If you haven’t already adopted various technologies as essential to your real estate business, now’s the time to start. Not only will this keep you in touch with your clients — as most are just as, if not more, tech savvy than the average real estate agent — it will also allow you to stay competitive with other agents.
According to a recent study by Keller Williams, 68 percent of all new agents are under 35 years old, with 32 percent being under 25. This generation grew up with technology. They understand it and use it every single day — both in their personal lives and business.
In order to compete with this up-and-coming influx of new, tech-oriented agents, there are a few key strategies you can execute in bringing your real estate business up to the standards of the Digital Age:
- Going digital
- Inbound marketing
- Social media
Here’s a deeper look at how these three areas can help take your real estate marketing to the next level.
Going Digital
If you’re still pushing papers around, filing documents by hand and getting forms signed in person, you’re likely falling behind. Going digital with your real estate business, if you haven’t already, is probably the best place to start.
Using a real estate transaction management system gives you the ability to go paperless. You can upload all of your documents, organize all of your contacts and allow guest access in order to share files with your clients, broker or team.
This eliminates time, stress and money that would otherwise be spent on physically getting documents approved or reviewed by mail, or the endless tracking of emails between your clients, your broker and you. With the right transaction management system, you can keep all of your files and communications on one platform — accessible from anywhere and at any time.
In addition to transaction management software, electronic signature services such as DocuSign are invaluable to agents. It saves them the cost and effort of printing and mailing documents for approval, and it saves them an enormous amount of time, as documents can be signed instantly via email.
Inbound Marketing
Inbound marketing, as opposed to outbound marketing, not only costs less, but it attracts customers to you — not the other way around. Instead of projecting your image to hundreds or thousands of “prospective” customers, most of which will completely ignore your efforts, you’re attracting customers who are already interested in the services you have to offer by producing engaging content.
Writing blogs, ebooks and staying on top of social media gets your name out there, establishes your brand as an expert in the market and is fairly inexpensive. According to HubSpot, inbound marketing strategies cost 61 percent less per lead than outbound marketing practices, such as print mailers, newspaper ads and billboards.
Inbound marketing requires effort and consistency. By releasing new content on a daily basis, you’re keeping your audience (and prospective clients) engaged, and they can see that you possess a significant amount of knowledge on the real estate market through your insightful and timely posts.
Social Media
Maintaining an active presence on social media ties in closely with inbound marketing. Social media is inexpensive, and it’s something that you probably do in your own free time anyway.
It’s estimated that 89 percent of real estate agents use social media in their personal lives, and 92 percent own smartphones. So put them to good use! Your customers are on social media too — interact with them, engage them, make your presence known. According to Social B2B, 55 percent of consumers use social media as a source of information, with 75 percent using it as part of the purchasing process.
Social media is an easy way to interact with potential clients, generate leads and stay on top of what’s going on in the lives of your customers.
More social media tips
- 4 Areas of Focus to Generate Real Estate Leads on Facebook
- How Real Estate Agents Can Connect, Engage & Create Leads on Twitter
- How Real Estate Agents Can Benefit From LinkedIn
- How Real Estate Agents Can Benefit From Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube & Pinterest
Are you looking for tools that can help take your real estate business to the next level? Contact us to learn more about how ShowingTime products and services can help you do just that.