Entegral Blog

We are kicking off the year on a high note with the announcement of Flex Ads , a platform that allows agents to dynamically create automated real estate ads on two of the most prominent social networks, Facebook and Instagram. An an industry first, real estate ads can be created in record time from newly added listings captured in Base , pushed to social platforms, and clicks will direct straight to your Flex responsive website  (and not some 3rd party platform). The platform will automatically create all the ads, and ensure that it is delivered to the right buyers and sellers with fine tuned campaigns. We will onboard a limited number of clients in the beta phase, so if you are interested, please sign up here for more info:  https://launch.entegral.net/

While businesses of all shapes and sizes can benefit from social media - the real estate industry is uniquely suited to the community-driven platforms that make up this digital space. To ensure you kick off 2020 on the right footing online we take a look at three platforms that will help you gain more eyes on your business and more importantly your listings. Facebook Last year the National Association of Realtors released a study that revealed that a whopping 99% of millennials - and 90% of baby boomers - begin their home search online (as opposed to in-person referrals.) This statistic can be seen in action in the various community groups on Facebook where users regularly ask for referrals for estate agents active in their area or asking for rental properties that might suit their needs. Simply put, if you are not active on Facebook you are missing out on a large slice of the pie. Get a Facebook Business Page Instagram What makes this platform so great for real ...

As reported earlier Facebook is shaking up their Facebook Feeds with an aim to create “more meaningful social interactions.” To further support this change, local news will now enjoy priority so that you can see topics that have a direct impact on you and your community and discover what’s happening in your local area. What does this mean for you? For real estate agents using Facebook as a marketing tool, taking advantage of this new algorithm is vital if you want to get ahead of the curve. Taking charge of your news section on your Flex website is the first step. You need to take a look at the frequency you post, as well as the topics you cover. Having features of the areas you work in, as well as local events, will not only help cement your reputation as an area specialist, it will also help with your search engine optimisation (SEO). Remember that only posting about real estate won’t increase your chances of being seen as a source of local news - you will have to ...

In a competitive market and jam-packed weekends filled with open houses, is the mid-week open house the new frontier? Do home buyers even care about open houses? It is easy to assume that in the digital age an open house isn’t as relevant as it used to be - however in polls posted by MyProperty , an overwhelming amount respondents argued that even with all advances in digital technology an open house is still relevant. Does this reflect the number of visitors on show days though? The truth of the matter is that with weekends jam-packed with events, errands and other open houses many home buyers opt to only see a few open houses on a day and therefore the chance of them seeing your listing in person dwindles. There are many ways you can ensure you host the perfect show day - whether it is on a Saturday or Sunday - but have you considered hosting an express mid-week show day? The thinking behind this is that buyers who simply don’t have the time over a weekend would prefer ...

If you are looking to increase your business profile and by extension, your revenue, a large part of your marketing strategy should focus on healthy lead generation. Before you even start to generate leads, you’ll want to organize the ones you have. Leads should be segmented based on behaviour — one-size doesn’t fit all in 2018. Make sure that whatever lead nurturing techniques you are using resonate with the correct audience. Setting up a paid social campaign is a great way to get visitors to your site, and an easy-to-navigate listing page with a one-click form is an excellent way to capture a lead, but what’s next? If you don’t follow up with the lead, all the effort you put into securing it will be for nought. Segment your leads, provide them with customized content, connect with them on social and maintain an appropriate level of interaction with them. By doing this, you’ll be well on your way to achieving your goals. If the new year snuck up on you and you haven’t had...

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, has announced that the company will overhaul the algorithm for the social media platform’s news feed. This is an effort to gear the platform towards more “meaningful social interaction” and away from what it deems “relevant content.” So what does this mean for you? As a real estate agent and born salesperson, Facebook has become one of the greatest marketing tools. However, this won’t be what Facebook would deem as a “meaningful social interaction.” As marketers, real estate agents have to adjust and step up their game if they want continued success with Facebook as a business tool. Build relationships You are already a great networker - that is what makes you a great real estate agent - and you should be using that natural instinct to build relationships with your followers on Facebook. An agent’s social media strategy should be an overall experience for the consumer — and a transparent, honest and clear picture of what you are about. ...

Social media is a powerful marketing tool and with these tips and tricks, you will be able to improve your social media engagement this year. Marketing yourself or your agency on social media in 2018 should no longer just be about reaching a large audience, rather about having people reacting to your posts with not just likes but with much more valuable comments and shares. We take a look at how you can improve your social media engagement here. Share valuable content This goes hand-in-hand with our usual advice of writing fresh content for your website, at least once a week. Not only is it good for your search engine optimisation (SEO) it is also good for your social media engagement. These are the five marks your content should hit to make it valuable (and perfect for social media): Is it helpful to your audience? Are you actually solving their real estate problems or answering their property related questions? Is it saving time? Are you ensuring that your readers can ...

