Targeting the right client at the right time

Reaching potential buyers and sellers is a key component to any agent’s marketing plan, but the number of websites and profiles that an agent has to maintain and update to reach potential buyers can be overwhelming. One of the major breakthroughs happening in real estate is around marketing automation, which includes social media marketing.

Companies like Circlepix are entering the real estate marketing field to help build marketing packages for brokerages that are delivered to their inboxes. According to Reagan, who has worked with Circlepix, agents were able to get brand designs, YouTube videos, brochures, fliers, Facebook posts and more, all of which link back to the original listing.

“A lot of agents feel overwhelmed by everything they have to do in today’s market,” Reagan says. “That obviously was a big motivator with automation, trying to relieve a lot of the stress with all of those touch points.”

But online marketing is becoming more tailored than just making sure that your name or listing is on the right website. It’s about getting that information to the right person at the right time. Advancements in retargeting and geofencing help get ads and listings to customers who are ready to buy now.

“The key to data is not the data itself, but how you mine it and use it,” says Peter Papakyriacou, vice president of marketing and communications at Baird & Warner.

Retargeting is where users see ads on various websites based on their online history. Papakyriacou says that Baird & Warner provides retargeting ads based on its listings in order to help brokers with lead generation by automatically matching their listings with buyers who are most interested in that piece of property.

“Normally, ads blast out the message to a broad audience. Now every time a prospective buyer views a listing on our pages — either through searching on the site or clicking on an ad to bring them there — it’s hypertargeted to someone interested in that property,” Papakyriacou says.

Geofencing brings targeted advertising to a different level by defining a geographic location and serving ads to people in that location during a specific time period. According to Papakyriacou, Baird & Warner has created a geotargeted campaign to serve ads within a two-mile radius of its various locations as well as at Metra train stations during peak hours.

“They’re delivering a message in real time that links the physical brand — ads on the train and billboards — to the digital call to action,” he says. “It’s an integrated approach to walking the potential buyer or seller down the path to connect with Baird & Warner.”