seem old school, they’re still really important to the success of online real estate marketing.

Coming up with engaging newsletter content ideas that keep your readers interested and clicking on your links can be tricky, however. Compelling content that is valuable produces high open rates and more traffic to your website, which results in more leads. Here are 32 engaging real estate newsletter ideas to help you keep your readers interested and clicking.

Real Estate Blog Posts

A portion of your email newsletters will consist of informing readers of your newest real estate blog posts. Use these ideas to create engaging posts:

  1. How-to Posts

How-to posts such as “How to Budget for a New Home” or “How to Renovate Your Home with a Return on Investment in Mind,” can be great additions to your email newsletter. Find out what your readers want to learn how to do, or need help with, and write content that solves their problems.

  1. Interviews

Interview local experts and highlight what you discussed, including background information on each person. From mortgage brokers to contractors to designers to government officials, you can provide a wealth of diversified knowledge and use the process as a networking experience as well. Most likely, each interviewee will share your post with their readers and you’ll gain additional exposure.

  1. Evergreen Content

Write informative pieces that can live on your blog—and be recycled—for years to come. Blog posts that include the top kids’ attractions in certain neighborhoods or the top restaurants or coffee shops in your area of focus can drive new traffic to your website. Talk about tips and advice for first-time home buyers or for staging a home for sale.  You can also use this type of content to share with new leads.

  1. eBooks or Educational PDFs

If you’ve written a helpful eBook, case study, or report, share a snippet of it in your email newsletter and then link to the blog post where you’ve written more about it or the landing page where your readers can download the rest of it.

  1. News Related Articles

Due to the nature of your career, you stay up-to-date on the housing market and what’s going on in the industry. Blog about big or breaking news as a way to keep your readers engaged and to capitalise on driving additional traffic to your website. Whether something big has happened in the housing market or the economy, blog about current real estate events and share them in your newsletter.

  1. Curated Content

It often takes a significant amount of effort to blog about original, quality content. While you must create high valuable, engaging content to continue to attract leads, you can curate content from time to time to fill the gaps. Find quality content from outside sources and share summaries of that content, highlighting your key takeaways or key points.

  1. Business Updates

Keep your readers updated on what’s going on in your business. Share tidbits about any relevant company or professional news that adds credibility and gives reader’s a sneak peek into the behind-the-scenes.

  1. Guest Posts

Commission guest posts from experts who can share relevant opinions and information with your audience. Use the guest post on your blog and share snippets in your email newsletter.

Housing and Finance News

  1. Initiatives for Buyers

Highlight new government initiatives for buyers. Share the information and add your own opinion and insight to showcase your expertise and offering.

  1. Housing Market Statistics

Follow resources that regularly release housing statistics and compile data for home sales and other statistics that are relevant to your readership. Share this data, along with your insights, with your readers.

  1. Affordability Studies

Share home affordability studies that were conducted in your state, town, or city. Many buyers are looking for information on home affordability in particular areas, so offer up this information directly to them.

  1. Mortgage Rates and Applications

Most of your readers looking to buy a home will likely rely on a home loan for either the majority of it or a portion of it. Include recent mortgage rates and application news as well as what this may mean for buyers, sellers, and investors.

  1. Updates on Short Sales and Foreclosures

Write about the foreclosure and short sale market. Share information on how many are in your area and what they’re selling for, and include any other information and advice you feel is relevant to your audience.

  1. Unemployment and Income Reports

Share what the analysts are saying in regards to the unemployment rate in your local market, income, and job reports. Consumers often look at the job market before moving to a particular location, so this information can be helpful, thus elevating your status as someone who adds value.

  1. Tax Information for Home Owners and Investors

You can create a resource page on your website with tax information for home owners and investors. Update it with the latest changes and when you do, send the information out to your email newsletter.

Click here to read part two of our series for more real estate newsletter content ideas.

For more helpful real estate tips and information like this, check out our blog. You can also follow us on Facebook.

New Feed Sticker for iDashboard Products

New Outgoing Feed: CommercialProperty2Sell

New Feed Sticker for iDashboard ProductsiProperty welcomes CommercialProperty2Sell to our family of portal sites that we upload properties too.

About CommercialProperty2Sell

WHO ARE WE?

