Are you on trend? 10 Real Estate Digital Marketing trends to know in 2023.

If you are like many real estate professionals, you turn to traditional marketing methods to raise brand awareness and generate leads. However, over the past few years, you may have noticed open houses, direct mail advertising, and word-of-mouth referrals have less effectiveness. In 2020 and beyond, many people turned to digital devices for news, entertainment, and communication. Accordingly, it became the number one way to target new clients, create immediate interest, and develop a strong relationship.

You can optimize your advertising and lead generation, by staying on top of the latest real estate digital marketing trends, implementing new technologies, and adopting the latest communication channels. Take a look at the top ten trending practices for the future of real estate.

1. Optimize Your Website

About 70% of real estate brokers and 69% of sales agents develop websites to promote their brands and entice clients. A web page adds a personal touch, local familiarity, and authority in a sea of cold property listings and realtor names. As digital spaces become more important, users expect more from companies, and competitors rise to the occasion, it also becomes critical to update and optimize your website. Your website should cater to homeowners looking for real estate agents in the area, and potential home buyers looking for property listings.

Your team can help prospects find your web pages by carefully performing search engine optimization (SEO) or featured snippets optimization (FSO). Yet, ensure your design and content are also valuable. You should clearly display your brand, communicate your values, provide helpful information, and make it easy for clients to connect with you.

2. Embrace Social Media

Social media is an excellent way to target Millenials and Gen Z, the two newest generations to buy and sell properties. Currently, millennials make up the largest share of the home-buying market, at 37%, so it is essential to target this group with precise real estate marketing techniques. When they are able to find regularly updated, valuable social media content, they are more likely to think of you as the go-to authority on real estate. As such, establishing your online digital presence is a must.

Large social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok allow you to create interactive content that informs and entertains simultaneously. Additionally, they facilitate quick communication between you and client prospects, inquiring minds, and other real estate agents.

3. Use Chatbots

Many potential home buyers or sellers have quick questions or need more information before taking the plunge. Often, online users understand the fast pace of the digital world. They know that if they need to wait for a response from you, they can head to a different broker and get the information they need. Unfortunately, this may mean you miss this lead entirely.

As a real estate team member or leader, you know it can take time to follow up on potential leads, especially if you have many platforms. Rather than hiring personnel to handle an influx of messages, consider chatbots. Chatbots are AI-backed messaging channels, providing users with answers and pointing them in the right direction immediately. They have a higher open rate than emails, making them one of the most effective real estate digital marketing trends. On top of that, you can place them on almost any digital platform.

4. Communicate Through Text Messages

Around 93% of realtors prefer to communicate with their prospects through text messaging, and many real estate agents know it is an efficient way to update or check in with clients. However, it is also one of the best real estate digital marketing trends because individuals are often on their phones for work or pleasure.

Suppose they would like to receive text messages about new listings in their area or properties that match their search criteria. In that case, they can sign up for alerts with click-through links. They can also easily connect with real estate agents quickly through texts if they have a question or concern. In this way, it is a great way to advertise your team’s services and equitably distribute leads and listings.

5. Showcase Photos, Floor Plans, and Virtual Tours

Visuals are critical for impacting potential clients. They became even more important during the COVID-19 pandemic with limited in-person visits. When people need to sell their home, they want to ensure their agent displays it in the best light possible. If they desire to purchase a home, they want to view accurate and detailed listings.

In fact, 89% of all home buyers value photos, 67% like floor plans, and 58% enjoy virtual tours. Since this is the case, you can maximize your opportunities with these services on your webpage or listings. These additions will delight prospective clients by simplifying the process and reducing the time and energy spent traveling to properties.

6. Take Advantage of AI Lead Generation

One of the best ways to generate leads is to embrace AI. Rather than spending hours following up on every lead that comes your way, engaging with unconvertible leads, or deciphering which lead is more promising than another, let precise algorithms do it for you. AI can analyze your leads from various sources and identify who you should prioritize for lead conversion.

Particularly, AI can show you who has the highest chance of purchasing a property and what types of property they are looking for; accordingly, you can follow up on the lead with a perfectly tailored pitch and potential listings in your hand.

7. Provide Highly Detailed Property Analyses

Did you know 86% of homebuyers look for highly-detailed property listings? The more information and visuals about a home, the higher the chances of closing a deal. Naturally, this is because prospective buyers and investors can take fewer steps to find out everything about the home.

If you have a website, you can create single-listing pages. Include photos, videos, maps, neighborhood information, crime rates, nearby transportation and amenities, walk scores, schools, comparative market analysis, and future estimated property valuations. Individual pages are also a great way to highlight your agents.

8. Automate Marketing Campaigns

Email marketing is a popular way to reach customers across many different industries. That’s why 66% of businesses perform email marketing campaigns to attract leads; however, only 39.6% think their methods are effective. Fortunately, personalization and automation (drip campaigns) can make this technique one of the upcoming year's top real estate digital marketing trends.

Drip marketing will let you personalize each email with the client's name, website actions, or properties they are searching for. It will specify when emails go out depending on what your prospect is doing on the website. For instance, you could automate emails if a real estate client abandons their search, reminding them where they left off and asking if they would like to continue. A simple, personalized email can re-engage your lead and excite them about potential listings.

9. Offer eForms

Prospective clients should only need to do a little work to contact you or receive correspondence from you. If you make this an easy process, you will have a good chance of converting your leads. Every real estate broker or agent's website should include eForms. They allow clients to fill out accurate information quickly. As a result, you can promptly respond to questions, follow up on interest, or add to marketing texts or email lists.

10. Make the Most of Digital Referrals

Word-of-mouth referrals may be less popular than other real estate marketing methods; however, referrals are still crucial for every realtor. Digital referrals are an effective way to gather new leads, establish trust, and set new clients up with on-point expectations. Consider automated emails to promote referral programs, sharing social media reviews on your website, or adding share buttons to listings and posts.

Make Real Estate Digital Marketing Trends Easy

Real estate agents should take advantage of the best real estate digital marketing trends this year to increase lead generation and conversion. However, tackling them all at once can be a challenge. Luckily, real estate transaction management software can turn it into smooth sailing. Automate repetitive emails, send regular text messages, run drip campaigns, and more with the help of Shaker. Request a demo today!