3 Digital Marketing Strategies For Real Estate Investors (2024)

Unpopular opinion: There are too many digital marketing strategies for real estate investors.

Do a quick search, and you’ll find thousands of articles and video tutorials. And none of them are simple—most strategies require a dozen different steps, a bunch of software subscriptions, or the help of a consultant or agency to work correctly. No bueno!

This article will give three highly effective and time-saving real estate investor marketing strategies for 2024. Each can be built by yourself and quickly—from start to finish, you can have these up and generating leads in one week.

Let’s goooo! (as the kids say)

Strategy 1: Social Media Marketing Funnel

Social media marketing is where most digital marketers get their start. Why? Because social media is free to use and easy to learn.

But that simplicity also means social media is crowded. And that competition can be discouraging—getting seen amongst a literal ‘ocean’ of competing content is no easy task.

However, you can stick out in the crowd with a solid strategy, some originality, and a good offer, even with a ‘small’ following of a few thousand people.

Day 1-2: Platform Selection & Profile Setup

Choosing the right social media channel is crucial. And yes, you should focus on just one.

Here are my top three picks for 2024:

1. Facebook has 2 billion active users. Homeowners, real estate agents, lenders, and investors are all here—it’s a one-size-fits-all platform.
2. LinkedIn is great for networking with other investors, lenders, and other professionals, but there are better choices for connecting with homeowners.
3. TikTok is extremely popular right now but geared for extremely short attention spans. Fast video clips, punchy topics, and an exciting personality are essential.

When setting up your profile, think of your target audience. Who will help you the most at your current stage? What could they gain from interacting with a real estate investor like you?

Your profile should resonate with your audience while showcasing success stories and past clients.

Day 3-4: Content Creation & Scheduling

Now, let’s talk content marketing. Your posts should blend market insights with personal anecdotes—think tips on saving money on a property sale mixed with tales of your real estate journey.

Use tools like Buffer to batch posts and schedule them throughout the week. This will ensure you post consistently and increase your chances of reaching the right audience at the right time.

Remember, regularly updated, relevant content keeps your online presence fresh and engaging.

Day 5-6: Engagement Tactics

Engagement is more than likes and shares; it’s an opportunity to brand yourself.

You spread your web of influence whenever you engage with comments, share insights on market trends, and join online events and groups.

And while answering the same few questions a thousand times may get old, you’re actively establishing expertise in front of that audience. Eventually, those community members will know to turn to you for help when they—or their sphere of influence—need help selling their property.

And don’t be afraid to think outside the box! Here’s a clever way an investor in San Antonio, TX, boosted his social media engagement/reach with direct mail:

Day 7: Analytics Review

Your social media channel is a goldmine of data. And most platforms give you access to that data.

• Which posts resonated with your audience? Did discussions about real estate or tips on local contractors pique more interest?
• What days of the week did your content get a bigger response?
• Do your followers like video content or static images?

Use these insights to refine your marketing efforts. Don’t overthink it—if something worked, do more of that until it stops working. Rinse and repeat.

Strategy 2: Local SEO

What’s better than finding an opportunity? Having opportunities find you. And there is no better place to be found than on Google.

By now, you probably have a real estate website and Google Business Profile—every business does. But most businesses don’t have an SEO (search engine optimization) strategy to ensure their business gets the top spot on search engines.

Do you think someone typing “how to sell my house fast” into Google might be a good person for you to get your message in front of? A strong SEO strategy will increase the likelihood that your website will be the first one a person sees after hitting ‘Enter.’

Day 1-2: Keyword Research & On-Page SEO

For a real estate investor, your SEO strategy should be as targeted as your investment choices.

Start by creating a list of keywords that would attract home sellers in a local area. This requires a basic understanding of the real estate market’s nuances and the keywords sellers will likely use when searching for real estate services.

