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Looking to consolidate your position as the local real estate expert in your area? Want to take your marketing efforts to the next level in 2020? Check out part 1 of our Definitive Guide To Hyperlocal Real Estate Marketing.
Branding & Design
If you’ve been subscribed to our blog for a while, you know that we use the word hyperlocal a lot.
What exactly do we mean by hyperlocal, and why should you care?
Like we mentioned in a recent article, the word hyperlocal literally means beyond local. It’s a marketing approach that’s the polar opposite to trying to please the general public.
Hyperlocal real estate marketing breaks down your marketing and sales activity to the smallest target area or demographic possible.
Of course, the question comes up: why bother with hyperlocal marketing? Isn’t it more efficient to try to draw in as many people as possible? Why should you try so hard to aim at such a microscopic level?
Why Did Hyperlocal Marketing Come To Be?
Hyperlocal real estate marketing is the natural response to the current state of digital real estate marketing.
I’m sure you’ve noticed that big data, real estate database companies like Zillow, Trulia, Point2Homes and Realtor.com dominate search engine results for all states and major cities.
You can try it right now if you want. If you were to Google “real estate Miami”, or “real estate California”, the top organic results are (nearly) always from those real estate behemoths. And it’s on those top results where 90% of all visitors click.
These companies have massive marketing budgets. That makes it nearly impossible for a single agent or brokerage to compete directly with them.
It sucks… we know.
But don’t despair 😎. The good news is you DON’T HAVE TO compete directly with them.
Those companies may be good at the macroeconomic level of real estate. But they are TERRIBLE at the ground game.
Not can you outrank them on the individual neighborhood level, and dominate long-tailed keywords such as “best real estate agent in Coconut Grove, Miami”, but it’s actually kind of fun 😃.
However, hyperlocal marketing is more than pumping out blog posts stuffed with long-tail keywords.
You want to create an all-encompassing campaign that your target market will see on multiple channels — and depending on the channel, let you show a bit more personality.
Think pictures on Instagram of you and your team volunteering at a local charity, with a corresponding YouTube video and Snapchat story to match.
If you read that and thought “Nah… Thanks. That’s not really my thing,” I get it! It’s not for everyone.
But this article wouldn’t be complete without mentioning these massive platforms, and most agents can find a way to make it work for their personality.
Plus, there are plenty of other ways to create a well-rounded campaign.
In this article and the next, we’ll look at 32 strategies you can use to make it happen. There’s a lot to go through, so to make it easier to digest, we divided these strategies into 4 categories: content, community, social media, and networking.
We’ll cover content and community in this article and social media and networking on the next one.
Content
When you see the word content, what comes to mind? Blog posts? Articles? Video?
If so, you’re correct. All of those (and many others) are forms of content. Content is just a catch-all term used to describe anything that a visitor would like to consume when they visit your website.
Whenever they read an interesting blog post you wrote, watch a real estate explanation video, or listen to a real estate podcast you released, they are in fact consuming content.
As you know, most people visiting your real estate website is ready to buy or sell a home at that moment. Some of them are just browsing, while others are just beginning to consider it.
Content marketing helps turn those visitors into clients down the line. By offering interesting and valuable content, you’ll keep those clients engaged (and you’ll stay in their mind) until they’re ready to use your services.
Your content will help to demonstrate your real estate expertise, your personality and your commitment towards your clients and your community.
If you’re consistent with your content marketing campaign, you’ll get to the point where you don’t have to try very hard to convince a prospect to hire you.
What are some valuable forms of content you can create?
Blogging is an extremely cost-effective way of creating valuable content. It costs very little to set up a blog, and the only thing you need to invest to create a great article is time.
What should you write about? You could answer some common real estate questions your clients have, such as how to find the right property for them, where to find the best mortgage rates, which renovations are actually worth investing in, and so on.
If you need more ideas, we have 72 you can check out here.
As you write more and more informative blogs that are relevant to your local community, you’ll grow your audience, and you’ll improve your reputation as the go-to expert in your area.
Blogging also carries another great benefit. Your blog allows you to expand the size and usefulness of your website’s ranking massively.
Every time you publish a new blog post on your website, you’re adding another web page. This means you can create an entire page targeting a hyper-specific keyword phrase, and you can do this for every neighborhood in your city.
Do you feel unsure about writing a blog because the last time you ever wrote an article was back in college?
Don’t worry. You don’t need to write Pulitzer price-level articles (though if you can, more power to you).
As long as your readers can glean at least one valuable nugget of information, and it’s easy enough to read, it will be a successful article. The more you blog, the better you’ll get at it.
Beyond quality, the key to a successful blog is consistency. You need to deliver your content regularly to keep your audience engaged and loyal.
That way when any of them need to use real estate services, you’ll be the first agent that pops into their mind.
Create webpages on your website for individual neighborhoods in the city (or cities) you service.
These guides could be informative ones such as lists and maps of your local school districts, best restaurants, family-friendly activities and attractions, historical data, etc.
But you don’t have to just settle for the serious. Why not create guides appropriate for the season (lists of haunted houses in the neighborhood anyone?).
Not only are area guides a great way to provide value, but they also rank quite well on Google for long-tail keywords.
That’s exactly why area guides are go-to features for every website we’ve made at AgentFire… because they work so well (click here for more info).
