Strategic marketing tips for real estate brokers
This article aims to familiarize real estate agents with the online behavior of potential customers in their search for property. Eminence recommends: Catch your clients where they are looking for you – on the internet.
To build a successful marketing strategy in the sector of real estate business, you need to know how your clients are acting, given that they want to rent or buy a new piece of real estate. It has become a reflex for a big majority of the 90% of Switzerland’s population that has access to the internet, to use online search engines to find what they are looking for. With a few clicks only, they get a good overview of the market – whenever they want and wherever they are.
Eminence has researched the behavior of people looking for real estate. If you are a broker, it’s time for you to understand why it has become a priority for your real estate agency to invest in digital marketing.
Let the numbers speak for themselves:
| Percentage of Swiss… | All | Men | Women | + 40 years | – 40 years |
| …who use the online search engines (Google for example) in their property research | 63% | 61% | 65% | 66% | 59% |
| …who research online before contacting their real estate broker | 79% | 77% | 80% | 86% | 69% |
| …who enter into contact with real estate agents via the internet | 34% | 31% | 37% | 35% | 33% |
In the United Arab Emirates, the number of people doing exclusively online research when they were purchasing real estate doubled between 2012 and 2013. Additionally, the number of people who started their research on the internet was bigger than those who were looking for property in newspaper ads.
In Switzerland, the most widely used strategies to find property were:
- Visiting showrooms and exposition halls
- Word of mouth
- Use of Google and other online search engines
Taking into account the differences in the behavior of different age groups, you should know that for Swiss younger than 40 online search engines are the most popular way to find their new apartment or whatever piece of real estate they are looking for. For those older than 40, the online search comes in second place – first, they trust the word of mouth principle.
Keep in mind: Before the final decision to buy or rent property, Swiss people use the internet. So, dear real estate managers: It has become more and more dangerous to neglect your online communication channel. You risk that potential clients find on your competitor’s web page what they are looking for.
SEO – a key to a successful digital marketing strategy
For those real estate brokers who have already dared the step to a fresh and innovative online platform (here is an example), Eminence has a special strategic tip: Improve your visibility on the internet. So, how can a real estate agency improve its visibility on online search engines like Google? Well, that’s not so easy – but don’t worry, it is feasible. What you need to do is work on your SEO (or SEO Search Engine Optimization). It is all about the increase in your visibility, given that an internet user types a certain keyword into Google that should bring him/her to surf your website. (Follow up on our blog to learn about the secrets of SEO and other essential topics of online marketing strategy in the real estate business before the end of this month.)
If you wish an in-depth analysis of your digital marketing strategy, don’t hesitate to contact us. We are pleased to analyze your website by finding out how your clients navigate through your portal and how they get there in the first place. Furthermore, we can freshly re-invent your website or consult you about the positioning of your agency in the online market for real estate. (Contact Eminence)
G.L. Junior Account Executive at Eminence