You might get lucky sometimes and you have the perfect lead in mind for your brand new listing. It’s in the perfect neighborhood, matches their “must-haves,” and rests comfortably within their budget. Other times, you aren’t quite so lucky. Fortunately that’s where your marketing skills come in. Naturally the more eyes you can get on your listing, the better your chance of selling it quickly.
Marketing Your Listings Online
- Attract Leads With Proper SEO Etiquette
- Appeal to Consumers with High-Resolution Photographs
- Share Listings To Relevant Buyers Through Emails
- Share Them With Friends on Facebook
- Place Targeted Ads on Search Engine
Marketing Your Listings Offline
- Reach Out To Interested Leads
- Notify Your Neighbors Through Door Knocking + Hangers
- Spread It In Your Social Clubs
- Ask Another Agent for Help
- Direct Buyers to Your Listing With Open Houses and Signage
12 ways to increase traffic to your real estate listings
Marketing Your Listings Online
1. Attract Leads With Proper SEO Etiquette
The more polished your SEO (search engine optimization) the better when it comes to being found online. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the proper tags, meta information and keywords to make your website (and therefore listings) easier for Google bots to crawl. Make sure all listing pages are fully optimized, in addition to all blogs and web pages.
2. Appeal to Consumers with High-Resolution Photographs
When it comes to increasing online visibility, perhaps nothing is more important than having high-quality professional photos. In addition to making your listing look far more impressive and professional, it will also increase the likelihood that leads will share the listing with others through social media, text and email. As real estate is such a clearly visual industry, the use of a professional photographer for listing photos should never be overlooked.
3. Share Listings To Relevant Buyers Through Emails
In addition to making your listing easy to find online and visually appealing, sending your listings to your email subscribers is another effective ways to get eyes on your listings. Even if your lead or past client no longer personally finds interest in the listing, they may know someone that would be ideal. Make sure your emails have a “forward to a friend” option front and center to allow for easy sharing.
4. Share Them With Friends on Facebook
Facebook offers several ways to help you promote your real estate listings. If your budget allows, run a paid ad for your listings. Facebook’s carousel option allows you to showcase several photos all at once and will create a fantastic visual depiction of your listing. In addition, you can also share your listings organically on Facebook, creating an entire photo album devoted to showcasing the listings. Another great practice is to share the listing on your wall with a link for additional information going to your website.
5. Place Targeted Ads on Search Engine
Also known as Search Engine Marketing or SEM. According to NAR's Where Buyers Found the Home They Purchased, the overwhelming majority of home buyers found their home online - 44% of them. Generally, their search begins online through a search engine like Google or Bing! This is where your listing ads will display. There are 2 types of SEM Ads: Text and Display. Texts are minimal using only text and are located at the top of your search engine results list. They're designated by a small Ads tag. Display ads show up on the side of the search engine results list and include an image, headline, and short description. If you're trying to reach people outside of your network, SEM is one of your answers.
Marketing Your Listings Offline
1. Reach Out To Interested Leads
While all of the ideas we’ve talked about so far deal with online marketing, don’t neglect the importance of traditional methods, like picking up the phone and calling leads you think would be a good fit for the listings. You can also send a follow-up email with additional information for yet another contact touch.
2. Notify Your Neighbors Through Door Knocking + Hangers
Another traditional practice that still holds weight today is door knocking. Reaching out to those in your farmed area to share your listings is another effective way to get more eyes, and potential referrals, to your listing. Make sure you have quality printed listing information complete with your website URL or a QR code so that prospective buyers can gain access to additional details. If the occupant isn't home or did not answer the door, leave the flyer in the mailbox, in the door crease, or rolled up in the door handle.
3. Spread It In Your Social Clubs
All marketers can agree, the best type of marketing is word-of-mouth marketing. Why? Because it's free and requires minimal work for maximum results. You're already familiar with people in your groups and some people might know you even though you've never met. Are you in a life group at church, on a sports team, have a second job, attend book clubs, workshops for new families, adult education courses, or other social clubs? If anyone is interested, ask for their number and text them a link to your listing.
4. Ask Another Agent for Help
If you're experiencing challenges finding a buyer in your network for your listing, it's quite possible you've saturated your audience. By ask another agent to help you find a buyer - in exchange for a referral fee - you can double your audience and get your expose your listing to buyers in a different district or area. in the same NAR article mentioned above, 33% of home buyers found their home through a real estate agent.
5. Direct Buyers to Your Listing With Open Houses and Signage
An open house is the best way for a serious buyer to experience a listing in-person. Not only do they get the chance to see and touch the listing, but they can also check out the neighborhood, neighbors, and traffic too. Signage will increase awareness even more and it will direct potential buyers who have some spare time to stop by. The most important benefit of an open house is that you get the opportunity to meet, pitch, and connect potential buyers face-to-face. If you execute correctly, you have an even higher chance of earning an appointment, walk through for another listing, or most importantly, earning their business for life.
With these few tips in your toolbox, you will increase your chances of getting more people to your listings. Do you have other tips for increasing your listing views? We would love to her them!
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in August 2018 by Emily Murray and has been updated in December 2019 by Brian Lim for accuracy, content, and comprehension.
Looking for visual social content to share on your Facebook page? Download your free home staging tips infographic.
