The real professionals know that you can’t be an expert in everything. That’s why the best brands outsource their digital marketing to the real experts. A good SEM agency will plan and implement your digital marketing strategy from the ground up and will transform your brand’s online presence. But what about the costs? What are the usual SEM agency fees and how much should you expect to pay?
What are the Standard SEM Services Pricing Models?
There are many players in the digital marketing industry: full digital marketing agencies, SEO agencies, SEM agencies, social media agencies and many other types of service providers (including freelancers and independent contractors). Also, in larger companies, SEM services are often done in-house.
Many independent providers have different pricing models and service fees, as well as monthly or yearly subscription plans. Also, some agencies prefer to work project-based, while others work on retainers.
The pricing models can be confusing, especially if you are new to the digital marketing world. While most clients prefer a transparent pricing model, there are several industry-specific details you should understand. What’s more, knowing how SEM services are billed will help you better determine your digital marketing budget and how they can grow in the future.
These are some of the questions that often pop up when talking with new clients:
How much do digital marketing and SEM services really cost?
How do I know how much should I pay?
What payment plan is the best for my business? Can I change it in the future?
There are four main pricing models in the SEM industry. Hopefully, these will help you answer the questions mentioned above.
percent of revenue – the client pays a percentage of the resulting revenue; because the client pays from the revenue generated, there is one major disadvantage: the client doesn’t have the economy of scale: if the revenue doubles, the SEM costs double as well; in the long run, this strategy is not feasible and needs constant readjustments;
percent of ad spend – this model is similar to the previous model – some SEM agencies bill the clients as percentage of their ad spend; rates start from 5 and go up to 20 percent; some clients avoid this pricing model because the ROI is not obvious, and there is no economy of scale (your costs grow together with your spending);
flat monthly fee – this is the simplest payment model; it provides the client economies of scale and it’s adaptable; an SEM or paid search agency will use this pricing model to better control costs for your business; most service providers use this pricing model and most offers will be based on this model; you can opt either for a subscription-based model, where you pay a monthly fee for a set period of time (6 or 12 months) or as needed (adapted to your specific needs)
flat project-based fees – these pricing models are adapted to your specific one-time needs; usually, flat project-based pricing models are used by freelancers and independent contractors; small projects, like updating a part of your website, fixing links or doing basic keyword research should be billed independently;
How much does it cost to hire an SEM Manager?
Larger companies may want to hire their in-house SEM manager to plan and implement their digital marketing campaigns. Usually, SEM managers will work in the marketing department of larger companies and will manage a team of SEO, e-commerce and SEM analysts. The costs of having an in-house SEM team are higher than outsourcing to digital marketing agencies, but it’s financially viable for large companies.
Salaries for SEM analysts start from $47,000 and can go up to $96,000 per year, while salaries for SEM managers can start at $58,000 and reach $116,000 per year. Salaries are similar for SEO analysts, SEO managers, and e-commerce specialists. A full team of digital marketing specialists (5 to 12 employees) can cost you about $300,000 to $600,000 per year.
How much to invest in an SEM Professional?
According to a study done in 2016, the average business spends about $35,000 per year on search engine marketing services. Including social media, email marketing, mobile and display advertising, the figure goes to $80,000 per year.* That’s a lot of money, and everyone expects to see these figures go even higher in the future. So how much should you pay?
Generally, companies spend 10 to 12 percent* of their revenue on marketing. The average company is expected to pay 45 percent of their marketing budget to online marketing. This figure is expected to grow, as well. For instance, a company has a revenue of $1,5 million, will spend approximately $74,500 for digital marketing every year. SEM services are roughly 50 percent of your overall digital marketing, so in this example, you should expect to pay $38,000 for SEM services every year.
Monthly cost of an SEM Provider Company
Most SEM agencies use a flat fee pricing model. Here are the median prices for SEM services, as a flat monthly fee:
basic SEM services – $499 to $999 per month – the most basic package includes simple set-up services, content and social media services
locally focused SEM services – $2,000 to $4,999 per month – the ideal service to get found online, especially for local markets and businesses; with this plan, you’ll get advanced social media campaigns, PPC campaigns and sales funnel creation and implementation;
multi-location SEM services – $5,000 to $19,999 per month – ideal for targeting larger markets and multiple locations; you’ll get multiple-targeted social media campaigns and advanced PPC campaigns;
high-level SEM services – more than $20,000 per month – this is ideal if you are active in a competitive industry; you’ll get a complete digital marketing plan, full SEO services, social media, and PPC campaigns.
Is SEO important? – You’ve probably heard this question before… This vital digital marketing tool is one of the core components of a full digital marketing strategy for virtually every business.
It’s one of the main ways of getting your website in front of your potential customers. And this means more traffic, more opportunities to convert your prospects into new customers, a better reputation for your company and increased brand awareness.
So the answer is simple: YES… SEO is important, but there’s more to it. Here’s what you’ll need to know:
How to determine good SEO services?
