By Robin Wilding

Launching a real estate marketing campaign without leveraging technology is like buying a canoe but no paddles. Technology for agents is a marketing investment; an investment of time, and sometimes, money. And it’s a confusing investment.

To help you sift through technology and make the best investment-to-return ratio, there are four relatively easy ways (not including social marketing—a byzantine system we won’t discuss here) to cover all your technological bases: Customer relationship management (CRM), automated marketing, differentiating website and iPad productivity apps.

1. An effective CRM should be a simple solution that offers tasks and/or reminders, contact and lead management and integration with your existing email and smartphone. Real Estate Cloud offers a relatively intuitive, free solution. Top Producer is another common platform – you must pay for it, but it offers a few more bells and whistles and there are several other options. Ideally you will want to install this on your smartphone, so you can add contact information and points of contacts while on the go.

2. An automated-marketing or ‘drip-marketing’ campaign’s simple purpose is to use carefully calculated stock emails and send them at pre-determined times. It fosters customer awareness and systematically moves potential clients through the sales cycle. When done correctly it is not spam; it is valuable, relevant information.  (“Relevant” will appear many times in this article because its importance cannot be stressed enough).

To initiate a drip-marketing campaign you first need a platform. MailChimp is a popular option. It is extremely user-friendly and free.

Once you have a platform you need to carefully construct emails with actionable content that is designed to illicit a response. Make it local, keep it short and up-to-date and always end with an action item.

For example: “Have you read my 11 Critical Factors to Consider When Buying a Home in Iqaluit, Nunavut?” or “Consider the upward projected growth value of these three neighbourhoods.”

Spread the email intervals over a month (a common pattern is an email after two days, six days, 12 days and 20 days), then at the end send an email asking if they’d like to continue receiving emails or opt-out. If they opt-out, consider giving them a phone call to confirm opt-out, which will give you a point-of-contact opportunity.

Creating these campaigns can be time-intensive initially, but is a set-it-and-forget-it solution moving forward. When creating your content, consider surveying your current or past clients to find out what would make them read through.

3. Real estate agent websites can be a dime a dozen. They are mostly built from templates that are recycled across tens of thousands of agents, with one common feature: MLS IDX integration (this is what allows for MLS property searches on agent websites). To create a differentiating website you need to focus not on the property search (which every agent has) and instead on the following:

• It is easily navigable via menus, has a clean design and has a natural visitor flow that encourages visitors to click from one page to the next. It also needs to allow users to quickly find the precise information they want.
• It has relevant, personal, tangible information. Opt for content that reflects your personality as an agent, and please – no real estate fluff.
• It has 100-per-cent original content with a focus on local information. Original content is not only the biggest positive factor in search engine optimization (SEO) but will engage your readers.
• It is mobile-friendly.

When creating a website concept, don’t be taken in by fancy Flash graphics (the ones that create moving graphics, common on intro pages). Focus on content. The days of the public being taken in by flashy graphics are over. We want solid information, not pretty pictures (although we like those too!).

You need not invest thousands of dollars or expensive monthly fees into a website. There are great low-cost, commoditized website solutions available. There are free options like Wix (no IDX) and low-cost options like WebsiteBox (which offers IDX integration), if you’re savvy enough to create a website yourself.

When it comes to content, you need to knock their socks off. If you are not the greatest writer, hire one; you can have content written for about $30 per page. An investment in high-converting content is solid as it can be used across all your online- and paper-based marketing materials. Remember, this content may be the potential clients’ first introduction (and possibly last) to you, so it should speak as intelligently as you do.

4. Get an iPad and go paperless. Paperwork should be considered the bane of any agents’ existence. It is far too time-consuming and steadily – and stealthily – gnaws away at productivity. Invest in an iPad. If you’re a new agent concerned about cash flow you can pick up a gently used one on Craigslist or buy one on a payment plan.

When it comes to iPad use for real estate agents, there are a few key apps that will change your life:

* iAnnotate PDF – allows you to edit PDF documents and contracts on the go.

* DocuSign – consider this the Holy Grail of agent apps. It stores all the documents you need while allowing you to send them to multiple parties to be electronically signed – and you receive an alert when they are returned, signed. DocuSign will save you hundreds of hours a year preparing, signing and delivering paperwork. Check with your local real estate association for e-document rules.

* Scanner Pro – turn your iPad’s camera into a document scanner.

* Keynote – allows you to create interactive presentations for listing, seller and other presentations. Having your presentations always with you and ready means on-the-fly client presentations, no more “let’s set up a meeting on Tuesday”.

Using these apps is easy. Simply type “how to use” and the name of the app into YouTube and you will get step-by-step, video-based instructions. For a more in-depth approach to iPad productivity and going paperless, consider taking an online course. The folks over at The Paperless Agent can help you out.

If you sync these apps with your iPhone, it’s even better. Don’t forget to activate iCloud to back up all your information automatically and have it available from any internet-connected device (see YouTube – “How to use iCloud”).

Robin Wilding is the creative mind behind Real Estate Websites Canada, a boutique real estate website company providing “differentiating-yet-laughably-affordable web solutions for agents across the country.” She says: “The company’s success is highly attributable to creating low-cost branded websites that highlight the personality of each individual agent. You’re unique; your website should be too.”  https://real-estate-websites.ca/