9 Mobile Marketing Tips

Are you a personal or commercial real estate agent looking to gain a competitive edge? If so, your best bet may be to launch a marketing campaign that not only showcases the homes you’re selling but builds trust among potential home buyers.

And you can easily achieve those two tasks by following these nine perfect marketing tips that are effective and easy to implement.

1. Be Mobile and Responsive
Regardless of the industry, you want to make sure you’re reaching your audience at the right time. Today, more and more people are spending their time on their mobile devices. In fact, American consumers spend 20 percent of their day on a mobile device.

Simply put, you can no longer avoid sitting on the sidelines. It’s time to get mobile and responsive. If you want to make sure that whoever reads your emails or visits your website has a good experience, then this is a must.

If you’re just starting out with becoming mobile-friendly, here are nine website and email design tips from our mobile email marketing blog post to get you started.

• Use responsive design. This is a web development approach where the screen’s appearance of an email or website is automatically formatted to the correct screen size.
• Keep website navigation simple and use a drop-down menu.
• Include a simple-to-use search box on your home page.
• Allow users to return to your home page simply by tapping your logo.
• Avoid using Flash, Java files, and pop-ups.
• Keep your sign-up forms short.
• Include large buttons so customers’ fingers can easily click on them.
• Design your emails and landing pages so they include a short five-word call to action that’s front and center.
• Keep content on the website short and to the point.

2. Centralize and Grow Your Email List
Email remains a powerful tool for business owners and marketers. This is because, with email, you have a direct line of communication to both the people you already know and anyone interested in a listing. Considering that 75 percent of a real estate agent’s business is derived from word-of-mouth and referrals, it’s extremely important for you to keep in touch with previous clients. This is where the majority of the industry tends to fall behind. Business card acquisition methods are the most popular form of contact acquisition within the real estate industry; however, it is important to note that this method does not always translate into long-term, engaged subscribers.

Additionally, your email contact lists can be plugged into your social channels such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn so you can target your ads.

Before you start growing your list, first make sure you have one location to store and manage both your existing and new contacts. This could be your email account, phone, CRM system, or a basic spreadsheet. It really depends on the size of your list and what you’re most comfortable with. Some essential data to include in your spreadsheet is acquisition method, time acquired, and the type of real estate the contact is interested in.

Once you have this setup, you can start focusing on growing your email list by having a landing page, subscription form, and quality content such as blog posts and video walkthroughs you can post on YouTube. These are all great methods for acquiring contacts that have provided expressed consent and will be fruitful in setting you up for success with protecting your email reputation.

3. Automate Your Content Marketing and Sourcing
In a perfect world, you would be able to create original content that entertains or informs your audience — and not just selling them on your latest listing. You would then share that content with them in an email newsletter or social media post.

Unfortunately, you’re a busy individual and can’t always dedicate the time to create your own content. Thankfully, there are ways to fill in the gaps by using the power of automation.

Companies such as Scripted and Contently can connect you with talented freelance writers who can compose your next blog post or email newsletter. You can also use content curation tools to discover content to share on your social channels. If you’re new to this, check out this ultimate list of content curation tools.

Again, you don’t want to do this all the time. But when you’re too busy to produce original content, this is a great way to provide value to your clients.

One thing to keep in mind with your content strategy is to make sure you are familiar with your audience’s needs and preferences – Do they only want latest listings or sold properties? Do they want real estate industry content? Not sending the right content to the right subscriber at the right time, can lead to decreased engagement. Personalizing your emails and campaigns to your audience segments based on their preferences is essential.

4. Create a Lead Generation Tool (“Squeeze Page”)
“One great tool for marketing real estate is to create a lead generation page. To advanced marketers, this is called a squeeze page. Why a squeeze page? Because you’re trying to squeeze an email address out of visitors who might not be inclined to provide it to you,” writes entrepreneur and Forbes contributor R.L. Adams.

“So, what’s a good lead generation tool? You can build a home appraisal tool or some other tool to assist in the real estate process. When the form is completed, you can simply ask to email the results to the user. Any type of real estate tool that would be helpful to prospective buyers or sellers would work here, along with sendable results after the user completes the form,” adds Adams.

Remember, you have to ask for email addresses. If you don’t ask, you won’t get them. After that, it’s up to your own discretion to be as creative as you like.

Be careful using this method as the subscribers are technically signing up to receive the quote or white paper material. Sending the subscriber additional marketing and promotional material outside of this, can lead to increased disengagement or Spam Complaints. Set up a secondary opt-in method to make sure that you are achieving permission from your subscribers to send them designated marketing and promotional material.

5. Use Hyperlapse on Instagram
Hyperlapse is an interesting app that Instagram launched in 2014. Basically, the app allows you to create polished time-lapse videos directly from your iPhone. This is because it uses the latest time-lapse photography technology that contains image stabilization software. As Wired stated upon its release, it’s like having $15,000 in video setup for free.

You can use this app to freshen up your content. For example, use Hyperlapse for quick walkthroughs of the house, to provide a glimpse of the neighborhood, or display a stunning sunrise or sunset that homeowners could experience daily.

