Start with your website. If you don’t have one, get one, and if you already have one, make sure it’s suitable for your business’s needs.
A good website can be one of your most valuable “salespeople,” tirelessly working 24/7 to attract leads from across the Internet and convert them into paying customers. It should therefore present a positive image of your business and give customers all the information they need in order to feel they know you better and want to do business with you.
The next step is to promote your website everywhere you can. Begin by putting its address on all your marketing literature, print ads, store front, company vehicles, etc. This is the most straightforward action you can take to promote your site. Obviously, it’s not online marketing in its purest form since the website is being promoted in the physical world, but it does serve an important function:
Physical means of promotion are limited in either space or time. The message they can transmit to potential customers is limited. In comparison, a website has virtually no bounds on the amount of information it can hold, and it is easily available at all the time. It’s therefore an automatic extension of any piece of information about your business you put out into the world. It’s a place where clients can go learn more about what you can do for them.
Now that you have a website that conveys a coherent, positive, benefit driven, message about your business, it’s time to start promoting it online via Internet marketing techniques. Here’s an overview of some of the major Internet marketing methods:
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – SEO is the art and science of making a website appear in the natural (non-paid) search result listings of Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. when people type in a search phrase. An SEO campaign can be directed at location qualified search phrases, such as “brooklyn real estate agent” or “manhattan luxury condos” to catch people looking for exactly what you have to offer. SEO consists of two components. The first involves structuring the pages of your site to “convince” the search engines they’re about your targeted search phrases. This is known as on-page optimization. The second involves placing links on other websites that point to pages on your site. This “convinces” the search engines your pages are of good quality and also confirms they are relevant to the targeted search phrases. The second component is known as off-page optimization.
- Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising – PPC advertising is the placement of paid ads on a search engine or other websites, where the advertiser pays only if someone clicks on the ad. PPC are traditionally connected to search engines that serve ads related to a search phrase entered. So if someone types in “new york apartments”, then ideally ads related to apartments in new york would be shown. The great thing about PPC advertising is that ads can be geographically targeted even without the the name of a city or region in the search phrase. The PPC systems can determine a searcher’s geographic location by using his/her computer’s Internet Protocol address. Google, Yahoo, and Bing (Microsoft) are the best known and most widely used PPC systems, but there are many others.
- Email Marketing - This has nothing to do with spam, although spammers do give it a bad rap. Email marketing simply involves collecting the email addresses of customers and prospects (on your website and in person), and periodically emailing them some useful information such as updates about the real estate industry, what’s new in your business, specific listings you may have, etc. This way, you’ll form a relationship with those on your list over time, and when they decide they have a need you can fulfill, you’ll be fresh on their minds and they’ll turn to you.
- Social Media Marketing (SMM) - The practice of social media marketing involves getting the word out about your business on social media websites, such as Facebook and Twitter. SMM lets you keep in touch with your customers and in that respect serves a similar purpose to email marketing. In addition, SMM gives your business more exposure to new potential customers.
