Traditionally, real estate companies advertised their properties in local newspapers, magazines, billboards, TV, etc. The idea was always to capture the attention of whoever sees it. This meant that anyone who found the advertisement interesting would call the company, but would not necessarily convert into a buyer. The sales team wasted a lot of time on calls without knowing who is the real potential buyer. The entire process was so time-consuming that sometimes they would lose the potential home buyer to their competition. 

The other source for getting leads are real estate agents. However, according to a survey by Purplebricks, real estate agents enjoyed just 11% of trust from the participants. This clearly proves that traditional marketing tactics are not working anymore. 

Home buyers have evolved. They have access to the internet, which means they go through a lot of websites and content before making an informed decision. As a real estate marketer, if you want to build trust with homebuyers, you must think beyond the usual advertisements and real estate agents. You must focus on building a relationship and warming up to the potential buyers before converting them into buyers. The only way to do that is by using inbound marketing.

What is Inbound Marketing, and how is it beneficial?

Unlike traditional outbound forms of marketing where the content is pushed out, inbound marketing works upon pulling in potential buyers with its content. Instead of focusing on closing sales quickly, inbound marketing believes in instilling trust among customers and nurturing it till they convert. 

Inbound marketing offers plenty of benefits.

It is cost-effective

The ROI in outbound marketing is much lower than inbound marketing. The average cost of an outbound marketing lead is $332 as compared to $134 for an inbound marketing lead. According to HubSpot, inbound marketing is the most cost-effective channel for generating leads.

Improves your online presence

While you can do paid ads to rank high on the search engine, the other way is to create highly informative content regularly and rank organically. Take Maisonette Holding, for example. The UAE-based PropTech company was facing challenges in generating leads. They lacked digital presence too. When they shifted to inbound marketing, they witnessed a 40% increase in leads and a 73% increase in website traffic. Their website also ranked on page one for nine keywords. Inbound marketing strengthens your SEO strategy.

Builds trust

Outbound marketing focuses on your business. It is never about the homebuyer. It is more sales-centric, which has started to put-off the homebuyers. Inbound marketing is customer-centric. It is about addressing the customer’s pain points and helping them make an informed decision rather than hurrying them to purchase and close the sales.

Saves the time of salespeople

According to a survey by InsideSales.com, sales representatives spend only 37% of their time on actual selling. The rest of the time is spent on activities such as prospecting, administrative tasks, dealing with queries, customer meetings, single-handedly targeting customers, and much more. Add to it the additional problem of spending time interacting with leads that may not convert.

Inbound marketing can save time and efforts of the sales team by generating marketing qualified leads (i.e., leads that have shown interest in your offer based on marketing efforts). These leads are high-quality leads that show the propensity to convert. By following up with these leads on priority, the sales team can close more deals with homebuyers. 

How to use inbound marketing for real estate?

Now that you are aware of how beneficial is inbound marketing, let’s dig in further to know what you can do in inbound marketing for real estate.

Create a buyer persona

Here’s a tip, although everyone needs a house, everyone cannot be your ideal customer. Probably your properties are suitable for people looking for budget homes, or it might be for people looking for luxury apartments. By knowing your customers well, you can create relevant content. To understand your prospects deeply, you can create a buyer persona. A buyer persona is a semi-fictitious representation of your ideal buyers. You can use our free guide to create a buyer persona.  

Develop a website

A website is like your address on the internet. It helps you to build your personal brand. Importantly, it will help you to nurture your website traffic and convert them into leads and eventually customers. Ensure that you add all the relevant information about your project on the website and optimize it for SEO. To ensure a hassle-free experience for your customer, check the performance of your website, and fix the errors. 

Do social media marketing

With more than one billion active users on Facebook and Instagram, social media is one platform you must not ignore. Create a social media calendar and invest in resources to manage your account regularly. Develop visually rich and highly informative content to attract the attention of your prospects. Check out how you can leverage Facebook and Instagram to generate qualified leads. Also, have a dedicated resource to respond to all queries you get on social media. A slight delay in response could cost you a lead.

Do video marketing

The best way to capture the attention of your prospect is through video marketing. Make high-quality videos to show in and around the apartments. A virtual tour through videos would give the buyers an idea about what to expect and will help them decide on buying the property.

Write blogs

Blogs give you ample real estate to establish yourself as a trustworthy brand. You can blog on various topics ranging from taxes, registration processes, finances, and about the property itself. Create an editorial calendar and ensure that you post blogs regularly. Blogs are a great way to build a connection with your potential buyers and can also help in ranking your website higher on the search engine. 

Conclusion

Inbound marketing clearly has the edge over outbound marketing when it comes to building a relationship with the buyers and acquiring leads cost-effectively. However, it can take months to build that trust. Considering that the real estate industry is also about closing deals quickly, we would recommend you to use both the marketing techniques to create brand awareness, generate leads, and convert them into sales. So, while outbound marketing can help you create more awareness and generate leads, inbound marketing can help you to nurture the leads and help the sales team to convert faster.

If you need help in generating marketing qualified leads, schedule a consultation with us. We will be happy to help.