Category: Online Marketing

Why You Need A Blog (And How To Get One)

Yes You Do and Yes You Can.

Stop with all of that ‘I can’t – I don’t – I won’t’ stuff and read on.

Our real estate marketplace is largely electronic.  Today, real estate businesses and careers are made online.

That’s where the buyers are and that’s where the sellers expect to be.

You know this and have done a pretty good job of getting more than your big toe into that ocean.  You have an optimized website, a social media presence, a syndication arrangement that broadcasts your listings all over the place, and more.

But, so does everyone else who is serious about the business.

When everyone has the same tools, when everyone is doing the same thing online, the key is TO BE FOUND:  traffic.

How do you ‘Get Found’ in this vast Internet Ocean?  How do you build traffic to your business? 

There are many ways, but . . .

Not too long ago, HubSpot analyzed the website traffic of 1,400 companies.  They split them into two groups:  those with blogs (938) and those without (462).  The blogging group generated 67% MORE LEADS than the non-blogging group.

How can this be?  Why would a blog be better at generating web traffic and leads than almost anything else?  Here are 3 reasons:

  1. A good real estate blog is a constant source of local market information – and therefore, local market search terms used by local real estate consumers every day in their searches.  
  2. Unlike your well optimized website, the content of your blog is dynamic:  it changes every week, becomes bigger, gets indexed over and over as it grows.  
  3. A blog is immediate:  it is a near instant commentary on events and conditions in the local market, and is therefore very attractive to search engines.  

I believe that getting found today by buyers and sellers is a function of 3 things:

Inventory – And of course, Help-U-Sell has a competitive advantage in this area, a superior offer for home sellers.

Saturation –  A mechanism for getting information about your inventory out to as many Internet outlets as possible, which Help-U-Sell brokers have by virtue of their own websites and the syndication that occurs automatically as they add their inventory.

Blogging – Which is a search engine magnet.   They will find you with your blog.  Your blog will drive them to your website.

A few Help-U-Sell Brokers have taken on the blogging challenge, some with excellent results.  Most have not, because:

  • It’s an organizational hassle:  getting set up, learning how to do it, buying hosting and domain names and templates takes time and energy and is often a foray into unknown territory.
  • It’s a rather large time commitment:  You have to be prepared to sit down and write well and intelligently on a regular basis.  It’s not something you do just once or twice and forget.
  • It requires writing skill:  Even for many people who write well, writing is not easy.  It takes so many mental skills, not the least of which is concentration – something that is very difficult to maintain when you have 30 listings and 14 pending sales.  

I’ve been Help-U-Sell Blogging for almost 5 years (and have no plans to stop anytime soon).  It’s something that is very easy for me.  I have always invited Help-U-Sell brokers to borrow from this blog, make the pieces their own and use them however they see fit.  Now I’m prepared to go one step further.

Very shortly I’ll present a program where I will:

  • Set up you blog:   create and customize your template, research and buy your domain name, and set up hosting for you blog.
  • Ghost-Write your blog:  Actually post unique localized content to your blog on a regular and recurring basis.
  • Monitor you blog:  track page views, unique visitors, popular posts and search phrases and make appropriate adjustments.
  • Teach you about your blog:  How to post, how to respond to comments, how to monitor, so you can become as involved as you choose to be.  

Some of you may use this as a first step to blogging on your own – kind of blogging training-wheels.   Others may see this as a turn-key solution, a way to have a blog without having the hassle.  Either way, you’ll be steps ahead in GETTING FOUND, in building traffic and creating leads.

Stay tuned for details . . . and if you’re anxious to get started quickly, get in touch: jamesdingman@gmail.com

 

Google Adwords and Analytics for Real Estate

On the Help-U-Sell Power Hour today, Ron McCoy talked with the group about the importance of monitoring website performance using Google Analytics.  It’s a fairly simple process to set up, especially for Help-U-Sell brokers who have an easy to use field in their website back-end for the Google code and a tech support team to help.

What Google Analytics will tell you is:  how many visitors find your website over a given time, how many pages they visit, how long they stay, where they came from (location and referrer), and so on.  It’s great information that can help you evaluate and upgrade your website.

Once it’s set up and running, once the website is localized and optimized,  Analytics is great for monitoring the effectiveness of your marketing.  In today’s online universe, much of your marketing should drive consumers to your website.  If that’s the intent of a marketing piece, you should see a spike in visitors when it runs.

I look at Analytics for The Set Fee Blog every day.  Day in – day out, the numbers are fairly consistent.  My traffic goes down a bit when I go through a dry spell and don’t post for days.  It goes up a bit when I post something that strikes a chord with readers and they share it with others.  But I can also see increases when I market the blog.

