If you’ve been in the business for a little while, it quickly becomes obvious that the best way to benefit from real estate marketing trends is to hop on them early, so you benefit from the competitive edge that comes before the tactics become commonplace. To do that, you need to be able to identify the quickly rising trends before they break out, so it helps to look at what was trending in the last quarter of the previous year, as well as what growth trends have stayed consistent but quiet, ready to break out when the right conditions arise. Based on those criteria, here are a few trends to embrace quickly in 2021, while they’re still on the rise.
1. Digital Marketing Is the New Tradition
Digital marketing tactics have been headed toward dominance for well over a decade, but 2021 might just be the first year where they have become the standard. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the most effective marketing methods are now the ones with the least facetime and close contact. That privileges digital methods of lead generation over traditional outreach through open houses and walk-in office contacts. Digital marketing techniques have been the most cost-effective way to generate leads for realtors for some time, but now they’re also leading in several other ways.
Tools like virtual tours and custom apps for browsing electronic listings are becoming more and more common points of first contact as well as effective tools for aiding clients in a property search without spending a lot of time in the office. If you’re looking to build a robust digital marketing plan with a balanced approach to social media, website design, and advertising, you need to find a real estate marketing agency that understands these trends.
2. Content Marketing Is More Important Than Ever
One predictable side effect of the normalization of digital marketing is the jump in emphasis on effective content marketing. Potential clients often start out seeking information, so becoming the resource they turn to when they’re learning about the market is a great way to not only convert them into actual clients, it’s also a great way to get additional word of mouth and social media marketing. Sharing your content online through well-maintained social media accounts helps readers find them and share them on when they’re useful, so well-written resources get emailed to friends and family, shared on Facebook, and sent around to places your regular advertising just doesn’t reach. To make the most of this, you need both stellar content and real estate social media posts that resonate with readers.
3. Brochure Design Is Changing
Traditional real estate brochure templates were designed around the idea of a printed product. As such, they are set up to account for folds that help dictate the path a reader takes through the material. When browsing their electronic counterparts, those same structures lead to a confusing experience. As a result of the rise in digital marketing, new templates are becoming popular, ones that send the right pattern to the printer while displaying the information to a mobile device or laptop in a way that works for the digital reader. If you’re still using brochures that are designed for print-only audiences, you need to work with professionals who can design versatile products that work online or in print.
