When you were just a child, you dreamt of having a unique business that will change every human being's perspective on this planet. To reach your dream, you entered into the best business school and performed well in your academic endeavors. You've probably spent almost all of the nights in the libraries studying even the smallest details and streets to become familiar with the world you will enter. The time has come, and you are almost ready to show to the world how great you are. But, you forgot to dig deeper on how you will build your online presence. Good thing you have a backup plan. Unfortunately, this current health crisis came. The traditional way of marketing strategies was put on hold because of the different protocols. Will you stop because of the presence of these hindrances? Or continue because you have this dream?
The two questions mentioned above were just parts of the bigger reality. One undeniable truth in life is that we can see computers almost everywhere. From the confines of our homes to the busy stores, crowded markets, wide universities, and even private and government offices, computers, and the internet are always present. Computers, or more so the smartphones, and the internet, become the means of communication in this current technological era. These mediums contribute to a company's standing and help them become more popular and competitive, building their online presence.
Almost everything now can be purchased or seen online through the use of computers and mobile devices. As a matter of fact, according to eCommerce Foundation, 88% percent of customers consult the internet before making a purchase online or getting a specific product in a particular store. Furthermore, on that 88% population, 67% use desktop computers, 42% on mobile phones, and 26% on tablets. These numbers show the current trend and emphasize the importance of having a website in this present epoch.
If you want to succeed in this way of life and conquer this modern marketplace, you need to have a good website. You need to ensure that your online presence is felt by registering your business to the world wide web. This website will serve as the backbone of your company or business. It will probably become your support in terms of digital marketing.
Is a website essential even in the real estate industry?
The answer is a hard yes. Websites cover every aspect of your digital marketing approach. Any communication, advertisement, or piece of content you will be putting online will bring your lead to your website. Essentially, your website must have a distinct idea of what your company is and the services you offer to give a clear sight to your present and future leads. We can consequently say that this is your online identity.
When is the right time to start this?
The abovementioned question seems to become more relevant, especially in our present situation. We almost have the luxury of time, but the right time is tough to find. As a real estate agent, we don't wait for the right time to come; we always make the time right. The opportunities won't knock at your door – you need to find it. But, the pandemic seemed to give most of us enough reasons to procrastinate. But, before we go deeper into our discussion, we need to define what procrastination is and how does it affect our abilities as agents.
Procrastination is putting or doing something out of common laziness or casual carelessness. An agent having this kind of habit, postpones or even delays the objectives for a particular day or even week. This kind of pattern affects not only you but also your current and future leads. Procrastination, as some might describe it, is like a drug in your life as an agent. Because you start doing it a little bit then, it slowly adds up to a kind of dependency until you find it to be one of your typical customs. The habit of procrastination is a silent-killer – you are slowly losing those things without you noticing it. Then when you wake up, you are now crawling into a deep well of misery and regrets.
Hard work beats talent. These are famous oft-quoted words in the sports industry, but this is also applicable to the real estate. Not all real estate agents have the same skill sets, but all are expected to do well. Having lesser skill or experience doesn't mean that you need to stop. No matter how talented they are in marketing, you can surpass them all if you are dedicated to your work. If you want to become a successful real estate agent, you don't only work hard overnight but also every day. And when we say this, we do not mean that you need to be up for 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You let your virtual identity, your online presence work for you.
Persistence is the key. You need to set goals that you want to achieve for a specific day or week. If the road is rough, you must endure it. There is no easy way towards success and the best time for this is now. No buts, no ifs. You need to go online and get those leads.
However, some people would say that this is not a bad thing. It can be beneficial, especially to your mental health and your ability to handle the pressure. For the real estate agents, this is not the case. We should not let ourselves be used to this kind of habit, for the reason that procrastination will slowly kill our careers. Our prospects and future leads are all currently searching in the internet world using their phones and computers. If we postpone our supposed schedule for digital marketing, when could we find the right time? How can we get those leads? Let us always remember that, for things to happen, we need to actualize it. For instance, the car wouldn't start if you're not initiating it. The plants will not grow if we don't give them enough water. The same applies to our leads; we cannot get a sufficient number of leads if we do not exert enough effort. To hit those targets, we need to click the trigger.
