2024 Marketing Trends For Real Estate Agents

Prepare for a shift in how you attract buyers and sellers to your business! With the emergence of stricter data privacy laws and the rise of AI in marketing, it’s crucial to closely monitor effective marketing trends and anticipate upcoming changes. Stay ahead of the game and adapt to ensure your success in this evolving landscape.

Your email campaign may be in trouble

Google and Yahoo recently introduced new regulations for email sends, effective from the beginning of 2024. These rules are particularly relevant for domains that send a large volume of emails within a single day. Starting in February 2024, Google and Yahoo will automatically redirect email domains with a score ranging from 0.1 to 0.29 to the spam folder, while blacklisting those with a score above 0.3. It is important to check your domain score.(Google Article)

Moreover, stricter guidelines will apply to “@gmail.com” accounts. Google will blacklist any “@gmail.com” accounts that exceed 1,000 emails sent and have a high spam score.

I share this information not to discourage you from sending emails, but rather to emphasize the importance of implementing a double opt-in system and adhering to Google’s email policies.

Your AI assistant is almost here

CRM systems have already started incorporating AI into their platforms. As a result, they have been analyzing and observing your responses to questions. Some CRMs even generate AI-generated responses for you to review before sending them out.

Taking it a step further, there are AI companies that can handle phone calls. Currently, they learn to respond through specific commands. However, who’s to say they can’t learn by simply listening to your calls? Once the AI understands your typical responses, it could potentially handle calls and act as your assistant when you’re occupied.

As real estate agents, your goal is to optimize your time in the most effective ways possible. Allowing your AI assistant to handle marketing tasks for you will require time and training. The agents and brokers who become proficient in this technology will experience exponential growth in their businesses.

Is social media dead?

I’d like to bring AI back into the conversation for a moment. Nowadays, new CRMs have the capability to generate social posts on behalf of agents. However, there are two prominent issues with AI-generated social posts.

Firstly, let’s address the concern regarding 3rd party social media publishers. It’s crucial to note that Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter tend to downgrade content that originates from external sources. They strongly prefer original content that comes directly from their respective platforms. Consequently, this can significantly impact the organic reach of your campaigns.

Secondly, let’s discuss the quality of the content that AI produces for social posts. Unfortunately, AI-generated content often tends to be generic and lacks engagement. In my opinion, it would be beneficial for AI to integrate with email sends and learn from Q&A responses in order to generate more personalized and relevant social posts. For instance, if a question such as “Did my property taxes increase this year?” arises in multiple email sends, your AI assistant could swiftly generate a social post like “Property taxes did increase in {Enter neighborhood}. Find out how this affects your monthly mortgage…”.

It’s important to exercise caution when relying too heavily on AI for your social media strategy. Carefully consider the number of posts generated by AI and the frequency of posting through third-party deployment systems. Recent studies have shown that an over-reliance on AI content can negatively impact organic reach.

By refining the use of AI and balancing it with human input, you can create a more effective and engaging social media presence.

What’s working in social media

It probably won’t come as a huge shock, but videos are incredibly effective. That’s right, people are craving visual and auditory content on social media. Utilizing this strategy on every platform, except for LinkedIn, is a no-brainer. Surprisingly, LinkedIn hasn’t been as enthusiastic about short-form videos compared to Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

A friend of a friend is looking to buy a home (LinkedIn is helping)

Indeed, we are focusing on LinkedIn as an emerging social media platform for lead generation and remarketing. Unlike other platforms, accepting a connection request on LinkedIn from a friend of a friend is generally acceptable. Furthermore, LinkedIn is gaining prominence in the realm of social authority. This means that by establishing a presence on LinkedIn, your posts are more likely to naturally expand on other platforms (also known as Social Listening).

From a remarketing perspective, you will experience greater organic social reach on LinkedIn compared to other platforms. This is because your post becomes visible to the followers of your followers once they engage with it. For example, if Bobby likes my post, it will be shown to 10 individuals in Bobby’s network whom I am not connected with.

A cultural norm is also emerging, where high-level individuals commence their mornings by perusing LinkedIn news to stay updated with the business world before disengaging. Moreover, their engagement on other platforms is significantly lower.

Therefore, if you aim to attract potential clients, it is imperative to enhance your LinkedIn strategy promptly.

