Real estate agencies are getting much better at digital and social media marketing.

Each time I judge the Real Estate Business (REB) awards I gain an insider view on how far our industry has moved along the digital and social media marketing learning path. It’s also always interesting to see a variety of digital and social marketing strategies and how each one performs. 

In this video, I share my top 5 observations in real estate brand marketing and provide insider information as to how much money some real estate agents are spending on their social media ad budgets. 

If you haven’t already watched Part #1 Judging the REB Awards, I highly recommend you go back and watch that first.

Click below to watch part #2!

Following is the video transcript.

How well are we doing as an industry digitally? Are we moving the needle on our learning? Let’s look at my top five observations.

1. Big leap into vendor paid ‘social media’ advertising

First, I want to talk about digital sophistication. As real estate agents in general, you’re finally finding your feet with digital advertising. Vendors are being asked to contribute to paid advertising beyond the real estate portals. This includes ads across social media, Google search, and the Google Display Network, the GDN. 

2. Retargeted marketing campaigns

The other thing is the technical jargon we’re using. Most people are aware of the pixel, many are even venturing into the world of retargeting (where you pop up in front of people who have shown an interest in your brand) i.e. they clicked on your previous ad.

You might also use retargeting to market properties to people who show interest in similar properties. With geo-targeting, marketers can put these ads in front of people who expressed an interest in nearby properties. 

3. Prop-tech platforms

Another topic is prop-tech platforms. Every day, another ad-tech platform, as I like to call them emerges, offering paid advertising automation. Three were mentioned in the award submissions. However, I’ve actually uncovered more than a dozen technology players with real estate advertising solutions for digital media. Some of these platforms can provide 70, or more ads for a single property campaign. 

4. Property verse brand advertising

Another topic is property campaigns verse brand campaigns. There’s still a lot of focus on property marketing rather than brand or lead generation campaigns for finding vendors or investor clients. Many agents still to grapple with the idea of self-promotion. Many, dare I say, are reluctant to put their hands in their pockets to allocate funds to digital rather than traditional media. They await their real estate head office to provide solutions. 

Many real estate professionals continue to piggyback on vendor paid property advertising. This means that many agents rely solely on promoting their names and their faces through property campaigns. This is fine when you have listings but dire if you don’t, and certainly doesn’t differentiate you from your competitors. 

5. What to spend on social media advertising?

Some real estate agents and agencies are now selling properties through their own email, social media, and search ad audiences. They’re achieving success, becoming masters of their own destiny and reducing their reliance and spend on the portals. One Agency highlighted that they have a minimum of $150 ad spend on Facebook per property. Their annual ad spend was around $50,000 a year across 200 properties that they sold in that given year. So their average digital media ad spend was around $250 per property. This is far more economical when compared to the portal fees, and print ads. 

Most real estate businesses and networks have a long way to go to achieve an effective level of investment in digital media. When compared with the budget spent by ecommerce businesses, real estate agencies paid ad spend is pretty low. However, I’m excited to see progress and this time next year, I hope to be saying that a lot more agencies are using paid advertising.

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.

 

hoole cta navigating facebook

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.

Join the Conversation - add your thoughts