There’s no doubt that technology is revolutionizing the world, and it’s certainly affecting the real estate industry. With studies suggesting that 92% of all home buyers today use the internet at some point to search for a home, it’s important to understand how to make use of digital technologies and digital marketing strategies in order to capitalize on the changes occurring in the real estate industry. While it will require a little more work than simply creating a website, it’s actually not that difficult to be successful with digital real estate.
Understand the Importance of Social Media and Online Processes
Companies use digital marketing and social media nowadays to do three things: build their brand identity, acquire new customers, and engage with existing customers. If you’re trying to start a real estate business online, you’ll want to also use social media to enhance your marketing efforts, and you’ll also want to ensure that all of the content you are publishing is not only high-quality but also that it offers something of value to your customers. Being mobile friendly is going to be crucial, as is ensuring that your content is highly-shareable. By connecting with your potential customer base in a more personal way, you are able to forge long-lasting relationships that ultimately increase the customer lifetime value of each individual. You should also be ready to take advantage of digital platforms in order to handle previously lengthy processes, such as reverse mortgages. While similar processes have previously been a little difficult for the average consumer to understand, the compounding benefits of releasing equity from your home makes it easier to complete in a totally online process.
Embrace Advancements in Virtual Reality
Forget about plain old photos and videos, and even 360-degree property tours. Advancements in virtual reality have caused a revolution in the real estate industry and have led to what some call “virtual house hunting.” Forty/8, a real estate company in the UK, has recently begun employing the use of VR to digitally sell homes and noted that “On traditional opening weekends, we expect to sell about 7pc of apartments on show, but using the VR headsets has seen sales increase to 15pc. VR headsets enable viewers to step inside the apartment and sense how it will look and feel. It gives them a better understanding of what’s on offer.” This interactive element allows potential buyers to immerse themselves into the property space in a way that has never been done before and is providing real estate professionals with a unique way to market and sell their properties.
Capitalize on Digital Real Estate
While not necessarily physical real estate that you can purchase and sell, the digital real estate industry sometimes refers to the idea of purchasing “real estate” on the internet in the form of websites and domain names. This is perhaps one of the easiest ways to take advantage of digital technologies in order to turn a profit as you can purchase the domain names of popular or up-and-coming real estate developments and later sell them to real estate companies in order to turn a pretty big profit. While this shouldn’t fall under the category of a digital marketing strategy, it’s a great way to take advantage of digital trends in order to benefit from the real estate industry happenings in general.
Ride the Wave of Change
As innovative technologies continue to emerge, the biggest piece of advice for professionals looking to get into the real estate industry is to continue to ride the wave of change and accept all of the digital changes that are occurring. Adapt to new technologies and learn how to leverage them in order to form deeper, more personal connections with your clients and you’ll be able to turn those connections into sales and profit in no time.