DON’T CLOSE THIS TAB THE GOOD STUFF IS AT THE BOTTOM (STEP BY STEP PROCESS WITH CREATIVES AND MAPPING)
Marketing for your real estate business can be very time consuming and can seem repetitive and there are plenty of ways you can automate things. To find out how to automate your real estate marketing funnel. With technology advancements these days you can do everything from personalising your customer journey right through to keeping them informed throughout the process. This streamlined ability to communicate means that you will have more time to focus on generating sales for your clients.
We have created this guide to really give you an understanding of exactly how you can communicate with your customers throughout their purchasing journey.
We find that there are some things that can really make your customer journey on that counts and it has never been easier with some amazing tools to help you do exactly that. Make sure you check the tools below out.
ActiveCampaign
This is one of the best tools on the market in terms of marketing automation. We use this to really streamline the communication strategies using the deals and pipeline features. We will go into more of a step by step process of exactly how this works when we start talking strategies.
Zapier
Zapier is a crucial aspect of integrating different softwares together and in this case integrating things like your CRM with your marketing automation platform or something like a webinar with a marketing automation platform.
1. Text Message Marketing
Texting clients about potential properties is handy because the vast majority have a cell phone, and use it constantly. Send text blasts about new opportunities in real estate to your contacts to get the word out quickly. You can schedule automatic text messages for any point in the future and send one-off or recurring messages.
2. Email Marketing
Feed your contact list with regular real estate updates and opportunities to maintain a steady flow of communication. This can be done using a service like MailChimp or Emma, both of which offer templates and tips for your e-newsletter. The good news? They’re super easy to use.
3. Direct Mail
Creating a newsletter or postcard to mail out is a standard real estate tactic, but you can automate this by using direct mail automation software. You can automate a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly newsletter or postcard using a service like Growmail or Postalytics. These services help you to digitize your direct mail so it’s easier to measure results, something that has not traditionally been available for direct mail.
4. Blog Posts
Many companies benefit from having a company blog. This is a simple way to keep clients updated on real estate news and boost your company following. Build a website, schedule posts and maximize SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to reach clients in your area with platforms like WordPress. While there’s no way to automatically create blog posts you can definitely write a cache and schedule them so they post automatically throughout the month.
5. Online Chat
You may have been on a website and seen a box in the corner offering a 24/7 chat assistance. This feature allows you to reach your audience quickly and efficiently to answer questions and is totally automated. Zendesk and Chatbot are examples of automated chat rooms that enhance the appeal of your website. You get clients chatting using a chat bot and then can follow up personally with qualified leads.
It’s no secret that social media is on the rise and real estate agents are relying on social channels to build their brand. Among those, Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin are among the most popular. Create an account and post visual-heavy content for the best results. You can use services like Later (for Instagram) and Hubspot to automatically send your scheduled messages, which means you can upload messages once a week (or month) and have the service send these automated messages whenever you choose.
How To Automate The Entire Process
When you are looking to automate your real estate marketing you can use something like the framework above which we use as a basic template before modifying everything for each specific client. The above workflow has integrations into multiple different areas.
This workflow is based on people coming to open homes. When they come the agent running the open home grabs their details and enters them into the system. Once they are entered into the system they are assigned to a stage (usually an opening stage) at which point they are systematically pushed through different stages to push them towards a sale for a specific property.
You can see how a contact would be pushed through the different stages of a real estate buyers journey and how easy it is to manage them as they flow through the stages. You can clearly see how much value is in each stage of the pipeline and where you can maximise your performance and results.
As you look closer at the workflow above you can see that there are emails, text messages, content pieces, tasks, and all kinds of things being fired as your potential client flows through their sales cycle. Now this is just one application of how you can structure your marketing automation but shows that there are endless potential combinations.
This is a crucial aspect of ensuring that your business is closing more and more deals each and every day.
As your marketing continues to improve you can start to integrate more complex techniques and strategies into your marketing funnel such as complex re-targeting campaigns using custom audiences around the web. These are those annoying ads that follow you around for those of you that weren’t sure. Check out some sneaky examples below!
As you can see, once there is a certain condition or parameter that has been met they are pulled in and out of different audiences that are firing different ads to assist with pushing them through a sales funnel on a sub-conscious level. This relatively unobtrusive marketing is very strategic and when done correctly can be very powerful in terms of getting someone to make a particular decision. You can see some real life examples below.
Real Estate Funnel – Stage 1
Here you can see that this is very early on in the purchasing process. This could be one of several ads that are all aimed to drive awareness and interest whilst gauging a potential clients determination to make a decision.
Real Estate Funnel – Stage 2
As they move through their customer journey you know that at this point their intent is there and you can now safely and confidently start to use different strategies to deliver the message you want to. Here you are able to focus on establishing the brand as an expert source for your potential client.
Real Estate Funnel – Stage 3
Once a potential buyer reaches this stage within this particular funnel you know that they are well underway search for their next property. Building your credibility as the only decision in this stage of this particular journey is crucial to getting the deal across the line.
The Best Part About Marketing Automation For Real Estate Agents
The number one thing when it comes to using marketing automation for real estate agents is that it is mapped based on your customers journeys and tailored to your target market. You could be in the commercial space with completely different journeys and customers but they key is to cater to your market. You have the ability to do this using the tools and strategies at your fingertips that can drive results for your business.
If you’re looking for help with your real estate marketing you can always find more via our Free Real Estate Blueprint or check out some of the Top Real Estate Software Developers.