A No-Fail Mobile Marketing Guide for Real Estate Agents

Editor’s Note: This was originally published on RISMedia’s blog, Housecall. See what else is cookin’ now on blog.rismedia.com:

Every industry has increased their mobile efforts, with 71 percent of marketers declaring mobile marketing to be essential to their business. Real estate companies can make great use of mobile marketing to bring in new leads and to maintain customer loyalty.

Tools such as text messaging, mobile apps, social media, video, and online reviews are all accessed on buyers’ mobile phones and can be used for real estate marketing strategies. Here’s how to optimize your mobile presence:

Mobile Apps
Businesses that have mobile apps praise them for the level of customer engagement they provide. Customers who download a business’ app tend to be more loyal to that business. They also spend more time on apps than they do on webpages—18 times more time.

For real estate customers, browsing through an app is easier than clicking through several different webpages. They can message, make appointments and get information all in one spot. Some great perks you can provide your clients on your app would be a collection of all the necessary documents they’ll need to complete the purchase of their home and the ability to sign documents electronically through the app. Throw in a mortgage calculator and you’re golden.

Mobile-Friendly Website
Mobile searches have now surpassed desktop searches, making it essential for real estate companies to update their website so that it’s easy to access a mobile device. Your site’s mobile-readiness has a big impact on your marketing efforts. Google takes mobile-friendliness into account when ranking pages, making it more difficult for prospects to find your business through a Google search if your website isn’t optimized for mobile. Consumers expect businesses to provide them with media they can access on their mobiles, and 57 percent of consumers wouldn’t recommend a business whose mobile site has a poor design. Optimizing your site for mobile not only helps drive more traffic to your site, but also improves your company’s reputation with clients.

Texting
Text messaging has pretty much taken over voicemail across all generations, but particularly with millennials. While nearly 100 percent of texts are opened, the percentage of voicemails that are listened to keeps dropping: a 14 percent drop occurred in 2011-2012, and another 8 percent drop in 2013-2014.

For real estate agents who need to juggle schedules for showings and appointments, texting is an efficient way to contact clients and make sure their message gets through, reducing no-shows. Text is also a great way to do outreach to potential clients.

As the popularity of mobile increases, customers are more and more inclined to respond to marketing that’s done through mobile. This case study of Metrolina Realty Holdings shows how texting was a marketing winner for them, bringing in higher conversion rates than any of their other marketing platforms.

Social Media
More website traffic originates from social media than from internet searches, which means that it’s important for you to cultivate a strong social media presence to bring in new leads. The number of active mobile social users grew by 17 percent in 2015, so an investment in social is also an investment in your mobile marketing.

Here are some tips for using social to your advantage:

Using Facebook Ads to target clients by demographic, topic of interest and other factors can help widen your network.
Make sure you include photos and videos on your social media pages.
Don’t overload yourself by creating accounts on every single social media platform. Choose a few and stick to them.
Be aware that customers may contact you via social media, so be prepared to offer quick replies.

Video
Video is an essential part of mobile marketing, particularly with millennials: 48 percent of them only watch videos on their mobile phone, and 74 percent of millennials follow brands on YouTube. Consumers are three times more likely to view videos on their mobile or tablet than on their desktop.

Real estate companies that include videos receive as many as 403 percent more inquiries than companies that don’t. There are several ways you can use video to market your agency. You can post them to a variety of platforms, such as your company’s website and your social media pages, including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Property Listings – Shoot a professional video that shows the properties your company has listed and post it on your website and social media pages.
Testimonials – Shoot a video of a client giving a testimonial about your company.
Live-Stream a Showing – Let those who don’t have the chance to make a showing get in on the action by live-streaming it on Facebook or Twitter.
Q&A – You can also host a Q&A with prospective clients through GoToMeetings or Google Hangouts.

Online Reviews
Today more than ever, customers depend on review sites before making a purchase or employing the services of a company—88 percent of consumers check out review sites before making a decision, and they’re checking them out on their mobile phones.

Believe it or not, reviews are part of your marketing. Be proactive and take control of your presence on review sites by following up with clients after a transaction. Ask them to fill out reviews on Yelp, Google, Zillow, realtor.com® or any other review site that’s relevant to your company.

Here’s how to get the most mileage out of your client reviews:

Ask them to give details. Were they first-time homebuyers? Are they locals or from out of town? What kind of support and services did they receive from your agency?
Send a follow-up email or text with a link to the sites you wish them to fill out. Don’t overwhelm them with links to all the sites that exist. Choose one or two.
Give them an incentive to fill out the review by including a gift certificate or a chance to win a bigger prize in the sweepstakes hosted by your company.

Mobile marketing can help boost your leads and increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, so use these tips to enhance your real estate business.

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