Is online presence really necessary for an agent?
We live in the modern technological era where most of the things we need are available online, from basic necessities like food and clothing to gadgets and housing. In addition to that, the pandemic limits physical interaction. Now, how can we now continue the things that we usually do? – by staying online. Many real estate agents are vying out there on the internet, solidifying their websites, blogging to attract the leads and the likes. Would you want to be the last one among them? If you want it well, you can enjoy the rest of your weekends and suffer for the consequences later. But, if you don't want to be the last, let's continue our discussion.
As of this moment, you need to give your full attention to the latest website updates. This will provide you with better options and website designs to attract your potential clients. It would then help if you researched the latest trends, such as feed-worthy pictures, eye-capturing videos, and good-looking articles. For you to cope up with the latest trends, you need to stay available online – as often as possible. There is no specific time for the leads to browse the internet; they don't have schedules to follow. We need to take advantage of that. When other agents are sleeping peacefully, you need to work hard while they are resting. This is not an offense; this is a strategy. Those searching for the best stay late and spend almost all night browsing the internet – you need to ensure that it is your business that they will find when they start browsing the best homes in town.
Now, you need to go where your current and prospect leads are for you to get things started. You need to establish your website to give your clients knowledge about you as an agent, the company you're working with, and the services you offer. Though, there are still many agents who are doing only those mentioned things and stop; in the current real estate situation, the competition is exceptionally high. For you to step up, you need to go beyond displaying your information and services. You need to make use of your website and social media to become not only a valuable source of information but a companion that will assist the buyers and sellers every step of the way. Establishing a significant agent-lead relationship would boost your sales.
"In today's competitive market, you need to go above and beyond just displaying your services. You need to use your website, blog, and even social media to become a valuable resource. Your real estate website needs to embrace the technology available in today's market and create a true value based experience for your visitors. They have to come away, feeling that you're a true partner."
— Nick Reis, COO & Co-Founder, Agent Elite
The website you will build must embrace the trends and demands of today's technology and create a value-based and friendly environment for your clients and visitors. Your clients must feel that you are a sincere and trustworthy partner. They must realize that, as an agent, they can lean on you. Your site will help them attain all the valuable information they need, allowing them to make the hardest decision in their lives a lot easier. Adding online tools such as mortgage calculators, loan program information, and real-time client-lead online conversation will make your website a valuable place and a haven for your future clients. It is like a one-stop-shop. Your client need not go elsewhere. All that they need is already available and readily accessible through your page.
"Your real estate web design should include highlights of everything you personally bring to the table in addition to the other bits of information and services that directly tie into your field of expertise. If you make your website a one-stop-shop, then why would your clients need to go anywhere else?"
— Nick Reis, COO & Co-Founder, Agent Elite
One thing is for sure; the real estate industry is not for the faint-hearted. You must be courageous enough to face all the challenges and demands of being a real estate agent. The level of focus and dedication is deeply needed. For you to maximize the use of your website and social media, you need to be dauntless. Problems and difficulties may always find their way to challenge your dedication, but you need to endure it. It would be best if you stay online no matter what. No matter how good your tools are, how creative your imagination is, how efficient your information, without your presence, this would be nothing but a waste of time and money. Yes, you read it right. You are just wasting your money when you are not utilizing your website or social media. Not only that, but you are also letting those potential lead to linger around and lost on your radar.
This year, an online presence is a real-deal. You might not want to lose it.
One good motivation here is the words of Nick Reis, COO at Agent Elite Inc. He said: "When the markets are hot, you market. When the market stinks, you market." Despite the side-by-side uncertainties that we are all experiencing, we all need commitment and determination as agents. In these trying times, the efficiency that we once had was removed from us. We were obliged to remain in the confines of our homes and wait for the government's further announcement, but we need to be committed to our job. An agent must also possess great determination to pursue things even if it seems impossible. We still market despite these current situations. If we want to become successful in online marketing, we should not give up. Because like what Kendrick Lamar once wittingly said, "when you give up, it means you never wanted it."