CommercialProperty2Sell is an integral member of the Business2Sell Group who are in their 10th year successfully helping Australians sell their business. CommercialProperty2Sell is a leading website connecting Australian commercial property vendors and buyers, lessors and lessees with real estate agents throughout the country. Whether you have a high-rise office building for sale in Sydney, an industrial park in Launceston for lease, a retail showroom in Broome or a cattle station in the Northern Territory for sale we will do our utmost to connect you with the right buyer or lessee.

REAL ESTATE AGENTS

You can register any type of commercial property for a three month FREE trial. Our guarantee to you is: we will provide you with at least one hundred enquiries or we will extend your trial period by a further 3 months. You can upload unlimited images for each listing and can receive any number of enquiries totally FREE!

You can also upload your logo on each listing and receive a complimentary listing in our exclusive Property Broker Directory. The directory displays all your contact details, all your current listings plus the number of properties for sale or lease, under offer or sold or leased.

Reputation Management

Critical Reasons Why You Should Never Ignore Customer Complaints on Social Media

Reputation ManagementTo Reply or Not to Reply

We’re certain you take critical precautions to protect yourself from a bad online reputation, however, customer complaints and negative reviews online are bound to happen at some point or another.

Knowing how to respond to customer complaints online can be tricky. Many believe that ignoring the complaint is the best option, but consider how this might play out in real life. If a person walked up to you to complain, you would respond. You’d listen to his or her complaint and try to diffuse and remedy the situation.

According to a study by Maritz Research and Evolv24, 70% of online complaints are ignored. Social media has given consumers an entirely different way to engage with service providers and brands, which means it’s critical that if someone makes the effort to bring something to your attention, you should respond—before your silence backfires and the rant spreads.

Here are three reasons why you should never ignore customer complaints on social media:

1. Customers Don’t Like Being Ignored

Customers typically take to social media to complain because traditional avenues have disappointed them. When they take to social media, they’re usually incredibly angry. Ignoring them only further provokes them and fuels the fire.

One study found that the way you treat a customer on social media has a large impact on their feelings towards you. It revealed that 45% would be angry if ignored and 27.1% would stop doing business with the company or individual completely.

Another study found that 50% of customers only give brands or individuals a week to respond to a complaint. After a week, they stop doing business with the company or individual. It also found that 89% of customers started doing business with a competitor brand after a bad experience.

2. Other Potential Customers Are Watching and Waiting

On social media, everyone—or almost everyone—is watching, including your current and potential clients. A Conversocial study found that 88% of customers were less likely to do business with someone who ignored complaints on social media.

How you respond (or don’t) to a client complaint can directly impact future leads.

3. You Can Turn the Negative Complaint into Something Positive

Angry clients just want to be heard; they want you to listen and be empathetic towards their feelings and experience. Even if you can’t completely solve their problem, listening can help diffuse the problem and get you back into their good graces.

The Maritz Research study found that 83% of customers who complained really liked that they received a reply. In addition, an Oracle study found that 22% of customers who received a response from a complaint then went on to post a positive comment about the company or service provider.

Listen Online

One way to listen online is to set up Google Alerts for any time your name or company name is mentioned.  Listen to the conversations your clients or potential clients are having. Respond to any positive or negative comments you receive. You don’t have to remedy the situation via social media, but respond with direct contact information and redirect any complaints into a private exchange.

Keep these customer complaint tips in mind when resolving any issues:

  • Listen without interrupting
  • Do not argue, justify, or make excuses
  • Acknowledge the complaint and concerns; be empathetic and offer further steps to take
  • Apologise and thank the customer for communicating the issue

By ignoring customer complaints on social media, you can further provoke clients, lose potential clients, and miss the opportunity to turn something negative into something positive that shows you care about customers.

Bonus Tip: Read our post “Tips for Creating Your Real Estate Social Media Policy,” for advice on how to develop a well-thought-out policy that outlines your strategy for dealing with complaints on social media in the most effective way.

For more helpful real estate tips and information like this, check out our blog. You can also follow us on Facebook.

At iProperty, we provide leading online property management and real estate software,  responsive websites, and more.

Checklist

Successful Real Estate Agents Online Marketing Checklist for New Listings

ChecklistIf you’ve been in the real estate industry a long time, then you’re used to marketing your listings via traditional marketing channels. In fact, you probably don’t need a checklist for that anymore. You likely have the process down.

Over the past few years, real estate marketing has shifted drastically, and you’ve heard over and over again the importance of marketing your listings online. For the most part, you know what you need to do, but you may be missing these important steps when it comes to successfully marketing your new listings in the online space.

The most successful online real estate marketers take into consideration all of these points when they add a new listing.

