Generating Qualified Leads for Real Estate Professionals Through Online Marketing

Real estate agents and brokers are sought after by both buyers and sellers alike. A realtor’s expertise is invaluable in making their clients dreams come true. By handling the intricacies of the buying and selling processes the client can focus on the excitement of their purchase or sale.

• Seventy-two percent (72%) of recent sellers contacted only one agent before finding the right agent to handle the sale of their home.
• According to recent statistics from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), a staggering 87% of home buyers purchased their home through a real estate agent or broker—a share that has steadily increased from 69% in 2001. The same percentage of home sellers said that they sought the help of a real estate agent or broker in selling their home.

Statistics don’t lie – Can your potential clients find you when they search online? Let’s look at a few components that every realtor needs in order to be found online today.

Home buyers are turning to the Internet for real estate deals.

The Internet serves as the primary go-to-place for home buyers, with 43% of them agreeing that the first step in the home-buying process was looking online for properties. Before a client settles on a real estate site, 78% of new home buyers visit more than three sites. Chances are they have been to your competitors website.
The NAR reported that real estate searches on Google have grown 253% over the past four years. This means that before client has made contact, they have done their research. Prospective clients spend time surfing real estate websites and checking out reviews to narrow down who they want to represent them and what properties are interesting.
Do you come up in their searches? What online channels are best for you to get the most exposure?

Mobile Devices are the #1 Go-to for Home Buyers

According to NAR’s 2016 research, a client searching from a laptop is quickly becoming old-school. The home search resource that is most popular is mobile or tablet apps. In fact, it is steadily increasing from 45% in 2013 to 61%.
Mobile friendly first-time home buyers perform the following tasks:

• 51% read general information
• 48% get directions to visit a home
• 44% compare the prices of different homes
• 35% compare the features of different homes

Is your website responsive and mobile-friendly? Are you missing out because of the ease of surfing on your competitors site? You could be missing out on 61% of the search action!

Online reviews play a key role in realtor’s online marketing efforts.

Because of the help they got from online reviews, 92% of searchers deem customer reviews as “extremely” or “very helpful,” while 59% consider them to be more valuable than expert reviews.

Your prospective clients value the reviews they read online about real estate services. Seventy percent (70%) of online searchers say they check online reviews before making a purchase. This is the same percentage for global consumers who trust online consumer reviews – second only to the most trusted form of advertising earned media, like word of mouth. Even without reading a review in entirety those rating stars mean a lot. They give a quick visual of how your efforts are being perceived!

Are there positive reviews about your real estate services online?

Home buyers are looking for videos rather than text alone!

Because most people choose to watch videos rather than read text about products and services, videos play a significant part in the home-buying process. A massive 86% of home buyers watch videos to learn more about a community, 70% do so to tour a home, 54% to obtain general information, and 44% to compare features across multiple companies.

Is video part of your marketing mix?

Local search is where most of the actions performed by home buyers are originating.

A growing percentage of home buyers rely on local searches when looking for a property. In fact, 69% of them who take action on a real estate brand website, begin their research with a local search term. More than half, or 52%, of actions on real estate brand sites come directly from a local search on a search engine.

Do you have a strong local presence in listings, maps, and directories?

Let us create a solid online marketing campaign for your Real Estate Services today.

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