Brand and Listing Promotion in the Internet Era for Realtors

In the past, real estate agents had to advertise properties in the newspaper to compete. With no internet, almost no exclusive listings, and no co-broking, the only way to attract customers was via newspaper ads. As simple and direct as it was, it worked, because real estate agents were the gatekeepers to available listings.

Same, but Different

All that changed with the advent of the internet. Today’s system for marketing listings has completely changed, while maintaining a similar fundamental structure. The process still involves agents displaying listings, albeit online instead of print, and hoping that prospects contact them.

Social Media Advertising

Social media has also changed how agents promote themselves, their listings, and their recent sales. Facebook for the older generation, and Instagram for the younger, both can offer enormous reach to a targeted audience with a well-crafted message. More importantly, social media posts can be enhanced with paid ads or simply used as free promotion.

Agent Branding

Today, users have online listings one click away from them, but most people don’t have the experience or understanding to interpret them, or to go through the entire process. Therefore, agents must sell their knowledge and expertise as trusted advisors. Branding now occupies a critical space in the strategies of both agencies and individuals.

As such, brand promotion is getting as much attention as listing promotion. Print, in its various forms, can create memorable images to promote an agency, a broker or a team. This has become the primary use-case of print media for real estate agencies nowadays: creating name recognition and visibility for the company and their agents.

Buyers now search online the same way they used to go through the newspaper ads. The big difference is that online listings provide much more detailed information, including prices and addresses. Nonetheless, most buyers feel safer with a buyer’s agent representing them.

Public Visibility Matters

The fundamental aspect of real estate ads, in print or online, is still the same. Nice, appealing photos and good copy attract interest. The biggest two differences between marketing then and now are the aggregators and the branding. Zillow and Realtor.com both work by using listings to attract clients to their sites, where they can either be offered additional services, or sold back to real estate agencies.

One of the few tools against this for agents is personal branding. In this brand-conscious world creating public visibility and credibility matters more than ever. It enables agents to build a large enough network of referral business to depend less on the aggregators.