Finding worthy topics to write about can be a difficult task, especially if you are already managing a very busy day. But it doesn’t have to be - all it takes is a bit of planning! Before get to the actual blog writing part, we have to mention that for most people browsing social media from their phones, a responsive site is a must. If you are writing compelling articles, why wouldn’t you want to make it accessible to anyone no matter on what mobile device they are? You can find out more about our responsive packages by visiting www.entegral.net/flex and more about the importance of responsive design here: Mobile-First Indexing Plan ahead To ensure you have some copy ready for the year, plan ahead. Think seasonally and around holidays. Provide gardening tips, or winter home maintenance guide. Home safety around the holidays is another seasonal topic that is always welcomed. Write these articles now, that way you have them ready to publish when the time comes around. Weekl...

The digital landscape is fast moving and ever changing, and a stale digital marketing strategy won’t cut it anymore. We take a look at a few things you can do now to spruce up your strategy to ensure you don’t fall behind and miss out on valuable website traffic in 2018. Stop stuffing content with keywords This might have worked in the past, but search engines have changed dramatically and this won’t help you at all. You might even end up hurting your business as search engines might flag your page as spam. Keywords are still important but search engines (and humans) prefer long tail keywords. Long tail keywords are those three and four keyword phrases which are very, very specific to what you are selling. This means content with the phrase ‘Lonehill property for sale’ will fare better than simply ‘property for sale’ when you want to ensure you are getting better ranking in personalised search results. Step-up your social game Everyone is on some form of social media...

By now real estate agents realise that social media is an essential part of their successful agency - it attracts new leads, helps you stay informed and is a powerful way to build brand awareness. However, there are still mistakes being made daily that can cost you potential business. We take a look at these mistakes and how to rectify them. Sharing the wrong content While sharing content is one of the quickest and easiest ways to build brand awareness and strengthen client relationships, sharing content that you didn’t write or create can cost you business. Especially if you are sharing content created by your competitors. Content is created and marketed with the sole purpose of attracting and collecting valuable leads. Therefore, if you are pushing other people's content on your prospects and customers, you are actually pushing them towards the competitor. So how do you fix this? By creating content for your real estate website! This doesn’t just have to be articles eit...

The little details are what makes the biggest impact  - even more so when you have a service driven business like a real estate agency. Real estate is much more than just brick and mortar - it is about selling the neighbourhood, the lifestyle they will have in their new property, the dreams the investment will fulfil. And you, as real estate agent play a vital role in all of this - and whether it is a positive or negative role depends on the level of service they receive. You can spend thousands of rands on marketing, but if there is no service, the client won’t use you or recommend you. Remember how we spoke about word-of-mouth marketing and social proof? Those are vital to your business. So how can you improve your client-experience without spending even more money? Communication We get it - days are busy, filled with new listings, paperwork and everything else that needs to be done. However, communication is one of the most important factors that influence how a cl...

Boosted posts on Facebook is a great way to start your real estate social media advertising journey to extend the reach of your posts to an audience that perhaps does not yet follow your page. Here is how to really get the bang for your buck when boosting posts. When you are trying to make your advertising budget go as far as possible, your boosted posts need to be efficient in order to achieve the desired results. There are three simple ways of ensuring that you make every boost count, namely knowing what works, being patient and knowing your target.  Working with what works the best To ensure that your ad spend is lasting a bit longer, you need to be selective with what you choose to promote. Posts that already have a fair amount of organic attention will always outperform those that do not. In short, a post that already is reaching a large audience organically will continue that trend once boosted. With this in mind, it makes sense that this simple consideration is the ...

No matter how you look at it - real estate agents are being ignored on social media. There is a reason for that, but there is also a solution. We find out what you can do to go from being ignored to being shared. You have been told regularly that having a consistent posting schedule is important for social media success. But no matter how much you post, you just aren’t seeing the results you would like. So what are you doing wrong? The hard truth is that it is probably that people just don’t care about what you are posting. Some people might but most of them don’t. The solution? There are two steps to fixing your lack-lustre engagement rates. First off, Content is King but context matters. This means that unless your followers are in the market for a new home, your posts about ‘first time home buying tips’ won’t matter to them. Step One: Give them what they want You might be saying that you are giving them vital information - and yes you are if they are first time home bu...