Here are some keyword suggestions to help you get started:

• Local Area Focus: Start with the name of the city or neighborhood, and then add real estate-related terms. E.g., “Dallas real estate investors,” “Houston home selling.”
• Seller Motivations: Keywords that address common seller motivations can be powerful. Examples: “sell house fast in Missouri,” “cash home buyers in Texas.”
• Property Types: Include specific types of properties you might be interested in. For example, “multi-family homes in Tulsa,” “fixer-upper in Austin.”
• Problem-Solving Keywords: Many sellers are looking for quick solutions. Keywords like “avoid foreclosure in Oklahoma City” and “sell home after divorce in Little Rock” can be effective.
• Market Trends Keywords: Stay updated with market trends and use them in keywords, such as “COVID-19 impact on Tulsa real estate” and “2023 Missouri housing market trends.”
• Profession-related Terms like “cash homebuyer near me” and “real estate companies in Charlotte” are commonly searched.
• Transactional Keywords are specific to the transaction process, e.g., “how to sell a house in Texas,” “steps to sell property in Arkansas.”
• Long-Tail Keywords: More specific phrases that are less competitive but highly targeted, like “how to sell inherited property in Missouri quickly.”

Remember, the keywords should be tailored to the local market and updated regularly to reflect current trends and search behaviors. Additionally, tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs can provide insights into how often your keywords are searched for and who else in your area is competing for the same terms.

Once you’ve got a list of keywords, you’ll want to add them to your website copy and in blog articles. Here’s an example of keywords showing up on a website:

Day 3-4: Off-Page SEO & Local Listings

It’s not enough to optimize our website for keywords. We need to convince Google that our website is legitimate and worthy of receiving visitors; for this, we’ll need backlinks.

A backlink is a link placed on someone else’s website that points back to your website. These links act like votes of confidence, indicating to search engines that other websites vetted (and approved) your website.

Here are a few ways to start generating backlinks:

• List your real estate company on relevant directories (like Yelp, YellowPages, and BBB) and social media sites; these are low-hanging fruit.
• Offer to go on podcasts, do news interviews, or contribute opinions to media outlets like (Forbes and Inman).
• Approach other local businesses with websites and offer to exchange backlinks.

Day 5-6: Google My Business Optimization

For local investors, Google My Business is a cornerstone of your digital marketing strategy. A well-optimized page can place you right in the search engine results, where potential clients are looking.

Upload photos of properties, use the posts feature to share offers and events, collect and respond to reviews, and ensure your contact information is accurate and up-to-date.

Day 7: Review and Plan Next Steps

You must track your keyword rankings and traffic over time. You can do this by connecting Google Search Console to your website. GSE will give you in-depth information on traffic for your website.

Once GSE is set, connect it to a tool like Ahrefs or SEMRush. These SEO tools help you track keywords, keyword rankings, and competitor content all in one spot.

But don’t get too far into the weeds—there is a lot of data, and not all of it is helpful.

The main things you need to track are A) which pages have the most traffic and B) which keywords people are searching for that lead them to your site.

Once you know what’s working, you can create other other articles in a similar manner and link them to that page. Essentially, we’re creating an interlinked ‘web’ of keyword content that keeps people on your site and increases your chances of creating a lead.

Strategy 3: Paid Advertising Campaigns

Paid advertising is the fastest and most expensive strategy on this list. But that won’t matter if your ROI is covered and then some, right?

Most pro-level marketers shoot for a 4x return on ad spending, so for every $1 spent, they want to get $4 back in return. But real estate marketers are a different story—we don’t have easy-to-read metrics like other industries do.

Sometimes, we’ll spend $25 on a lead that turns into a five-figure wholesale deal a year from now. Or we spend $30k on Facebook ads that generate $250k for a cap-raise campaign. Results vary wildly and could lead to equally varied types of real estate investment.

So, before you start paid advertising, have a clear expectation of what a ‘win’ is for your business and optimize for that. The KPIs will be different from business to business.

Day 1-2: Setting the Stage for Your Campaign

To do paid ads right, you need to understand your chosen platform. And to keep things simple, I’m only going to recommend two: Meta and Google.

• Meta platform includes:
  • Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp
• Google platform includes:
  • Google Search, Display, and YouTube

Here’s a video breakdown comparing Facebook and Google Ads:

Day 3-4: Crafting Compelling Ads

Creating ads that resonate with viewers is key, whether they’re motivated sellers, landlords, or investors; your message should be to the point and empathetic, offering solutions to their urgent needs.

