3 Reasons Why the Best Real Estate Agents Have Blogs
Visiting open houses and combing MLS for the perfect property may monopolize a real estate agent’s time but referral marketing is their true bread and butter. To drum up new business and cultivate client bases, it’s crucial for agents to get in front of as many eyeballs as possible. Which means, it is crucial for real estate agents to have blogs.
While word of mouth will always be the most powerful referral, and old school approaches such glossy mailers, transit ads, and strategically placed business cards remain effective, today’s savviest agents know content creation is key to catching the eye of today’s discerning buyer or seller. With consumers routinely exploring their options online, it’s imperative for agents to be discovered by prospective clients at the research stage, whether they’re googling home buying basics, or the latest market news.
For hustling agents, though, finding time for content is easier said than done. However, it is one of the most effective ways to establish your name and brand, as well as grow your following. Here are the three top reasons why all real estate agents should be blogging.
1 –Establish trust and authority
As any agent worth their salt will tell you, servicing clients goes far beyond showing them properties – you’re often their therapist, too. Choosing to list one’s home, or entering the market as a first-time home buyer, are decisions fraught with anxiety, especially when market volatility is prevalent in the media. Clients naturally want to know whether the time is right, and this is where your knowledgeable commentary is worth its weight in gold.
Offering detailed, easy-to-understand analysis on the latest sales numbers in competitive regions, mortgage policies, or interest rate trends quickly establishes your authority as an industry expert who’s on top of their game.
2 – Expand and engage a bigger audience
Chances are, you’re doing all you can to drive visitors to your website in the hopes they’ll sign up for a consultation, or email interest in a featured property. The reality is, though, that not all those researching real estate are in the position to act.
Having a solid library of content is a great way to engage those on-the-fence clients, and establish yourself as a viable option for them when they are ready to make a move. Growing a regular readership of your blog also presents the opportunity to build an email newsletter list; sending great content to your base on a regular basis keeps you top-of-mind with your clientele, even when they aren’t using your services.
As well, a robust selection of content can make it possible for prospective clients to stumble upon your page via related Google searches for topics you’ve written about; a blog can literally take an agent site’s search viability from just several keyword phrases such as “real estate agent in Toronto”, to potentially hundreds of content-related searches.
3 – It makes social media marketing even easier
Most brokerages make a point of espousing the benefits of social media marketing – and that’s because it works! However, rather than just posting your listing photos and MLS writeup on your Facebook business page, constantly feeding your following with unique blog content instantly increases your share-ability; consumers are more likely to forward along information they find useful than just a real estate ad, which is limited to a narrow, and specific audience.
Twitter is also a natural outlet to regularly distribute, and garner conversation over, your content while displaying the url for your latest blog post in your Instagram bio helps engage your following beyond listing photos.
Best Practices for Real Estate Blog Content
Ready to get into the content creation game, but aren’t sure what to focus on? Keep these best practices in mind as you blog away:
– Mix up your mediums
Not a fan of typing out your thoughts? Some of the most effective blogs utilize video content and infographics to get their information across. If you have the know-how (or can hire professionals for) video editing and design, supplying a variety of content types is a great way to engage a wider audience.
– Write about different things
Depending on where they are in their real estate journey, prospective clients have different content needs. You can address them all with a variety of content topics. “Evergreen content” – topics that never lose their relevancy – can help answer some of their most basic questions, for example, mapping out the typical home buying journey, breaking down real estate fees, or explaining the value behind staging services and professional photography.
– Practice good SEO
Search engine optimization determines where your articles will rank on Google search results for related topics, and the higher up you appear, the better. Ensuring you’re adhering to good SEO principles is as simple as installing a plug-in into your blog’s WordPress CMS: Yoast and All-In-One SEO Pack are among the most popular.
Pressing news topics that impact clients, such as rising interest rates, mortgage qualifications, or the latest real estate board sales numbers appeal to market watchers who may be considering an upgrade or to downsize. And of course, use your platform to give those listings an audience well beyond that of MLS.
Penelope Graham is the Managing Editor of Zoocasa.com, a real estate website that combines online search tools and a full-service brokerage to let Canadians purchase or sell their homes faster, easier and more successfully. Home buyers and sellers can browse listings across Canada, including Vancouver real estate and Calgary homes for sale in addition to homes in the GTA.
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