If you’re new to the real estate industry, there’s so much to learn that it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Your success depends on your marketing savvy and your ability to tap into technology to build your brand and attract lucrative clients. This essential tech advice will help you build your platform and establish yourself as a top real estate agent in your area.
Arm Yourself with the Tech Tools of the Trade
Finding the right tech tools is often overwhelming. There are millions of web and mobile applications that promise to make your life simpler and your work more productive. If you’re not careful, you’ll spend all your time testing out new tools instead of actually doing your job. To build your real estate toolkit, turn to the pros who have already done the hard work for you. Here’s a comprehensive list of 10 online tools that will help you up your real estate game.
Use Inbound Marketing to Your Advantage
Inbound marketing brings prospective clients to your door without the costs associated with outbound efforts like paid advertising (although those tactics can help, too). Inbound marketing might involve starting a blog or writing an ebook answering the most pressing questions real estate clients ask.
Instead of writing your own blog posts, you could hire a content marketing freelancer to create content for your site. Building a professional social media presence on platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are also part of the inbound marketing mix. The key is to choose the right mix of inbound marketing tactics that work for you.
Embrace the Cloud
If you’re working with some of those recommended web and mobile apps, you’re already making use of the cloud. But fully embracing the cloud means creating more efficiency for your business. Today’s transactions are streamlined by tools that enable you to electronically capture client signatures on documents and deliver them in seconds rather than driving all over town delivering hard copies. When you take advantage of cloud computing, you can manage your entire business and your daily workflow from any device and location where you have access to a mobile connection.
Go Online to Get More Traffic for Your Listings
Most homebuyers are searching online for available homes in their area, so listing your properties online is essential for driving more traffic and interest. It’s much easier for today’s buyers to search popular websites to find currently available homes in their desired town or neighborhood, particularly if they’re moving to a new area. Fortunately, today’s online listings allow buyers to narrow their search to find exactly what they’re looking for before ever touring homes in person; online listing services provide photos, property specifications, and information about the neighborhood.
Systematize Your Working Methods
It’s good to get in the habit of working with organized, logical systems early in your career. Jotting down potential clients’ phone numbers on random pieces of paper makes it difficult to follow up with them down the road. Instead, choose a CRM (customer relationship management) platform that keeps your contacts organized, allows you to document your conversations, prompts you to follow up in a timely manner and enables you to organize tasks and deadlines.
Technology is no longer the wave of the future; it’s already ingrained into the way we work and play every day. That’s why as a new real estate agent it’s crucial to feel out the technology landscape and assemble a tech toolkit that enables you to strategically market your services and manage your clients with ease.
