Content Marketing For Real Estate Case Study
A different approach to marketing for realtors
It all started with an idea. After a lengthy conversation with a realtor-client of mine, we both agreed that we didn't like the typical real estate, marketing model. It is all very invasive. Disruptive ads on social media that lead to a frustrating forced lead capture are a far cry from a good user experience. Do realtors really want to introduce themselves to potential clients in such a way? And after the lead is "captured," now some poor agent is calling them "out of blue" on the phone.
Agent-
"Oh, hi Mary... I saw that you were looking at 123 Lake Looky Drive... Would you like to set up a viewing?"
Mary-
"No, You Pesky Real Estate Agent! I am not looking to buy a home right now, I just wanted to see that beautiful home that popped up on Facebook. Please do not call me ever again!" Click.
The agent then clicks into the CRM and disqualifies the "prospect."
So you see how this whole setup is a bit uncomfortable. Forcing someone to give you their contact information is never the ideal way to start a relationship. Can you imagine a romantic relationship starting that way?
"Hi there pretty thing, give me your phone number and I'll show you my investment portfolio."
The current method of casting a wide net and going after any potential home buyer that has a pulse, is targeting the very top of the marketing funnel.
It can be effective. It takes a lot of work to follow up. And as noted before can be a poor way to introduce yourself to new clients. But what if you could target people who were much further down the funnel instead. Well, the good news is, you can.
How to target the right real estate prospect with relevant content
It's not that complicated. If you want to "skip to the front of the line," and target those who are ready or almost ready to take action there is a better way.
Target those looking for realtors and design your website to foster trust
Now I know that this is not a new concept, but in most cases, realtors are only approaching this target with advertising dollars. And because this target, "Realtor in Fill in the Blank," is coveted, it's a very expensive keyword to go after with paid advertisements. How expensive depends on the competitors in your area. But you can be paying $10+ just for clicks, and those are not even "leads."
What if you could have more of those who were looking for realtors find you organically? You can! Is it easy? No. We did it in a relatively short amount of time. I am not going to lay out the whole strategy, I'll do that in another post, but I'll give you the proof.
Instead of sending the signals to search engines that our site was about searching for homes (top of the funnel), we sent the signal that our website was about the top/best real estate group/team in town. We did this with the site description, h1 tags, homepage content, subpages, team pages, reviews pages, and so on. We also created videos around this content, ranked them on YouTube, and embedded them on the web pages.
The result of using content marketing to target those searching for realtors
These statistics are pretty amazing in my opinion, especially when you factor in the top-tier quality of a lead that voluntarily reaches out to contact you after landing on your website, reading reviews, or watching a video. The worth of these leads is highlighted by how much real estate groups are willing to pay for them.
Case Study: Realtor Pages Results
Google Maps Results
YouTube Results
Side note: The are some large aggregator websites are also targeting these terms. Don't let them deter you. They don't show on google maps. You also have an advantage as being a local business. And many folks will scroll past those web pages, recognizing that they don't deliver what they are searching for.
Side note 2: Currently google reviews play a huge role in establishing trust for new potential clients & boosting your placement on Google map placement. Google and others trust these reviews because they are difficult to fake. So, don't neglect to ask for reviews, in fact, build it into your processes.
To learn more about the strategy for targeting the bottom of the marketing funnel for realtors read this article: Content Marketing for Realtors.
Target People Who Are Doing Serious Research About Neighborhoods
This group is not going to be as far down the funnel as targeting those looking for a realtor, but they are much farther along than those just browsing homes.
People who get into "research mode" are more serious than casual Zillow browsers. They are looking for insights about the absolute "best fit" home for their family. They are going to want to know about neighborhoods or areas that are safe, close to good schools, near parks, easy commutes to work, and a myriad of other factors. The most helpful webpage that provides all of this is likely to rank well on Google.
Once you have this helpful information, turn it into a video that you place at the top of the page. Don't just put all this neighborhood info on one page. Create pages for each neighborhood and link to them from one master neighborhood page. If it is a small to medium-sized city you can have one main neighborhood page. If it is a large city you may want to create a master page for multiple areas.
Neighborhoods within an area can link to each other via internal links, as it makes sense. This will reinforce the relevancy of the master page.
So, enough about the concepts, let's look at some results.
Neighborhood Pages Results
Content Marketing for Real Estate Case Study Summary
As you can see, strategically creating relevant content around potential home buyers that are close to taking action is highly effective. It works wonderfully when executed properly. There is an important consideration. Is it easy to do? Is it easy for a busy real estate agent to do? No, and no. Is it possible? Yes. Is it likely to happen? No.
So this is where we come in. Not only do we have the documented experience, but the team, the process, and the software to achieve the quickest possible results. Hiring a content marketing agency is an investment, however, it is likely one of the best investments your company may ever choose to make. Results don't happen overnight, but for those who stick with it, the ROI is a flood of website traffic and visibility that never gets turned off.
There are many considerations, such as your starting point (your current domain authority and website visibility) and the levels of competitiveness in your area, but we have seen these strategies pay off in the most competitive markets. If you're interested, let us start a conversation. We are not pushy salespeople, we are just passionate about content marketing.
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