How Real Estate Agents Can Use Mobile Marketing to Help Close Leads
In the last decade, the nature of real estate has shifted dramatically. Many potential clients are beginning their home search primarily online, which has caused the real estate industry to adapt their strategies to fit users’ behavior. To meet this demand, many agents have been shifting their focus to updating their current mobile marketing approach as well. With so much competition though, how can you guarantee that your mobile marketing is up to par, if not a cut above the rest?
In studying any top online business, many moving parts contribute to the success of their business. Social media integration, apps, online ads, SEO (search engine optimization), and mobile-adaptive websites are some of the ways that these businesses use to increase traffic and drive sales.
What would be useful for you, as an agent, to improve your online presence? How can you provide leads with a variety of options to interact with you and your services? Drivebuy offer leads an opportunity to engage with listings more closely.
The digital flyer tool is a game-changer in generating more potential buyers. Assigning a short code to a property’s sign rider can give leads who drive by quick access to any listings you have posted. All they have to do is to text the short code to a number and receive more detailed information about the listing, including pictures, instead of leaving their vehicle to grab a paper flyer. When a lead texts the number, it gives the listing agent access to the prospective buyer’s information as well. This is a win-win for both parties.
This is one of the many ways an agent can capitalize on a mobile marketing tool to enhance their leads’ experience. Here are some other mobile marketing strategies to drive sales and close your leads.
Text Messaging: Simple, Yet Effective
Buyers are more likely to read and reply to a text message than they are to answer a long email or take a phone call from an unknown number. Agents can utilize text messaging in many different situations.
E-flyers can be sent through an SMS software to give out listing information to clients, as well as to inform leads about new listings on the market, open houses, and other events and promotions that the agents want to share.
Another way text messaging can add value to an agent’s mobile marketing is by including a link at the end of a text. This allows a buyer to download an app and view more information about a current listing. Driving prospective buyers to an app can allow agents to monitor user engagement with their listings.
If you are an agent who appreciates building personal relationships with clients, use text messages to maintain and grow those relationships. Send personalized holiday and birthday greetings to your clients to let them know you are thinking about them. This can help promote further engagement between agent and client.
Making Your Website Mobile-friendly
Today, approximately 80% of internet users own smartphones, and close to 60% of these users spend most of their time on a mobile device instead of a desktop. Agents who have websites need to take into account how their website looks and functions on a mobile device to make sure that the user experience is not compromised.
A website must be user-friendly. This means that there should be nothing that causes a user any confusion when navigating the website. Make sure the site includes all the necessary features like updated listings, contact information, FAQs, guides on a buying/leasing process, neighborhood guides, and auxiliary links and information that would be useful to clients. A 24/7 live chat option could prove to be very helpful too.
One way to ensure this is by working with a web designer to update the look of your website and get a second, informed opinion. With a professional web designer, you can create an easy-to-use, uncluttered, and aesthetically pleasing website that will optimize user engagement with your listings.
Change Up Your Social Media Strategy
Social media is a very valuable tool for real estate. There are many ways that different features on a social media platform can be used to your advantage. Some of which are:
Broadcast live on Instagram/Facebook during open houses. This can give prospective buyers an inside look into a property if they are unable to make it to the open house.
Start Instagram/Facebook Live Q&As. This is a great way for agents to interact with clients online and offer useful information and professional tips.
Give leads a sneak peek on listings and neighborhoods. Use your social media accounts to provide sneak peeks to your followers about listings that are hitting the market and neighborhood guides to drum up interest in the area.
Utilize videos on your platforms. Videos appeal to millennials more, especially because many of them are on their phones throughout the day. Take videos of a property’s interiors and unique features from different angles in a way that photos just can’t. Virtual tours can be very valuable for buyers.
Post on Instagram/Facebook Stories. If done well, stories can allow users to maintain constant contact with followers and provide up-to-date information rather than flooding a Facebook wall or Instagram timeline with posts. Utilize tools like polls on a story to get an idea of what your followers are looking for on your account. This can help you better tailor your content.
Run Ads on Social Media
Mobile users tend to be on at least one social media app throughout their day. Use this knowledge to put yourself on their feed. Running ads for your listings on popular social media apps can help you track who exactly is engaging with your content by giving you information on their specific area, age range, and interests.
Create a Custom Mobile App
You might think that this option may be too difficult to accomplish. However, these days, there are many app developing software options on the market that enable users, who have never written a single line of code, to build an app. These app developers give you the option to pick and choose unique features and help you integrate your website’s functions on the app as well. These platforms take care of the process and make it very straightforward for non-technical professionals. It is a more cost-effective approach to app building and gives you rapid results.
Enhance Your SEO with a Blog
Creating blog content that will be useful to both buyers and sellers can increase the likelihood of your content appearing higher up on search results. Advising your clients through a blog can help them in the buying or selling process and, in turn, help build your professional reputation.
Use a blog as an extension of your website. Keeping your blog updated can guarantee that you will get constant traffic on the site and hopefully encourage users to check out your listings and other features the website offers.
Stay on Top of Online Reviews
Reviews can make or break your business. Potential clients are likely to check reviews online, which are readily available to anyone with a smartphone. Approximately 88 percent of users trust online customer reviews, which can prove to be a blessing or a curse. Seeing one-star ratings online can turn leads away and force them to look elsewhere for an agent. Making sure that you are building loyal relationships with your clients can make the difference for your reputation as an agent both in person and online.
As an agent, finding new ways to differentiate yourself from other agents to gain new clients and close leads are always welcomed. If you use any of these strategies to optimize your current mobile marketing approach, rest assured that you can expect an increase in engagement from clients and appeal to a new and growing market.