Another aspect that a real estate agent must not forget is the solidification of their brand. Although the company's website is provided for each agent, personal branding is still essential. If you want to excel in real estate, you need not partake in the present competition. You might not want to suffer from your co-agents on the provided generic website; otherwise, the point of you being chosen will become senseless. On your website, you need to create your unique and own brand. Don't you ever think that you and your website are two distinct things? Your website is a clear manifestation of who you are as an agent. The website that you built must reflect your personality as an agent and your goals and services. In this regard, whenever you may want to go, your name will be your brand, which will help your clients find you easily.
"Personal branding in real estate is more important right you need to separate yourself from the competition now you don't want to be lumped in with everyone else in the office that has some just generic web page, not even a website otherwise, what's the benefit of the prospect choosing you over another agent in your office when you create your own website you begin to brand yourself."
— Nick Reis, COO & Co-Founder, Agent Elite
The real estate design that must be displayed on your website should consist of the different acmes you bring to your table and your information and services related to the field of your expertise, the real estate industry.
In addition, for you to ace this industry, you might want to consider becoming a go-to real estate agent. Aside from the given advantages of having your own website aside from your brokerage, when we talk about targeting a specific geographical area, you already took one step ahead of your competitors or other co-agents. If there is a certain area of a town that captured your attention and led you to focus more on this area, you can easily input those targeted keywords. Not only that, but you can also add the saved searches that are related to and represent your area of choice into your website elements such as: title of the page, URL, content, and the likes.
By doing these, you automatically gave yourself an advantage over your other competitors who are still focusing on much broader keyword targets. When a potential lead started to look for a real estate property within the town's target area that you have chosen, the possibility of discovering you is much higher than others. This becomes more interesting because your website has all the specific information regarding the area. In this regard, you will be a "go-to" real estate agent of online marketing.
In the current situation, talents and skills are not anymore the basis of being the top agent. Being a real estate agent is becoming a good resource for your potential leads, solidifying your own and personal brand, and staying pertinent to your choice.
Now that we have thoroughly discussed what a website is and its importance and the need to nurture your online presence, we will now talk about a certain topic that most agents missed. This is by offering outstanding customer service through your website. Providing good customer service will bring you nothing but an edge against other competitors. Also, this will make your client come back after a series of smooth conversation. So, how can you do that?
Provide Your Lead With a Piece of Valuable Information
For you to cater to a full range of website visitors, providing helpful information is important for buyers in all the stages of the home buying process. For your website visitors who are ready to close the deal or closer to buying a property, you might want to add an internet data exchange feature. This provides your visitors with up-to-date MLS property listings. Yes, you have read it correctly. This is one of the common errors that agents encounter in this industry. There are agents who link their IDX on their website, but they are still using the MLS to set up their prospects in sending daily listings. This may look odd, but the same features and functions can already be seen on your website.
"Your website has a lot of tools but, if you are not logging in to it, if you're not utilizing it, you're missing out on a huge market."
— Nick Reis, COO & Co-Founder, Agent Elite
It is important to utilize tools within your website. By having these features, you no longer need to add a person to your mailing list manually. The website itself will automatically send your visitors a list of homes available in the area. The list sent to them is related to or somehow match the homes they viewed from your site. You can set up how often they will receive the updates. Once they click on the link attached to a listing sent to them, they will automatically be funneled back to your website. The more number of visitors coming back to your website, the greater the opportunity it will be to turn that lead into a sale. This is just one of the many reasons why utilizing tools on your website was emphasized in this article.
Give Your Clients Some Personalized Service
You need to use the CRM. After your website visitor has finally decided to make that purchase, the most efficient and indispensable tool to give them excellent customer service is through customer relationship management tools. CRM tools systematize tasks such as (1) maintaining the contact information of an individual, (2) tracking the interactions that you have done with the prospect or future lead, and (3) collecting the information regarding what type of property that your prospect is looking for.
