RISMEDIA, July 17, 2010—In today’s real estate marketing, we are hearing the term “hyperlocal” more and more. Many real estate professionals are asking, “What does it mean?” “How does it work?” and “Why should I be interested?”
For the longest time, news such as local governmental issues, school activities, neighborhood events taking place and, especially, the neighborhood real estate market largely had inconsistent coverage, yet people were interested. The challenge for the media is how to cover news at a hyperlocal level?
Here’s how Wikipedia defines hyperlocal:
“Hyperlocal content, often referred to as hyperlocal news, is characterized by three major elements. First, it refers to entities and events that are located within a well-defined, community-scale area. Second, it is intended primarily for consumption by residents of that area. Third, it is created by a resident of the location (but this last point is discussed because, for example, a photo can be hyperlocal but not locally produced).”
This question begins to be answered with the development of hyperlocal blogs, digital cameras and low-cost portable video whereby now the people who live and work in a neighborhood or community can very inexpensively and easily do their own reporting, transcending to the term “citizen journalism.”
The power here is that the people do the reporting, adding a new level of purity to the process as well as an opportunity for the community to render feedback through comments and blog posts. The challenge is organizing your community, marketing your destination and locating consistent and compelling content.
This scenario is the perfect storm for Realtors. The power to provide local thought leadership and newsworthy content is proving to be a huge opportunity for real estate brokerages and professionals that want to dominate their neighborhood.
Don’t get me wrong, certainly the newspapers are seeing this same transformation and are trying to capitalize on it as you read this. However, they need the journalists that work or live in a neighborhood and care about the activities going on in that neighborhood and, in my opinion, there is no one more suited for the role as local news leader than a real estate professional; now is your time to start your own hyperlocal news community.
Consequently, this type of information is what Google and the other search engines call “organic” content, since it is not necessarily marketing and promotion, but real news by real people.
Guess what? Organic content is exactly the information that Google loves most, so the net effect of running a hyperlocal blog is the potential to dominate the top positions of Google and the search engines for the area you are targeting. Not only that, but this type of marketing becomes incredibly valuable for the agent who becomes recognized for thought leading and engaging the neighborhood.
Homeowners who join the community blog are more likely to conduct a transaction with the agent who is most visible in informing the community. A properly set up hyperlocal system will, of course, showcase the local real estate market and properties available so you end up with a win-win between the neighbors and the Realtor.
Stay tuned for the next issue where I address: how am I going to get started?; how much is it going to cost?; what time investment should I expect to budget?; and how am I going to produce a steady stream of content?
Can’t wait? Download the “How to Dominate Google with Hyperlocal Marketing” white paper from this link and get a head start: www.1parkplace.com/real-estate-seo-hyperlocal-marketing.
As CEO of 1parkplace, Inc., Steve Hundley’s passion is to lead the development of the most cutting-edge social media and real estate marketing technology solutions for America’s top Realtors and brokers. Hundley recently formed the 1parkplace University where he has hosted exclusive training events with industry leaders like Tom Ferry, Steve Rodgers and Allan Dalton.
For more information, visit www.1parkplace.com.
