The real estate market is once again booming.

The great crisis of the 21st century is far gone, ushering in an era of economic prosperity that is translating into a considerable rise in housing prices.

Houses and commercial premises are sold and rented quickly.

But like any booming market competition is soaring too.

So now more than ever it’s very important to differentiate your business from the competition.

If you are into real estate, a good marketing strategy will help your target audience to find you and trust you.

You sell one of the most important assets in a person’s life, their home.

Even if you work in real estate transactions for investors, trust is a prerequisite, since the amounts of money that are handled are serious stuff.

In this post, I’m going to talk briefly about the most effective real estate marketing strategies.

And I’m going to focus on a huge differentiating element which is often overlooked: The copy.

Today you’ll learn how to apply copywriting techniques to your real estate business and attract more customers.

The Most Useful Real Estate Marketing Strategies

Marketing in Real Estate, as in every other industry, is vital to get more customers and create brand awareness.

There is a lot of literature explaining in detail each of the real estate marketing strategies you can use.

These are the most important.

Pay attention to the mood your website triggers

Try this exercise.

Browse your website with your prospects’ eyes.

You don’t know who these people are, you don’t know where to find the information you need and you want to find someone you can trust.

Images of properties are very important but so is the overall feeling prospects get when landing on your page.

Don’t put too many calls to action on your home page.

This page is your business card and it serves to send prospects to the sections that are relevant to them.

Avoid clutter and go to the point.

I’ll give you some tips on how to write the copy for your website later on.

Mobile Version

According to a study carried out by Ofcom in 2017, mobile phones have already surpassed all other devices when it comes to connecting to the Internet.

So make sure your website is suitable for mobile interaction.

Browse your website on your mobile often because some plug-in updates can mess things up and you won’t realise it.

There’s nothing more annoying than a poor mobile user experience.

Video

Video is the king of SEO.

Web pages with videos have a better ranking in search engines.

People like to watch videos and often stay longer on a page.

Upload videos of all the properties included in your listing.

If you don’t have the means to make professional videos of each property, you can upload a video of you or a member of your team talking about the company.

Explain how you can help prospects find their perfect home, investment or neighbourhood.

Video generates trust and more organic traffic to your website.

Social Media

A beautiful property is a very attractive thing to look at.

People dream about living in some of these places, so posting regularly on Social Media will definitely attract more attention to your business.

Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Instagram are the ideal channels to show images and videos of properties.

Add short but compelling descriptions of the features and curious facts.

Here is where you can include some storytelling.

Post Facebook and Instagram stories talking about an especially attractive property directly from the spot.

Be specific and talk about all those special details that make the property unique.

Your social media followers may not be thinking about buying, selling or renting a property at this moment but when the time comes they’ll think about your company.

Work on your emails

If you already have a mailing list you can make infinite use of it by sending periodic emails.

Think about content that attracts attention and is useful.

Content that your prospects want to receive.

Even if they aren’t thinking about buying or selling at that moment they’ll open your emails because they find them interesting.

Some ideas on what to share:

• Useful info about mortgages or tax benefits
• Cool tips about the area of the city you operate (new schools, gyms or other services or even cultural gigs)
• Images of properties with a short and crisp description
• Tips on making the most of small spaces

If your prospects find your content interesting they’ll keep reading your emails and when they’re ready to buy or sell they’ll turn to you.

Fine-tune SEO for Real Estate

Most people use web search engines to look for real estate agents.

Refine your links and titles using long-tail keywords –  those longer and more specific keywords.

I’ll give you an example:

Keyword: Apartment in Amsterdam

Long-tail Keyword: Apartment-2 Bedrooms-Amsterdam-De Pijp

Using longtail keywords mean that your entry will come up fewer times when people do more generic searches (Apartment-Amsterdam) but you’ll have more chances of getting to the top of the results page when someone does a more specific search (2 bedrooms apartment in de Pijp, Amsterdam) and therefore you’ll have less competitors.

