Three steps to become a source of real estate information (and win business!)

It’s time to make the change

In a time where customers have an abundance of information about your agency at their fingertips, agents are really feeling the pressure to maintain a strong digital presence. Nowadays, if you don’t have a healthy website, active social media channels and engaging content; you’re missing out on a wealth of business. So, what makes for engaging content? Here’s 3 steps you can follow to become an effective source of real estate information: 

1. No more smoke and mirrors

People don’t want to feel sold to. In fact, most of us will go out of our way to avoid companies that feel like they’re out for your wallet. This is why as a real estate agency, it’s essential to invest the time into creating engaging and informative content that is actually helpful. After engaging with your content, your prospects should feel like they’ve learnt something. 

Here’s a few ideas you can use for real estate content creation: 

• An infographic explaining the impact of the Federal Budget on sellers/buyers
• Facebook videos with advice on staging a home
• A Facebook Live to answer common questions about buying or selling
• A map of school catchment areas (using a tool like Canva)
• Monthly market updates on your website
• A list of removalists in your area, along with your tips for moving home

Make sure you use a call-to-action to encourage cross-channel engagement. Whether it be to click-through to your website, enquire, call, or share your content on Facebook.

2. Build your digital presence, brick by brick

If you want to build a loyal customer base, you need to play the long game. Building relationships and trust takes time, but it pays dividends.
Here’s a few ideas to get you started:

1. Use a Content Calendar - If you’re guilty of leaving everything until the last minute, there’s an easy solution! Curating a content calendar will help keep you organized and allow you to schedule your articles and social media posts weeks in advance. 
2. Leverage Targeted Advertising - Paid advertising allows you to target a specific audience with laser precision, increasing the chances that your content will be seen by people who are interested in what you have to say. 
3. Optimize for SEO - Lifting the bonnet of your website and optimizing for SEO is a great way to improve your visibility online in the long run. With higher rankings in Google, you’ll gain an influx of organic traffic without spending a cent!

3. You have to be quick!

To be an integral source of information, you need to keep a close eye on what’s happening in the property market. You need to keep up with industry news and emerging trends and be the first to push out relevant content. 

Secondly, your website needs to be speedy. We’ll let the stats speak for themselves:

• 40% of people will wait no more than 3 seconds before abandoning your site
• 29% of users will immediately switch to another site if they can’t easily find the information they need

That’s huge! Luckily, speed is an easy fix. Our websites are optimised for lightning-fast load speeds (and the SEO benefits that come with it). Plus, with 59.5% of total visits coming from mobile devices, your website should work just as well (if not better) than it does on desktop. We take care of that too; Rex websites look great and integrate seamlessly across all devices.

When you are a consistent source of helpful, knowledgeable information, it becomes people's expectation. Readers will continue to return to your website because they know they’ll find what they need. And, when the time comes to buy or sell a home, you’ll be top of mind.

As technology advances, so too does the way we communicate with our customers; an opportunity awaits those who are ready–are you?