A good SEO agency will guide you through all the main concepts of SEO and will work out a strategy for your business. Here’s what you’ll need to focus on to get the best service:
define your goals – which areas of your online presence do you want to improve? Is your website new or does it need just a slight redesign? Do you need a completely new website or just a simple SEO campaign for an already established website? Think about all these questions and try to find the right answers. If you are not sure about your goals, you can get a digital marketing analysis done. This will tell you what your priorities should be.
data tracking – good SEO agencies will always use some kind of data tracking for their campaigns. Tracking is one of the most important aspects of a successful SEO campaign – you can’t plan or schedule your strategy without knowing the data behind it – it’s as simple as that. It involves measuring site visits, click through rates, contact forms, phone calls, keywords, SERP rankings, backlinks, and many other factors. Good SEO is always based on precise data and numbers, not on gut instincts.
reviews, testimonials, case studies – reviews say a lot about companies, and the same goes for SEO agencies. Try to look for unbiased reviews or testimonials online, either on their website or on 3rd party websites like Google, Glassdoor or Yelp. Also, a good idea is to use the contact form on the agency’s website. See what their response is and how they handle your request.
schedule a consultation – see how well you connect with the agency and discuss your project. A good agency will love to talk about the importance of SEO in digital marketing, how your company can benefit from it, as well as their previous work, their strategy and how they can handle your project.
Why do you need to hire an SEO Specialist?
Most website owners know and understand the basics of SEO, but that’s not enough in the highly competitive online world. Basic SEO will simply not get you too far in terms of organic traffic, visibility and overall results.
The same goes for do-it-yourself SEO campaigns: they might work in very specific cases, but not in the long term. The competition is fierce, and without a professional, you won’t enjoy the full benefits of SEO.
So how do you know you need a professional? Here are some of the reasons:
limited SEO knowledge or experience – let’s face it – you have to focus on your business and your specific field of work. It’s virtually impossible to master both your industry and SEO. A professional SEO agency will know how to handle your project, create a plan and implement it. You won’t have to learn and experiment with SEO.
not enough time – SEO is not a “one and done” marketing strategy. It doesn’t work as a billboard on a busy highway. SEO is an on-going strategy that should be nurtured over time, adapted and constantly tracked. The online world is an ever-changing system, and this why SEO matters so much; it helps your website adapt in the hectic online environment;
great website but no traffic – if you already have a website that you are proud of, it’s time to get traffic to it. You worked a lot on your website, it works great, it has all the information people look for, but there’s no traffic. It deserves to be noticed and SEO is a great way to get visitors, new leads and new customers.
What are the SEO Best Practices?
To have a successful SEO strategy, you should try to implement as many best practices for SEO as possible. Here are the best ones to focus on:
Keywords:
have one primary keyword per page on your website
don’t use the same primary keyword for multiple pages
use the primary keyword in the title, the first paragraph, the meta title, and the description
focus on a keyword density of 2 percent
use secondary or related keywords for each page at least once
On-site content:
don’t publish poor content; write high-quality content and publish it periodically; use good photos and videos; outsource content creation if possible
don’t publish duplicate content
use brief image file names
Links:
Include links on each page
use internal links; use the page’s target keyword as the anchor text
fix broken links
attract links from good websites, blogs or other high-quality online sources
Local SEO:
create a Google business page
add your website to directories and other online platforms
link your website with social media profiles
make sure your name, address, and phone are correctly written in your contact us area
Technical aspects:
add an SSL certificate to your website
Increase the speed of your website
use a responsive, mobile-friendly design
track analytics and monitor your website’s activity and performance
Why it’s good to do SEO in Business Website?
Search engine optimization is one of the best ways to increase traffic and get more clients for your business. Here’s why SEO is important for your online success:
SEO leads convert better – a study* has shown that SEO leads result in a close rate of 14.6 percent, compared to just 1.7 percent for outbound leads
good SEO optimization means better user experience – your visitors want to experience a mobile-friendly design, good photo and video integration and excellent written content
ranking in local search gets better leads – local leads are the best: more than 50 percent of consumers who did a local search visited a store on the same day. Also, 20 percent of local mobile searches led to a sale within a day
SEO makes your business more credible – the importance of SEO extends far beyond getting organic traffic. Ranking higher in the SERPs signals that you are a leader in your industry. It shows your business is trustworthy, professional and an authority in its area.
Let’s see the answers to the question which is on everyone’s lips – How Does SEO Work? You’ve definitely seen it before… SEO is one of those acronyms you see everywhere online. It stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is the process of optimizing your website to get unpaid, organic traffic from search engines.
Whether it’s a new website or a complete redesign, knowing what SEO is all about is very important for every business which wants to have an online presence.
What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization, as previously discussed, is an all-encompassing term used to describe the processes, methods, and strategies focused on optimizing your website to get organic traffic.
In simpler words, SEO involves making changes to your website design and content in order to make it more attractive to search engines. All these efforts are made in the hope of attracting more traffic from search engines and getting a good position on the search engine results pages (SERPs).
While SEO often involves a complex strategy, with multiple methods and factors, the basic process is quite straightforward. Search engines want to provide their visitors with the best results for their queries.
