Digital Real Estate Marketing Agencies and Their Connection to More Sales
Marketing a pair of comfortable workout pants, a software suite, or even a new car is nothing compared to the buyer journey of buying a new home.
The place where a family eats, sleeps, learns, plays, and grows is an emotional buy and not one bought lightly or on a whim (for most people). There is a reason why there are digital marketing agencies dedicated to only working with home builders and developers.
A real estate focused digital marketing agency still has to get to know you and your homes, but they’ve been around the block a few times and can quickly and effectively formulate a digital marketing plan that targets your specific type of buyer.
The State of New Home & Real Estate Marketing
It can take a buyer 4‑12 months to decide on a home after they start their search, and with the amount of new developments popping up in growing areas like Austin, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona; Loveland, Colorado; Raleigh, North Carolina; Salt Lake City, Utah; etc. a homebuyer has even more options to choose from.
We know buyers are inundated every day with product offerings and now homebuyers are too. Not having the right digital real estate marketing strategy and an agency to back you up won’t get your homes in front of buyers in 2019.
The home building industry can be ruthless,
but we do it because we want families to live their dream of finding the perfect home. That’s the message a digital real estate marketing agency knows to include in every campaign.
Real Estate Marketing Above the Noise
Marketing for real estate and new homes has turned digital.
Traditional and out‑of‑home marketing still have a place in directing buyers further in the funnel to your communities. But 95% of homebuyers start their homebuyer journey online.
Most buyers won’t know who you are until that initial online search, and then they’ll start noticing your logo and billboards. (It’s the same concept as when you buy a new car and start seeing it everywhere when you never really noticed it before.)
Another like concept is the early bird gets the worm.
And the early, lead generation stage is where a digital marketing strategy for real estate comes into play.
Just as with some of the biggest and most recognized brands like Nike catering to athlete’s Just Do It mindset or Wendy’s famous cheeky tweets their young audience loves – you have to know your buyer, what’s most important to them on an emotional level, and how they research to know just the right moments to connect with them – staying above the noise of your competitors.
The New Home Buyer‑Journey in Digital Real Estate Marketing
The homebuyer journey is much longer and more complex than your general consumer product journey and requires more expertise to navigate the twists and turns towards their decision to choose you as their builder.
For instance:
- A buyer’s first act may be to type New Homes in Austin or New Homes in Austin for under $350,000 into a search engine from the comfort of their couch.
- Then they’re brought to a search results page with targeted ads at the top, and then the top builder websites next. (Notice we said top builder websites, not top builders. The only thing Google has control of is crawling your website for the relevant information your buyer is looking for, checking your site credibility, and other on‑page and off‑page factors. Things your website developer or SEO team implements themselves.)
- After a buyer visits your website and looks at your floor plans and pricing, they’ll most likely then go to the next website in their search results without taking any action just yet.
- But if you’ve implemented a true digital real estate marketing strategy, your buyer will then be served remarketing banners that will follow a buyer’s other website and app activity and Facebook Ads that will pop up in their newsfeed.
- This buyer will see your ads a couple of more times, start recognizing your brand and products, choose to click a particular ad about good schools in the area, go to a customized landing page, then finally submit a form.
That is just one digital real estate marketing
experience a buyer can have and it included Google Ads, SEO, Remarketing Banners, and Social Media working together seamlessly.
The Importance of Digital Real Estate Marketing Agencies
We’ve already stated the new home buyer is different from the new car or new pair of jeans buyer. They take longer to decide, do more research, and require more information and communication before making a decision.
You could outsource your digital marketing efforts to an agency that may get up to speed on your buyer and their needs after a couple of months. Or they may not.
Starting with an agency focused in the home building industry
from the beginning will save you time, money, and frustration.
Why Market with SmartTouch® Interactive?
Other agencies don’t know real estate marketing as we do. Not only are we a full‑service marketing agency, but we’ve combined our decades of real estate marketing experience with a CRM/Marketing Automation platform built specifically for real estate professionals. Our goal is to not only help home builders and developers generate leads but nurture those leads to sale.