Digital marketing tips to see you into 2023

As we edge closer to the festive season, many agents will be looking forward to a well-deserved Christmas break and taking some time off before the New Year starts. Sophie Davies, Head of Social Media and Content at The Guild, says that there are a few things that agents can do with their digital marketing before they go on leave to ensure that their platforms continue to work while they enjoy their holidays.

She provides 12 tips that will help agents to prepare their social media and digital platforms for the holidays, that will potentially create some business opportunities in 2023:

1. Schedule your social media posts in advance over the festive period. 

This can be done through a social media scheduling tool such as Creator Studio, Later, Hoootsuite or Buffer, which will save time and ensure your channels are active during the festive break. 

2. Have paid social media ads running over Christmas

Breaking through the noise can be difficult with organic posts alone. So, for agents wanting to step up their social media strategy, paid social advertising can be a game changer. For a relatively low budget, social media advertising can vastly increase exposure to your targeted audience, drive traffic to your website and generate leads, provided you tailor your ads accordingly, of course.

3. Create seasonal blogs to share over the holidays

Website developer, The Property Jungle say that scheduling seasonal content is a great way to increase traffic to your site and keep audiences engaged with your brand over the festive season. Potential home movers are likely to have more time during the holidays to browse websites and social media, so make sure you share these via the usual social channels.

4. Have Pay-Per-Click (PPC) running over Christmas

PPC is a great way to increase targeted visits to your website. While you will be charged a fee whenever someone clicks on the ad, engagement from a relevant audience that could result in business, is worthwhile. Remember when setting up a PPC campaign, keyword research will be vital to your success. 

5. Update opening hours on social and Google My Business

According to The Property Jungle, if your office will close over the festive season, make sure the correct opening hours are reflected on your website, social media platforms, and Google My Business. Also, it is a good idea to add your emergency contact details to your website to use while the office is closed.

6. Schedule a mailer for Christmas

We all like getting Christmas cards, so why not schedule a mailer to go out to all your customers wishing them a Merry Christmas. Various email platforms, such as BriefYourMarket, allow you to schedule your emails in advance, so come Christmas morning, your mailer will be waiting in their inboxes.

7. Set up automated responses – live chat service, Facebook, and emails

There are some amazing proptech tools available for agents to set up automated responses to enquiries they receive during out of office hours. One example is Yomdel live chat, which is now integrated with LeadPro’s Facebook advertising, automatically connecting a lead to an operator within 15 seconds.

If using automated emails or an autocaller tool, The Property Jungle advise to make sure that messaging reflects the holiday season, is diverted appropriately, and updated again in the New Year.

8. Boxing day campaign – highest search traffic 

According to Rightmove, Boxing Day traditionally signals that start of activity in the market beginning to ramp up, so why not take advantage of the increased number of people searching for property during that period with an ad campaign.

9. Video marketing 

People are more inclined to show interest in video content than any other form of content digitally, which is why video has become such as important marketing tool. In fact, it was reported that 92% of users watching a video online will share it with others. Video is no longer an add-on; it is essential and can effectively drive traffic and increase leads. Consider creating a market update video, providing people with insight into the local property market.

10. Use call-to-actions to drive traffic to your website

Remember to always have a call-to-action on all marketing material, such as Christmas mailers, to ensure that people are directed back to your website to nurture the customer journey. The more traffic and engagement your website receives, the higher level of brand awareness and the greater your chance of creating business opportunities. 

11. Make sure your website is optimised 

According to Starberry, the aim of boosting Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is to ensure that you achieve the best possible ranking for your website in Google. Page one ranking means visibility, and top visibility means more brand awareness and business. Looking at the data, 30% of customers choose an estate agent who is within the first three positions on Google search. The number one position generates a Click Through Rate (CTR) as high as 28%, the second position gets around 15%, while dropping to tenth position gets about 7% traffic only.  To ensure online success, your website needs to comply with all SEO guidelines, which includes extensive keyword research and analysis, SEO-friendly URLs, optimisation of titles and meta descriptions, proper outbound and internal link placement, no broken links, and image optimisation and keyword-rich content.

12. New Year digital resolutions

Lastly, evaluate the year’s digital strategy and set goals for 2023. These goals could include aspects such as adding or improving Google reviews, growing your social media channels, and increasing traffic to your website. Also, consider your brand message for the New Year, consider your website content, social assets, portals, email footers and newsletters as some of your key touchpoints.

Preparing your digital strategy for the festive season and New Year, will help get you ready for a good start in 2023.