To do this, they employ crawlers, which are special algorithms that scour the internet for information. These algorithms pay attention to a lot of factors: how your website is built, its content, how user-friendly it is, how other websites point back to your website and so on.
The search engines work with this information gathered by the crawlers and reward websites which are better built, more user-friendly and relevant, with higher rankings on the results page.
Simply put, SEO is the process of making your website rank better on these pages (SERPs). For instance, if you have an article on your website about repairing air conditioning units, you should optimize it so everyone looking for “how to repair an AC unit” sees it as a top result on the SERPs.
How to do SEO?
There are several basic SEO techniques you can start doing on your own. Here’s a short breakdown:
keyword research – this is your first step for every successful SEO campaign. You might understand your industry’s jargon, the special terms, the products or services, but think about your consumers. What do they look for? What are they searching for online? How is the demand created and what is its specifics? Do an in-depth analysis of what people are searching for in your industry. There are excellent SEO tools to help you out. One of the best ones is Google’s Keyword Planner, where you can check every keyword, its competition, its reach, and many other factors.
understand your competition – what are your main competitors doing? How are their websites ranking for the most popular keywords? What type of content are they using? How are they structuring their website and information? Also, study their reviews, social media presence, and online reputation.
planning your strategy – make a list of the top keywords you want to focus on, what type of content you want to create, your website’s layout and create a schedule for your long term optimization strategy.
website optimization (on-page SEO) – this is the hard part. You’ll have to start creating the website, its pages, create an e-commerce platform (if needed) and populate your website with content. You’ll have to make sure it is mobile-friendly, engaging and it works flawlessly on every type of device. There are a lot of factors and details to think about, so it might be a good idea to outsource some of the work before you become overwhelmed.
promotion and public relations (off-page SEO) – your website has to attract high-quality links from another website in order to be relevant. Search engines love this link juice that flows to your website and you must make sure you get as much as possible. Google’s SEO guide advises webmasters to build high-quality websites that people want to talk about, share and revisit. This is one of the most important ways of getting links back to your website. Other methods include: interacting with bloggers, online magazines, hosting webinars, doing social media marketing or bookmarking and many others.
How to improve SEO?
If you already implemented a search engine optimization plan but want more, there are several ways to do it. Here’s how to get more from your SEO strategy:
be consistent – SEO is an ongoing process and, to be successful, you must be active every day. Search engines love fresh content, updated frequently. And so do your visitors. Make sure you create content (text, audio, photos or videos) on a regular basis to keep your website fresh and updated.
use metadata – each page has a space between the <head> tags to insert additional information about the content. Try to include your title metadata, description metadata, and keyword metadata. It only takes a couple of minutes, but it will add a little magic to your efforts.
enable local SEO – this is ideal for businesses that have a local market. If you focus on local search, try to include it in your grand internet marketing strategy. This way, you’ll compete on a local level for every keyword and will have a much easier run to a good spot on the SERPs.
focus on video marketing – video is huge now and everyone is trying to get a piece of the action. Try to be as active as possible in this direction: create a series, video intros, conferences, tutorials or reviews. People love watching videos and, if done properly, will boost your SEO results.
How much does SEO cost?
Basic SEO can be done in-house, using simple techniques and methods, and it does work, but the results are limited and usually inconsistent. If you want to get the good, long-term results, you will have to work with a professional digital marketing agency.
The prices for SEO services are varied and can accommodate most budgets:
$200 to $500 per month – smaller packages, ideal for local SEO strategies; they include basic SEO strategies, content creation, and content marketing for small businesses;
$500 to $1,000 per month – this is the most popular pricing tier; you’ll get a good SEO strategy for your website, content creation, content marketing, social media marketing, and other related services;
$1,000 to $2,500 per month – this will get you a personalized SEO strategy with various types of content and related services;
$2,500 to $5,000 per month (and up) – this tier will get you the best an agency has to offer: a fully customized SEO plan, every type of content and social media monitoring.
The real estate industry is fiercely competitive, both offline and online. The market is there, that’s a fact – there are millions of people trying to buy or sell a property at any given moment.
There are also tens of thousands of small to large companies working in the sector, so the competition is huge. Considering that the majority of house hunters start their search for properties online, real estate SEO is one of the core components of real estate marketing today.
How Useful is SEO for Real Estate Website?
More quality leads, no more unqualified prospects, no more meetings, fewer cold calls, and more revenue – these are the benefits of real estate SEO. So, what does SEO mean in real estate? How can you implement it and when can you see the results?
The real estate industry is ideal for SEO: it’s local, it’s online friendly and the people are looking for a specific, high ticket product. Plus, SEO never rests – it works long term, it brings you new leads constantly, without any footwork, ads or billboards. This means continuous growth for your real estate business.
According to a new study** cited by the National Association of Realtors, 44 percent of all buyers start their search online. That’s a massive amount when compared to data from 1981 when everyone searched local newspaper ads.
The internet has changed the real estate market profoundly. Everyone is online, both buyers and sellers, and that means SEO is a critical component of your marketing strategy.
The real estate industry is extremely locally dependent. People always search for homes in a specific location, so local SEO is one of the main areas you will have to invest in.
