If you’re still handing out brochures and hoping for a bite, you’re leaving money on the table. The digital space moves fast; perhaps too fast to sit back and wait. But do you want to stand out online? Do you want leads that don’t waste your time? Then read on, because this isn’t a game anymore, it’s a race. And you’re about to learn how to win.
Own Your Website Like You Own Your Listings
You wouldn’t show a house with a broken door and peeling paint, right? So don’t let your website be the digital version of that. Your site is essentially your 24/7 open home anyone can visit. That makes it super important to ensure good speed and reliability.
When setting up your website, you have to keep a few things in mind. First, skip the music because most people will find it irritating. You should also get into the habit of regularly deleting outdated listings. There’s no need to get someone’s hopes up with a property that’s long gone. And for the love of all things clickable, make sure there are no pop-ups the second someone lands on the page.
You should also put your listings front and centre, but don’t make it all about the properties. Instead, inject your voice into it. Ideally, you will show your face, share insights, and make it appropriately personal.
Stop Wasting Time and Automate Your Lead Funnel
You’re not here to babysit cold leads or manually reply to every enquiry at 10 PM. If you do that, you will soon realise that burnout isn’t something people just throw around. That doesn’t mean you should give up, though.
The easiest way to stop wasting time is to set up a CRM system that nurtures your leads for you. These days, you can automate:
- Email sequences: Write a bunch of emails, map out a flow, and schedule them to send automatically over a few weeks.
- SMS follow-ups: You can set up automatic text messages to go out after enquiries or open home visits, reminding people of the key features, or just thanking them for giving you a bit of their time.
- Retargeting: You can even obtain a pixel code and add it to your site, so when people visit your listings but don’t act, your ads follow them around online like a puppy.
You should heavily rely on forms that segment your audience. After all, someone looking to downsize doesn’t want the same pitch as a first-time buyer. This approach will allow you to keep it clean and sharp. Automation isn’t cold, it’s efficient, and efficiency makes you more available to serious players.
Become a Local Legend on Google My Business
If you aren’t optimised on Google My Business, you might as well give up on your digital marketing efforts. There are people who are typing in real, high-intent search terms like real estate agents in Paddington or an Austin real estate agency. And they’re ready to act. If you don’t show up, how are they supposed to know you even exist, let alone that you’re the best one in your field?
So, claim your listing if you haven’t already. You should set it up properly and provide all the relevant information about your business. Google loves detail, and so do buyers and sellers. After that, your job is just to keep it updated. Post a photo or a short update every few days, and update your business hours during the holiday season. This signals to people you’re an active business owner.
Video Is Vital, So Start Acting Like It
People aren’t reading your three-paragraph Facebook captions. They’re scrolling, and you have two seconds to grab them by the eyeballs. That’s where video comes in. Here’s a simple guide you can use when brainstorming ideas:
- Property related videos: Even a casual tour filmed with your phone is enough to highlight the best features of a property you’re trying to sell.
- Casual clips that showcase the reality of it all: Filming quick snippets of staging or prepping for inspections makes you relatable, and the audience loves that, especially because this is an opportunity to make educational content.
- Auction videos: These are beneficial for socials like TikTok because people love the drama and tension of a live auction.
- Mini explainers: Sharing short but meaningful videos where you can keep their attention while teaching them something new about the business or the reality of being a homeowner is s-tier content.
Don’t stress about perfection, though. People connect with energy, not polish. Use your phone, you don’t need special equipment. But make sure to speak clearly and be direct. Show the view, the lighting, the floorboards, and let people feel the home. And if you’re camera-shy? Get over it. You’re in sales. Presence is non-negotiable.
Paid Ads Are Not Optional
Organic reach is cute, but it won’t get you consistent results. As the hustlers say, you need to spend money to make money. Facebook and Instagram ads are still ridiculously underpriced for the kind of targeting you get, so utilise it. Drill down into postcodes, interests, and audience behaviours. With this approach, you get to show your listings to buyers before they even realise they’re looking.
Source: Freepik
And if you don’t like the idea of marketing fails, start with a small budget. Ideally, you’ll go with something you’re comfortable losing; maybe that’s a couple of tens you’d otherwise spend on doughnuts and coffee.
Once you’re ready to test your ad strategy, explore different creatives, and track results like your life depends on it. Then, if you have been tracking your progress regularly, you can double down on what works. We should collectively stop boosting posts because that never makes a meaningful impact. That’s a lazy waste of budget. Run real campaigns and learn the platform or hire someone who knows it inside out.
Email Marketing That Actually Converts
No one wants another templated newsletter with Top 5 Kitchen Trends. Not because they already know what’s trendy, but because almost every competitor sends out this type of article at least once a year. If you want impact, you need to give your email list something that makes them pause.
