Hyperlocal Marketing for Real Estate

Hyperlocal marketing may sound like something out of a science fiction movie, but it's one of the best growth and expansion tactics for real estate brokers and agents. By default, real estate professional jobs are locally based and focused, so you may already be doing hyperlocal marketing and don't even know it! Marketing based around your specific geographic area is more than just letting people know about the upcoming city-wide event, the Thanksgiving parade, etc. Everyone already knows this!

Finding Your Focus

Hyperlocal marketing needs to focus on what makes your specific geographic area unique and what it can provide to potential home buyers over other locations. Help prospective buyers envision what their life could be like within your area, what their neighbors are like, and what type of homes are available. I'll share five easy tactics to help refine your hyperlocal marketing initiatives and help build your local real estate brand.

• Create Local Area Pages: One of the biggest hyperlocal marketing activities you can do is create web pages specific to the neighborhoods you service. Any IDX system worth its salt will allow you to create specific pages built around location-based criteria. Talk about schools in the area, points of interest and anything else based on your local expertise. You can go one step further and create automated email alerts for people looking for properties in a specific area, as well.

• Interview Neighbors: It's a proven fact that new buyers value the opinions of your previous clients. What better way to show off your specific neighborhood or market than by interviewing people that currently live there? This establishes immediate credibility and lets the people that matter the most sell your business.

• Highlight Relevant Local Businesses: What's at the top of mind for new home buyers once they've purchased? Renovations, lawn care, childcare etc. – highlight the local businesses in your area. Give potential buyers a good idea of where they can go for their home care and family needs. That'll give them more confidence when making the final purchasing decision.

• Video Tours: Virtual or video tours aren't just for the homes you have on the market. Take interactive video tours of the actual neighborhood where you're selling. Show off popular common and recreational areas, parks, landmarks, etc. Homebuyers can better assess if a neighborhood fits their criteria and helps them visualize living there.

• Connect with Local Influencers: Make the necessary connections with local "influencers" in your area. These could be news anchors, event planners, prominent business owners etc. Connect with them on events, publications, blogging, fundraisers etc. This will help get your name out in the local community so you remain top of mind. Make sure these connections are genuine and in line with your personal branding. Not every connection is a good one!

• Use Hyperlocal Social Media Tools: Make sure your real estate business is properly listed and profiles updated on location based review applications such as Yelp, Foursquare and others. Once again, consumers trust the opinion of other consumers so these are vital to building up your local reputation.

Executing these tactics in addition to your broader marketing and real state plans can help increase your consumer base and lead generation rates. The goal of any hyperlocal marketing plan is to make you the expert within your specific region or market. One of the biggest benefits of hyperlocal content is giving you the ability to compete on search engines against larger, national brands. Hyperlocal terms are less competitive to rank for in search engines, so putting the time in to create quality content will help you compete.

Putting together a highly localized plan can seem tedious, but the benefits to building such close relationships provides a consistent stream of business for you as an agent or brokerage.

To view the original article, visit the WolfNet blog.