For instance, keywords must be locally identifiable, your content must be locally relevant and your backlinks should preferably come from local sources.
What are Real Estate SEO Services?
Creating an effective real estate SEO strategy requires several important components. Your real estate SEO consultant will guide you through the entire process, but here are some of the things you should know:
choosing the keywords – use Google’s Keyword Planner to identify the best keywords for your area and type of property; the keywords’ popularity varies greatly depending on your location
adapt your website for listings – use IDX integration to display various properties. These pages should be designed as mini-websites for each neighborhood or community. Include in-depth information about the area, such as schools, parks, popular attractions, and other features. Include your main and secondary keywords in the content – this is very important for search engine crawlers
create new content – SEO is an ongoing effort, so you should constantly try to produce fresh content for your website and social media profiles
distributing the content – focus on publishing the content on your website and social media profiles, as well as real estate directories
tracking – data tracking will tell you crucial information about your real estate SEO stats, so you can adapt your strategy in real time
Why you need a Real Estate SEO Expert for your Business?
While basic SEO can be done in-house with satisfactory results, you should contact a real estate SEO expert if you want a full strategy for your business. An expert can:
help you define the keywords – real estate websites are locally specific and an expert will advise on what keywords work better, have lower competition and are more suitable for the area. Also, you will get help on interactive mapping, geotargeting and other SEO specific elements.
help you create content that converts – articles, blogs, photos, and videos – these are the types of content that people look for in this industry, and your real estate SEO consultant can help you create them. Also, creating content is not enough, an expert will also guide you on how to do content marketing.
help you with an SEO audit – this will tell you how your website stands in terms of SEO. You will receive a report on your page structure, links, content, usability, and technical details.
help you with on-site optimization – after you receive the report, the expert will create a plan to optimize your website. You’ll receive guidance on content optimization, structure and design optimization, redirects, site speed, SSL certificates, W3C validation, CTR and bounce rates, among many others.
help you create a social media presence – social media is an amazing magnet for new traffic. Your main way to connect with your audience. Experts can help you create profiles, activate and populate them with content. They interact with your followers on multiple social media platforms. This will turn you into an important social media real estate personality.
How to Find a Reliable Real Estate SEO Company or Agency?
There are countless SEO agencies on the market. How do you know which one is the best for your real estate website? Let’s take a look:
knowing your goals – before looking for an SEO agency, try to outline your goals and what you want. Do you want more sales, better brand awareness or more visibility? Do you want a complete overhaul of your website or just a small? One-time campaign for a specific event or launch?
find reviews – try to find unbiased reviews for every SEO agency you find. Look for reviews on 3rd party websites, review platforms or realtor communities. Also, look for testimonials or case studies on their websites. Good SEO companies always publish case studies so clients know what to expect.
schedule a consultation – asking for a digital marketing consultation is the next step in your search. Try to schedule a phone call with multiple SEO agencies to discuss your project. Pay attention to their process, their attitude and their approach. Pick the one who seems more passionate about their work and wants to see good results.
Local SEO – this is the hottest topic when it comes to digital marketing. Why? It’s simple: it works! Most businesses are working locally, have a local consumer base, and design their products or services for their local market. So it’s quite obvious – local SEO is an amazing way to get more locally targeted traffic to your website. One of the most powerful local SEO techniques is Google Maps marketing.
Google Maps is an amazing platform developed by Google. Packed with tools and features that can get you ahead of your competition, it’s one of the most important tools you can use in digital marketing. Let’s take a closer look at how Google Maps can help your business:
Why do you need to Add Business to Google Maps?
Google Maps will be your best friend when it comes to local SEO. It’s the most popular navigation tool by a landslide – more than 67 percent of people use it, while Waze comes in second place with only 12 percent market share*. This means that Google Maps virtually controls two-thirds of the online navigation market – which is A LOT of traffic.
This makes Google Maps the most important tool for local SEO, by far. Millions of visitors use it to search for directions to local businesses, attractions, and personal addresses. The app is also important because people use it on their mobile devices. The mobile app, especially if the location feature is active, is a powerful marketing tool for your business.
If implemented correctly, Google Maps marketing can become one of the quickest ways to bolster your presence in local search results. What’s more, you will be seen as a local authority in your industry and the go-to place for local customers who want a specific product or service.
Effective Google Maps Marketing Strategies for your Business
Google maps marketing is essentially a set of processes and methods of using Google Maps to make your business easier to find. Google maps marketing is especially relevant for local search traffic (for instance, people searching for “best hair salon near me”).
Local traffic is particularly important for small businesses, which makes Google Maps one of the most important part of your overall digital marketing strategy. Here are some of the effective strategies for local business.
include your location – your address is the most important element in your Google Maps strategy. Keep in mind that workarounds like building separate landing pages targeting other locations are virtually worthless for Google Maps. They will only be relevant for your organic results. Make sure you include your location precisely – include the physical address, P.O. box, apartment number, and other important location details.
use Google My Business – to get the full benefits of Google Maps marketing, you must fill out your Google My Business profile. Include your website address, email, phone number, physical address and any other info you may find relevant.
inbound links and citations – links are the lifeblood of SEO and they are also crucially important in local marketing. Google will see the links and citations pointing back at your website and will better determine your industry, location and overall relevance, strengthening the possibility to appear in local search queries.
on-page optimization – your website must also be optimized for local SEO. Make sure your website includes the same info you put into your Google My Business profile (the same address, phone number, email and opening hours). Try to include an embedded Google Map with your location and directions by car, public transportation or foot.
