Marketing trends and which to follow

As we approach the end of an extraordinary year for estate agents, we’ve been looking into our crystal ball of marketing to predict the trends we think will dominating the industry in 2023. With so much volatility in the political and economic arena, it is hard to predict where the housing market might be in the New Year.

Marketing predictions are a bit more simple. Based on the trends that have been emerging over the past months, we’ve come up with the four important areas to consider in your content and digital marketing efforts – and guess what? They all start with your customer.

Everyone loves a story, a personal account that illustrates how a product can be life-changing…

1 The impact of storytelling

The power of a compelling narrative is everywhere right now, and has been for some time – just watch a couple of TV ads for proof. This is because everyone loves a story, a personal account that illustrates how a product or service can be life changing. Storytelling works because it feels authentic – it creates a world your customers can become immersed in, that they can relate to. We believe this trend can only continue to grow in 2023.

There are plenty of ways to use storytelling in your marketing, and they don’t need to involve big budget filmmaking. Something as simple as a testimonial that explains, in personal terms, how you helped someone make their housing dream come true would work.

While you might not be commissioning a blockbuster, video content is key here. Crucial to making an impact on social media, it has been shown to massively boost engagement and conversion rates because by bringing your storytelling alive – the old adage ‘show, don’t tell’ in practice.

2 Customer-driven content

Defining your ideal customer and creating content that addresses their pain points, isn’t new but it will continue to dominate in 2023. If you’ve been following the steps in the customer journey that we are such fans of, you’ll already be doing this. Next year, take it further by being more precise in your research and use of data, using it to drive content production. In the current economic climate, home movers will need your help more than ever. Make use of polls and surveys on your site and feeds as well as insight gathered from staff on the ground who are talking to people about their concerns.

3 Personalisation in practice

This trend takes identifying your ideal customer persona a stage further. Your customers don’t want to be just another vendor or landlord. They want to enter into a relationship with you, where they feel special.

Make this happen by always directing your customers to content that is right for them. So, don’t send emails to landlords with the same content that you send to vendors, in the hope that they’ll wade through it to find the information that’s meant for them. Have bespoke webpages for each niche client group, identifying who these are through demographic and behavioural data. This also applies to your blogs and even the testimonials that your customers see. It is fine to repurpose some of your basic content for different audiences, just make sure you personalise it to the precise group you’re looking to target.

4 Localised SEO

Our final tip for the year is essential to high street agents. SEO is nothing new; enhancing your content to make it findable on Google has been around for decades. But no matter how well your website is optimised for search, it won’t bring you the niche customers you need if it isn’t reaching people in your local area.

Localised SEO responds to a growing interest by consumers in the independent businesses in their areas and is a huge benefit to agents with bricks and mortar stores on the high street. If you look at Google, you’ll see more and more local content appearing in your searches. Harnessing this by making sure you site is optimised for local search, particularly on mobile devices, will be crucial next year. Start by making sure you have a Google My Business listing which is current and relevant. Add to that a local slant in your blogs and content and encourage reviews from your area to help boost your local presence.

While the housing market in 2023 is anyone’s call, digital marketing predictions are a bit easier with the trend towards ever more bespoke and personalised content continuing. If you want to grow your business in 2023, in what might be tough market conditions, identifying your target customer, figuring out their pain points and engaging on a personal level with bespoke content that addresses their concerns has to be the way forward.

Got a question? Visit www.artdivision.co.uk