Are you up to date on the latest news from the world of real estate marketing? Over the past month, breaking developments have impacted agents and brokers.
To stay ahead of current buyer and seller trends and your local competitors, you can read this post for more information on:
- Home buyer profiles and trends
- Strategies for reaching multi-family home buyers
- Insights into millennial home buying practices
- Social media marketing trends for the year ahead
- The growth of video
- Game-changing Twitter updates
1. NAR Provides an In-Depth Look at Home Buyers and Their Needs
All home buyer and sellers are unique, but there are still some commonalities between them all that can help agents close a deal.
The National Association of Realtors® released a report that covers these commonalities and sheds light on what makes each particular demographic special.
Some key report takeaways about home buyers:
- The median age is 45 years old
- The average gross household income is $88,800
- 65% of households were composed of married couples, 18% single females, 6% single males, and 8% were composed of unmarried couples
- 37% had children in their home
- 17% owned a second home
One group that particularly stands out are buyers who said they frequently used the internet to search for their home.
Want to reach this group of digital-savvy buyers? Mastering search engine optimization (SEO) is a great place to start!
Check out these articles for easy real estate marketing tips and tricks for getting your name and agency front and center on search engines:
- Google Search Results: How It Works for Real Estate
- 15 Real Estate SEO Ideas to Help you Dominate Search Results
- 10+ Ways to Harness Local SEO for Your Real Estate Marketing
- Step Up Your Realtor SEO Game: How to Crush Local Agents in Search Results
2. Forbes Shares Insights on Reaching Home Buyers Searching for Multi-Family Housing
Among the trends listed in the NAR report is the growing prevalence of multi-generational or multifamily homes.
According to a recent Forbes article, the real estate marketing strategies for attracting these buyers online are constantly impacted by updates by search engines like Google.
To keep pace with this home buying trend, agents should:
- Research keywords that are specific to multi-family home buyers.
- Consider the unique needs of multi-family home buyers. For example, ample parking for many cars may be an important factor, or a guest cottage or in-law apartment may especially appeal to them.
- Include a searchable MLS database on your IDX site so multi-family home buyers can browse for their ideal property.
3. Zillow Says Home Buying is a Financial Struggle for Millennials
Millennials are another group of home buyers with very specific needs. According to a report from Zillow, price point is their biggest concern.
In fact, these young home buyers are often challenged to scrape together funds during their search:
- 53% of millennial buyers make multiple offers on their first home.
- Only 39% are able to make the recommended 20 percent or more down payment.
- 37% of millennial buyers say they went over budget, compared to 29% of all buyers.
Because millennials grew up in a digital age, their buying process differs dramatically from older generations.
Here’s how you can get in front of younger home buyers and speak to their financial concerns and specific needs:
- Sell your real estate expertise and help to guide them through every step of the home buying process. Focus on financial concerns, such as helping them get their offer accepted and determining which mortgage type is right for them.
- Share how your skills can help them save money throughout the home buying journey. Small things, like assisting with contract negotiations or mortgage lender references can have a huge impact.
- Appearances matter, even to cash-strapped millennials. Make sure that you create an eye-catching website and show them stylish properties. Millennials want to know that attractive properties are still within their reach – and their budget.
4. Social Media Today Forecasts Social Media Marketing Trends for 2018
It may only be November, but it’s already time to start thinking about the year ahead. To help savvy marketers get ahead of the curve, Social Media Today has put together a preview of the trends that will dominate in 2018.
One trend that will continue to grow is social advertising. But as the number of advertisers on social media increases, so will the cost of social ads. According to Ad Age, the cost of ads on Facebook alone rose 74% year-over-year in 2017.
The rising price tag on social advertising means agents should be especially thoughtful about how they promote their services.
How can you ensure that you’re getting more bang for your buck when it comes to social advertising?
Practice the strategies in these articles:
- The Real Estate Advertising Guide for New Agents
- The Real Estate Agent’s Guide to Setting an Advertising Budget
- Real Estate Advertising Copy that Gets Leads
5. Marketing Land Forecasts the Dominance of Digital Video Marketing
Another big trend forecasted for 2018 is video. Marketing Land cites a study that predicts video will make up an astounding 82% of consumer traffic by 2021!
Real estate professionals have a tremendous opportunity to get ahead of this trend by exploring video marketing for their business today.
Marketing Land recommends starting with these five easy first steps:
- Come up with one big idea that your videos will focus on. For example, real estate agents can use their videos to promote the high quality of living in their region.
- Customize the context of where your video will be viewed. If you plan on posting to somewhere fun and entertaining like Facebook, then make sure your video has the same upbeat attitude!
- Don’t try to cram every selling point into one video. Instead, keep videos focused on one topic, but keep things consistent by making every video fit into a broader narrative.
- Experiment with your videos, and don’t be afraid of failure! Even if your video doesn’t receive a lot of views, you can still use that as a learning opportunity to try something else.
- Figure out what you want people to do after they watch your video, then measure if your video encourages that action. For instance, if you want viewers to click on a link after they finish watching your video, try out different tactics and see which is best at driving towards that goal.
Once you’ve created your video, you’ll want to share it with the world! Learn how you can integrate your video into your IDX site below:
6. Twitter Announces New Ad Buying Program and Character Limit Changes
The internet is buzzing about Twitter’s recent expansion of its character limit. Originally, Tweets could only consist of a maximum of 140 characters. With the newest change, however, Twitter users can now share posts as long as 280 characters.
Twitter says this update will make it so that users don’t have to spend as much time editing their Tweets in order to have them fit within the character limit. This will make real estate marketing easier and faster. Agents can now send out Tweets without worrying about how to cram a lot of information into a tiny space.
Twitter also revealed its newest advertising solution, Twitter Promote. This always-on amplification engine automatically promotes Tweets and profiles for a $99 per month flat fee.
Twitter says this new tool frees users from managing an ad campaign. The social network also shared how Promote Mode’s advertising automation helps users reach a larger audience than organic posting alone.
Want to learn how you can improve your Tweets so you can make the most out of Twitter Promote? Start with these resources:
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