Google Maps ads – if you want to move away from SEO and get instant traffic to your website, try to promote your business on Google Maps. Your ads will appear before the organic results and will look slightly different. This strategy will differentiate you from your competitors and will get you instant results, but will come at a cost.
What are the Good Practices of Google Maps Optimization?
Here are the best practices to employ in your Google Maps marketing strategy:
get good citations – they are specific to Google Maps marketing and they come from 3rd party websites, directories and review platforms. Good citations, with specific local information, will help you a lot in your local SEO efforts. They will increase your company’s visibility, reputation, and credibility.
generate good reviews – getting Google Maps marketing reviews can be tricky for some companies, but the safest bet is to simply ask for one. You can ask for a review by offering incentives, special offers, review us cards, prizes and so on. Most customers are happy to leave a good review if the service is good, so you won’t have to do much convincing.
geo-tagging your photos or videos – name your photos as “company name + location” or “keyword + location” before you include them in your Google My Business. Similarly, try to geotag your photos before uploading them. Google will read this information and will consider it when showing local search results.
use google posts – Google Posts is a new feature in Google My Business; it allows business owners to post and share content on their Google listings. This content will appear on your listing and will make your business more relevant locally.
How Google Maps Rankings affect your Business?
If your business relies on local customers, getting good rankings in the local search results will have a tremendous impact on the success of your company.
Similarly, getting good Google Maps rankings can boost your visibility and increase the number of leads and customers. Using the Google Maps marketing platform will make you a local industry leader and a trusted business partner.
What’s more, Google Maps marketing works in the long run – your business will get more citations, reviews, and backlinks, further increasing its position in local search queries. You’ll see faster growth, more clients and better visibility for years to come.
It is consistently ranked as one of the most competitive markets in the service sector. High prices across the nation, growing demand, and solid career advancement opportunities make this market particularly attractive for new brokers.
Either an independent contractor or an agency, you want to grow your business, and real estate marketing agency plays a huge role in attracting new leads.
According to a 2018 study* done by the National Associaton of Realtors (NAR), 87 percent of home buyers purchase their property through an agent.
These are some of the topics we will discuss in this article:
The market is immense – there’s no denying that. But how can you take advantage of this opportunity and really grow your business? Let’s have a look:
How does Real Estate Marketing Work?
Like any other type of marketing, it is essentially a strategy to make your service known to your potential clients and to attract new leads. Putting your offers in front of potential clients is an important part of the picture, but it’s not merely enough.
It should not be confused with real estate advertising. A complete marketing plan includes both advertising, branding, building trust, awareness, but also working with precise concepts like market research, competitive analysis, budgets, and metrics.
It is all about creating a professional image for your business. This means that your potential customers should see you as a professional, someone who understands and can assist them in finding the best deal.
A good marketing plan will help your business be visible, look professional and be an important partner for your potential clients. This translates into more leads, more clients and more sales for your business.
Marketing Strategies for Real Estate Agents
Here are the most important elements of a successful strategy:
Identify your goals and objectives – set realistic, attainable objectives for your plan by examining past performance, market size, and future growth patterns. Use hard numbers to predict your revenue and profits. Make an estimate on the number of clients you expect to have in the next year, the sales volume, the average listing price and numbers of deals closed. If not sure, reach out to other realtors or look for examples in your area.
General marketing goals – determine your marketing goals – Do you want more clients? Do you want to increase brand awareness? Do you want to close an X number of deals in the future? Come up with a plan for each of these questions.
Create your target buyer – this fictional buyer should be the person you have in mind for your marketing plan. In other words, your target buyer is your target audience. Make sure you know who this buyer is when you build your website, social media profiles, design your ads, make videos and promote your offers. Think about specifics like age, location, income, education, family size, interests and hobbies and so on.
Similar to the target buyer, you should create your target seller!
Know your area and community – this is crucial in the market. Your marketing plan should be designed for your specific area or niche. Use geographic, demographic and social data to better understand your community. If you understand the makeup of your market and how it’s expected to change, you’ll communicate better with your audience. A good resource for more information and real estate marketing tools is www.city-data.com.
Let’s take a look at some real estate marketing ideas that really work:
Offer free – valuations to get more seller leads
Live stream your – business day to day activity on social media – people are naturally curious and would love to see how local real estate agents actually work
Host regular events – a good idea is to host a monthly happy hour open bar, where you invite your clients and their families for a casual get-together. It’s a great way to market yourself organically and get new leads
Create infographics – take useful data and make it attractive and easy to read for your potential clients
Use other social – media platforms, like Snapchat and Pinterest – there are a lot of potential clients here
Create a video series – video marketing is big in this sector – harness its true potential with a video series. A good example is a weekly or monthly “Ask a realtor” series. It’s great for exposure and brand awareness.
