E-Marketing 101

If you asked a thousand agents to define the term "e-marketing," you'd probably get a thousand different answers. These might include:

• "E-marketing means placing listings and photos on my website."
• "It means placing my listings on third-party websites."
• "It's about enhancing my listings with virtual tours or videos."
• "E-marketing is about creating a listing website, mobile marketing, mapping, texting, social networking or cultivating and generating leads."

All of the above (and many more) would be correct.

Times have certainly changed. If you asked agents a decade or so ago, most would likely say e-marketing meant somehow placing your listing on a silly thing called the Internet. Just five short years ago, many agents wouldn't know what a text message was. Yet now, we can't imagine leaving the house without our smartphone.

The term "e-marketing" is changing so rapidly that it truly can't be defined at all. The vast array of mobile and desktop products, services, local and national online outlets, and the devices that real estate can be marketed with are expanding daily. Today, being a successful agent also involves being an electronic marketing wizard. Buyers and sellers will continue to demand more technology and superior e-marketing services from real estate agents and offices.

To address the technology barrier, highly successful agents and offices rely on affordable, cutting edge e-marketing solutions from providers that specialize in cross-promotional listing campaign services. The reason is simple. Real estate professionals need to focus on real estate. Keeping up with the rapid changes in electronic real estate marketing is a full time job in itself.

The products, services and outlets utilized to market real estate have become quite diverse. They include virtual tours, property videos, listing websites, lead generation avenues, texting systems, enhanced national feed presence, QR codes, Craigslist widgets, search engine optimization, mobile compatibility and much more. Displaying static photographs and listing information simply isn't sufficient to catch a buyer's eye or generate qualified leads when competing against other tech savvy agents. To stand out, agents must consider a targeted approach for every marketing outlet. You never know where the next lead will come from, so listings must stand out wherever they are found.

So, how can agents and brokers find the time, money and energy to learn such a vast amount of knowledge and keep up with the ever-changing technology on a daily basis? Call for a free trail of Showcase Technologies' Home Zone Real Estate Marketing system by calling 1-888-882-1259, or attend a free webinar and learn how to succeed in real estate marketing at LearnREmarketing.com.

The real estate marketing and lead generation puzzle can be complicated. Sometimes it's nice to have free help to put the pieces together.