Marketing Positioning Strategy for The Future of Real Estate

Mortgage rates are at an all-time low and buyers everywhere are looking for new homes. With ever-advancing technology influencing how consumers shop for nearly everything, failing to use technology in your real estate practice is a disservice to you and your customers. Digital marketing trends are changing at a rapid pace, and staying ahead of these trends will make your real estate business highly profitable. What are the top real estate marketing trends for 2016, and how can you utilize them to attract more buyers and sellers?

Optimize Your Site to Bring in More Leads

In 2014, real estate websites saw an influx of more than 200 million visitors, proving that the market is still very much a buyer's one. While this is great for Realtors, it also means that to leverage the potential of website traffic, you need to keep your website up to date. Consumers are no longer willing to tolerate outdated or dysfunctional websites. Furthermore, optimizing websites for mobile is no longer optional; it's expected. Websites across all platforms should be user-friendly and appealing.

There are two ways to do this: have a website designed for you, or design one yourself using a web-building platform. Obviously, the former is more expensive, and the latter takes a personal time investment. Thankfully, there are plenty of platforms built for beginners. Platforms like Squarespace and Wix let you easily customize the look and layout of your site. What's more, they feature integrated blogging capability, are SEO optimized, and offer mobile editing. Do your research and find a platform that works within your budget and aesthetics. Keep in mind, though, creating a beautiful website is just the first step in how to attract more customer.

Use 3D Integration to Grab Their Attention

The content marketing landscape is shifting, and consumers are looking for better quality and more diversity. Video is quickly becoming one of the most powerful marketing tools. In fact, mobile video views have increased a whopping 74% from 2014 and 844% from 2012. How do you use the power of video in the real estate world? The answer is with 3D integration.

What better way to show off a new property listing than with a 3D home tour? Surely, that's something both the buyer and seller can appreciate. By giving potential buyers a realistic look into the home before scheduling a walkthrough, you're saving time and money while weeding out tire kickers. Furthermore, you're integrating video into your content, giving you a significant edge over the competition.

Visual Aids are all The Rage

If you're not ready to make the jump to 3D home tours just yet, you be using visual aids, at the very least. Research shows that colorful visuals increase viewer engagement by 80%, and 46% of marketers use photography as a central part of their strategies. Of course, you may be wondering just how often should visual aids be used throughout your website. Visual aids can be used effectively in several ways:

• To illustrate a concept that is hard to define, like the "feeling" of buying a new home.

• To show off the curb appeal of a new listing.

• On your "About Us" page - give potential buyers a face to go with your name!

• As an infographic, which conveys the timeline of buying a home, or the different expenses buyers can expect.

As you can see, there are plenty of ways in which you can integrate visual aids into your content. The trick is thinking creatively and logistically. Where would a visual aid be most helpful for you? Consumers understand images more readily than they do text, so use this to your advantage.

Harness the Power of Real Estate Apps

We live in the age of "there's an app for that," and it's true: there's an app for nearly everything these days. There are hundreds of apps designed specifically for real estate agents, and they're all tremendously helpful. While real estate apps all vary in functionality, they share a common thread: organizing the back end of your business. From accounting and invoicing, to scanning and uploading documents, these handy apps take the tedium out of your work day. What does this mean for you? More time to get back to what matters: focusing on your customers and increasing your sales.

Use Local SEO to Your Advantage

Real estate is one of the best markets for embracing the coveted local SEO. Local SEO has become one of the hottest digital marketing trends this year, and it's quite easy to integrate it into your existing website. Here's how:

• Add your city and state into your title tags

• Include your local tags in your headers.

• Sprinkle local tags throughout your content, like on your landing pages.

• Don't forget to alt tag images with the city and state.

• Consider creating a page specifically for your city and state. For example, "X best things to do in Townsville, USA."

By optimizing your site for both local and general SEO, you'll pull in consumers from all over the U.S. Your site will be found by buyers whether they're moving across the country, or just up the street.