I ran a campaign a couple of weeks ago using Facebook Ads.  For $100 (I’m on a budget!), a little side panel ad questioning why real estate commissions are so high appeared on the Facebook pages of consumers who have expressed an interest in real estate.  The ad made about 300,000 impressions and garnered about 100 ‘clicks.’

Analytics for the period showed a nice jump in visitors, page views and time on site.  Of course those 100 people were in the mix, but so were all the people with whom they shared the specific post I linked the ad to:  Real Estate Commissions Revisited.  My Analytics traffic was up enough to convince me (once again) that a few hundred dollars tossed at Facebook Ads once in awhile is well worth the expense!

Here’s an idea for you.  You probably have a card or coupon for $100 worth of free Google AdWords in your desk drawer or in your email.  I say probably because I have several just because I have a real estate license and a corporation.  If you don’t have one, just call Google or send them a request for one (they give them away like candy).  Tell them you want to evaluate the effectiveness of AdWords in driving traffic to your website and they’ll give you the credit.

Then decide what kind of traffic you want, buyers or sellers.  Me?  I want sellers because listings are what’s in demand in my marketplace.  But that’s a problem, too, because I really don’t have a good seller capture page on my website.  So I need to work with Robbie and Peter in Sarasota to build that page.  It ought to look like an ETM . . . OR, hey, maybe it should look like THIS , but including a contact form, too.  The page ought to tell what I do for sellers and include testimonials from happy customers.  Once that’s done I will have a page to drive sellers to.

Now I can go to Google AdWords and create an ad.  But what should I advertise?  Hmmm.  How about:  ‘How to sell your San Diego home and save thousands’ or something similar.  Since you have $100 to spend, set the budget at something like $12 a day – that will get you about a week’s worth of placement.  And then start watching Analytics.  Do you see an increase in traffic to that landing page?  Now, check your own office analytics (your incoming call/inquiry logs):  of the traffic that gets to your landing page, how many actually contact your office.

This little exercise will not only get you familiar with Google Analytics, it will also help you evaluate the value of Google Adwords.

As an aside, given my limited experience, I like Facebook Ads a little better than Google AdWords because their targeting mechanism seems more detailed and precise.  But, to my knowledge, Facebook isn’t routinely giving away $100 of Ad credit and Google is.  Since this is a test and a learning experience, why not do it as cheaply as possible?  If it works for you, then invest a couple hundred bucks in a Facebook campaign targeting people around your office and see how that performs on Analytics.

 

What Does Your Seller Landing Page Look Like?

I’ve carped about it several times . . . most recently in my last post: Your website should enable potential sellers to learn how you can help them at a glance.

That seems so simple, until you start looking at real estate company websites. Most are oriented almost totally toward potential buyers – which is as it should be. Buyers find us online and if your company website doesn’t offer them superior tools and search capabilities they are not going to stop there. That’s why home search dominates almost every real estate company website.

But what if, like Help-U-Sell, your real estate company is really different? What if you have a completely different approach to working with home sellers than your competitors? If so, you’ve got a story to tell, and you’ve got to find a quick and easy way for potential sellers to hear it – which means ‘online.’

By the way, if you are Century 21, Coldwell Banker, ERA, BH&G, RE/Max, Exit, or any other national Brand, there’s no need to read further. You have nothing unique or special to offer sellers. It’s just business as usual done the same tired way it’s always been done in each of your offices. From a seller’s perspective, what’s the difference between Century 21 and Re/Max? Sign color.

Now, you, as an individual agent or broker, may be extraordinary! You may be completely unique in the spin you put on that old tired operating system. But consider this: if you were to sell your business to someone else, subtract your personality from the equation, what would your sellers have left? Yep: the same old tired way of doing business that is virtually identical to the way it’s being done in your competitors’ offices. No difference.

If, on the other hand, you ARE Help-U-Sell, you do have a completely different program for sellers. It costs WAY less, and the pricing makes sense! (what a concept)! You create opportunities for your sellers to save big time while delivering what they regard as ‘Full Service.’ You let them be as involved in the transaction as they want to be and you don’t play stupid REALTOR games like not letting them talk to potential buyers. If that’s you, you need to be using teaser ads to drive potential sellers to your website, where they can get a quick feel for what you do, which will enable them to take the next step: contact you.

In other words, you need a landing page for sellers, with its own unique URL and QR code.