Any online marketing imagery should be provocative and relate to your audience—think images of run-down houses or a drone video clip overlooking a bustling apartment complex.

Here’s an example of an ad you might use to target motivated sellers:

Day 5-6: Targeting & Budgeting

Now, let’s talk targeting. Meta and Google advertising platforms have built-in tools to help advertisers zero in on homeowners and other audiences.

Your keyword list will be handy here for targeting specific situations like those people ‘looking to sell quickly’ or ‘seeking real estate advice.’

But you can also target people based on interests (housing, off-market properties, credit repair) or media they’d likely consume (HGTV, BiggerPockets, MoneyWatch).

Or target people who visit your competitor’s page and siphon their traffic!

As for budgeting, treat it like a strategic investment: start small, gauge the response, and then scale accordingly. However, don’t expect this to work with $200—I’d recommend at least $3-5k set aside for a 90-day campaign.

Day 7: Analyzing Results and Refining Your Approach

As the week wraps up, it’s time to review. How has your real estate digital marketing strategy impacted your online presence? Are more users visiting your landing pages? What are the comments saying? Use these insights to adjust and enhance your approach.

Below are the key metrics to watch for paid advertising campaigns and what you can do to improve each:

1. Click-Through Rate (or CTR)

CTR measures the percentage of people who clicked on your ad after seeing it. A high CTR indicates that your ad is relevant and engaging to your target audience—aim for 7 to 10%.

2. Conversion Rate (or CVR):

CVR tracks how many people clicked on your ad and completed a desired action (like a download). It shows how effective your ad is at driving results. For instance, a 10% conversion rate indicates that 10 out of every 100 clicks led to a conversion, signifying strong ad-to-action alignment—aim for 3 to 5%.

3. Cost Per Click (or CPC):

This is the amount you pay each time someone clicks your ad. It helps manage ad spend efficiency. Say your CPC is $1—you’re spending a dollar for each website visitor.

Pro tip: Only adjust one variable at a time (copy, imagery, or targeting), test each for 48hrs and then move on—testing too many things at once will pollute your results.

Example: Let’s say our CTR is low; we’ll start by changing our headline only. Test three new headlines and look for any improvements. No change? Keep the original headline and test three new images. We’ll rinse and repeat till we find the culprit.

How To Scale Your Real Estate Digital Marketing

Need to scale your real estate marketing campaigns? Keep it simple—do more of what works until you hit diminishing returns, then add a new strategy.

• If you used Strategy A and it’s working, then do more.
• If you used Strategy A, have done more, and now hit a wall… add Strategy B.
• Rinse and repeat.

One of DIY marketers’ biggest mistakes is trying every marketing strategy under the sun. But it’s unnecessary—you’ll get better results by mastering one or two strategies instead of half-assing a dozen.

My only caveat would be if you want to add email marketing (with a newsletter or email sequence), video content marketing (YouTube), or UGC (user-generated content)—any one of these can seriously boost any strategy you’re already using.

What Are Digital Marketing Strategies For Real Estate Investors?

Digital marketing strategies for real estate investors are combinations of tactics and tools real estate entrepreneurs can use to optimize their online marketing and generate leads.

These strategies typically include steps for establishing, maintaining, and scaling advertising campaigns, branding initiatives, and more.

Final Thoughts & Next Steps

Remember, real estate marketing isn’t just about finding properties to buy/sell/trade; it’s also about building relationships, sharing experiences, and growing your network.

A savvy marketer will build a brand image and advertise their services simultaneously. This two-pronged approach establishes our brand in the audience’s mind long-term. We want people to remember us, not just what we do.

So, once you master social media, SEO, and paid ads, then how do you continue to scale?

Congratulations—you can now start incorporating an email marketing campaign!

Email marketing is my favorite long-term strategy, BUT you need to build an email list first, so it’s hard to start until you’ve mastered one of the three strategies we covered in this article.

Want to get a head start on building your email list? Download an email marketing software (EMS) like Flodesk or Brevo, add a sign-up form on your website and begin collecting those sweet, sweet emails. You don’t need to send a complex email chain yet; a ‘thank you’ email for subscribers will do the trick.