Use influencers and community marketing – local bloggers or social media personalities can help you expand your business tremendously.
To give you more creative marketing ideas for real estate agents, you can find it here.
With more than 1.3 million real estate agents in the country, the market is getting more competitive than ever. This is especially true in the most sought after areas, where the market is growing every year.
CREATIVE MARKETING RESOURCES FOR REAL ESTATE AGENTS
In this highly lucrative market, every realtor tries to gain the upper hand and grow their business. Focusing on creative marketing, as the experts like to call it, will make your business stand out in this highly competitive industry. This chapter will guide you through the basics of creative marketing ideas for real estate agents.
How to Find Clients as a Real Estate Agent?
Getting clients is the lifeblood of every business, and real estate is no exception. Generating enough leads for your business will guarantee success, increase your reputation and help grow your business in the future.
So what do you have to do in order to get more clients? Let’s have a look at some tips:
Build your online presence – virtually all clients use the internet to hunt for properties, so you have to be present on virtually every platform. Real estate branding is your first focus by establishing your website – make sure it is up to date, has your contact information and looks professional. Next, focus on your social media presence. Are you easy to find on Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin? Make sure you update these profiles frequently and interact with your potential clients. If you maintain an active and professional online presence, your customers will find you.
Use webinars – webinars act like an open house for your business. It’s like having a live appointment with your clients and prospects, where you can answer questions in real time. If you are using a specialized webinar app, you can run multiple webinars at the same time, so your reach will be larger.
Create attractive photos and videos – this industry is a visual business – your clients want to see what a property looks like before visiting it. Working with a photographer or a videographer is an excellent idea.
Get involved in the local community – this is a great idea if you work locally. Join community groups, charitable causes, conferences, events, and local meetings. Interact with people, join debates and get yourself known. In time, people will notice you and, hopefully, become your clients.
Zillow Premier Agent is the top lead generator website for agents in the country. With more than 160 million visitors every month, Zillow is the place to be if you are a realtor.
Joining Zillow Premier Agent is simple and will let you submit exclusive listings. This increases the chance of getting the full commission of a sale, regardless of your location or experience.
While Zillow is free for homebuyers, sellers and offers free basic services for realtors, Zillow Premier Agent is priced at $20 to $60 per lead, depending on the average home price in your ZIP code, the competition, and other factors.
Placester is an IDX website builder and integrator tailored for agents. If you find WordPress to difficult or complex for your needs, Placester is designed to help you create and manage your website.
It provides a sleek website solution, complete with IDX integration, a built-in CRM, drip email functions, advanced property search, excellent customer support and agent management tools. The service is priced at $99 per month.
Freshchat uses modern artificial intelligence to gain leads for your business via live chat. It combines human interaction with AI to collect information from your website’s visitors.
It determines which leads are more likely to buy based on several factors. Freshchat starts at $15 per month.
Best Real Estate Agent Ads
You probably noticed that ads in this industry often sound cheesy or awkward – it’s no wonder they are rarely effective! To stand out, your ads must use a beautiful image, a catchy tagline, a short intro and a brief call to action. As in all marketing, brevity is king.
It shows you are professional and it’s attractive for the viewer. Here are a few real estate agent ads examples:
Coldwell Banker Schmidt
In these examples, the realtor, Coldwell Banker Schmidt, went directly to the core of what people want when they are looking for a new home. They want a place to grow and prosper.
The ads are perfect for the Midwestern market and they are easy for anyone to identify with. They show what real estate agent services should be about.
Compass
Named “Guiding you home”, the ad from Compass acts as a disruptive force in the sea of boring ads. Its sleek design, minimalist details and layout, gorgeous photography and brief copy sets it apart and attracts the viewer.
How much do Real Estate Agents spend on Marketing?
Real estate is more than simply advertising your clients’ properties and hoping to get a call from a prospective client. In order to grow your business and expand your reach, you will have to work out a complete marketing plan.
You should be focusing on building awareness, creating and maintaining an online presence, establishing your reputation and generating leads.
Once you establish your goals, you should look at your marketing budget. Let’s take a look at what you can expect for each type of budget:
up to $2,000 per year – this won’t get you much, but you’ll at least be able to afford a photographer, a copywriter and a small website
up to $5,000 per year – this will get you all the above, plus several videos, a few hours of a digital marketer’s time for your strategy and a social media course to get the basics
up to $10,000 per year – all the above, plus a professionally built website, complete with support, a paid advertising campaign, a real estate agent marketing plan template to work with, social media ads and campaigns
up to $20,000 per year – all the above, plus a videographer to work with, copywriters, sponsored content on social media, email marketing, and digital marketing consulting
up to $80,000 per year – with this budget, you can outsource all your marketing to a professional digital marketing agency. Usually, these companies are focused on providing effective marketing strategies for real estate agents and will create a complete bespoke marketing plan. Plus, they will keep you updated according to a specific schedule agreed by both parties.
