We have all heard the old adage about working smarter not harder. Nobody sets out to work harder, that would be ridiculous, right?! Often it is simply a matter of having the right tools to help lighten the workload. In the sales world, we are always looking for better ways to reach new potential customers faster while keeping the customers we currently have longer. And if possible, to spend less time doing it while reducing operational costs. That’s a tall order.

Digital marketing is that work smarter not harder resource….

Digital marketing is the silver bullet for the luxury real estate market. Yet according to a 2018 study, realtors are simply not effectively engaging the potential of digital marketing. When was the last time you went to the movies, out to dinner, the mall, or even the grocery store where you didn’t see literally everyone, age 10-80 on some form of electronic device? We all live on our phones. And when you go home or to work, our electronic connections only get bigger and more powerful. That’s marketing power waiting to be harnessed!

According to the National Association of Realtors, there are roughly 1.3 million realtors in the United States, each working hard for their piece of the real estate market. So, when you look at the numbers, the question is not how you benefit, but how could you not benefit from having an effective digital marketing plan?

Digital marketing is an excellent tool that can broaden both reach and exposure to more customers than traditional marketing. It fosters endless opportunities to find and engage with a targeted audience with the right message. But as important, an often critical but overlooked piece, an effective digital marketing plan has the power to lift you about the pack. To make you that “go-to” person, that trusted name in the industry.

But it will require planning, focus, and concentration on getting your business’s online branding assets; your website, digital advertising plan, email marketing concepts, online brochures, among many other factors working together as part of an overall digital marketing campaign that supports your goals and allows the growth you need.

What is Digital Marketing?

Welcome to the new age and a new way of doing business! For those of you who can, think back twenty or so years ago when dinosaurs roamed the market place and marketing strategies were based off cumbersome, expensive, and now wildly outdated models. Print, commercial airways, and the telephone were king, all chaotically wrapped up in a nonstop hustle to stay in contact with potential clients.

Digital marketing is not your grandfathers pet dinosaur! It is powerful tool with nearly unlimited potential! Digital marketing is about using the right tools to filter out the clutter and getting your message to your ideal client. Information you can use to build excitement, create that buzz, built relationships, and close the deals! It can reach vast new markets while maximizing the potential of every advertising dollar spent or keep every minute saved focused on the next sale. But a world of caution, if done incorrectly, your company could be lost in the vastness of the internet never to be seen again.

Digital Marketing Training for Realtors: 11 Types of Online Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Business

Digital marketing is at the forefront of the advertising industry, that is an undisputed fact. Depending on whose numbers you use, conservative estimates for 2018 place the value of global digital marketing at roughly $192 billion. And that is expected to increase to over $300 billion by 2020.

According to Digital Global Marketing, 2017 statistics show that every minute an estimated 650,000 searches were made on Google, over 700 videos were hosted on YouTube, over 700,000 status updates and 500,000 comments were posted on Facebook, over 65,000 tweets were made, and approximately 180 million emails were sent.

A National Association of Realtors Report, Real Estate in a Digital Age, dated 2017 made some rather alarming findings. One of the biggest being that only 36% of realtors consider themselves comfortable with social media and only 26% have their own website. And of those that do, they are not considered adequate. What this means is that realtors for the most part are sitting on the bench watching others play the game.

It’s time for some innovative thinking! Let’s explore some aspects of a digital marketing strategy that can get you established as an industry leader and expand your business opportunities in ways that previously seemed unobtainable.

1. Email Marketing
2. Invest in Social Media Marketing
3. Looking Good is Half the Battle in Your Online Presence
4. Invest in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
5. Explore Paid Advertising
6. Set Your Sights on Content Marketing
7. Go Farther Together with Joint Venture Marketing
8. Flaunt Your Assets with Influencer Marketing
9. Live It Up with Live streaming
10. Show More with Virtual Reality
11. Strengthen Your Brand with Online Public Relations
12. Automate Touching Base with Bot Marketing
13. Hire Social Media Professionals

Before You Dive into Digital Marketing: A Few Reminders

1. Serve first, and the sales will come
2. Be prepared to talk with people on social media
3. It can be work but it’s worth it!

The big takeaway that we hope you will walk away with is that digital marketing skills are becoming more and more necessary for real estate agents. By choosing to invest in social and digital media marketing, you can ensure that you will stand out from your competition.

With FUSION5IVE custom designed solutions, you will have what other real estate agents pay an entire marketing team to do – at a FRACTION of the cost!