The Evolution of Real Estate Marketing

When was the last time you picked up a phone book to look up a business or grabbed a newspaper to check out the ads? Would you bother reading a postcard from a business that came in the mail, or answering a cold call from an unknown phone number?

If those marketing tactics sound dated to you, then you certainly aren't alone. The fact is that real estate marketing has evolved a great deal in recent years, thanks to the internet, search engines, mobile devices, and social media. Let's take a closer look at how things were, how they are today, and why things changed.

A Guide to the Evolution of Real Estate Marketing

In the not-too-distant past, real estate marketing was largely based on advertising, so agents would purchase advertising space in newspapers, radio, TV, and any other media that sold ads. You had to pick a publication that you thought would reach your target audience, purchase ad space... and then hope for the best. You could still do everything possible to optimize your advertising, but it was a far cry from digital media.

The Slower Pace of Yesterday's Marketing

In the past, print media was a more appealing place to advertise, simply because more people consumed it, but one of the biggest challenges with older marketing tactics is that it takes so much time to see results. You needed to wait for the ad to be published, wait for the publication to be shipped, and then wait again while you hoped people would see the ad. The same goes for other marketing tactics, like mailers, radio, and TV ads. It's not that these things didn't work at all, but they weren't terribly efficient compared to what we have today.

The Emergence of Modern Marketing

To say that "everything changed" when we all got a connection to the internet would be a dramatic understatement. Even in the dial-up days, online advertising quickly began to overtake traditional media, and that trend has continued full speed until today. Online marketing makes it so much easier to connect with the right audience, reach them quickly, and analyze your results to constantly improve the quality of your marketing. Search engines connect your audience with your marketing presence, and your real estate website is where clients go to scout all of your listings.

Smartphones, Social Media and Content Marketing

The next big change came when we all got smartphones and had access to the internet no matter where we went. Today, we simply expect the businesses we patronize to offer a website, with an active social media presence and easy options for connecting online. Marketing is more about building relationships and sharing expertise through online mediums, rather than simply buying ad space and hoping for the best.

The shift to mobile means that a mobile-friendly website is a must, and you'll also want plenty of real estate content to keep your audience coming back. It's a far cry from the marketing tactics of yesteryear, and that's a good thing! Modern marketing makes it so much easier to engage with your audience directly, provide them with the content they want to see, and build lasting connections. While we can be sure that real estate marketing will always keep evolving, it never hurts to look back at how far we've come.

To view the original article, visit the Delta Media Group blog.