Real estate retargeting is a marketing plan to recapture past visitors on your website by reminding them what they viewed and searched before. Why would you want to target those visitors who have been there, but didn’t push through with their interest? Buying or selling is a big decision and one that’s not made in a wink, it requires more time to think over. It’s to your advantage to actively solidify the client’s decision and to ultimately use you as their buying or selling agent by keeping the connection open with retargeting.
Real estate retargeting assures visitors (buyers or sellers) that you’ll be there when they take the leap to buy or sell. In addition, the information to make the big decision is there when they need it. There is a two-week period to make the move on visitors. In this time frame, it is good to give potential buyers or sellers added information through blogs, newsletters, or emails. This tells them that you are the local real estate property specialist.
Several studies show that there is a 2% conversion rate for first-time website visitors. For online real estate businesses, conversions are backed up by email marketing – newsletters, free ebooks on home values, blog posts, and social media posts. This means that ex-visitors need the nudge to the right direction…your direction.
The true force behind marketing is consistency and repetition. Consistent and continuous iteration builds the brand. A marketing plan does not work with just one push, but a ceaseless nudge until consumers budge. Clients must be exposed to your ads 7 to 21 times on average, for them to retain the memory of your brand.
Retargeting your previous visitors has the unique advantage of them being exposed to your service and were curious about what you can offer and just needed to be reminded of it.
An example of retargeting:
Visitor A went to the site 1 week ago to look at a particular property. You then update Visitor A by reminding him/her of the visit and the current developments from that area, or on the specific property.
The probability of a previous visitor coming back or connecting with you is much higher compared to individuals who have not shown interest at all. This is one of the main reasons why real estate retargeting for visitors is so important and has a much higher conversion rate than say general advertising.
4 Points to Consider For a Successful Real Estate Retargeting Plan
1. It’s a direct connection
Retargeting is more of a personal experience for previous visitors to get to know your brand. This means a more direct connection, where you direct visitors individually to their next step in their journey with you. Therefore, your promotions must express a definite CTA of not just visiting the website again, but making contact or taking the next step – like asking for more data, listings, or current market rates.
2. Timing, consistency, and duration
The timeline for a real estate sale is longer compared to the purchase of consumer goods such as nail clippers, clothing, or a blender. The decision to buy or sell takes about five to eight weeks. Therefore, your digital marketing posts must last longer, with new or updated info such as reduced prices, and monthly community updates.
3. Mix it up (a little bit)
Your posts for real estate retargeting do not have to be the same all the time or boring. Stay consistent with the message, but use different angles; otherwise, your retargeted audience will think it’s all just noise and they’ll disappear into the background. In real estate retargeting marketing, include your brand, agent/agency, and the listing that potential clients are interested in. How the information and facts are presented is entirely up to you. Logos, colors, and fonts should remain the same for memory retention and association with your website.
4. Continue being visible
Retargeting does not end after the sale. Do not make the mistake of cutting the connection with previous clients just because both you and the client already achieved the goal — buying or selling a property. The next stage of retargeting is to continue being visible and available. A previous client going back to the website could mean that there is a new interest for another transaction or referral purposes — referring you to a friend or relative. Be aware of what the visit is about and retarget.
Always keep in mind that there is a level of continuity in real estate retargeting strategy.
How do you get started with real estate retargeting? Here are key points to look into your plan:
Social Media
Carefully place posts to capture previous visitors. People spend a lot of time on their phones, looking at social media — YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat. These are the go-to-platforms of all people to catch up on trends and goings-on. Now, that goings-on is your window to make your retargeting posts. These could be short videos about the community or area, a tour of a house on sale or sold, or current market rates.
Use transparency with your ad posts
Before diving into your strategy, keep this in mind: YOU ARE DOING THIS TO BUILD AGENT -> CLIENT TRUST. That trust will get your client to the next level of their home purchasing or selling journey with you. Buying and selling are big decisions that affect their daily lives, and it’s a very intimate and personal one. Therefore, you must be the “one” as far as a client is concerned that will carry out their dreams. Make sure your real estate retargeting plan is based on good and factual information. In addition, make sure you are true to your word on taking care of them. You can do this by posting reviews and feedback from other clients. Or, if you’re a new agent show candid shots or videos of you in the community doing outreach.
Tailor your ads to each retarget audience
Social media platforms such as YouTube and Facebook have tailor-fitted options to help businesses reach their targets, as well as how to work with the different options including target behaviors including who is most likely to move; zip codes; age brackets on the buying stage, and so on — use these options. From the data that you gather, you can make up a plan on what particular posts they should see in their feeds. It seems complicated, but think of this as a diligent investigation of the behavior of your targets. Then decide when and what real estate retargeting ads or information to post.
Good visuals go a long way
Knowing the visuals that will appeal to your visitors is the key. This calls for great photography and videography work. It is no longer enough to just show and tell. More importantly, the visuals got the visitors to look into your website because they saw the potential, whether in buying or selling. Reinforce this again with a great photo and video posts day and night.
Real estate retargeting aims to capture potential clients who’ve shown interest but did not make the necessary connection moving forward. Your task is to know the variety of reasons why these potential clients have shown interest and let that propel your plan of action in retargeting.
