Do you have some awareness of what content marketing is, but aren’t sure of the right way to go about it?
Or perhaps you know exactly what it entails, but aren’t sure how it can help your business?
In short, content marketing is a type of marketing that involves creating and sharing content to your audience. This can include blog posts, videos, social media and even podcasts – but for the purposes of this post, we’ll be primarily focussing on blog posts.
Content marketing is just as important as ever, but is a tool that is seriously under utilised, particularly in estate agency. It takes a bit of time and effort to get it right, but content marketing produces both short and long term wins.
So if you are not using content marketing, or have a long-neglected blog page gathering dust on your site, read on to find out:
- How creating content can boost your business
- Exactly what you should be writing about
- An easy exercise to find ideas for your content
- A free cheat sheet with a years worth of blog post ideas
So how can content marketing help estate agents?
It helps your website get found
SEO, or search engine optimisation, essentially means any activity that helps your website be found on Google. You want to make sure that you are one of, if not the top result for people searching for estate agents and property related queries in your area. Blogging is a fantastic way of doing this, because it naturally introduces keywords to your website that help you to be found.
For example, if someone in your area searches for ‘how to prepare your house for sale’ and you have a blog post with that very title on the first page of Google, you can get eyes on your website that may not have made it there otherwise.
It keeps people on your website for longer
Google want to make sure that when people search for something on their platform they are finding exactly what they need. So when someone clicks on a blog post and reads it until the end, it is essentially telling Google that it is a valuable page. Blog posts are much more likely to do this than most other pages on your site because they encourage people stick around until they have finished it, unlike other pages which might only need a couple of seconds glance.
Not only does this help with SEO, but it has benefits for you too. By encouraging people to stay on your website for longer, you are also increasing the chances that they will look at other pages on your site, potentially leading to registrations, valuation requests and maybe even viewings.
It keeps your website looking fresh
Blogging allows you to regularly add new pages to your website which can also be enhanced by designing eye-catching graphics to accompany your posts. By regularly creating content, you are making sure that people who visit your website will always be seeing something new and different.
So why is this important? A huge majority of people going to your website won’t be picking up the phone after their first visit. Keeping your content fresh gives them another reason to keep coming back until they decide to get in touch.
It raises brand awareness
When content is shared on social media it is seen not only by your established clients but by potential clients as well. If your content is frequently popping up on their newsfeed, you’ll be at the front of their minds the next time they are looking to buy or sell.
There’s a huge range of social media platforms where you can share your content, and you can even repurpose parts of your post or transform them into graphics or short videos. This not only helps you to reach a wider audience, but also means that you get more value out of each post.
It builds trust
By sharing your expertise through your content, you position yourself as a knowledgeable agent who is invested in their industry. Your blog posts can also answer the common questions of potential buyers and vendors, including questions relating specifically to your area.
By bringing value to your content, you increase the familiarity between you and your audience, and ultimately begin to earn their trust. As a result, you are all the more likely to be seen as the right agent to help them with their move.
In an increasingly competitive market and online space, blogging can help you rise above the competition. Whether you choose to outsource your posts or write them yourself, it’s safe to say that content marketing is too valuable to be ignored.
Ok, I’m sold. But what do I write about?
Once you’ve made a commitment to producing regular content, the next challenge is to figure out exactly what you should be writing. A common mistake that many businesses make is to create content that is all about them.
While it’s great to share your achievements, the best blog posts are those that answer a question that your ideal client might have. For an estate agent, your ideal client will naturally be someone who is looking to either buy or sell a home in your area. Put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself what kind of information they might be looking for – that is exactly the content that you should be providing.
To get an idea of what people are searching for, head over to Google and start to type in ‘selling your house’. You will notice that when you enter it into the search bar, Google will come back with a number of phrases linked to that search.
Press enter and begin to scroll down the page, and you will soon find a box with suggestions for other questions people have asked.
Head down to the bottom of the page, and you will find even more suggestions.
Through this simple exercise, you can find a wide range of ideas from one easy search. You can also narrow this down by searching for specific topics to do with buying or selling. For example, you could search for home staging, house viewings, or even try searching for questions that you commonly get asked in your business.
But I don’t have the time to write content.
If content marketing feels a bit overwhelming, you are not alone. With everything else involved in running an estate agency, it can be hard to figure out how it is going to fit on your already overloaded to-do list.
One thing to bear in mind is that there is no rule that says you must post a blog post every single week. It can be every fortnight or even just once a month if that’s all you have the bandwidth for. The main thing is to be consistent.
There’s also no reason that your content marketing can’t be outsourced. You can find a freelancer through LinkedIn or on a platform like Fiverr, ideally working with someone who has experience in writing for estate agents. Alternatively, there are companies out there who specialise in writing blog posts for a range of different sectors. Just make sure that they provide 100% original content or this could have a negative effect on your SEO.
Conclusion (and a free download!)
So there you have it! We hope we’ve convinced you that content marketing is simply too effective to ignore.
Finally, to help you get a head start on your content marketing strategy, we’ve created a handy cheat sheet with 52 ideas for blog posts specifically for estate agents – with one post a week, that’s enough to cover an entire years worth of content. Simply click the button below to get hold of your copy.
More about content marketing
To learn more about the topic of content marketing for estate agents, you might find the following posts useful:
Do you want to learn how to generate more leads from your listings?
