The entire real estate market has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic including buying, selling, and renting properties. Generating leads and closing deals now requires a different, hands-off approach. For example, many homes are being shown virtually online instead of through open houses and in-person tours in order to respect social distancing guidelines.
Many real estate investors already have a strong digital marketing strategy and have been able to make a smooth virtual transition. However, if you’re still trying to figure it all out, here’s what you can do to step up your digital marketing game.
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Create compelling real estate infographics
Infographics get shared far and wide because they’re fast and easy to read, aesthetically pleasing, and informative. Make it your goal to create the kind of infographics people want to share and link as a resource in their blogs. Hire a professional graphic designer to create a presentation template you can fill in on your own.
Find bits of data that change on a monthly basis and include this data on a new infographic each month. For example, if you’re from Katy, Texas, you might include statistics and information related to the local schools, the median property price in Katy, and the average number of days a property stays on the market.
If you have a property management company handling your digital marketing campaign, find out if they can create infographics for you. If you’re still managing all your landlord duties on your own, get a free evaluation from a property management company to see what they can take off your plate. It’s easier to continue increasing your investment portfolio when your day-to-day tasks are being handled by a professional team.
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Conduct virtual property tours
Virtual property tours will allow you to continue conducting business during the COVID-19 pandemic. You might be surprised to learn that many real estate investors have been using virtual tours for years. A large number of people, especially Millennials, prefer to view everything online before making the commitment to leave the house. Virtual tours are the perfect way to meet this preference.
A virtual tour can’t replace an in-person tour, but it can help you qualify and disqualify leads without any effort on your part. For instance, say you advertise a 3 bedroom, single-family home with a study. A potential buyer takes a virtual tour and notices the study has no window. A study without a window is a deal-breaker for them and they simply move along and your time is not wasted meeting with that person.
How to create a 3D virtual tour
The technology required to create a 3D virtual tour of a property is available and affordable to just about anyone. Check out this guide on Zillow to find out how it’s done and get access to a resource for making free 360-degree virtual tours.
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Live stream virtual open house events
Conducting a virtual open house as a live stream makes it easy to reach multiple people without having to manage social distancing requirements in person. You can conduct a virtual open house the same way you’d conduct an open house live, except you’ll need to mute everyone until it’s their turn to ask questions.
During a live open house, several people will likely be wandering around while other people are asking questions. When they wander back to you, they will ask the same questions. Hosting a virtual open house will answer common questions for everyone at once, saving you time and energy.
If you stream your open house on Facebook, you could end up with some last-minute attendees who catch your live stream in their feed. The downside to conducting a public live stream is that some people will just be curious and won’t be serious buyers. There’s nothing wrong with that, but if they ask questions, you’ll be wasting your time.
For the best results, schedule your virtual open houses at least three days in advance and require people to sign up to get access. The best platform to do this on is Zoom since you can require participants to use a code to get on the stream. Watch this video for tips on how to make this work.
Virtual reality is now part of digital marketing
The coronavirus pandemic is forcing everyone to adopt a virtual approach to doing business. Adapt to this new standard quickly and it will be easier to stay in business.