MARKETING STRATEGIES TO APPLY IN REAL ESTATE.
This industry is fiercely competitive. With more than 1.3 million realtors in the country (according to recent data published by the National Association of Realtors – NAR), the competition is heating up even more and getting leads is getting more difficult than ever.
Marketing Strategies for Real Estate Agents Quicklinks:
To set yourself apart from the pack you’ll have to be an expert in both online and offline marketing strategies for real estate agents. While agents are still key in this industry, more and more buyers are increasingly looking online before talking to the experts.
A study by the NAR showed that 92 percent of buyers do their house hunting online before contacting an agent. So, if you are not online, active and engaging, you are missing out on a lot of new business.
What are the Best Marketing Tools for Real Estate Agents?
Real estate marketing tools provide agents everything to help them generate more leads, get more exposure and manage their clients.
Here are some of the best tools every realtor should use:
Zillow Premier Agent – Zillow has more than 160 million monthly visitors – this makes Zillow Premier Agent one of the most powerful lead generation tools in the industry. The tool allows you to submit new listings on the platform, add your contact information and other recommendations. With Zillow Premier Agent, your name will appear exclusively on your listing, so you’ll have a better chance of getting the full commission. For an additional fee, you can advertise on the listings of other agents.
BoxBrownie.com – Great photos or videos are everything in this industry. BoxBrownie.com works with some of the best real estate agent marketing companies in the industry and offers multiple tools to help realtors. The app has powerful image editing and enhancement features, and with more than 40 designers on staff, has very quick turnaround times.
CityBlast – Social media is an amazingly powerful tool for connecting to your potential clients and finding new prospects. CityBlasts connects to your major social media profiles and helps you find content, create content and interact with your fans.
Real Geeks – A good CRM tool is ideal to track, organize and manage existing or new leads. With Real Geeks, you can optimize every call or email, engage with your clients, track their journey through your sales process and get notifications according to a preset schedule.
Unique Real Estate Marketing Ideas
The more competitive your local market, the more creative you’ll have to be with your marketing strategies for real estate agents.
Here are some ideas to help you out:
Create a video tour (or series) of your neighborhood – Explore everyday life in your neighborhood for your potential clients. Architecture, culture, cuisine, events or unique attractions – you can include anything you find interesting in the area. Add comments from local residents, their opinions, small bits of information and sprinkle it all with a little humor.
Use drone photos or videos – Don’t be afraid to use new technology for your listings, especially if the property allows it. Drone photos or videos can better highlight the depth of the space, the outdoor area, and the landscape, so your clients will get more from your presentation.
Be personable – If you have the personality, show it! Be fun, approachable and friendly – your customers will notice you and will see you as more than a business partner. Try to create an introductory video, a house tour or a video testimonial where customers can “meet you” for the first time.
Getting your listing in front of the right people can be tough. There are heaps of listings out there and your offer has to stand out, regardless of the price, features or location.
Here’s a short list of ideas to help you advertise your listing:
Social media live tour – Facebook live videos are amazingly popular nowadays. Why? Because they work, people love them and want more of them. They are a great sales tool because they create a sense of urgency. Start by taking a short tour of the neighborhood and then focus on the house.
Messenger advertising – this strategy works great if you know how to target your ads in front of a large audience.
Open house events – Event response ads, such as open house events, are fabulous ways to attract a new potential client to your listings. Make sure you schedule them at least 2 weeks ahead, so customers have enough time to answer to your request.
Use influencers – Influencers are seen as opinion leaders. These people have a huge, loyal following and are seen as a trustworthy resource. If they share your ads or contact information, you’ll get a massive boost in your visibility.
Host a contest – Set up a contest that gives your followers something of value for their homes, gift cards, memberships or guides.
“How to” Marketing for New Real Estate Agents
Having a killer online presence is the #1 thing you’ll have to do as a new real estate agent. Here are the basics:
Your website – This is a way to start real estate branding awareness online. This is the first thing you need to get right. A website is your main online real estate property in your portfolio, and it has to showcase your business professionally. Use WordPress, find a good theme and include a short bio, about us page, contact information and focus on creating content.
Social media – Learn about the most popular social media platforms and make sure you are there: Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter. Facebook is ideal for friends, acquaintances and interacting with clients, Linkedin is business-oriented and Twitter is ideal for microblogging.
Get on most important real estate platforms – Zillow, Trulia, Homesnap, Redfin and many others should be your first options.
Create an advertising budget – As soon as you get everything set, you can think about your advertising budget. To help you with this, you can contact any of the real estate agent marketing companies in your area, which can help you with the best marketing packages for real estate agents.
Consumers today know what they want, know how to look for information and want to feel a genuine human connection when deciding on their next purchase. In short, the new consumer is market-savvy. The customer wants to buy from businesses or people they know, understand, like and trust. They want the full P2P (person to person) experience.
Buyers value brands and here is where real estate branding comes into the picture. They value quality, integrity, knowledge and strong, efficient communication. In this industry, this means that you, as a realtor, must demonstrate integrity and knowledge, put effective communication practices in place, provide consistent quality services and have a unified, coherent public image.