1. Great Photos

Photos draw people into your post. If the photo is alluring, it’ll get people’s attention. Professional photos sell properties faster and for higher prices, so it’s important that you include high quality images online with all of your listings. It’s also important to make sure your images aren’t sized too small, sites like domain.com.au now accept high resolution images, so upload large high quality images, and your property will be displayed in all its glory.

2. High Quality Video

Video content is becoming more and more popular online and has one of the highest engagement rates of all the content types. If you’re putting together a real estate video or property tour, you’ll benefit if you hire a professional videographer. While some videos can be casual and less professional, marketing videos and property tours gain more traction when they are higher quality. If your marketing budget permits, investing in professional videos can be a game changer for your marketing strategy.

Tip: For more information on creating high quality real estate videos, read our post, “4 Simple Steps on How to Get Started with Real Estate Video.”

3. Compelling Headlines and Descriptions

While quality videos and photos are what draw people into your site, compelling content and descriptions are just as important. If your descriptions are poorly written and the words don’t further convince readers to take the next step, they likely won’t get in touch with you.

Tip: To avoid common copywriting mistakes for more compelling descriptions, check out our post “10 Copywriting Mistakes that Downgrade Your Listings.”

4. Write a Tailored Blog Post

When you blog about a new listing, it’s important to tailor each blog post to that listing. Automatically blogging using a template in which very few words are changed is a turn off to a lot of readers. Many start to feel as though they’ve read the same thing over and over again, therefore, they’re less likely to click.

Get creative with your content and think of unique ways you can write about a topic and reference the listing. If there’s a really cool play area near a home you’re selling, consider writing a post about the top five children’s play areas in that specific neighbourhood, and then, when you write about the nearby park, link to the beautiful home for sale right next to it.

The more you can steer away from simply announcing a new property, the more effective your technique will be.

Tip: If you struggle coming up with blog ideas, check out our post “20 Time Saving Real Estate Blog Topic Ideas” for helpful ideas to get your creative juices flowing.

5. Share on Social Media

As with a blog post, you want as many eyes as possible to see your new listings, so it’s important to share them on the top social media sites. How you do this, however, is really important, because, again, you don’t just want to shout it out.

When you craft compelling copy and a unique message, people—even those who aren’t on the market to buy, but may know someone who is—are more apt to check out what you’re offering.

Do say something like this:

If you’re an empty nester with a beloved dog or a single with a fur baby that’s spoiled to pieces, check out this quaint cottage-style home next to picturesque, well-maintained dog walking trails. It may be the perfect place for you and your pup to call home.

Don’t say something like this:

I JUST LISTED A NEW COTTAGE-STYLE HOME FOR $325,000. CHECK IT OUT!

6. Gather Backlinks

Backlinks are still an important part of any SEO strategy, meaning the more websites you can get to link back to your website or listing, the higher it will rank in the search results page. See if you can get other agents you work closely with to add a link to your listings on their sites and vice versa.

7. Send to Newsletter Subscriber List

Email your newsletter subscribers with the new listing or the new blog post you wrote around the listing. Make sure that you don’t overwhelm your list, so if you’re adding multiple new listings per week, consider sending one round-up email.

Tip: For additional newsletter content ideas, read our post “Content Ideas for Your Real Estate Marketing Newsletter.”

8. Add to Home Page

Your home page is usually the top visited page on your website and content on this page gets more emphasis by search engines. Due to this, adding a preview of your new listing to your home page can be a beneficial strategy to getting more potential clients to see it and click through to view the details.

9. Set Up an Advertising Campaign

If you have a marketing budget that allows, you can set up a paid advertising campaign (PPC) on Google and target individuals searching for specific keywords. You can also pay for advertising on your social media platforms.

Google paid ads is a more advanced technique, which you can read about in our blog post entitled, “How Do Google Paid Search Results Work?”

We hope you’ve found this new listing online marketing checklist helpful.

For more helpful real estate tips and information like this, check out our blog. You can also follow us on Facebook.

At iProperty, we provide leading online property management and real estate software,  responsive websites, and more.

Print

6 Inbound Marketing Metrics Real Estate Agents Should Monitor

PrintYou’re on the top social media networks, you’ve started a real estate blog, you’ve set up a content marketing strategy, and you’re finally getting some decent traffic to your site and generating leads.

You’re thrilled, and who wouldn’t be?

Do you know what content is driving leads to your website? Do you know what platforms are your top referrers? Do you know who is coming to your site?

