2018 is going to be a game-changing year in terms of how you reach out to your prospects in your target area. In 2017, we saw an explosion of 3D content, local blogs, and thousands of realtors going digital to buy leads.
These trends are here to stay. However, there are a few upcoming trends in the real estate marketing industry which will be pivotal in the coming year.
The social media landscape has changed dramatically. These days simply producing unique content is not enough. You need to have a unique brand as well.
On top of that, content distribution is more important than ever.
Keeping the ever-changing social and customer acquisition landscape in mind, we are going to share the top 5 real estate marketing trends that define 2018.
Automation Bots Will Redefine How You Talk To Website Visitors & Prospects
Marketing automation bots are on the rise. These bots allow visitors to have a meaningful and logical conversation on your website, without you having to monitor the live chat.
Apps like, ManyChat, Intercom, and many others allow you to build complex automation series that can be triggered based on certain rules when a visitor lands on your website. For example, you can trigger a message asking a potential home buyer, whether they want to book a showing. People can type their information right inside the chat client which will be transmitted directly to you.
Another useful example of using chatbots is the ability to sync with Facebook messenger ads. Facebook messenger ads are a great way to communicate directly with your audience via Facebook messages. Instead of replying to each individual person who responds to your real estate ads, you can setup ManyChat and automate the whole system.
In 2018, we predict the rise of chatbots and many agents will adopt this technology so that they do not miss out on their website traffic.
Trust-Based Promotion For Your Real Estate Business Will Skyrocket
Trust…it’s the magic word in real estate, however, it’s getting harder to achieve in 2018. You must be more creative and invest more time and money in order to gain trust in homeowners. Why?
Because, people in your farm area are getting bombarded with all sorts of marketing and advertising, like newsletters, bus benches, and print.
So, how do you get trust in 2018? How do you make sure the prospect trust you to be their real estate professional?
New trust-based marketing campaigns will skyrocket in 2018. Examples of trust based campaigns include:
- Hyperlocal websites that provide everyday value to homeowners
- Video and Written Interviews of local business owners and professionals
- Neighborhood profile videos
- Video showing customer testimonials
- An e-book covering everything a home buyer needs to know about your neighborhood.
- Blog posts about the real estate market and industry trends.
All of these marketing campaigns are quite different from what an average real estate professional spends their time on. Therefore, you should spend your marketing dollars on these kinds of advertising.
Rebirth of email marketing to score more clients from your database
Email Marketing has been around for a long time. In 2018, the real estate marketing industry will realize the full potential and power of email marketing. It’s still considered the best form of marketing by many experts, and they are right.
You have a database and you are wondering how you can engage them? Email marketing & retargeting ads are pretty much your best bet. However, email marketing will change in terms of the content that gets pushed to prospects in 2018.
Those generic emails “just sold and just listed” don’t work that well unless you have a pre-existing relationship with people that you are blasting those emails too. And even still, they don’t care about real estate 90% of the time.
Therefore, an emerging trend that will dominate most of 2018 is the design of your email and the content within it.
Gone are the days of cluttered emails, that are personalized, and that is not mobile responsive.
In 2018, you should focus on creating emails targeting different segments of your database. Sometimes a simple text email works best. Create a design that’s very vertical (for mobile), well spaced out, and try to include some hyperlocal content like news, events, and deals.
Also, don’t worry about being right the first time. Just experiment, measure, and make 1 adjustment to the email. Change the design or the content. And do this, over and over and over again – this process is called A/B testing and it’s essential to do if you want to break through and develop trust in the prospect.
Here are some ideas for your email newsletter and other blasts in 2018:
- Weekly deals news and events of your local community
- Case study of clients (for example, if their property sold over asking). What did you do to promote their property?
- Monthly open house invites. Also, personalized open house invites.
- Single property blasts and why do you think its a good investment. Maybe add a free investment portfolio with your email.
Digital Open Houses Will Be Widely Adopted In 2018
During our last year’s Inman article, we talked about the growth of 3D virtual tours in 2017. A record number of agents are already using 3D virtual listings & VR experiences to attract more homebuyers over the internet. These technologies eliminate the need to attend a physical open house, and therefore, only serious buyers will show up, and or ask for a private showing.
This trend will continue to gain momentum in 2018. We think that digital open houses should be one of your prime focuses when marketing your listings in the new year.
Then, smart real estate professionals will invest money in open house ads online, creating more interest in the house, and on these landing pages, they will be able to collect prospect information. Therefore, we recommend you try this approach!
Facebook Video Will Be The #1 Platform To Promote Your Videos
In 2018, we predict that Facebook videos will generate way more engagement than YouTube. As a matter of fact, the data shows that Facebook videos might overtake YouTube to be the number one place where people consume short video content.
This means in order to engage homebuyers and sellers, you need to create short engaging videos of your listings and upload them to your Facebook page.
We also recommend trying Lumen 5, a free to use software that allows you to create slideshow-type videos. For example, try creating some Lumen 5 videos about your local real estate market.
In 2018, a successful real estate professional must create and upload multiple videos every month on their page.
Summary of real estate marketing trends in 2018
In summary, here are our real estate marketing trends for 2018:
- Automation Bots & Live Chat
- Hyperlocal content to increase trust as the local market expert
- New Email Designs and Personalized Content
- Digital Open Houses
- Facebook Video
Good Luck!
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