Get ready for content marketing liftoff

January/February 2017 edition
Launching an effective content marketing strategy can bring so many benefits to savvy real estate professionals. After all, it gives you a chance to show off your expertise, build credibility and connect with potential clients.

By Cath Dickinson

Once upon a time, not all that many years ago, real estate content marketing was easy. All you needed to do was bang together an article, post it to your blog, share it on social media and – bingo! – you had an audience. Easy peasy.
 
Fast forward to today and property information is readily available at every turn. Agents everywhere are jumping on the content marketing bandwagon and now you’re grappling with an online world that’s overflowing with noise.

But while there’s a lot of content out there, much of it’s mediocre. You need to create content that’s better, more engaging and more informative than the next agent’s. Here’s how you can launch content that rises above all the noise and really speaks to your audience.

1. Speak with authority

The old adage that you should write about what you’re interested in doesn’t hold true when it comes to content marketing. You might be interested in skiing, but chances are there are much more authoritative sources on the topic than you. These days, much of what gets published online isn’t worth reading because the writer has no authority when it comes to the subject matter.

Become the local expert. You know your local area and can speak with authority about it. As well as market data and trends, fill your website and social media channels with practical information about your area and community. If you’re providing the right information regularly and with authority, people will come to expect it and look to you as the go-to local expert.

2. Provide something valuable

You can’t expect your content to yield results if it doesn’t stand out. If it’s all a bit ho hum and people can find the same content in a dozen other places, what’s the point?

To stand out and differentiate yourself from your competitors, you need to go above and beyond to provide more value to your audience and potential clients. This means spending some time and energy developing resources that you can include on your website, link to in your blog posts and emails, and share via social media. Think about checklists, ‘how to’ guides and ebooks. The best way to offer these value-add resources is by giving them away for free to your readers in exchange for their email address.
 

  

3. Say something

Offering the same point of view as everyone else won’t cut it – even if you are an expert in the particular area. Your content needs to be original and thought-provoking. Even if you’re talking about the same topic or issue as others, make sure you provide insight and analysis that they haven’t or can’t. And, because our attention spans are shorter than ever, get straight to the point. You need to show your audience why they should care about what you’re saying right from the outset.




      

4. Talk to the right people

So you’ve created authoritative, valuable and thought-provoking content. Fabulous. But it will only work if it ends up in front of the right people. It’s not enough anymore to write a blog post for your website. Social media, email and SEO all play a part in extending the reach of your content.

If you’re not reaching the people you want to reach, ask yourself why. What’s your social media presence like? Who’s on your mailing list? Have you segmented them? Is it easy to subscribe via your website? And what keywords are you writing into your content so the right audience finds you online? All of this helps the right people to find your content.
  

5. Have spark

You won’t stand out in a sea of mediocre content if your content is mediocre too. Don’t just think about what you’re saying. Also think about how you’re saying it. Your audience needs to be able to distinguish your content from that of your competitors. If you write like every other agent, you’re basically saying “I’m no different to that other agent down the road”.

Your content needs to engage your audience – and the best way to do that is to be real. Don’t shy away from a conversational, friendly tone that expresses your personality.