Round one of Real Estate Marketing Madness brought us some close calls, blowouts, and even an upset. The second round kicks off today, so cast your votes and don’t forget to enter to win a gold MacBook at the bottom of the page! Voting for round two ends Monday, March 30th.
#1. Landing pages vs. #9 Social media (organic)
Landing pages: After dominating phone book ads in the first round with a whopping 97% of the votes, landing pages should see a little tougher competition when facing off against another powerful inbound marketing tactic: organic social media. As the overall #1 seed, landing pages are definitely a favorite to make it all the way, but social media savvy agents and brokers could make this round a close call.
Social media (organic): Organic social media pulled a small upset in the first round, edging out the #8 seed, paid social media. While a high-conversion landing page is hard to top, there are agents that generate a big portion of their real estate leads from social media every year (like this agent with a knack for Twitter). Do you think a powerful social media presence is more effective than a well-designed landing page? Make your pick below!
#2. Referrals vs. #7. Drip e-mail campaigns
Referrals: While we were all pulling for real estate rap videos in the first round (Who doesn’t love an underdog?) even the slickest rhymes couldn’t stand a chance against a personal referral. Even though today’s consumers have a tendency to depend on online reviews before making a purchase, when it comes to the biggest investment of their lives, they still listen to the input of family, neighbors, and friends. The real estate referral has survived the test of time as an effective lead generating tactic for decades, but can it survive round two of Real Estate Marketing Madness? We’ll let you decide!
Drip e-mail campaigns: Even though portal leads dominate the headlines, they couldn’t take down drip e-mail campaigns in the first round. In a digital age, a highly-targeted e-mail campaign is one of the smartest marketing strategies to stay top of mind with a wide audience. Plus, the ability to set up a drip campaign once and let it run for months makes it an appealing addition to any marketing strategy. While it’s tough to beat a personal referral, this match up could be a close one.
#3. SEO vs. #11. Blogging
SEO: Once a science left for Internet experts, SEO has become an everyday term in real estate marketing. This will be a tough match up between two marketing tactics that both work to drive traffic to your real estate website. You can’t exactly become an SEO expert overnight, which is why many people don’t attempt to learn about it at all. But for those who have mastered the strategies to climb the search rankings, the increase in website traffic and leads can be a big boost to business.
Blogging: This tactic pulled off the upset in the first round, edging out Google ads by just one vote! Now it goes up against another search engine strategy in round two. Blogging and real estate are a pefect match, due to the massive amount of knowledge that agents and brokers have about the industry and their local area. However, just like SEO, blogging’s biggest downside is the amount of time it takes to see results. So which tactic gives you the biggest payoff? Make your pick!
#4. Branded website vs. #5. In-person networking
Branded website: With more and more consumers beginning their agent search with a trip to Google instead of a trip the mailbox, branded websites easily took down branded swag in the first round. Now it takes on another old-school real estate marketing strategy in round two: good old-fashioned networking.
In-person networking: Networking for leads dates back to the dawn of the modern real estate era, and for good reason. An agent without a network of people to talk to and build relationships with probably won’t be a very successful one. But with home searches becoming an online process, can a branded website draw in more leads than a strong network?
We’d love to hear your thoughts on the best marketing tactics in your market. Drop a comment below, or Tweet us @PipelineROI with the hashtag #REMarketingMadness to let us know what you think! Don’t forget to fill out the form below for your shot at a gold MacBook!