Digital Marketing Tips for Property Managers During COVID-19
While there are hopes that the country will start COVID-19 vaccinations by the end of 2020, Ireland is currently in Level 3 lockdown with stricter restrictions on movements and physical interactions. Only essential facilities are open with only essential workers attending to work in person. One of the industries that have been hit hard by the lockdowns is the property management industry. According to the CBRE Bi-Monthly Report for November 2020, commercial property tenants have been reluctant to make long-term commitments and the uptake of retail space is likely to decline by up to 20 percent by the end of the year compared to the beginning.
For property managers, the primary goal at the moment is to generate enough leads, attract clients and start the new year on a high. With restrictions on physical interactions, these digital marketing techniques can help you to attract clients and grow your business:
- Create Virtual Tours
Property buyers and real estate investors can no longer visit properties for sale in person. It’s also unlikely that people would be willing to risk their health to attend open houses even without the restrictions in place. Attendance would be low.. The best alternative for property managers is now to create virtual tours for clients. While photos, videos, and detailed descriptions can still work, they aren’t as effective as 3D virtual tours.
Real estate companies such as Sherry FitzGerald have already started offering 3D virtual tours to their clients. You can register for a virtual tour of their Ballinahinch Wood property on this link. Virtual Reality technologies such as Matterport enable property managers to easily create 3D tours of their property for showcasing to clients. Prospective clients can have the tours on their phones or desktops at their convenience.
- Sell a Lifestyle on Social Media
Social media without doubt is a very powerful platform for connecting with a brand’s audience. But you can make your listings stand out by selling a lifestyle instead of just putting out posts. You can drive up interest in your property by leveraging Facebook and Instagram Stories to tell stories about the property and surrounding area besides sharing its history. This gives prospects an idea of lifestyle on the property and increases their interest.
How effective is Instagram and Facebook Stories in elevating your brand? About a third of Facebook users use Facebook Stories each day. Here’s a case study of how effective social media marketing can be for your brand.
- Make Your Real Estate Website Mobile Friendly
Optimizing your website for mobile devices increases your visibility on online searches. This helps in generating more leads and growing your business. At least 54.39 percent of Irish people access the internet on mobile devices compared to 41.46 percent on desktops. This means that your property is more likely to be discovered by mobile users before desktop users. Besides that, a mobile friendly website also improves your chances of appearing among the top results on search engines. It’s therefore important to hire an experienced web development company that has the expertise to create a mobile-optimized website.
- Develop Real Estate Video Content
Video marketing is becoming a force to reckon in the digital marketing sphere. It’s time the real estate industry started leveraging video content too to improve their lead generation. As people stay home more, they’re turning to video content platforms such as YouTube and Facebook for entertainment. Video content can help you to highlight the key features of your property. You can also create educational videos that give viewers deep insights on the local property market. This will keep your brand at the back of your mind and they’re likely to contact you once they’re ready to make a purchase. You can publish the videos on your social media pages, YouTube channel, and website.
You might also want to consider hosting webinars, creating real estate infographics, and publish audiovisual content on your blogs.
- Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile
Most property managers focus their social media efforts on platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook while ignoring LinkedIn. But LinkedIn can be a powerful platform especially for commercial property managers. It’s a professional platform that will enable you to demonstrate your trustworthiness and credibility among potential commercial tenants. Ensure that your LinkedIn profile is properly completed with your logo as your profile photo. You should also list your skills and contact past clients to endorse your skills. You can read more tips on LinkedIn marketing here.
The impact of COVID-19 on the property industry is expected to reduce by the end of 2021. But being flexible to the disruption caused can give you an edge over your competitors. These digital marketing techniques can help you to leverage online tools and make sales without breaking coronavirus safety guidelines. Our 4-phase digital marketing strategy consisting of an optimized smart website, social media marketing, search engine marketing, and email marketing is guaranteed to improve your lead generation and conversion rates. Get in touch with us today to discuss your real estate marketing needs.
