How online marketing helps Realtors®

Sure, you advertise your real estate services. But are people really listening?

While word-of-mouth referrals certainly help Realtors®, online marketing can also help you land more clients. Fractl and Moz recently surveyed more than 1,000 people asking what has an impact on how they do business.

The survey found that most people use the Internet to find companies. Eighty-eight percent use an online search, 82 percent visit a company’s website and 82 percent read customer reviews. Are you listening now? Your Internet presence is vital to your success as a Realtor®.

Following your social media accounts are popular with about a quarter of respondents, so it is still important to keep them up-to-date.

The survey asked participants to keep track of their Internet use for a week. Of the respondents, 93 percent had looked up a company via a search, and 89 percent read an article online. In that week, 52 percent had downloaded content, and almost half had given their email address to a company. Twenty-nine percent followed a company on a social media account. These could be potential clients of yours.

Participants were also asked which marketing methods are most effect. More than half, 53 percent, cited direct mail, adding that offering coupons and discounts make an impact.

Free content is just as attractive, with 53.2 percent citing content about topics that interest them make a business more attractive.

More than a third said that traditional advertising and email marketing are effective at attracting their business. Social media, display ads and social ads are effective ways to attract business to about a quarter of respondents.. However, mobile advertising may not be the most efficient way to market, with only 6.6 percent citing those ads as effective.

Another great resource for consumers is customer reviews. Of those surveyed, 45 percent said customer reviews have the greatest positive influence. Forty-five percent of consumers are significantly more likely to invest in something with a review, and 40 percent are slightly more likely to.

What type of marketing has brought you the most success?