Leverage search engines like a boss

In today’s business landscape, being present on Google is crucial. While it may sound a bit direct, the truth is that our culture is heavily influenced by search, with Google being the leading platform. Before diving deeper into this, I highly recommend creating a Google My Business profile for your company. This will ensure your business is effectively represented online. You can create your profile here: https://www.google.com/business/

Paid Search Advertising

Let’s address the elephant in the room when it comes to search rankings. It’s true that major conglomerates are investing heavily in Google Ads to secure the top spot. However, local real estate agents have a powerful advantage—they can outrank them! With Google Local Service ads, you can showcase your photo and Google My Profile information right at the top of Google search results.

These ads are not only highly effective, but they also come with an additional bonus. By running local service ads, you’ll improve your ranking on Google Maps as well.

Now, while we’ve been talking a lot about Google, it’s worth noting that Bing offers a competitive product that you might want to explore as well. More about Microsoft Ads

In late 2023, Google implemented a core update that prioritizes companies with better reviews. Consequently, if you aim to generate local leads, it is advisable to proactively request Google reviews from your previous clients to improve your rankings. On the other hand, if your goal is to enhance your position on Bing, focusing on gathering Yelp reviews would be more beneficial.

Indeed, YouTube falls under the expansive array of Google products. Agents should prioritize YouTube as a significant focal point in 2024. While some search platforms are being replaced by AI, videos remain irreplaceable. Your YouTube strategy should encompass videos tailored for SEO purposes, with links to blogs to foster cross-network growth, as well as videos dedicated to lead generation.

For effective YouTube SEO, emphasize addressing the questions people pose online. These may include inquiries such as “What types of loans are available for first-time home buyers?”, “How can I maximize the value when selling my home?”, and “What essential factors should I consider before buying a house?”. By creating educational videos, you can establish authority within the Real Estate YouTube sphere.

Furthermore, it is crucial to incorporate videos that promote local listings or showcase specific neighborhoods. These videos aid in generating leads and can appear when individuals search for homes for sale and/or a particular neighborhood.

Are direct mailers back?

Strategic direct mail is making a comeback! As more people seek to disconnect from social platforms, marketers are rediscovering the power of direct mail. In recent years, the decline in companies using direct mail as a marketing strategy and relying solely on digital methods has been noticeable. This shift has created an opportunity for agents who have found direct mailers to be highly effective in supporting their marketing efforts.

In-person or online events?

The answer is both, you’ll need an in-person and online meeting strategy for 2024. You’ll want to conduct a mix of events that include being in-person and some consistent online events.

What in-person events are working?

The key strategy is to actively participate in local networking events, fostering connections with fellow business owners. As these relationships develop, you can propose promoting their company through your social media channels. Subsequently, it is crucial to ensure that they share your social media post with their own followers.

By implementing this approach, you not only increase your exposure but also demonstrate your appreciation for the business owner’s support. Moreover, you gain access to a wider audience, including the followers, friends, and family members of the business owner. Ultimately, this mutually beneficial arrangement creates a positive outcome for all parties involved.

Hosting a holiday event in 2024, whether at the broker level or agent level, can significantly contribute to the growth of your referral base, reignite conversations with previous buyers, and increase your exposure to the local area. Your sphere of influence would be thrilled to attend and support your holiday event! Encouraging them to bring a friend is an excellent strategy to generate referrals during the festivities. Moreover, as the gracious host, everyone will be eager to shake hands and personally connect with you.

What online events are working?

Live streaming on social media platforms offers more than just conversations. It serves as a valuable marketing tool, alerting all your connections and followers to the activity, ensuring your name appears in their feeds. Moreover, it presents an excellent opportunity to showcase your expertise. These live sessions provide a platform for clients to ask questions and for you to demonstrate your knowledge.

Hosting an educational podcast within your niche has become a popular trend. Podcasts serve as a platform to showcase your expertise as an agent, while also attracting niche customers such as Air BNB investors, Veterans, and parents of young children.

Moreover, podcasts offer the opportunity to network with influential figures in your community and provide valuable content for your social media channels. A single podcast episode can be repurposed into a YouTube video, three YouTube shorts, three TikTok videos, and three Instagram reels. Additionally, if you have a guest on your podcast, they are likely to share it with their own social media network.

Embrace the power of podcasts to amplify your reach, establish authority, and engage with your target audience.

Closing remarks

As the Head of Marketing and Sales at Showami, I have the privilege of engaging with real estate coaches and high-performing agents on a weekly basis. This post is a culmination of those insightful conversations, combined with my extensive marketing expertise. While some may argue that paying for leads is a viable marketing strategy, I believe that outshining the competition through mastery of advertising is not only more effective but also more profitable.