The State of Real Estate Marketing: Why Realtors Need to Focus on Content Marketing
Realtors are underperforming in critical marketing metrics
The longer you read my blog and watch my videos, you’ll learn that I’m a data geek. I love creating beautiful charts, not just because it’s fun, but because they tell us critical things about the business environment, which is essential for every business owner to understand. So, let’s dive deeper into the real estate marketing landscape.
I analyzed the National Association of Realtors 2023 Member Profile and discovered some real issues in the way Realtors operate their businesses that the report doesn’t address: Why are Realtors performing so poorly on vital business metrics like business growth and return on investment, particularly in content marketing?
Strangely, the report seems to be written for industry service providers, but I digress…
Welcome to the first-ever State of Real Estate Marketing report, covering the essential insights and trends on how real estate agents are performing in the real world of real estate and content marketing.
Income, Expenses, and Activity Trends in Real Estate Marketing
insights
- Median Gross Income Growth: Growth slows dramatically over time, indicating the need for stronger content marketing strategies.
- Median Number of Transactions: Transactions plateau over time, showing the need for innovative real estate marketing approaches.
- Median Sales Volume: Decreases over time, emphasizing the importance of investing in content marketing to attract new clients.
- Business Growth: Slows the longer agents are in the business, underlining the need for continuous improvement in real estate marketing strategies.
Slides 1 – 7
Business Sources and Trends in Real Estate Marketing
Insights
- Past Client Referrals: Dramatically slow over time, highlighting the need for agents to engage more in content marketing to maintain client relationships.
- Non-personal Referrals: This catch-all category, including referrals from sphere-of-influence, paid leads, website, social media, open house, and virtual tours, declines over time, indicating the need for enhanced real estate marketing tactics.
- Gross Annual Income Growth: Slows over time, suggesting a strong need for better real estate marketing and content strategies.
Note: NAR research is limited because it lumps together 10 critical years in the lifetime of a real estate business.
slides 8 – 22
Digital Marketing Performance for Real Estate
insights
- Website Spend and Leads: 34% of Realtors spending more than $1,000 on website maintenance generate 0 leads. This highlights a significant gap in content marketing effectiveness.
- Social Media Marketing ROI: Only 11% of Realtors report a positive ROI from social media marketing vs. 96% of marketers overall. This stark contrast underscores the need for Realtors to invest in content marketing to improve their social media presence.
- Paid Leads: 65% of Realtors who paid for leads converted 0%, showing a misalignment between spending and returns.
- Website Lead Generation Performance: Improved by 3% from 2021 to 2022, indicating that more agents are starting to grasp the importance of content marketing in real estate.
slides 9 – 34
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Bad News, Good News
First, the bad news: Realtors are underperforming in vital real estate marketing metrics compared to other industries using websites, social media, and referrals to drive business growth. This leads to wasted money and time.
But there’s good news: There is a significant opportunity to optimize content marketing and conversions, turning marketing and sales efforts from cost centers to revenue generators. Website performance improved by 3% from 2021 to 2022, showing that real estate agents are getting the message and investing in content marketing.
This shift in lead generation strategies positions more agents for sustainable business growth.
Final Thoughts
I attribute the stagnant trends in income and sales growth over the lifetime of a real estate business to factors like real estate agents’ kids aging out of middle school, reducing agents’ opportunities to organically communicate with their sphere of influence.
That said, the growth in website inquiries from 2021 to 2022 is a promising indication that real estate agents are investing in content optimization since this strategy is the best for driving organic and referral website traffic. I’m optimistic that the percentage of respondents reporting at least 1 to 5 inquiries generated through their website will increase again with the next round of data, solidifying the industry’s transition from outdated lead generation tactics. Better late than never!
How about you? Are you transitioning from the hamster wheel of outdated lead generation tactics? If you need help, book a complimentary strategy call for expert guidance.
