50 marketing ideas for estate agents

The title says it all! Here are 50 marketing ideas for estate agents to help them with their marketing and advertising. Our suggestions aren’t necessarily in any order, as we think they are all great ingredients to the makings of a successful agency.

Spend time with Google analytics

Setup Google Analytics for all your websites and blogs so you can track online movement, mobile use and success rates of PPC campaigns. It is the most powerful free online tracking system and will help you measure your campaign’s success. You can find out where people are viewing your site from and how long they are spending on it – the more information you have, the better you will be able to understand how to target your audience more effectively.

Create colourful listings

Don’t rely solely on photos to sell a property; write descriptions that bring your properties to life. Go into real detail and highlight the best features in the property. Make the copy 150 words minimum in order for it to be recognised by Google. This will also improve your listings chances of featuring in search engines.

Make videos

Videos are becoming all the rage which means you should be focusing an element of your marketing on capturing something that will resonate with your audience. That might be a guided tour of the properties you have on your books, or commentating on the current types of popular properties in your local market.

Social competitions

Grow your social media following by offering giveaways. Get people retweeting, liking and answering questions to win a prize. You don’t need to break the bank with your prize; just make sure it’s something fun that it will get people retweeting so you can grow your followers list.

PPC campaigns

Invest time promoting your agency on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter with promoted pay per click campaigns. Perhaps you have written a juicy article about the property market and want to sponsor it on LinkedIn, or you can create a Facebook advert, displaying the services you offer.

Create a newsletter

Whether it’s monthly, weekly or bi-weekly, newsletters are an important method for keeping in the mindsets of regular clients while also appealing to new ones. Use newsletters to alert people to new properties on your books, promote your blog content and send promotions, perhaps offering house sellers discounted fees.

Make your content SEO friendly

When writing copy for your website and your listings, think about keywords that resonate within the property market. If you’re based in Leeds, try writing content based around ‘the best places to live in Leeds’ or ‘Leeds properties close to primary schools’. This will help with search engine ranking and make it easier to find your website through Google searches.

Use Instagram

Instagram’s key feature is to share photos. If you have impressive properties on your books, upload them to instagram. This is a particularly helpful method for rental properties, which tend the attract younger demographics who are avid users of the social media app.

(Video) Kerfuffle Supplier Spotlight - Brief Your Market

Include data

Data is becoming increasingly important when helping buyers and sellers make decisions regarding property. Place your agency as the data-led thought leader in your local market. Create statistic-driven blog articles and release local housing market research based on data relating to your patch.

Banner ads

Once you have found out who the type of clients in your area are, advertise on the websites you feel they are likely to visit. One way to do this is by using banner ads. While ad blockers are making it harder for banner ads to be seen, they are relatively cheap to produce and there are still enough people using the web who don’t use ad blockers to justify doing one or two campaigns.

Client testimonials

We perhaps value word of mouth over any form of advertising. If you have been particularly successful with clients, ask them to share their experience with you through testimonials, whether on your website or social media channels.

Do charity fun runs

This will not only help your brand achieve more recognition, but it will also be for a good cause, establishing your agency in a good light within the local community. You can create content around your experience during the run, generating good news stories that link back to your agency.

Promote properties before they come on the market

If you have taken on an impressive instruction a few weeks before it officially comes on the market, create some buzz around it. Send out emails, write a short blog post talking about an impressive new instruction that you’re about to have and post a few tweets about it to build up excitement.

Write guest blogs

Contact businesses that you think share common ground with your agency and see if you can feature on one of their blogs. This will help to generate more brand exposure. While it would be unwise to collaborate with rival agencies, there may be local business who you can work with. A local mortgage firm, for example.

Host Q&As

Once you have a decent online following, host Q&A sessions answering any pressing questions about the local property market from your audience. This will help to solidify your agency as a thought leader while also practicing good customer service with your clients and potential clients.

Create a press release

Contact local press and see if they will feature a press release from your agency. Press releases are a great way of gaining exposure and help you to inform your audience of upcoming events relating to your agency, products such as apps you may be launching or generally sharing information about the property market.

Invest in professional photographs for your properties

Aesthetics mean a lot to people, so having photos of your stock that don’t show off a high-quality home will struggle to sell or let. Invest in having photos taken of your properties by a professional photographer. It may cost extra but the results will be much better looking properties that capture the eye.

Talk at local property seminars

This is another point for helping to further enhance your reputation as a thought leader: talk at property seminars, offering your opinion of the market and the trends buyers and sellers can expect. You can also use data to project future property trends.

Build your email database

Don’t wait to build your email database if you’re just starting out. Have opt-ins for newsletters and offer incentives for people to sign up, who in turn will give you their email addresses.

Add social sharing to property pages

Constantly be in the thoughts of web browsers by offering them easy access to your social media platforms. Use web links in your email that link directly to your website or social media page.

Create Pinterest boards

This point is similar to instagram; use Pinterest to create property mood boards, showing customers how passionate you are about homes. You can create ideal home mood boards, colour tones and different styles.

Make your site mobile friendly

Most people access the internet from mobile devices these days. Don’t be left behind with outdated websites; make your sites run fluidly on all all platforms. Offer mobile integration on your website, as it’s all about making the web browsers experience a seamless one, no matter what devices they’re accessing your content on.

Direct mail

Direct mail is vital to a successful marketing push and is a key element to any estate agent’s campaign. One of the key ways to differentiate yourself through direct mail is to post research articles through potential client’s doors.

Branding

Brand your stationery, mugs, clothes, cars and anything else you can think of that will put your agency in people’s minds. Take it one step further and stand out from the competition by adding an extra dimension – some local stats, perhaps? – to your branding.

