We’ve been writing estate agent content since 2015.
During that time, we’ve learned what works and what doesn’t.
The list below (in no particular order) contains nine things that will kill your agency’s content marketing efforts.
Here goes:
- Inconsistency – In today’s relentless digital world, you need to be putting out content (blogs in particular) at least twice a week – consistently. It’s pointless posting an amazing blog only once every two months. You’ll never get the impact of an agency that posts good stuff regularly.
- Area exclusivity – I know a rival who thinks I only highlight this one because they don’t offer area exclusivity. This isn’t correct. And I’ll explain why. When an agency shares the same content as its local rivals, it massively waters down their brand’s voice (and their rivals’) and robs them of any point of difference.
- Unfriendly Facebook – Content marketing is much more than simply posting on social media. Many agents focus too much on Facebook. I think Facebook, especially organic posts, are losing their impact due to Mr Zuckerberg and his gang’s constant changes to algorithms and pushing paid-for posts.
- Ignoring what YOU control – I’m always amazed how many agents don’t send content regularly to their email databases. Unlike Facebook / Instagram / LinkedIn followers, you have control over that database. The social media giants own your followers – you don’t. So, you’re missing a massive trick if you aren’t keeping in constant contact with your database and nurturing it wisely with weekly blogs and helpful info.
- Recycling matters – A lot of agents post a blog/video once and then forget about it. This is a waste (if it’s good content). Your audience is constantly changing, so there’s no reason you can’t recycle the content and use it again and again. All you really need to do is tweak the headline and have a good scheduling system in place to mix it up and get more from your content marketing.
- Video is a must – There’s no getting away from it – you need video content as part of any effective marketing mix. Whether that’s creating vlogs out of your blogs (the software is out there to do this) or doing short and sweet videos about what’s happening in your local market and community.
- Being a one-trick pony – Anyone doing content marketing now needs to understand one very important thing. We are ALL in the attention business. Attention is the most valuable asset ANY agency marketing itself has. We were the first to create regular community-based content that had nothing to do with property and everything to do with grabbing the attention of a bigger audience. It’s simple when you think about it. Here’s an example: How many people in your area are thinking of moving at any one time? Compared to how many people would find an article about keeping pets safe and sound during fireworks’ season? Variations of that blog are annual winners for us and our clients. By expanding your range of topics, you cast your attention-grabbing net further.
- Writing for an algorithm – I’ve never met an SEO expert who has really convinced me they know what they are talking about. One thing I do know is when you write to please an ever-changing (and mystery-shrouded) algorithm, it’s really easy to come across as bland. And bland gets binned / ignored. Another point about SEO is that if you are serving a town / area and are relying solely on SEO to get found – you’re usually f’ed.
- Not creating destination content – Destination content is when you post at the same time each week (usually via email, but it is also handy to do on social media). This lets your audience know when to look out for your content. One example is our Midweek Marketing Magic email (which comes out on Wednesdays at 11am). Others are Peter Knight’s Monday morning Property Academy article, the PIE daily news bulletin and James Clear’s Thursday afternoon emails.
If you are looking for consistent, journalistic-quality content, delivered to your inbox every Monday morning, let’s chat. Drop me a reply with the postcodes you serve, and we’ll put you on a free one-month trial if your area is available.
Thanks for reading.
Jerry