The real estate industry is currently worth trillions of dollars, and will continue to grow. Because of its promising future, the business of real estate provides many intriguing aspects for those interested in joining. Today, the public relations and digital marketing angles of real estate companies are more important than ever in producing success.
With regards to those who are looking to be in, or are currently in, the real estate industry, here are a few tips on how to make the most out of your public relations presence:
Understand Your Audience
Do not try to generalize your expertise. Casting wide nets is not proving to be successful anymore, so try to dive deeper in identifying your specific audience. Do demographic research to find out what you need to know about your future clients, from basics, like household income and age, to more specific lifestyle characteristics, like shopping habits.
Create Meaningful and Engaging Content
Show your unique market expertise. Whether it’s geographic, product-specific, or something else, constantly show your clients and followers why you are the right fit for their needs. You can achieve this by posting to your social media pages, websites, email blasts, etc. Just as well, including a weekly blog or Instagram/Facebook post about market updates and your opinion on them are key in catching the attention of audience members. This type of content will not only inform them of what’s going on in the real estate world, but it will also show them the extensive knowledge, experience, and personable traits you have to offer.
Other kinds of content to include in your emails, on your website, and on your socials are past successes (such as big-ticket listings and/or local sales), awards, and Q&A opportunities. These will help you create a presence online and allow you to appear more well-rounded as a business individual.
Monitor Your Competitors
Always, always, always know what other people are up to in your industry. Observe what works and what doesn’t work for them, and then go from there. Ask yourself various questions like: Are they marketing certain parts of their properties more than others, and is it working? What, if any, specials are they offering? What media outlets are they getting press in?
Create Relationships with Media Outlets
Having and maintaining quality interactions with various media outlets is another aspect of importance to your public relations strategy. Keep in mind that there are so many writers out there, so do your research and use them! These contacts include all journalists, bloggers, reporters, magazine writers, etc. Once you have interacted with a few, network through them to further build-out your media list.
Be sure to keep their target audience in mind when pitching ideas because sometimes what they write about might not be what you originally intended, but it’s simply what they need to produce in order to keep their readers happy. Be respectful of their time and try to personalize your pitches to their liking by doing research on their typical content and attitude. People tend to be more interested in writing about you when they notice a personal touch.
Organize Media/Influencer Campaigns
As much as you may want to stray away from including other people in your business, the patterns of today will tell you otherwise. In order to increase public relations opportunities for your company, partner up with local influencers. Find people who share similar interests to your ideal audience/customers and do media shoots–make sure to get your properties in the background! These partnerships will allow you to gain press and clients if you make sure that the influencers properly tag, link, and write about you in their posts.
Want to learn more about using public relations to create a newsletter your audience will actually want to read? Check out our article here.
