The Guide to Launching Your Real Estate Marketing Mix

Building an online presence — in other words, a core foundation for your online real estate marketing — is just the first step in your overall marketing plan. Once your website is live, it's on you to kick your digital promotion up a notch. That means forming an email marketing blueprint, developing a social media footprint, and diving into the world of advertising (both online and offline).

Together, all of these channels and tactics add up to one thing: a comprehensive, omni-channel marketing strategy that allows you to effectively reach, inform, and nurture your audience and — in time — convert them into new business.

So what exactly is an omni-channel marketing strategy?

Also commonly referred to as multi-channel marketing (though you'll hear some say the two are different approaches), this method of brand promotion entails the utilization of several online outlets and techniques to enhance one's reach to a targeted, niche audience. In the case of real estate, that means implementing a marketing strategy that incorporates the base infrastructure of one's online presence — the almighty website — and then building on this foundation once it's optimized accordingly (e.g. numerous landing pages that offer resources and brand information are built out, several blog posts have been published, and listings are frequently updated across each page).

Once you feel comfortable augmenting your site with plenty of relevant, local market details and your industry expertise, you can enter the next phase of your omni-channel scheme:

• Developing an organized lead management plan (complete with prospect-scoring and monitoring capabilities)
• Building out an email marketing plan (preferably starting with pre-written, automated drip campaigns for your different lead segments)
• Expanding your reach through targeted advertising (e.g. pay-per-click ads via Google AdWords, targeted real estate mailers)
• Broadening awareness of your brand on social media (organic and paid publication, and regular engagement with your audience)

There are, of course, a number of other marketing tactics you can employ to generate and nurture your leads — for example, guest posting on local publications and blogs and leveraging public relations. At the end of the day, though, the aforementioned ones are musts for a successful omni-channel program.

Does this marketing method help all brands or just some?

There are very few fields (if any) for which an omni-channel strategy wouldn't work. There is a significant amount of research out there that proves just how vital and successful the omni-channel approach is for companies in practically all industries:

• 87% of businesses said an omnichannel marketing strategy was vital for their brands' success. —MultichannelMerchant/Neustar
• 7 out of 10 brands stated digital tactics are incorporated into their overall marketing strategies. — Econsultancy/Adobe
• 88% of marketers implemented cross-channel marketing strategies using three or more channels in 2014. — Experian

In short, mastering just one or two channels and marketing activities won't cut it for most brands. An exhaustive, sweeping online marketing strategy is a must to thrive in today's business climate — particularly for real estate agents, many of whom have made the nearly full transition to digital promotion as their primary means of lead generation and converting said leads into clients.

How do I know if my omni-channel marketing is working?

Measure! Just as you (hopefully) have been doing for your existing real estate marketing strategy, it's paramount to keep track of your website, email campaign, and social media metrics to ensure your messaging and engagement helps move your prospects through your sales funnel and, eventually, turns them into legitimate business (or at least referral) opportunities. Specifically, you need to:

• Head to your Google Analytics account to track essential metrics including website traffic, user sessions, and time on page
• Use the analytics platform to also see who's clicking through to your real estate website in your emails and social media shares
• Find a real estate CRM (in other words, lead management software) that allows you to see lead activity and employ nurturing tactics

After you get all of your activities up and running, you'll slowly but surely be able to master the art of omni-channel marketing and, in turn, will find it substantially easier to monitor your marketing success and make the necessary adjustments that will launch your real estate marketing to the next level.

To view the original article, visit the HomeFinder.com blog.