How to build a real estate brand?
Building a powerful brand is about being forward-thinking. Real estate branding is long-term, it evolves continuously and it adapts to industry trends, but its main focus is consistency.
However, as the number and variety of mediums to manage have grown, planning your branding strategy has become increasingly difficult.
Start building your brand by putting some of these ideas into practice:
Create a complete online presence – this includes creating your own website, your social media profiles on the major platforms (including a profile on a video platform), your personal account on real estate platforms. Work on creating content for these online platforms, as this is the main way you will interact with prospects and clients.
Create a real estate branding design – think about the colors, the logo, your email signature, the layout for your photos, your outdoor signs and anything that may make you stand out.
Create marketing materials – focus on both online and offline marketing materials, how your adds will look, how your copy will read and so on.
Be consistent – branding is an on-going process. It never stops and you have to be focused on being consistent every day. Your website and social media profiles must always be updated, pay attention to how your listings look, how you interact with people and how you answer to their queries.
What are some real estate branding ideas that work?
Commercial real estate branding is all about bringing value, being informative and provide inspiration to your future prospects and existing clients.
Real Estate Branding Idea
Publishing photos and videos are very important, but may not be enough if you want to really boost your brand and dominate your industry. Here are some ideas that will help you reach your branding goals:
Tell a story – photos are amazing ways to showcase a property, but what if you can actually help your clients see themselves living there? What if you tell a story about the neighborhood, the unique amenities and features of the community? Or if you talk about the lifestyle or business opportunities this area can provide? Try to paint the complete picture: ask the residents, conduct interviews, produce a feature on restaurants, stores or schools. Help your prospects truly understand the community and see what makes them tick.
Be knowledgeable – this will give you a head-start when talking with a potential client. It helps build trust and makes you look professional. If you have the answers to all the possible questions, you can better understand what your clients are looking for. Plus, you will be able to steer away from the “too salesy” approach that so many realtors focus on. You will be seen as someone who provides real value and answers, as opposed to someone who only wants to make the sale and get the commission.
Build the dream team – your agents should be part of your branding efforts and you should have them contribute to your brand. Engage with them and try to come up with new ideas, have brainstorming sessions and include them in the content creation process. Create presentation videos with your team, discussions, Q&As or live videos.
Invest in video – video is huge in marketing and branding, and you should use it for its amazing benefits. Use video to make yourself look more professional, but also agreeable and friendly. Live videos, series and behind the scene videos are great ways to create a more personable, but professional brand.
Choosing the right name for your business is one of the most important elements in your real estate branding strategy. It’s the forefront of your business, the first thing your prospects come into contact with. It should represent you as a brand, be professional and easily marketable.
Choosing Real Estate Brand Name
Here’s a quick guide on how to choose the best name for your business:
your name or not your name? – for most realtors, using a variation of their name for their business works fine. For example, “John Adams Realtors” or “Brian Johnson Team” is excellent if you work with a small team and your business is working locally. There are some drawbacks, however. If you choose this type of name, you are the business, so if you decide on selling it, or hiring someone else to run it, you may encounter challenges. An alternative is naming your business neutrally, such as “Success Team” or “The Inspired Realtors”, which can overcome these potential issues.
Avoid string of numbers and letters – don’t choose names like “123Realtors” or “999ABCRealtors”. It will just show you are unprofessional and superficial.
Local names – only use local names if you want to work in a specific geographical area. If you want to expand in the future, this might be a challenge, so pay attention to this detail.
Keywords – including related keywords is a good idea, but it may look unprofessional if you go overboard. Try to use only one keyword (e.g. The Boutique, The Experts and so on)
After choosing your brand name, you need to come up with marketing strategies for your business.
Best Real Estate Branding Examples
Raj Qsar – The Boutique Group
Raj Qsar is one of the leaders of video marketing in the industry. Often dubbed as the King of Real Estate Video, their videos have become a trademark of their agency and are consistently ranked high in Southern California.
Hawaii Life
Matt Beall’s agency is a branding success mainly thanks to the aptly named video series “Hawaii Life”, where he frequently presents the lifestyle, attractions and features of the area.
The Jills
Miami-based Jill Hertzberg and Jill Eber have capitalized immensely on their similar first names and built an excellent brand for their company. Working in one of the hottest real estate markets in the country, the dynamic duo is instantly recognizable as a professional, yet friendly team of agents.
HOW DOES REAL ESTATE SEM WORK?
Is Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Important for My Real Estate Agency?
Starting with the basic concept of Search Engine Marketing or SEM or Google AdWords, it simply means paid advertising/marketing of your real estate agency via paid advertisements to be placed online on search engines such as Google, Yahoo, or Bing or social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or Foursquare.
If you plan on using Google Adwords or other SEM channels for your real estate agency it is important to know three things:
By using SEM (Paid Media) on various search engines and social media advertising you will cast more “lines” out to a wider internet audience that not only is interested in your real estate agency services and listings but also looking to buy real estate now or in the near future. Continue reading ‘Complete Real Estate Marketing Guide for 2020’ »