The usage of longtail keywords has a huge advantage because people who do more specific searches are often more interested and therefore they will better fit your buyer persona’s profile.

If you want to improve your SEO in this post I talk more in-depth it.

The huge differentiating element: copywriting

You’ve already applied all or some of these marketing techniques for your real estate business and you have more visits to your page.

But you might be missing something essential > A real connection with your prospects so they convert into customers.

And applying the correct copywriting techniques can help you with that.

Not sure what copywriting is? I’ll define it for you in one sentence:

Copywriting is a writing technique that awakes the desire to buy.

Applying copywriting techniques to your home page and property descriptions will make the difference.

Here are some basic steps you can follow in order to apply copywriting techniques and make your website copy, emails and social media posts more compelling.

Avoid hackneyed expressions

Every time I study real estate websites when working on a project, I get bored of seeing the same words over and over again.

Luxurious, gorgeous, brand new, etc.

You should try to sound different .

Instead of using the same adjectives over and over again, use less trite synonyms or descriptive sentences that mean the same thing but are more vivid.

Instead of a luxurious kitchen, you can replace it with:

“A sleek kitchen with high-tech electrical appliances.”

Try to use words that help the prospect seeing herself enjoying that cool kitchen.

“A 30m2 snazzy kitchen with more than Xm3 of cabinet space. Enjoy a cup a coffee sited at the counter with your face turned to the glorious morning sunshine entering through the 3 wide windows on your right.”

Don’t be scared of being too detailed.

The more details the more real the property’s features will seem.

So help your prospects seeing themselselves living already in that amazing place.

Know your target audience

Getting to know the person who is looking at your listing is essential to write compelling copy.

If you’re selling a 4-bedroom house, most probably families with kids are the type of customer that will be interested.

So talk about nearby schools, playgrounds, parks, pedestrian streets, etc.

If what you are selling is an apartment with one or two bedrooms, then your prospects will be couples without children or single people.

So talk about other highlights of the area such as public transport running also at night, lively area, hip cafes and shops, etc.

Do a good segmentation of your audience and answer in the description all the possible questions prospects might have.

Find the Unique Value Proposition of each property

Look for what makes that property special or unique.

Is it the antique façade?

Or perhaps the reputation of the neighbourhood?

Or a cool stained-glass wall that separates the bathroom in a loft?

There is always something that makes a place special and different.

A good way to find it is to ask the old tenants what they like most about the place.

They’ll also know the best-kept secrets and highlights of the neighbourhood.

Look for those special details and make sure you talk about them in your description.

Be concise

If you can say the same using less words do it.

Create an eye-catching headline for the listing and describe 4 of 5 features that make that apartment or commercial property attractive in the eyes of your target audience.

Then create a brief description of the advantages of the property, using vivid details.

A vivid and fresh description listing the benefits of a property and talking about what makes it special, can in many cases counteract any poor images and convince prospects to book a visit.

Now I’ll show you an example of how you can improve your web copy to nudge sellers to contact you.

This was the original copy

And this is how I’ve improved it by applying copywriting techniques

Things to note here?

I added facts and figures to show the efficiency of the company.

Exposure, average selling time, customer satisfaction, etc.

These are details a person who wants to sell their property wants to know.

I used an informal voice to encourage prospects to contact me without any commitment.

By saying “Just try us” I eliminate the final objections prospects might have.

They don’t feel committed and therefore they’ll be more willing to call me.

To some up

These tips will help you improve your visibility and differentiate your real estate business from the competition.

Remember to:

• Use longtail keywords
• The mobile version of your website has to be as good as the desktop version
• Video will help you rank faster
• Be very specific when describing properties
• Use words that help prospects seeing themselves enjoying the property
• Talk about those highlights of the neighbourhood that interest the target audience
• Find the Unique Value Proposition for each property

If you want to know more copywriting techniques, send me a message and I will be happy to talk to you.

See you around 😊

Featured image: Frank Smidtke