One Change You Need to Make in Your Marketing Approach… TODAY

In the past, if you wanted to stay in contact with your clients and prospects, many agents were taught to send a recipe, a calendar, or a holiday card—all with your picture and contact information featured prominently. Today, however, such marketing materials are often considered frivolous, and quite frankly, they don’t work. (To dive deeper into why, check out our free eGuide, Unlocking the Secrets of Real Estate’s New Market Reality.)

It’s time to move away from the frivolous information many real estate agents share and instead address the real questions your clients and prospects want answered:

    1. How’s the market?
    2. Is now the time to buy?
    3. Is now the time to sell?
    4. Is real estate still a good investment?

In other words, today’s buyers and sellers don’t care if your picture is on a recipe or calendar in their kitchen. They want to know what’s happening in the market. As Marc Davison, Co-Founder of 1000 Watt Consulting, said, “Frivolous content will sink as the gems of true insight continue to rise.” Your ability to provide those “gems” will determine your success.

This approach is called content marketing, and it’s taken over every industry, including real estate.

Content marketing is a way to market yourself by providing the key information people are seeking. It’s an informational approach to selling and branding that encompasses your regular marketing efforts, like social media or direct mail, as well as your presentations and face-to-face interactions. Using great content in everything you do shows people that you are the real estate professional they should trust.

3 Key Benefits of Content Marketing:

1 – Establishes Authority

We know from Google that two out of every three people research prospective agents extensively online prior to working with them. Even if you were referred to someone, that person is going to research you.

You want the information they find about you to showcase your expertise, and the way you do that is through the content you share.

Let’s face it … there’s a lot of information, misinformation, and confusion about the real estate market circulating. As such, it’s difficult for buyers and sellers to get a true picture of the market and their options.

Consumers need a real estate expert who understands what’s happening, why it’s happening, and what it means to them. The content you post and share establishes you as that expert.

2 – Builds Trust

For many people, buying or selling a home is the most important financial decision they’ll ever make. Your clients must trust you enough to take your advice regarding this very complex matter.

In order to trust you, they need to feel confident that you will give them excellent advice. When you engage in content marketing, you show people that you know what’s going on in the market.

As consumers read your blog posts, your social media updates, and any articles or tips you share, your credibility grows.

Only when they feel they can trust you will they reach out for your professional assistance. Content marketing is one of the only ways you can begin building that trust equity prior to meeting them.

3 – Fosters Relationships

Your relevant, captivating information will answer a lot of questions for your clients and prospects, but it will also generate questions. This enables you to have a meaningful dialogue with your target market.

The more you engage people in conversation, the more likely they are to contact you for their real estate needs. Content marketing fosters these conversations, which are the backbone of any relationship.

Additionally, research shows that 70% of consumers believe that organizations providing custom content are interested in building good relationships with them, and 78% of consumers prefer getting to know a company via articles rather than ads.

Think about how you feel when you read a magazine or online content. Do you put more trust in the ads you see or in the content you read? Your clients are no different.

Providing useful content to your clients and prospects helps establish rapport so you start a conversation and ultimately build a long-term relationship with them.