The digital marketing sector is always changing, and it’s hard to stay on top of new trends and be ahead of the game. This is why having a well-crafted, and well-thought-out digital marketing strategy could be the difference between success and failure for your agency.

You may be thinking, “I’m a realtor, not a marketer, why should I put effort into a digital marketing strategy?”

Your potential clients are constantly browsing online, in fact, 95% of all home buyers in 2017 looked to the web first when looking for a home. Also, as a result of internet browsing, a majority of them requested a walk-through of the home. These facts who how important it is to create and/or optimize your digital strategy.

So, where do you begin?

Planning and research is a key to a successful digital marketing strategy. Before you move forward with expanding or building your online presence, know where to invest your funds. First, take time to consider your goals, and how you will achieve them.

Determine where you’ve been, where you’re at, and where you want to be.

    • Do a SWOT analysis of your company. Although simple, reminding yourself of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of your company can help with knowing the potential effects your company will have on your strategy.
    • Analyze your current marketing strategies. If you have a Google Analytics account (or anything similar), take a deep dive into the data to see if you have any areas you could use a little help in. This can help you set the right KPI’s for your exact situation.
    • Don’t forget to analyze your competitors. What marketing strategies are they employing? What platforms are they utilizing to get the most reach? Find out what is working for them, build on it, and do it better!

What are some measurable goals that can help influence your marketing choices?

    • Determine your overall mission/objective. For example, you could want to gain 25% more leads from your website than last year.
    • Set KPI’s. KPI’s are quantifiable goals that allow you to track and measure success. Below are just a few examples:
      1. Engagement: How many first-time visitors does your website receive? How many forms are being filled out?
      2. Traffic Sources: Are users coming directly via your URL? (direct traffic) Through another site? (referral traffic) Or did they find you from search results? (organic traffic)
      3. Social interactions: How many people are you reaching on your Facebook, Instagram, and other social platforms? Or even better, are you reaching the right people? How many of your followers have actually become customers, or have at least inquired about a home?

Who do you want to reach?

    • When creating content, you need to speak the language of your audience. In order to do so, you first need to know who your audience is, down to the nitty-gritty.
    • Develop Personas. Personas are essentially a composite sketch of your ideal customer based on market research and data from your existing customers. Every accurate persona involves the following:
      1. Demographics: This includes age, gender, education, location, job title, etc.
      2. Psychographics: This includes personality traits, goals, values, attitudes, hobbies/interests, and lifestyles of potential clients.
      3. With this information, you will be able to create a solution that caters exactly to them. This is also key in finding out who your true customers are.
      4. Once personas are developed, you can cater your content to specific niche segments.

Never be afraid to pivot your strategies!

    • You must always remember that the first draft of your plan will never be perfect. So, don’t get discouraged if you don’t see immediate results.
    • Digital marketing often involves trial and error. Think of your first draft as a test run. Failure is the best teacher in this situation because you will be able to see exactly what doesn’t work and fix it when need be.
    • With every trial you will only improve, so get started!

Still looking for more ideas to implement in your digital strategy? Lucky for you, that’s what we specialize in! It is our mission to provide our clients with innovative pieces to solve the digital puzzle. So, please don’t hesitate to contact us! We’d love to help your company grow.