Respond to Any Queries Quickly and Efficiently
Again, by using the CRM tool, reaching out to your prospects is as easy as 1,2,3. You might want to optimize your efficiency of reaching out to them by having tools such as automated voice response and chatbots. These two tools will surely help you out in responding to your prospects on behalf of you. They are both good for fast facts. Having them will give you time to work on more pressing matters.
Your website also has many different tools in the back end that enable you to trace where the traffics is coming from. It will give you an idea of how to track various marketing pieces that you are doing. For instance, you have 3 thousand property cards that you have distributed within a specific area. Most of the real estate agents do not have any means to track those cards. They can't know how many people picked up the postcard and those who went back to their website. Our advantage? We have the means to track the return of our investment.
Suppose you see that you sent 3 thousand postcards this month, and not even a single person dared to visit your website through the postcard. Would you consider that as good marketing – were those sums of money you have spent worthy or just wasted? Even knowing this reality, there are still many agents who seemed to gamble on things and spend a tremendous amount of money without them realizing that they are not getting something in return.
The website you have allows you to perform the things mentioned above that most real estate agents do not realize. There are a lot of features that give you benefits as an agent, including the customer relationship management tool that is all located within your website. This allows us to track those customers who sent us emails. We can also see when the email was delivered and even when it is opened, who looks at this certain property and the likes. As agents, this allows us to focus on those who are continuously getting back to our website.
We should always keep in mind that our online marketing must be client-centered. This is more of building a profitable client relationship. Behind this is the reason why the relationship with the clients is very important. Our clients must feel positivity, honesty, understanding, and mutual respect. Real estate agents should spend time on their leads, give compliments about their choices, commend their ideas, and acknowledge their frustrations. A positive attitude like these takes the agent-lead relationship to the next level in all sorts and forms where both parties are comfortable enough to this kind of setting.
It is also important that a real estate agent must possess a significant amount of perception and understanding. The world has been continuously suffering from the aftermath of different calamities, and this present-day pandemic. Other agents tend to stop communicating with the clients who just started their search and just focusing on the older ones. What I mean is some agents do not realize that the new clients are still possible leads—concentrate on the previous ones because you can sense the upcoming sale, and disregarding the new clients will bring nothing but loss. We must avoid the pain of losing potential sales.
Now, where are not in the time in which most of the people want instant of everything. An instant coffee, instant noodles, and even instant gratification. Gone are the days of waiting. Today's population doesn't want to wait – we don't want to wait. We always want it now and if we don't get it, find someone easy to get. This is somehow similar to our clients and future leads in this industry.
If you want to prevail in this industry's competition, you have to be the first to respond to your clients' queries. Between 40% to 50% of sales go to the real estate agent who responds quickly. This is called speed to lead. Suppose an agent did not respond to a particular inquiry within the first 30 minutes. In that case, the chance of success shrinks by nearly 21%. If you cannot reply to your clients within two or three hours from when they sent an inquiry, you should not be surprised if your leads do not care anymore. And, it was not their fault. The blame is always on the one who failed to respond more quickly. We should take accountability for that. Some other agents made them feel that they are of the utmost priority than you did. Well, as you can see, procrastination here will not bring you any good. And according to the study conducted by Forbes, your chances decrease by nearly 3000%. That isn't nice.
The National Association of Realtors once stated that 80% of leads coming into your website had visited at least two or three other websites before even making a move on yours. Most likely, they have already been taken actions to somebody else's websites as well. It's just that the rate of agents to respond is not where it needs to be. The supposed prospect, in that regard, goes somewhere or to another website. This is the reason behind the importance of maintaining an exceptional online presence, making your identity known through your website or your social media. The response rate is indeed crucial, for it affects your overall conversion rate and your success. So, the question here now is, will you act immediately, or will you let the next agent do it?
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