Lead magnets, like their name indicates, are pieces of content that are meant to attract a greater amount of traffic than a typical blog post. They can take the form of long-format articles, lists, directories, seminars, videos and other forms of content.
The biggest difference between a lead magnet and a regular piece of free content is that lead magnets offer a lot more value. But you don’t just give them away for free.
You may not be asking for money, but you would be asking for the lead’s contact information and email.
Why?
First of all, once they enter their email, you will be sending them your eBook or PDF guide.
Second, you’ll be able to nurture those leads so you can send them offers and valuable content in order to build credibility and trust in your brand.
By doing so, you’ll be positioning yourself as the real estate professional that most cares about your leads’ interests.
After all, if you’re willing to give value before they even hire you, imagine the kind of service they’ll receive once they do hire you outright.
Lead magnets are a foundational part of any digital marketing campaign. Which is why we include customizable Buyer & Seller Guides (like the one above) for all the websites we build.
Click the button below to learn more about pricing.
If you want to create your own downloadable guides, we highly recommend gathering all of the information you want to include, and searching Fiverr.com for “PDF Lead Magnet” to find someone who can translate that into a beautiful PDF.
Given how much emphasis we put on digital marketing, you may think it’s weird that we’re recommending that you contribute to a local newspaper.
But local newspapers still get a good amount of readership. And if you’re trying to position yourself as THE hyperlocal expert, contributing to a local newspaper can be a great way to improve your local visibility.
Just like with a blog post, you can apply your expertise and local market knowledge to a local newspaper column. If you have unique information, a solid pitch, and know how to write well enough, it’s not difficult to write for a local paper
Guest blog posts can have a direct impact on the success of your own website. Find a business related to real estate with a blog with decent readership (like a home inspector or construction company) and offer to write a blog post for them.
By doing so, they’ll get a free, high-quality piece of content to send to their audience, and you’ll get your name out there.
Furthermore, you can include a link to your website somewhere within the blog post, or in the author byline. This is great for search engine optimization (as long as it’s a dofollow link!)
Community
Use these strategies to establish yourself as a leader in your local community.
If you live in a medium to large-sized city, you should have a large enough population to find a local forum.
If not, I suggest going to TripAdvisor, Quora and Reddit by searching on Google like this:
TripAdvisor Forum + your city name
Quora + your city name
Reddit + your city name
People ask questions in these places frequently about local neighborhoods. Take the opportunity to answer their questions! And whenever relevant, link back to content on your site.
Generate a little goodwill and who knows? Another forum member might recommend your services to someone they know.
Here’s a great chance to take a leadership position.
Every mid to large-sized city has all kinds of events going on that require an extra bit of help to get going. These can include little league sports events, art shows, music festivals, conventions, etc.
You’ll likely stumble upon the opportunity for a community event anyway, with all the time you’re spending in your hyperlocal area, but you can usually find lots of these events in your city’s official website.
Find an event you might be interested in, contact the right people, and help spread the word.
Make an appearance, and see how it goes! Hone your public speaking skills here and people will see you as a community leader — and you’ll have earned it.
Find local events or industry expos in your area that might be looking for a speaker. You can find many of these events in your local chamber of commerce, or in Facebook communities.
Not only is this an excellent way to market and build your brand, but it can also be an excellent opportunity to network with movers and shakers of your community.
Do you want to be known as a kind and thoughtful person within your community? Of course you do!
Why not support a local charity or cause that you care about? You don’t need to spend countless hours. By simply volunteering a few hours of your time, it will be enough to give you the reputation as a ‘giver’. Especially if you share on your social media or blog what your experience was like.
Bonus points if you become a ‘regular’ at your favorite charitable organization, and you use your platform to draw more attention to it.
In my hometown, there is a guy named JR Digs who coins himself as “The Man With a Van.” He interviews people in his van – with usually nothing more than a decent camera and microphone.
Everyone in the city knows The Man With a Van.
You might not have a van, but you can go out to local events and ask people for their thoughts on certain real estate topics in your area.
From difficulty in finding affordable housing to opinions in new developments coming up, you’ll find that people have lots of opinions about what’s going on in their town.
Do little interviews and post them on your Facebook & YouTube accounts. This is a great way to attract more eyeballs and demonstrate your local expertise.
Local publications are always struggling to find good stuff to cover.
Reach out and offer them your time for an interview, and make sure you have some exclusive information for them.
Not sure about how effective this technique is?
Barbara Corcoran did this kind of thing, and it immediately launched her business to the next level.
You can generate exposure and subscribers to your email list by doing giveaways. And you don’t have to give someone a car or tickets for a cruise.
Give away things like gift cards to your local home improvement store, or other home-owner services is a great way to generate some buzz for your business.
If you’re interested in implementing a giveaway on your site, I recommend that you check out “KingSumo” for the best WordPress giveaway software.
Hyperlocal Marketing Works
While it takes effort to get your hyperlocal marketing strategy going, it’s always worth the effort. Regardless of how much technology has improved, real estate continues to be local, and that won’t be changing anytime soon. Not only will it lead to happier clients, but also more (and more consistent) closed deals.
And if you want to dominate your hyperlocal real estate market, check out AgentFire’s AgentFire Sites, #1 rated for several years in a row.
The Definitive Guide To Hyperlocal Real Estate Marketing Part 2
In part 1 of this series, we went over 12 strategies on how you can dominate your hyperlocal market by means of a content strategy and community outre…
