🏡 7 digital marketing tactics for estate agencies

As a property professional, you know that searching online is one of the first steps your potential clients take, whether they are looking for a home to buy in Lisbon or Porto or want to rent a property for a specific project in the Portuguese interior, for example.

In fact, 94% of millennials and 84% of baby boomers look for their homes online. That is why it is so important to make sure you are ready to build relationships with these buyers online, so you can turn them into real-life deals.

Setting up your online presence is simple. Building a website, emailing potential clients and posting on social media are always great ways to win good business online. The hard part is working out how to use these tools even more effectively, in a way that shows off your brand, creates engagement with consumers and brings you quality leads.

Here are our seven tips to make sure buyers find you on search engines when they are looking for a house in Paços de Ferreira or even a holiday flat in the Algarve.

1. IDX websites

IDX (Internet Data Exchange) is a type of software used by businesses that need to display listings that are updated often, such as estate agents. These websites let you show visitors every property available, so you generate more quality leads.

2. Social media

Make sure you use all of Facebook's marketing tools for estate agencies, and be on Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. But more than that, you need to be active on social media. Post regularly, share good news with your followers (such as the sale of a villa in Trás-os-Montes or a bungalow in Foz, and positive comments about your service), promote your properties and interact with your fans. Be careful in how you handle criticism.

3. Share, share, share

Make it easy to share the properties you have available. Prominent buttons on your website are great, of course, but they are not everything. With a responsive layout and professional photos, it will be easier to get more shares for that building with sea views or that house on the slopes of the Douro.

4. Facebook advertising

Make the most of sponsored posts on Facebook. This social network started out as entertainment, but it is now a key part of the marketing of any estate agency in the Vale do Sousa and the rest of the country, because it brings in more leads from buyers and sellers.

As well as advertising, you should also let followers leave reviews, and list your services. It is also essential to create and use Facebook Groups, upload a professional video as your page cover and go live from the properties you have for sale, so your potential clients get a closer look at what to expect when they visit.

You can also post 360º photos and videos that help show more accurately what that rooftop overlooking the Tagus or that centuries-old house in Coimbra is really like.

5. Searching on Twitter

Before you tweet anything, check which hashtags are being used most. Try to adapt your content to what people are talking about at the moment. Don't forget keyword targeting either, which lets you reach users based on the words or phrases they have tweeted or searched for.

6. Newsletters

Create a newsletter and email your database. It is one of the best ways to stay in touch with your clients, or to show people interested in a warehouse in the industrial estate that you now have an old factory ready to buy. Announcing an open day, sharing statistics and new blog posts are also good topics to include.

7. Segmentation

It has never been more important to segment the network of contacts you have built up over the years. Imagine you recently showed potential buyers a plot of land for sale. Email them, ask whether they are still interested, and take the chance to show them similar properties nearby.

Segmenting your audience by location is also crucial. A client in Bragança is almost certainly not looking for a house in the Alentejo, so keep your contacts separated by region. If you show people content that interests them, they are more likely to get in touch.

The internet has made the relationship between estate agents and buyers or sellers simpler, which is exactly why it is so important to make the most of these digital tools to build a joined-up online presence and send more and more visitors to your website.