What should be on it? At Help-U-Sell we have a great template: the ETM. Pictures and descriptions of homes for sale, sold and saves, testimonials and an Easy Way. Here. I took a stab at creating a seller landing page. It’s not pretty, but it could be:

Real estate sales commissions are high because they are designed to compensate four people: the listing agent, the listing agent’s broker - the selling agent (the one who brings in the buyer) and the selling agent’s broker. Most real estate commissions are a fixed percentage that you pay whether outside brokers and agents are involved or not. Because they are a fixed percentage, the more expensive your home, the more you will pay. At Help-U-Sell we ‘un-bundle’ commissions and services. Our home sellers may choose to offer their property for sale through outside brokers and agents - or not. They may choose to go into the local MLS - or not. Regardless of what services the home sellers selects at time of listing, however, the final fee is based on how the home actually sells. If there is no outside office or agent involved in the transaction, all the seller pays is the Help-U-Sell Set Fee. That’s another difference: instead of a percentage based commission, our sellers pay a low Set Fee to market their homes through Help-U-Sell. And while there are minor variations based on specific market niche’s, generally the seller with the 0,000 home who lists with Help-U-Sell ABC Realty will pay the same Set Fee as the seller with the 0,000 home. We are a full service real estate company. We do what ordinary brokers do and more, including: Consulting with you on pre-sale preparation and pricing Calculating your estimated net proceeds Marketing your home using the most up-to-date and effective methods Helping you evaluate every offer that is received Looking out for your best interest through the transaction Communicating what’s going on every step of the way Handling problems as they arise Coordinating inspections and transaction deadlines Reviewing closing documents with you Plus - we will save you thousands over what you’d pay most ordinary real estate brokers! See how much you could save!

Ok:  Sold and Saves, Testimonials, and a more detailed version of the Easy Way.  By the way, I know you can’t read that, but if you’ll click it, it will open up a PDF version that you can view or download.

At the bottom there is a link to the great ‘You-We-They’ interactive savings calculator Robbie built last year.  If there’s something missing it’s contact information or a contact form.  Oh, and a request for a free CMA.

Once you have your landing page built, use Facebook Ads, Google Ads, little teaser ads everywhere to drive potential sellers to it.  The landing page should communicate enough of your program so that a viewer would feel comfortable calling you.  And you know what happens when they call you, right?  About 97% of the time, you get the listing!

How to Use Facebook to Generate Leads

Forget about spending hours posting fascinating real estate information, looking for people to ‘Friend’ and creating an online persona. I know: that’s what all the ‘Gurus’ are telling you to do. And I’m sure it can work.   But I’m too impatient for that.  I want instant gratification.  I want to start a marketing effort today and see the results this week.  You can do that with Facebook and the following steps will show you how.

  1. Go to your office website content management system (CMS), or to your tech person if you have one, and build a great landing page for customers.  What kind of customers?  Well, the page could be directed at Buyers or Sellers, but since every real estate website is directed to Buyers (search, search, search) and since listings are the name of the game, I’m going to suggest you build one for Sellers.  What should be on it?  A brief description of what you do and why you’re better than anyone else in the business, testimonials from real people you’ve helped with happy photos, and a contact form that ties directly to your cell phone.
  2. Go to your Facebook page.  Look for the gear icon in the upper right corner and click it.  You’ll get a drop-down menu and you should select ‘Create Ad.’  You’re going to create a little sidebar ad to run on Facebook that will drive people to the landing page you just created.
  3. Locate a good duty free graphic that will draw the eye and craft an intriguing statement in the space allotted.  Tip:  put your phone number in the ad.  It is remarkable how many people will phone you rather than click the link in your ad – and, since this is pay-per-click, if they don’t click, you don’t pay!
  4. This is the fun part.  Target your ad to hit the Facebook pages of the people you want to reach.  Maybe you’ll choose a geography:  say, a 5 mile radius of your office.  Maybe you’ll choose an age range:  25 – 55.  Maybe you’ll choose any number of other criteria.  Each time you select a criteria, you’ll see the size of your potential audience shrink.  That’s a good thing.  The best marketing is target marketing and as you fine tune and shrink your target audience, the effectiveness of your ad will increase.
  5. Set a click-rate.  How much are you willing to pay when a consumer clicks your ad?  Facebook will suggest a range and it will often be fairly large, say:  $1.50 – $10 a click.  Whatever you choose can be edited at any time, so I suggest starting in the lower half of the range, ideally just south of the mid-point.  What you’re really setting is the MAX you’ll pay for a click because the click rate varies depending on how many other ads are competing for the same audience at the same time.  Maybe you’ll bid $3.00 a click.  When you check your stats,  you’ll discover you’re only paying, on average, $2.05 a click.
  6. Set a campaign duration and total budget.  I would suggest your first campaign should run 1 – 2 weeks and have a budget of, oh . . . $200.  That will be enough for you to see some results and make adjustments.
  7. As the campaign runs, check your stats daily, even two or three times a day.  Are  you getting enough clicks to exhaust your budget in the time allotted?  If not, maybe you should up your click rate.
  8. Meanwhile, meticulously track your results.  Of the clicks that get to  your landing page, how many fill in the inquiry form?  How many call you?  And what about the people who never click, but call the number in the ad?  How many of them are there?