We put together a series on how to use Google Analytics to measure your websites metrics that’s packed full of helpful tips and insights, but let’s look at the top 6 inbound metrics real estate agent should monitor.

1. Who your visitors are and where are they coming from

The main goal of your website is to have traffic coming to it, so you can generate leads. You might have a really great site, but if you don’t have people coming to check it out, you’re not going to get new clients from it.

Track your traffic (using Google Analytics) and find out where your visitors are coming from, so you can begin to understand how to better serve them.

2. What visitors want when they arrive at your site

You’re filling your website with content in the form of blog posts, real estate videos, and images. What content are your visitors reading or watching the most? Monitor their clicks to see what content drew them in, where they go from the landing page, and what page they exit on. You can also find all of these measurements using Google Analytics. Learn what information and content they most prefer, so you can drive them further into the sales funnel.

3. How long they are sticking around

How long are visitors staying on your website? The longer they stay on your site, the better. Track how long they’re staying and what pages they’re lingering on and what pages they’re leaving immediately from, so you can better understand what pages are most effective.

4. How many visitors are returning

Look at how many new vs returning visitors you have. Track your conversion rate to see how many sign up for your newsletter, free incentive, or fill out a contact form. Also, track your closing rate to see how many leads move from being interested to making a purchase or hiring you as their real estate agent. Delve deeper into changes and what might have caused them.

5. Who is leaving

Naturally, people will move on from your business, but it’s important to track your unsubscribe rate and monitor statistics. While losing some email unsubscribes can actually be a good thing, track your exits, so you can determine why people are leaving (is it your content or simply because they no longer need your services?).  Find out why your leads might be disengaged and see if you can improve your unsubscribe rate.

Tip: Read our blog post entitled, “Top 5 Reasons You’re Losing Subscribers and Solutions,” to delve deeper.

6. What your engagement looks like

While not all of your posts on the top social media sites will equate to website traffic, it’s still important to monitor your engagement and clicks on social media to see what is building interest and what isn’t. This will also help you understand what your audience most engages in and what captures their attention.

When you’re sharing fresh and fun content in an effort to generate leads, it’s important to track how well your content is performing.

You can learn more about these metric by reading our post, “13 Must-Know Google Analytics Reports for Your Real Estate Website.”

For more helpful real estate tips and information like this, check out our blog. You can also follow us on Facebook.

At iProperty, we provide leading online property management and real estate software, responsive websites, and more.

Instagram Changes

New Instagram News Feed Changes May Impact Your Real Estate Marketing

Instagram ChangesNew Instagram News Feed Changes

We recently shared the top social media platforms that real estate agents should master and Instagram is among them.

You’ve likely heard that Facebook bought out Instagram, but perhaps you haven’t read that Instagram has the highest user engagement out of all of the social media platforms and that the popular image-sharing platform announced a news feed algorithm change recently.

On 15 March 2016, Instagram announced that it would be changing the way posts appear in the news feed in an effort to improve the user experience. As with any announcement of change, many users were outraged, urging Instagram to leave the platform alone.

Prior to the announcement, the Instagram news feed showed pictures posted in chronological order. Instagram noted that with this set up, users miss 70% of the photos in their feed that they’re likely interested in.

In similar Facebook fashion, Instagram will begin showing posts in users’ news feeds based on interest, stating, “to improve your experience, your feed will soon be ordered to show the moments we believe you will care about most.” They noted that this new experience will roll out over the next few months.

How does the Instagram algorithm change affect your real estate agent profile?

This change could mean that your posts might not be seen by as many people if you’re not getting engagement on them in the form of likes, comments, or profile visits. Instagram noted that people will see posts from their favorite profiles, even if they’re not the most recent posts, because their algorithm can see that you actively engage with the account.

So, while this change could have a negative impact, it could also have a positive one for your real estate marketing. Users who aren’t necessarily on Instagram near the time you post may still have the chance to see your post if they actively engage with you.

An important strategy will be to continue to remain active on the site and post valuable content and images that people like.

You can check out our post, “5 Easy Steps to Grow Your Instagram Following,” to learn more about growing your following and using the platform to the fullest, despite these changes.

How do you feel? Are you upset that Instagram images will no longer be in chronological order or do you think you’ll benefit from the change? Let us know in the comments.

For more helpful real estate tips and information like this, check out our blog. You can also follow us on Facebook

At iProperty, we provide leading online property management and real estate software, responsive websites, and more.