Why content is king and video is queen

Fiona Okeson, shares insights into content marketing and why content is king and video is queen

Content marketing is the best way to stay relevant and front-of-mind with people living in your neighbourhood – especially when they’re not searching for property.

Fiona Okeson and I discuss how the real estate portals have a content strategy that helps them build traffic and stronger brand recognition.

We explain how you can do the same. It’s not as difficult as you may think. Listen in for great insights and tools. 

Click below to watch the video.

Following is the video transcript.

Why content is king and video is queen

Melanie Hoole

Today, I am with Fiona Okeson.

Tell me about your proposition at Partica? What’s the service and why does it apply to real estate agents?

Fiona Okeson

Essentially we have a marketplace of content or pre-written articles.
Real estate agents are able to tap into, as well as save a lot of time and a lot of heartaches providing quality content to their audience.

Property professionals may want to reach their audience through print mediums like a printed newsletter within their local market or have content for their blog, which is so important too.

It’s about being able to have content on your website that is not just about what listings are for sale at the moment or what listings have been sold recently in the marketplace. Then it’s also about how do real estate agents share that information through their social media channels as well.

Melanie Hoole

Is the content just property-related?

Fiona Okeson

The content itself is not just about real estate. Because if you think about how people are searching for property at the moment, they’re not always in that pointy end of the cycle where they’re ready to buy or sell their home.

They might be looking for information or inspiration around renovating their home or potentially looking for some ideas on where to go for a holiday. As we know, it can take a lot of time and effort to come up with content ideas.

So the idea around and content is that it is able to provide real estate agents with another way of engaging with people beyond just property.

Melanie Hoole

That’s a real challenge, isn’t it – keeping your brand present when people aren’t in the market transacting. 

Because you and I both worked at one of the property portals, we know that keeping your brand front of mind is a constant challenge.

We know that people even forget about the portal brands. They struggle to remember realestate.com.au and domain.com.au, or anyone of the others when they aren’t in the market for some time. Then, when they come back to the property market they don’t know the difference between which is the “red one”, and which is the “green one”. 

So, this is the same concept but for agencies and agents or property managers. 

Fiona Okeson

You know, when you think about it, we’ve both been in digital real estate advertising and marketing for the last 20 years.

And one of the really important things that we’ve learned over the years is that content is king and now we’re starting to appreciate that video is queen. 

But how does a real estate professional make sure that both of these types of content are working together to reach everybody across their neighbourhood? 

Those that use content and social media marketing to promote their property business will find that when a home seller or property investor is ready to buy or sell a home, they will remember their brand and know where to go for help. 

Home sellers or property investors generally go to one of the larger portals to start their property search or agent search there. So, this is where real estate agents can really make good use of written and video content, as a way to capitalize and capture people that are at the start of their property journey or cycle and just researching or looking for general information. 

That’s why content from the larger real estate portals is being shared across a lot of different agents’ social media accounts. Property professionals are sharing the portal information on social media or including it in their email newsletters.

Melanie Hoole

So it’s absolutely fine to send people to those property portals, but do remember that you pay for advertising packages based on the number of people that go to those platforms. 

So if you’re going to send people anywhere ideally you want to send them to your own website.

Fiona Okeson

That’s the key thing. If portal articles are being shared, the perception is that you’re not paying for it, but you really are because, at the end of the day, when you are sending people to one of the real estate portal sites, you’re sending people to your competitors. 

Why would a real estate agent want to advertise their listings where all of the other listings are as well? All of their competitor’s listings are there, as are their agent profiles. 

Many agents say, but that’s where people are going, that’s the marketplace. 

But jump forward another 10 to 15 years, and real estate agents who are providing educational and informative information on their own website and through their own social media channels are going to be perceived as the most knowledgeable expert in their suburb.

Melanie Hoole

Right? So we’ve actually gone full circle because the real estate agency websites used to be the dominant place for the agent or agents, and then the real estate portals came along and surpassed the print media. 

So we’re now wanting to bring people back to your own brand, keeping them within the realms of your site again. When bringing them out of the social media platforms and Google, you should bring them straight to your website, which is all about you. That way you won’t be so beholden to the portals anymore.

Fiona Okeson

Real estate is a relationship. We’re in a relationship industry and every real estate agent is trying to maintain a relationship with prospective clients. Content is a really effective way to stay in touch. It’s quite cost-effective when you consider the time savings of trying to speak with so many people on a regular basis. 

The biggest challenge that real estate agents often find is how to ensure their messaging and delivery are both consistent and professional, but most importantly relevant to their audience as well. 

Melanie Hoole

Yes, and it’s really important to remember that it’s a long-term play. It often takes two to three years of staying visible and front-of-mind- with people in your local community, before they are ready to list a property. 

So don’t give up too easily, keep posting useful information and advice and it will pay off.

About this video series

Hoole.co’s video series brings together the best digital and social media minds in the real estate industry, to share the wonders of the web and magic of mobile. Subscribe to Hoole.co or follow us on social media (below) for free tips and tricks to grow your reputation and attract prospects, digitally.

Written by Melanie Hoole

My team and I specialise in helping real estate and property professionals perfect their personal brand, build a first-class digital profile and implement inbound marketing activities to attract leads. If you are unsure which direction to take with your digital marketing contact me for help.