6. Facebook Ads
Marketers are big fans of Facebook ads. That’s because the platform is cost-effective and delivers some of the most precise demographic and behavioral targeting out there. What makes it even more appealing is that you can target users by either their “interests” or “buyer” behavior.

For example, you could segment people by zip code, age, income, and those who have displayed a behavior such as “likely to move” or “first-time buyer.” You could also focus on users who have previously shown interest in sites such as Realtor.com or Zillow.

If you use Facebook ads to acquire email addresses or contact information, be extremely careful using this information within your email system. Generally, these contacts haven’t opted-in to all of your marketing content, which means you will need to set up a secondary opt-in system for these leads to avoid spam complaints and disengagement.

7. Build a Referral Program
As mentioned earlier, realtors rely heavily on referrals. Because of this, you should encourage customers to refer you to others. You could simply ask them to refer you to their friends, family, or coworkers. But you should also launch a referral program.

You can get started by following these seven steps:

1. Set goals. Before going any further, think about what you’re hoping to get out of the referral program. It could be anything from selling more listings to increasing your daily showings.
2. Define the message. Your referral program needs to be easy to understand and realistic to achieve.
3. Choose an incentive. This gives your customers a reason to refer you to others. It could be as little as a $25 gift card to Home Depot or Lowes.
4. Make a landing page. This is where your customers can get all the details regarding your referral program.
5. Focus on analytics. Make sure you have something such as Google Analytics set up so you can track your efforts.
6. Spread the word. Let people know all about your referral program by sharing the information on your blog, email newsletter, or social channels.
7. Train employees. If you’re a large enough real estate agency to have employees, then make sure they’re well-informed about the program so they can discuss it with others.

8. Get More Online Reviews
Similar to referrals, online reviews are another proven and effective way to spread the word about your real estate business. In fact, around 88 percent of consumers look for online reviews before making a purchase decision.

First things first, make sure your business has been claimed on sites such as Zillow, Yelp, and Google+, and that they contain your current contact information. Don’t forget to create a profile too. If not, someone else may do this for you, which means you don’t have as much control.

After that, be active on these sites so you can review and respond to any customer feedback. If someone leaves a negative review, politely respond by thanking them for the comment. If you made a mistake, own up to it. You can also reward reviewers with gift cards. And don’t hesitate to just ask your customers to leave an online review.

9. Retarget Your Visitors
Even if you’re new to this type of marketing, you probably experience it on a daily basis. For example, if you go to Amazon to check out a new pair of sneakers and leave to go to another site, you’ll notice an ad for those sneakers on the other site you’re visiting.

Retargeting works best when you segment your visitors. This could be by people who have checked out condos vs. family homes. Then tailor the retargeting ads to each different group.

Remember, there’s only about a two-week window when people research home-buying-related activities such as listings, movers, or school districts. During that period, only a small percentage, such as 2 percent, will actually “convert,” or contact you. That’s why you need to encourage the other 98 percent to come back and visit your site. Retargeting can accomplish just that.

If you’re looking to join a new brokerage, we invite you to learn more about us at RE/MAX Legacy Living and give us a call today to answer any questions you may have! We would love for you to join our team! https://bit.ly/2llTAPF

About the Author

Jemila Winsey is Broker and Owner of RE/MAX Legacy Living with over 15 years experience the real estate industry. She specializes in residential and commercial real estate.  She is the author of the ABCs of BPOs and has received several awards and accolades in the industry. “” My mission is for my clients to maximize their returns on any given transaction. I take a consultative approach with all of my clients; all transactions are unique, and my ability to adapt and be innovative allows for an equally unique experience for all of my clients; big or small”. Contact Jemila at jemila@remaxlegacyliving.com to discuss your real estate needs to receive a FREE no obligation report of your home’s worth or visit our website at www.fortbendmls.com.

RE/MAX Legacy Living is a full-service brokerage firm that specializes in the selling and purchasing of real estate. With over 20 years of combined experience in Real Estate and Technology, we provide innovative, streamlined and technology driven experiences within the company to drive productivity and profitability with our associates, ultimately resulting in our customers’ satisfaction.

Jemila Winsey is Broker and Owner of RE/MAX Legacy Living with over 15 years experience the real estate industry. She specializes in residential and commercial real estate.  She is the author of the ABCs of BPOs and has received several awards and accolades in the industry. “” My mission is for my clients to maximize their returns on any given transaction. I take a consultative approach with all of my clients; all transactions are unique, and my ability to adapt and be innovative allows for an equally unique experience for all of my clients; big or small”. Contact Jemila at jemila@remaxlegacyliving.com to discuss your real estate needs to receive a FREE no obligation report of your home’s worth or visit our website at www.fortbendmls.com.

RE/MAX Legacy Living is a full-service brokerage firm that specializes in the selling and purchasing of real estate. With over 20 years of combined experience in Real Estate and Technology, we provide innovative, streamlined and technology driven experiences within the company to drive productivity and profitability with our associates, ultimately resulting in our customers’ satisfaction.