‘It’s About Telling Rather than Selling’ Estate Agency Blogs.
Blogging is just one part of the PR and digital marketing mix your estate agency needs to be remarkable and to win the instructions battle. But it’s a powerful one.
In this article we show you how blogs can help your agency stand out from your rivals.
Blogging isn’t a craze. It isn’t something a teenager in Silicon Valley dreamed up which will die out by the end of this year. It certainly isn’t a gimmick. It’s here to stay.
So why all this fuss about blogs and blogging?
Well it’s a fantastic way for estate agents to get their target market to know, like, trust and eventually instruct them. Plus it’s very cost effective when compared to other marketing techniques such as mass flier drops.
So what is a blog? It’s short for weblog and is simply a regularly updated page consisting of interesting, informative or entertaining content which more often than not sits within your agency’s website.
Now we’ve answered that let’s look at why it works so well for estate agencies.
1) Regular blogs provide new, fresh and (hopefully) interesting content to your website that Google loves. This means you’ll be helping your site’s search engine optimisation (your site’s ranking on Google). Although this isn’t the most important part of why you should be blogging.
2) Regular blogging can establish your agency as an expert in the local property market because it’s a platform to share your knowledge.
3) Consistent blogging raises your profile and reminds clients (past, present and future) what you do and why they should call you.
4) Blogs provide content which can be used proactively as part of your email marketing campaigns.
5) Blogs provide a talking point for your social media efforts and can build rapport with your local audience by encouraging interaction through comments or questions.
6) They are a very cost effective way to build your brand and give people get a flavour of your company’s personality.
So we’ve told you the what, and the why, let’s discover how.
Consistency and content is key
If you are going to have a blog page make sure you update it regularly. At least twice a month, ideally once a week.
If you have a blog on your site which hasn’t been updated in months think about what message that gives a prospective client. It’s the digital equivalent of a dirty office window. Better to have no blog than one that’s left there sitting outdated and lonely.
People are interested in property and as an expert in your field you can share your knowledge on the subject.
Remember a blog is more about telling than selling.
I think in this day and age where goldfishes have longer attention spans than many humans it’s best to keep your blogs to no more than 350-400 words. Roughly two minutes to read.
Short of ideas?
Think of the reader. It’s not about what interests you it’s about what interests them. What’s the best way to paint a property within a tight budget? How can they get their property to stand out in the market? As long as you have an imagination and passion for your agency you’ll always come up with ideas for content.
Time to do it
Dedicate time to do it. If you are writing your own blogs get in the habit of setting aside fixed times to work on it. Early morning works best for me but everyone has their own most productive times of the day.
This will help build a good habit which will ultimately benefit your agency. It’s not just the act of writing your blog that you’ll find useful it’s also about taking time out of your day to think about what’s going on in your business.
If you don’t have the time or expertise but do have a budget and a desire for blogging fear not. There are some very good blog writing and content creation companies out there.
So give it a go. It’s fun, it’s effective, and it’s worth doing.
Jerry Lyons is a former journalist who now runs Property PR Expert. He has published an E-Guide, The Seven Deadly Wins of Estate Agency Blogging, which is available for free by emailing Jerry@propertyprexpert.co.uk
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