Marketing 101: How to Market to Real Estate Investors
Real estate investing continues to grow in popularity. And, it doesn’t look like it’s slowing down anytime soon — about 22% of home sales in 2022 were to investors, up from about 15% in 2021. Though this is a relatively small segment of the real estate industry, investors are largely an untapped market for many businesses and could be a great opportunity to grow your business.
Whether you already have an established presence in the real estate investor segment or want to learn more about strategies that can help expand your business in this group, keep reading for our top tips to market to real estate investors online.
7 Digital Marketing Strategies to Attract Real Estate Investors
- Advertise a mix of areas and property types
- Demonstrate local knowledge
- Optimize your website for real estate investors
- Elevate listing descriptions
- Share local market reports and statistics
- Stay top of mind for repeat business and referrals
- Market ancillary services
Advertise a mix of areas and property types
Advertising is one of the most effective ways to attract potential leads. And it’s not a one size fits all approach. Where, when, and how much to advertise depends on your specific goals and leveraging an omnichannel approach, which integrates ads in search engines, on popular websites, and on social media gives you the flexibility to reach your ideal customers in the most effective way. For real estate investors specifically, knowing who you want to reach and what their motivations are is key – are investors looking to flip properties, keep them as a source of passive income, manage several properties, or something else altogether?
With online advertising for real estate investors, you can tailor your targeting and messaging to very specific types of buyers. For example, if you have a service area that has a higher vacancy rate, you could consider creating ads that highlight the great opportunities in the area and any properties available. Or, alternatively, hone in on hot rental markets and share helpful information like how to know where to buy a rental property. If you have access to analytics, finding out where people are searching from is also a great way to create a strategy and serve ads to people who are most likely to be interested in your area, whether local investors or out-of-state buyers. And, you can also advertise specific properties that investors are most interested in such as apartment buildings, condos, single-family homes, and multifamily properties, depending on your area and ideal customers’ needs.
Demonstrate local knowledge
Demonstrating that you have expert knowledge in your service area on the community, neighborhood, and even street level is key to attracting real estate investors, just as it is for all buyers. Investors often look for more guidance from real estate agents, even if they’ve been investing for awhile. They want to know you’ll have answers to their questions and advise them on the best way to achieve their goals. By showcasing your knowledge of the area, such as reasons people live there, school information, commute times, popular restaurants, shops, and things to do, local laws and regulations like zoning, building regulations, and tax information, and more, you can provide investors with the information they need to make an informed decision. And, you’ll position yourself as a go-to resource and build trust and credibility.
You can showcase your area knowledge by leveraging social media for real estate. Highlight businesses by interviewing owners or write a spotlight on your blog about local events so you can share it on your social platforms. Or, create video tours of listings you have and share them on social media by uploading them to the platform or linking to your YouTube channel and website. On Instagram, you can incorporate hashtags such as #investmentproperty or #justlisted that can help get your listings in front of more investors.
Optimize your website for real estate investors
Having a search-engine optimized, user-friendly real estate website is essential for increasing awareness and generating leads of all kinds. Specifically, though, for targeting real estate investors, building a landing page or pages that are focused on how you can help them and what resources you provide is key. And, it’s just the start. Be sure to include relevant keywords such as “investment property in [your area]” or “investment opportunity in [your area]”, as well as answer questions investors may have. Google loves short answer questions as people have increasingly searched long phrases and questions, using voice assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Google. In addition to keyword optimization, ensure pages have relevant, optimized metadata, and technical SEO in place, such as the right URL structure and optimized images. Further, build out valuable content by creating and prominently featuring pre-populated listings pages with properties that investors might be interested in (like properties looking for cash offers) and adding helpful links to area information, investor frequently asked questions (FAQs), property management resources and more. Having strong real estate investor tailored SEO and content is a great way to ensure you stand out to investors and make it easier for them to confidently explore their options with you.
Elevate listing descriptions
Another area of your marketing that can be optimized for real estate investors is your listing descriptions. Because investors are searching for as much information as possible about a property and the area in order to make an informed decision, listing descriptions are a great place to start when considering what to highlight and why. Use the listing description to tell the story of the property on the listing page and the other places it appears (for example, in a MLS search performed on a website that’s not your own). Describe what features it has so potential buyers can find the basic information and also detail what’s in the surrounding area and why people love living there, as well as income opportunities, so investors understand the property and how much value they can get from it in the future.
Share local market reports and statistics
One of the most effective ways of showcasing your area knowledge is through area statistics and local market reports. Create market reports or provide updates based on what you’re seeing in your local market and have them accessible for others to download from your website. Make sure to add your own spin to statistics, as it’s the story the data tells (i.e. this is an up and coming area) more so than the actual numbers that will resonate with others and get them to follow, and trust, you. You can also write a blog post highlighting real estate trends and market information including statistics like average sales price, time on the market, etc. and email them out or share them on social media. People regularly search for and follow people who talk about and share real estate trends, so this is an opportunity for you to both get in front of potential clients and become known as a resource for real estate and investment properties in your area.
Stay top of mind for repeat business and referrals
Staying top of mind is key across the board in the real estate industry and for any marketing strategy to be effective. And, for those interested in marketing to real estate investors, staying top of mind is essential. Investors are typically looking to buy and sell properties much faster than typical buyers and sellers. By staying top of mind to real estate investors, you can earn repeat business and referrals to other potential investors. To do this, create a content marketing strategy that demonstrates your value even after closing, such as sharing guides, how-to’s, and relevant information about the community and even more so, different investment strategies (i.e. you’ve bought your first investment property, now what?). Stay top of mind with your sphere by sharing investor-targeted content in an email newsletter, blog, and on social media (start with the blog and link back to it for maximum SEO value).
Market ancillary services
Often real estate investors have their hands full with multiple properties. By marketing your ancillary services, you can position your business as a one-stop-shop for real estate investors. You’ll strengthen your value with your potential customers and potentially earn more revenue from the same transaction. Plus, marketing your ancillary businesses keeps your company top of mind for anything real estate-related and can result in both repeat business from people with whom you’ve worked in the past and new business from non-real estate sales sources (i.e. an investor who works with a different agent, but wants to explore new financing options might decide to work with you for real estate sales and mortgage financing after starting out talking to you about financing only). If you don’t offer ancillary services, create a landing page on your website with your local connections and recommended companies for related services. You’ll drive traffic to your website, get other businesses and connections talking about you as well, and position yourself as a resource investors can go to with any question and need.
Real estate investors are a prominent segment of the real estate industry and provide lots of opportunities for growth despite comprising a smaller portion of total real estate sales. And creating a digital marketing strategy tailored specifically for them is one of the most effective ways to get their business.
Want to learn more about the best digital marketing strategies to attract real estate investors? Connect with us today and we’ll discuss personalized recommendations for your business.