Real Estate Content Marketing: 5 Easy Tips to Follow

When you're investing in content, you're focusing on providing value to your potential clients. This makes content marketing one of the most effective ways to generate seller and buyer leads.

Wondering how to make real estate content marketing right? Check out the five tips below. They will focus on the most effective content types to give you a headstart.

1. Publish Mini Case Studies (Success Stories) on Social Media

The reason why customer success stories work is the same as why people trust customer reviews: credibility. Potential clients of real estate agents want to be sure of their professional skills, and a story of a happy customer proves them.

Here's what to include in a mini case study for social media:

• Description of clients and their goals – What kind of real estate they were looking for and why.
• Summary of how you helped them – How much time the project lasted, etc.
• Details like how much of a price reduction you managed to negotiate for your buyers.

Social media have post length limits. So try to keep your mini case study description within ten sentences. This length will also keep it easy to read.

Take a look at this post, for example. The Realtor greets the happy home buyers and uses bullet points to list the takeaways from the project:

This format is suitable for easy reading, so your potential customers are likely to get the details, too. Ultimately, mini case studies like this can increase customer trust and enhance your reputation.

2. Write How-to Blog Content

A blog is often the heart of real estate content marketing. Articles, buying/selling guides, ebooks, and white papers can improve lead education and your reputation. Also, they can help you stay in touch with prospective clients. Below are some of the themes that you can write about:

• Tips on choosing a real estate agent
• List of the most affordable neighborhoods in your area
• Stories of first-time homeowners
• List of towns with the most affordable property with the best school systems
• Tips on spotting the best neighborhoods
• Buyer/seller guides
• Tips on getting the most money out of your house.

Be sure to publish at least one content piece per week on your blog. The consistency is important – a blog that posts a guide and then falls silent for weeks just won't look reliable to potential clients.

Next, consider creating eBooks as lead magnets (content pieces that can be downloaded in exchange for email contact information). To download an eBook, your blog visitor will have to provide their email like here:

An ebook lead magnet can become a source of quality leads. It's a useful source of information for your potential clients, so many will want to download it.

3. Do Newsletter Marketing

Your blog will attract readers interested in real estate tips – these people can be your leads. But they won't call you for a price quote after reading an article or two. To establish yourself as a reputable real estate agency or professional, you need to nurture those leads with email marketing.

Invest in email marketing software and get a newsletter subscription form on your website. You will send a real estate newsletter to those who subscribed – preferably once per week. The newsletter should have relevant and useful content to generate engagement.

These content ideas are good for a real estate newsletter:

• The latest real estate deals and listings
• Blog content ideas: buyer/seller guides, tips, etc. (check the full list in the previous section).

A regular newsletter can be a major tool for your real estate marketing strategy. The email list of subscribers ultimately can become a source of clients.

4. Make 3D Tours of Properties

Gone are the days of video real estate tours. People now prefer virtual tours. These tours allow buyers to view the property at a comfortable pace and focus on parts of interest.

In fact, one recent survey found that 80 percent of property buyers would switch to a real estate agent who offers 3D tours of real estate. Even more, 90 percent agreed that a 3D tour makes them more interested in a listing because it makes evaluating the property easier.

Choosing the right equipment for making virtual tours is essential for quality 3D tours. Consider investing in your own camera instead of hiring an expensive photographer.

IMS-5 camera, for example, is perfect to create panoramic images and 3D tours and has a laser scanner to draft floor plans. You don't need any special training to create stunning virtual tours for your potential customers.

5. Share User-Generated Content

Nothing in real estate marketing works quite like user-generated content. It could be a photo of happy homeowners who you've helped, for example. Sharing such content on social media is a great way to build a reputation and attract leads—like this post where happy new homeowners thank their Realtor:

User-generated content is powerful because it's coming from real people who experienced your services and achieved their goals. When they post happy photos after buying a home, they tell their family and friends. This can be a great way to take advantage of word-of-mouth advertising.

That's why you should ask your customers to share a post like this. It will take a minute for them, but can be really effective for your marketing. After all, word-of-mouth remains a top marketing strategy in real estate.

Real Estate Content Marketing: The Bottom Line

Content marketing is a must-do for real estate agents and agencies. By publishing content on social media and websites, you can connect with your potential customers in a really meaningful and relevant way.

Use content to support your business – once you publish it, it's going to be out there working for you 24/7.

To view the original article, visit the iGuide blog.