Consumers’ current demand for easily accessible, on-demand information has made the real estate industry jump into the world of digital media. Within the real estate industry, marketing is no longer a pamphlet-and-go process. Home buyers and property investors today are more inclined towards digital inbound-focused campaigns that are full of rich content.

When it comes to how an active online presence is increasing ROI for realtors, the facts and figures do not lie. Surveys have revealed that approximately 70% of people prefer to know a company, via online content. This means that real estate companies need to continually update their listings and websites, assuring enhanced user engagement. It has also been noticed that a majority of property sellers and buyers carry out comprehensive research online before ultimately selling or purchasing the property offline. So, if you do not have a strong online presence, you are losing out on the chance to connect with a significant number of interested buyers and sellers.

How IoT (Internet of Things) Drastically Changed the Real Estate Industry?

A few years ago, properties were viewed as a luxury investment and only the rich could afford the exorbitantly priced housing projects. Even the purchasing process was a tedious and long one where interest home buyers would have to collect and sign an endless number of documents. They would also have to search for brokers who could fetch them a fair deal for the property of their choice.

The advent of IoT (Internet of Things) dramatically changed purchase decisions. Today, buyers can find their desired property by performing a simple and quick online search. In fact, they can access a multitude of properties filtered as per their budget and preferred location, and make their choice. Even the documentation process has become streamlined and paperless. This has made online reputation management (ORM) an integral part of any real estate brand.

IoT, however, has not completely eliminated brokers, but given them an opportunity to make use of the power of the digital landscape to connect with more than 462 million Internet users, via websites, social media presence and app marketing.

Rise of Real Estate Websites

The nature of the conventional real estate business model is changing thanks to the rise of online real estate websites. These sites are offering interested buyers with Internet access myriad home listings, complete with pictures and even virtual walk-through. Even DIY real estate services offering research tools are emerging, which are enabling users to not only filter their property search, but compare prices, identify street locations and more, without leaving the comfort of their home.

Complete Information at Users’ Fingertips by Eliminating Middlemen

Real estate is a complicated product because investment by both the buyer and the seller come with perceived risks. The risks can be lowered by providing interested parties with as much information as possible so that they can make an informed decision.

Traditionally, the role of a real estate agent was to list and advertise the property, find a buyer, help the buyer find a property matching his or her requirement, negotiating the contract, removing any contingencies in the contract and closing the sale. With Internet performing most of these services, it poses a real threat to the conventional real estate model of business.

The Internet is increasingly removing the middlemen from the picture by achieving direct transaction between the buyer and the seller. So, the only way for those in real estate business to survive is by adopting digital media as a way to connect with their target audience.

Real Estate Companies are Increasingly Becoming Social

Social media has emerged as an essential tool for businesses to compete and be successful in the competitive online marketplace. Over the past couple of years, the real estate industry has exhibited a high surge in learning, as well as, implementing social media resources.

In a survey, it was revealed that about 55% of real estate agents were comfortable making use of the various social media networks and only 9% refrained from using social media at all.

With social media enjoying over 2.46 billion global users, the real estate industry can no longer ignore this very important digital marketing tool.

Savvy real estate agents are already making use of popular platforms like, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube. In fact, Facebook even provides various advertising tools to make the promotion simpler on its platform. If you are looking for user interaction, engagement and possible revenue, social media is the answer.

Adoption of Digital Marketing is Lowering the Overall Advertising Budget

A real estate project involves a lot of expenses. On top of that, real estate companies have to incur additional expenses in the form of traditional marketing. Digital marketing, on the other hand, offers great advertisement and publicity opportunities, but at a much lower cost. So, it is of no wonder that the real estate industry is increasingly embracing online marketing and taking advantage of the cost-efficiency. Real estate companies are able to decrease their marketing budget thanks to online marketing tactics and improve their overall revenue. This is one of the primary reasons why digital marketing has managed to revolutionize the real estate sector.

Advances in Digital Marketing Technologies are Influencing the Real Estate Industry

The digital landscape is forever caught in a flux of technological advancements. The cutting-edge technologies are massively influencing the digital marketing techniques implemented by the marketers.

When it comes to the real estate industry, great strides have been made in terms of digital technologies. Some of the noteworthy advancements are given below:

● 3D model and AR (Augmented Reality):

Suppose you want to purchase a house that has not been built yet. However, you can walk through it already and can even decorate it the way you want. How is this possible? You are in the 3D model of your future home and being able to experience what it would feel like to live there. Real-time walk-throughs combined with AR and 3D design gives interested buyers an enhanced experience.

● Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) and Google Maps:

AMP are lightweight, faster pages that are also a major ranking factor for the search giant, Google. By now, more than 2 million pages have already been AMP’d and there are others in the pipeline. Google Maps, on the other hand, allows you to directly upload your data. Now, it is well-known fact that location and information regarding the neighborhood is one of the main factors of consideration for property buyers. Maps will help you to target a specific group of users looking for properties in a particular area. So, you can create a much more targeted digital marketing campaign fetching high ROI.

In 2018, digital marketing clearly surpasses traditional marketing in terms of both potential for saturation and effectiveness. With 80% of property buyers looking for properties online and 44% of them purchasing the property they found online, there is no option for the real estate companies, but to make the transition to the digital world. So, if you want to set yourself apart from the rest, you need to have some digital marketing tricks up your sleeves and now!

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