People everywhere need housing, but marketing for those homes is subject to highly local conditions. If you are a real estate professional with an expanding market or offices in multiple cities, you are already well aware of the struggle. Succeeding in establishing your real estate brand requires matching the hyper-specificity of local markets with an expansion on a national scale. But how does that work?
Your real estate brand can and should advertise and ingrain itself in local markets. However, stopping at only local advertising severely limits your potential audience. You need to also leverage the visibility of a national stage.
In this post, we'll share the real estate marketing tips you need to know to bring your local ads to a national audience and offer advice on which marketing channels you can use to achieve that.
How Real Estate is Both Local and National
Real estate professionals know that many factors can affect local landscapes and markets. For instance, an identical house in a comparable neighborhood near a major city will be worth much more than one much further away. The same is true for major cities, as well. A similar home in a comparable community near Atlanta would be worth less than one near Los Angeles.
National reach is critical. Different municipalities have various influences on home prices, like job opportunities, income levels, quality of life, cost of living, and population density that affect prices and interest rates. Now, with the trend of more remote working conditions, home buyers are interested in less expensive markets. While it is always essential to have significant local reach, marketing to a broader reach has become even more important to let consumers know what your area offers.
The remote work trend may also significantly affect the commercial real estate market. Vacancy rates are rising as offices downsize or shutter their offices altogether. One study estimated that 10-20% of commercial office space may need to be repurposed or removed entirely without some way to entice tenants. That's where using the right real estate marketing techniques can help.
Use Digital Marketing to Target by Location
Digital marketing helps you reach customers wherever they are currently. It is cost-effective enough to scale nationally but flexible enough to target using local keywords. The key is combining proven techniques like search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO) to ensure you have optimal reach. SEO means making your website rank higher in organic search engine results, while SEM uses a combination of keywords and ads to boost your rank in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Tap into O&O Platforms to Reach Specific Audiences
Owned-and-operated platforms give access to specific audiences which tend to be local or at least very well known, leading to access to local groups. These platforms allow you to leverage their deep knowledge of their established audiences' behaviors, preferences, and intent. They make reaching your target local audience and a much broader national audience easier. The enhanced customer experience they provide leads to greater success for your real estate marketing.
Form Local and Community Partnerships
Event sponsorships and community partnerships with local entities are excellent ways to increase your real estate brand awareness. It shines the light on your offerings at a granular level while allowing you to scale across locations. They work to increase the trust and respect of your community, deepening the relationships and encouraging support through testimonials and referrals.
Share Content and Information About Locations
Your local agents are another key to deepening your local presence. Give agents in your different locations a platform to talk about what they can offer or post native ads on local sites to create content about their locations. Share insights through blogs, videos, or social media posts to guide other agents or homebuyers in the area and help them learn what they need to do. Sponsored content can also bring national attention to local posts by seamlessly integrating with your native content.
Take Your Local Real Estate Marketing National
Many factors can affect sales in different areas, so you need a plan to keep a spotlight on your local communities. The best way to ensure everyone knows what your real estate brand can offer is by making your messages visible on a larger stage. Implementing these real estate marketing tips is a great start.
Leveraging an established audience and accessing in-depth analytics about those consumers ensures you increase your reach effectively. McClatchy's broad-reaching network gives it a unique perspective on local audiences and a national reach to help real estate brands reach homebuyers everywhere. When you are ready to partner with the nation's 2nd largest local media company, contact us today to discuss how we can help.