People are more likely to read real market insights. They want to see sneak peeks at listings before they go live, or they want to read about the hard truths about pricing. Your audience needs someone who’s willing to share sales data broken down in plain English, not yet another business owner trying to sell them something.
Segment your list into buyers, sellers, landlords, and investors, and then send different content to each. Be consistent, but figure out the right tempo first. Once a week is enough, but you don’t have to be active that often if that means working more hours or poorly managing your business. Ideally, you’ll outsource this, and then you can have good content on a weekly basis.
Build a Brand, Not Just a Business
If your name doesn’t ring a bell, your listings won’t ring the phone. You need a brand people recognise, even if it’s just locally. So, pick two social platforms and own them by posting daily. Share tips, wins, funny fails, and testimonials; depending on what your audience seems to like the most.
Before you even start posting, make sure to invest in a decent logo, some brand colours, and clean graphics. But more importantly, let your voice come through. If you’re cheeky, be cheeky. If you’re straight-talking, be that. The right people will be drawn to you. The wrong ones will bounce. That’s how it should be.
Source: Freepik
And while you’re at it, start thinking about ways to combine strategies, or mediums. For example, having a strong media presence is great, and it’s one of the most important digital marketing strategies nowadays. But if you pair this with a more traditional approach, such as paying for a banner with your face, logo, and socials on it, that’s peak strategy.
Content That Educates and Engages
You’re a real estate professional. You didn’t get that title out of nowhere. You have the knowledge, so use it. Turn common questions into blog posts, short reels, or downloadable guides. If you don’t know where to start, here are some ideas.
- How much should I offer on a house?
- Is the market crashing?
- Should I buy before I sell?
- What type of property is best for first-time investors?
- Is my rental income enough to pay off the mortgage and manage the property?
Say you write a blog post answering a common question, like what to expect at an auction, or how to time a sale. Once that’s done, pull out a key quote or the main tip, drop it onto a Canva template, and share it on your socials. Easy. You’ve just repurposed one piece of work into three different platforms without overthinking it.
Retargeting, Because One Click Isn’t Enough
Someone visits your listing once, pokes around, and then disappears. First, you need to start figuring out what made them drive away, but keep in mind that some people are just looking at listings because they’re bored. The point is that not every website visit will turn into a profit.
But let’s entertain the idea that they weren’t paying attention, or that they didn’t like the current listings. Are you following up, or are you just hoping they come back? As we briefly mentioned earlier, retargeting ads follow those people across the web, reminding them you exist and nudging them back.
Use Facebook Pixel and Google Ads. You’re not annoying them, you’re just staying visible. And visibility is everything when you’re one of twenty agents in the same postcode.
Sometimes, people don’t come back because the market is filled with different opportunities. And sometimes they want to come back, but in the sea of listings, it’s often challenging and time consuming to retrace your steps and find the one that caught your attention.
Collab Like Your Commission Depends on It
You don’t have to do it all solo, although it’s understandable if you want to be on your own for the ride. But, if you’re more flexible, you can team up with mortgage brokers, stylists, interior designers, and other professionals in your field for joint campaigns or shoutouts. You can all tag each other, refer each other, and even co-host webinars or open homes, if possible.
This type of collaboration builds your network and adds to your credibility. Plus, their audience becomes your audience, and vice versa. And the best part is that it’s free. You just need to make the first move and be smart about who you align with. Of course, not everyone would be open to the idea, but then again, those people share the same goal with you – to be visible and get more clients. Most of them will likely be ready for a collab.
Use Client Testimonials Like a Weapon
Good service means nothing if no one knows about it. If someone’s happy with your work, you need to broadcast that. Written testimonials are great. The video ones are even better. A 15-second clip of a client saying, “She sold our place in a week, full ask,” is gold. There’s nothing more telling than that.
If you obtain video reviews, feature them on your website, drop them into your reels, and post them after every big deal. People trust people, and they’re more likely to reach out if you see that someone else has had a positive experience with your business.
If you want more testimonials, make sure to ask immediately after settlement, while emotions are high and goodwill is fresh. Don’t be shy about it. You’ve earned every right to ask for that, so use the opportunity. And if people refuse, say thank you and move on. Someone else will be more than happy to share their excitement with the audience.
Conclusion
The digital space isn’t a nice-to-have anymore. It’s the battlefield. And the agents who are winning aren’t necessarily the best on the ground, they’re just the ones showing up online, loud and clear. So stop sitting on good ideas. Action is the separator. Start where you are, with what you’ve got, and improve as you go. If you wait until it’s perfect, you’ll be watching your competition sell to your market. And frankly, they’ll thank you for it.
