Putting “content” into a content marketing strategy
You’ve been hearing a lot about having a “content marketing strategy” from a variety of sources in the real estate industry lately, and one of the missing ingredients is the actual content.
Successful content marketing means you are bringing together a plan, commitment, and the actual content that will combine together to build your reputation, create trust with your customers, and grow your credibility in your local community.
Many agents can execute the plan and have the drive to commit, however many just don’t have the time and the skills to create the actual content to be included in the plan.
So what can you do about it?
Agents using content marketing successfully start off by knowing exactly what they want to achieve, know the resources they need and know their limitations of their skills in creating articles to support their content marketing strategy.
Content marketplaces such as Partica are being used by agents who know their time and efforts are better spent listing and selling property. Articles are professionally written by experienced journalists from the real estate industry and are the easy and simple solution to creating engaging content.
Agents using content from Partica have shared their tips when it comes to delivering a successful content marketing strategy.
- Identify what you want to achieve with your content marketing strategy – is it to build trust and credibility? Build your brand? Drive traffic to your website? Support other marketing methods to build yourself as an attraction agent? The successful agents have a plan, know how to measure its success, and stick to it as much as they possibly can. In a changing market they understand the importance of flexibility, but overall they keep focussed on their primary goals.
- Know what kind of content you want to use – will you use articles hosted on your own website and shared through your newsletters and social media platforms? Will you use video? Will you use a combination of both? Agents using a combination of articles and video across a variety of online platforms are finding greater success in building their reputation and trust levels to the point where sellers are coming to them – this is the essence of being a true attraction agent.
- Keep it interesting – the good agents know variety is the spice of life so they make sure they mix up content themes in their overall strategy. Prioritise themes across a yearly content calendar to make sure your content is relevant to the season, the type of market, or the type of client you’re looking to attract. By mixing up educational articles with new listings, testimonials from clients, and recently sold properties, successful agents are finding they are appealing to both passive and active buyers and sellers must more effectively than just through sharing new and current listings for sale, and increasing their reputation as an attraction agent.
Great content and a great content marketing strategy aren’t complete without the basics, so make sure you run a regular health check on the essentials of:
Your website is:
- Easy to use with simple navigation, beautiful images and simple messages
- Up to date with listings, current staff members and ways to contact you
- Providing users with reasons to engage with you such as a current blog or advice on selling and buying
- Search engine optimised for potential sellers using Google to find a local agent
- Integrated with your social media platforms to drive traffic back to your site – sharing blog posts to the larger audiences on social media platforms will keep your content active as well as drive warmer leads to your own space on the web
- Advertised through every opportunity available – you invest a lot of marketing and advertising dollars on promoting your website so make sure it is engaging and active when new visitors arrive
Your database is:
- Regularly updated, including removing redundant contacts who may have moved out of the area
- Segmented into active buyers and sellers, passive buyers and sellers so you can send relevant information to keep engagement levels high
- Aligned to an email content strategy designed to build engagement, trust levels and credibility
- Shared with your team to avoid duplicate contacts
When you have your basics in place, and your content marketing strategy in place, you’ll soon find your reputation as an attraction agent increase to the point where customers are coming to you.
If you’re looking for real estate and lifestyle articles to use on your online, offline and social media, The Real Estate Voice can help. Click here to find the best option to suit you. Or get in touch and we can help find the right content marketing solution to suit your budget.