You see, this is how you develop leads using Facebook:  you treat it like any other advertising medium . . . because that’s what it is.   I love Facebook pay-per-click advertising because it can be so highly targeted.  $2.00 might seem like a lot to pay for a click, until you recognize that it is a click originating within your target market, from a person who fits the description you chose, who was sufficiently motivated by your teaser ad to investigate.  It’s a bargain!

Here’s the key: What can you offer in your teaser ad to get viewers to your Landing Page?  If you are Help-U-Sell, that ought to be easy.  (Picture of house ‘thinking’) Headline:  Thinking of Selling?  Body: See how much you can save!  (555) 543-2109.  

And, by the way: though I dissed Facebook’s ability to build your business in the first paragraph, truth is: it’s a great tool for staying in touch with past clients. Please exploit that aspect to the fullest. But try a little pay-per-click to generate NEW business.
 

You’re Welcome, Realtor.com

NAR has a big ad campaign running right now touting REALTOR.com as the most accurate consumer website for housing information. They make the valid point that the big national listing aggregators (i.e. Zillow and Trulia) are, by comparison, less up-to-date and less accurate than their site. They are spending millions to get that message out. Here:

It’s a message we got, oh, more than a year ago.

Remember the big flap about listing syndication that flared up in January, 2012? There was a very vocal broker ripping his listings out of syndication to Zillow and Trulia because they did not aggressively steer consumers to the source of listing information (the listing agent). A few others followed.

We talked about it long and hard here in the SFB and decided that such a posture was self-destructive. Zillow and Trulia are where the buyers ARE. That’s just reality and it isn’t going to change any time soon. A smarter strategy is to find ways to exploit the power of these portals (by opting into their premium agent program and becoming active in garnering reviews and interacting with their network) and regard them for what they are: lead generating machines.

We also talked about how to take leads generated by the big listing aggregators and get them to drop those websites in favor of our own. In those posts we suggested the following verbiage (or something similar) when talking with consumers about this:

Agent: How long have you been looking?

Buyer: Oh, a few weeks, I guess.

Agent: You found me on Zillow, is that how you’ve doing your searches?

Buyer: Yes.

Agent: It is very easy to use, I know. . . but have you noticed how many homes on there are not really for sale?

Buyer: Well, now that you mention it . . .

Agent: They have a real challenge there; it’s because they’re trying to do a local job on a world-wide platform. They get housing information from so many sources it even confuses them! Listen, how about letting me give you access to the local MLS – without all the data from Boston and St. Louis and Puerto Rico gumming up the works! You’ll have the most accurate and best information on houses for sale today in this market.

Buyer: You can do that?

Agent: Sure. I just need an email address and phone number and I can set you up with a buyer’s account on my website. You can search to your heart’s content, save listings, even set up email alerts when new properties that meet your needs come on the market. Plus, any time you have a question or want to see something, I’m just a click away.

Buyer: Sounds pretty good.

REALTOR.com’s new multi-million dollar ad campaign makes the same point: that the aggregators’ data is flawed and that theirs is better.

I am not so arrogant that I believe our discussion here on the Set Fee Blog over a year ago had anything to do with REALTOR.com’s marketing company coming up with that strategy. Anybody who really looks at the aggregators, how they get their data, how they weigh each data source, and what the end result is, would see the flaw in their platforms, and recognize the superiority of a local broker’s IDX feed. But, just as in December, 2011, when we predicted a housing shortage a year before it arrived, we were also way ahead of the curve when it came to syndication strategies.

So what do we do with the REALTOR.com marketing campaign? Yawn. Nothing. It’s pretty irrelevant. My guess is it won’t impact consumers one iota. It ignores the one great underlying truth about consumers searching for houses online: they really don’t want to connect with a real estate salesperson. That’s why they go to Zillow: they perceive it to be one step removed from REALTOR self-promotion.

If there is something to DO, it is this: continue to remind the consumers who contact you, with whom you develop a personal rapport, that your data is THE MOST accurate and THE MOST local. Home search is, above all, a LOCAL activity. Everyone looking for a home is looking for a home somewhere. Your local MLS feed will always be better than any national aggregator, even REALTOR.com.

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