3 Modern Strategies for Virtual Property Marketing
Instagram Engagement
Marketing via social media has become increasingly popular in recent years, and now, it may in fact be the most effective way to reach potential customers. Of all social media sites, Instagram is possibly one of the best social media sites for business marketing. Not only because it is one of the most widely used, but because it relies heavily on visual content, which is an essential part of successful online advertising. The vast majority of Instagram users are younger generations. In fact, a whopping 73% of Generation Z uses the app, along with 59% of millennials, and 46% of Generation X. Beyond that, Instagram is especially effective when it comes to business engagement; the post engagement rates on Instagram are twice as high as Facebook. 80% of Instagram users consider a brand’s Instagram presence in their purchase decision.
To stay in the forefront of savvy marketing, create an Instagram account and use it regularly to build a community and maximize valuable outreach. The key to a successful Instagram campaign is building a following of users interested in property/lifestyle content and most likely to potentially rent your properties. In order to do so, you should follow accounts relevant to your properties and the interests of your tenants, such as property managers, lifestyle blogs, or local business accounts, and post consistently. Engage with the online community as much as possible and put out useful, relevant content. Keep in mind the following tips:
- Use stories: Stories are a way to post content that will only be accessible for 24 hours. These are a great way to share content from other accounts, as well as link to your blog posts. Links can’t be embedded into regular posts, so stories are an efficient way to share external online content. Additionally, you can pin stories to your profile to be saved forever; this is a great way to show off available properties.
- Post video tours: Virtual property tours are becoming an extremely popular way for tenants to shop. Post full-length property tours using Instagram reels or draw attention by showing off exciting amenities or technology.
- Target a local audience: The most effective outreach is local; heavily target the areas where your properties are located for the best engagement rates.
- Utilize sponsored posts and built-in analytics: Instagram allows you to pay to promote your posts based on customized parameters; they also have an internal analytics software so you can monitor your engagement rates.
Influencers have skyrocketed in popularity since the start of social media. An influencer is an account that has amassed a high number of followers, it is often a single individual that engages with a large community on a daily basis. These accounts have become a new powerful marketing tool as brands partner with influencers as part of their advertising strategy.
Recent research shows that micro-influencers actually are the most effective type of social media marketing for business. On average, influencers with 1,000 to 10,000 followers have the highest engagement rate at approximately 4%. Accounts with 10,000 to 100,000 followers have a 2.4% engagement rate, and 1 to 10 million have only 1.7% engagement. Micro-influencers are the most efficient marketing tactic because they tend to engage with a local, niche, devoted audience.
Use influencers to attract potential tenants, or simply to draw attention to your own social media accounts. Find an influencer interested in a topic related to your properties or rental property in general, such as lifestyle or interior design. Location is an important factor since you want to reach people who live or may move to your properties. Tech-focused influencers can also be a strong outlet for targeting young audiences. Promote eco-friendly amenities or modern tech features of your properties.
Search Engine Optimization
In addition to social media traffic, one of the most important ways to drive traffic to your site is through search engines — namely, Google. In fact, a whopping 68% of all website visits start with a search engine. An essential component of online marketing involves optimizing your website to appear more often in rental property related searches — specifically, searches made by your target audience.
SEO is a complex and involved process; many property owners hire companies specifically to raise their site’s SEO. To just run through the basics, there are two main ways that visitors reach your site from a search engine: organic search and paid search.
Organic search means that your website was generated as a search result naturally based on the keywords the user searched. Paid search, or pay per click (PPC), refers to paid search engine advertisements that will trigger your site to show as a paid search result for certain keywords. A strong SEO strategy involves promoting both paid and organic search. While PPC may offer more instant results, it is essential to invest in boosting organic search for long-term marketing sustainability.
Improving your site’s organic search ranking largely relies on having website content that is saturated with the right keywords, allowing Google bots to identify or flag your website as related to rental property in your local area. In addition to designing your site to be relevant to your target keywords, you need to get Google to recognize your site as valuable and prominent; this is largely accomplished through link building. Having links to your site on other prominent websites raises your site’s domain authority, meaning Google recognizes it as more important and is more likely to rank it higher.
