Why Investing In Your Digital Strategy is the Best Investment You Can Make Right Now
Depending on what market you’re working in, things are probably going really well right now as far as residential real estate sales go.
Despite the ongoing pandemic, many markets are experiencing a record number of sales.
If the pandemic had taught us anything though, it’s that we don’t know what’s around the corner or what could happen next. As a real estate agent and business owner, that can be scary.
I mean that quite literally. Thanks to everything going on in the world, it feels like just about anything could happen right now, next week, or next month.
So, it’s understandable to be a little hesitant to invest in anything, let alone a major expense like a full, custom, professional digital strategy; but in my opinion, it’s one of the best investments you can make right now.
The pandemic has forced a lot of agents to pivot and learn and adopt new technologies they may not have a year ago. One thing is true now more than ever: the push to digital is here.
Making The Move To Digital
All of the big players, like Zillow and Redfin, are already ahead of the curve.
That’s because of the big investments they’ve made in digital over the years. With more and more people beginning their search online, they seem to have the market cornered.
It’s true that they have become one of the first places someone would start a search for a new home, but does that mean your online presence should be reduced to a profile on their platforms?
The answer is of course no; your online strategy needs to play a really big role in your overall marketing strategy right now. You need to think outside of the typical toolkit that agents employ when it comes to making their digital presence known.
The answer? Invest in a digital strategy of your own.
Not in a way that puts you in competition with the big players (because that’s going to be impossible), but by building a digital strategy that’s focused on you and your unique value proposition and with your target audience top of mind.
Here are some of the main reasons why investing in your digital strategy is the smart move right now…
1. Increasing Rates of Digital Adoption
Over the last few months, we have seen a huge increase in the number of people online.
That not only includes people simply enjoying more screentime, but also adopting new technologies to facilitate daily life (think online banking or e-signature services).
There are two factors at play here: not only are consumers becoming more comfortable online, but they’re becoming savvier in the way they experience the internet.
That means that the typical bells and whistles, or tactics that agents have used online (like forced registration), may no longer play well with the skillset of users.
So, not only do you need to invest in digital, you need to invest in future-proofed digital solutions. Those that anticipate not only the needs of users but their inherent knowledge base.
2. Shifting Preferences & Priorities
In many respects, we may be seeing the dawn of a new era for consumer preferences in real estate.
That’s because tastes have changed. The pandemic has revealed the elasticity of a potential lead’s basic wants and needs, and how tailor-made solutions are more the norm than ever before.
A lot of people that were in lockdown in their homes realized they didn’t really like them. Or, more generally, that the spaces weren’t functional enough.
That left a lot of consumers interested in rural properties, bigger spaces, spaces that could facilitate multiple scenarios (a home office, a playroom, etc.), and more.
When you combine that with pent-up demand from a closed spring market, a lot of people are looking to make a move, but they may not even be sure where to begin.
But I’ll give you one guess where they’ll start that search…
In this sense, your digital strategy is what primes a lead to reach out when they don’t necessarily know what they want. In fact, it can answer the basic questions to qualify a lead on your behalf.
Quite simply, your website should:
- Help a lead determine what they need from you
- Prime them on the basic questions they need to know
- Offer them the questions they should ask you
Given the shift in preferences, it helps to build the initial client’s journey. Your digital strategy can do just that: giving them the tools they need to reach out with confidence, so you can handle them with ease.
3. The Impact of Being Found Online
Even if you have a strong referral business, your online presence is a huge area of importance.
That’s because your digital strategy directly correlates to the impact a referral makes. It’s simple: If someone shares your details with a friend, the first thing they’ll do is Google you.
If people searching can’t find you, then you don’t exist. And if people can find you, but don’t like what they see, you may as well not exist.
When they’re making a decision about who to work with, they’re going to choose the agents they can find, that they like, and that they can trust. Your digital strategy is integral in all of that.
That’s because immersing your brand in digital not only keeps you top of mind. It ensures that when people begin their search, they find you, they like you, and they can easily reach out to you.
It puts you in pole position to build trust with your audience, often before they’ve ever met you.
Invest In Your Digital Strategy Today
In my opinion, these are all reasons why investing in digital is one of the best investments that you, as an agent, can make right now.
It’s an investment in the truest sense of the word. You’re building equity in terms of your name, your brand, and your client base, all for the future.
Even though we have no idea what the world has in store for us, we do know that the push to digital is here. And, it’s here to stay.
With up to date marketing trends relevant to today’s market, our report is a selection of curated content, information, and data that will give you an outline of what’s working right now in real estate marketing.