Recycle your content

If you have written several blogs you think could be expanded on, turn them into an ebook, or if the blog is really in-depth, try splitting it up into sections and then offering it as a weekly email to your subscribers. You could also turn an article into a downloadable PDF.

Update your website

You don’t need to do a complete redesign but it’s a good idea to update pages on your website every few months, whether that is changing the copy, or adding new content to pages. Keeping things fresh and updating the design shows that you are invested in your site – which will reflect well on web browsers.

List in business directories

List in popular directories like Yell.com, online business indexes like Yelp, and set up a Google+. It’s a great way for people to leave reviews for your business and is another way of increasing customer interaction.

Create infographics

Infographics have proved to be popular with audiences over the last few years. Think about turning some of your data points into interesting infographics to increase engagement with your clients. If you don’t want to hire a designer, there are online template sites to help you create infographics.

Participate on forums

Be involved with the online community by finding websites that would be interested in your content. Build relationships with people who are active and influential on forums. This method can also be applied to groups within LinkedIn.

Target local shops

Leave marketing material in local high-street businesses like doctor’s surgeries, the post office and grocery shops. All demographics in the local community use these places and they may end up being the location that you source your next house seller or landlord.

Add unobtrusive popups to your website

Include a small pop-up window, preferably in the corner of the screen on your website, asking browsers to sign-up to your newsletter. It’s a great way to capture emails, as long as the pop-up doesn’t take over the whole page. There are websites that specialise in adding pop-ups.

Personalise your emails

When you send emails, personalise them by addressing the message directly to the person you’re sending to, even if it’s going to multiple people. They are more likely to engage with the content if they feel it is personalised to them.

Send out ‘thank you’ notes

Send previous clients direct mail to tell them you enjoyed selling their property, or that you hope people who have previously bought property through you are enjoying their new home. This helps to build relationships, and the nice touch will increase their chances of thinking about your agency next time they want to buy or sell.

Chalk writing

If you’re based on the high street, do some innovative chalk writing just outside your office. What you decide write is up to you, but make it engaging and creative. Show your local area that you think outside the box, have some personality and are willing to be creative in your marketing. In turn, they will believe that you will be creative with their property marketing.

Sign up to social media

Because there is no way you can promote your agency successfully without having a social presence online in 2016. The majority of internet users are on some form of social networking website and you will be missing out on so many potential clients if you don’t have a social media presence.

Predict the market

You’re likely to be an expert in your local market, therefore you can offer predictions about property and how it will perform in the area in the near future. Do this on your website, by using local press or talking at property seminars.

Be controversial

You don’t want to upset people, but you will create healthy debate within the local property market by using statements that will cause a stir (as long as they’re accurate). There doesn’t need to be a constant stream of good news, and by alerting people to potential issues within the market, you can position yourself to be the solution to the problems.

Webinars

Host webinars, answering questions from buyers, sellers, tenants and landlords about the local market. This is another useful way to interact with your audience and create a connection with your clients, while also improving your status as a thought leader.

Make an ebook

Create an ebook and promote it online. Offer it as a download service to your email database, or advertise it on your website, asking people to sign up if they want to read it. Potential ebook ideas could include, ‘tips for selling your home’, ‘when is the best time of year to sell property’, or ‘how buyers can spot a bargain’.

Be yourselves

Ok, there’s limits, but people want human interactions, whether in personal life or in business. If you have people in your agency with colourful characters, make use of it and promote their personalities. Don’t come across as too corporate.

Podcasts

Podcasts are another good way to improve your voice in the local market. Create a monthly podcast, talking about month-to-month changes in the industry, which part of town is a hotspot, and where property is available on the market.

Memes

Memes are hot business at the moment; create some humorous memes about the property market and share them with your social followers. They will appreciate that you’re tapped into current trends and have a ‘lighter’ side.

Always carry your business cards with you

It might be one of the oldest methods in the book, but having business cards on you at all times is vital. Give them to anyone and everyone – especially as you never know who might be selling a house in the future.

Talk to your customers

Find out where you excelled when dealing with clients and where you can improve. Ask them what they would like to see from your agency. This can be general chat after a sale, or you can go one step further and email them a questionnaire, asking them to take a small amount of time out of their day to answer a few helpful questions.

Offer discounts

Offer discounts on your fees at certain periods in the year. All businesses have sales, and while it may be harder for estate agents to have sales, it’s still a good idea to maximise certain times in the year when the market might be quieter.

Do the rounds

Be involved with local press and give your comment on events within the property market. Contact your local newspaper and let them know that you will be willing to provide comments on the local market.

Reward repeat business

If you work in lettings and have an investor with a portfolio on your books, give them incentives to use stay with your agency and keep letting their properties. Build up relationships and let them know that you value them as a customer.

Use certificates

Whether it’s ARLA or a Rightmoveplus certificate, these little pieces of paper will help to give you credibility. Stick them in your shop window, have a section on your website with qualifications. Anything that helps validate you as an estate agency can only be a good thing.

Tell your story

Create a profile around your brand; don’t just market yourself as another high-street agent trying to sell and let homes. Give people a reason to engage with you; keep it interesting and personable. People are much more likely to buy into a story with meaning than they are a corporate brand.

Want some more? We have an additional 5 great marketing ideas all you need to do is enter your email below and we will send them in an email straight to your inbox.

FAQs

How can I attract more landlords? ›

20 Unique Ways To Attract More Landlords & Increase Your Leads

Use Online Advertising Portals. ...
Look for Homes To Let in Your Target Area. ...
Attend Auctions to Meet Landlords. ...
Use Leaflet Distribution. ...
Post Classified Ads Consistently. ...
Social Media for Estate Agents and Letting Agents. ...
Setup A Referral Scheme.

50 marketing ideas for estate agents - ResiAnalytics (2023)