In a recent study it was revealed that the real estate industry only responded to 11% of the messages they receive from social media, and even worse it was ranked the 4th most annoying industry on social media - we take a look at how to fix this. Sprout Social revealed in its Q1 2017 Sprout Social Index that the estate industry only responded to 11% of its incoming messages. What’s worse is the industry ranked No. 4 in the Top 10 Most Annoying Industries on Social Media in the Q3 2016 Sprout Social Index . These figures all paints a picture of an industry that spends a large chunk of time selling/promoting online but not enough time engaging in a meaningful way with their audience. We take a look at ways to change this perception When there is a question answer it! That it is the most basic step to take - if you get queries on your Facebook Page, Flex responsive real estate website or other property portals answer them in a prompt manner. Find out more about lead con...

A post with no photo and just a link with a description isn't going to cut it if you are trying to make an impact. For your listing posts to really work you will have to use photos. Always include the basics: Mention the area the property is located in, Name the agent responsible for the listing, Include a link to the listing It is worth noting that higher quality photos will attract more views and shares, therefore try to ensure the listings that you will use on your Facebook page has good quality photographs. Here is a guide to get the best photographs for your real estate listings . Quick pointers Professional photos and logos are vital for online marketing - Get a photographer to take a few headshots of you and your team to use on your websites, property portals, and other marketing materials. The same goes for a professional logo - but you don’t have to search too far to find a designer as Entegral offers logo design services . Use the logo on your photos bu...

Having a social media presence can be a great opportunity for you to engage with your clients, however, at some point, you may find that you have to deal with negative reviews. How do you react when someone says something negative about your real estate business? Unlike a complaint email which is sent privately to your inbox, a negative comment, tweet or post on Facebook , Twitter or other social media platforms is public, so it's crucial that you address it in a positive way. If you do receive negative feedback on social media your followers will judge you based on several criteria including: How quickly you respond Your reaction Your customer’s reaction The outcome of the situation Respond quickly  and professionally Once negative comments have been made, it’s important to step up and show that you’re a professional brand. Never ignore negative feedback. It won’t go away. Show that you know how to face criticism by responding in an appropriate manner. The go...

Google shows local results first in many cases and to ensure that you are among those first few you need to ensure Google understands where you are located. In this article, we take a look at what you can do to improve Google’s understanding of your location, which will help your site’s SEO. Google itself talks about local ranking factors in terms of: Relevance : are you the relevant result for the user? Does your website match what the user is looking for? Distance: how far away are you located? If you are relevant and near, you’ll get a good ranking. Prominence: this is about how well your business is known.  Addressing the address If you are a local real estate agency, why wouldn’t you add your address to your website ? This is the most basic starting point for getting in on the local rankings. From there you should add a Google My Business listing. Google My Business allows for customer reviews as well, and you should really aim to get some of those for your l...

As a real estate agent, one of your biggest challenges is generating enough leads to increase your annual commission. One of the best ways to gain leads is by establishing your Sphere of Influence. From generating new sales leads to finding the perfect buyer for a home or apartment, your sphere of influence can be the driving force behind your success as an agent. One of the biggest mistakes that agents can make is building a sphere of influence by networking with influential people, connecting with customers and more but then leave the network to grow cold and inactive. Your sphere of influence (SOI) is the fundamental marketing force behind your real estate success, and it is, therefore, vital to keep it warm and active to keep producing benefits. We take a look at how some simple, and effective, techniques to keep SOI engaged and interested. Keep it social One of the quickest and easiest ways to connect with your SOI is through social media. Whether it is through your ...

At the latest Apple event, the launch of ‘Animojis’ is more than just a new fun way to communicate, it is yet another definitive sign that brands (and real estate agents) should get serious about augmented and virtual reality. “Augmented reality mobile content will go beyond gaming, as we have seen before and offers new ways to visualize content and personalise mobile experiences, expanding to industries such as retail, sports, and entertainment,” predicted Roman Taranov, CEO of RGK Mobile. “Advertising will follow suit, taking on new formats and offering an immersive user experience.” Such a scenario is getting easier and easier to imagine. The International Data Corporation predicted in February that total spending on AR and virtual reality will reach nearly $14 billion by the end of 2017. “The possibilities are endless and range from Minority Report-style programmatic outdoor advertising to superimposing sporting events and concerts on top of consumers’ living rooms,” added ...

With all that needs to be done in a day, there is hardly time to update and improve our social media profiles - but these tips and tricks can all be done in a few minutes and will improve your profile considerably! Size matters Take a few minutes and optimise your profile and cover photos for each different channel. This means that the photos fall within the dimensions the recommended size for each network. It greatly reflects on your brand if everything looks sleek and professional. Standard image sizes for major social networks are as follows: Facebook profile picture: 170 X 170 pixels Facebook cover photo: 828 X 465 pixels Twitter profile photo: 400 X 400 pixels Twitter header image: 1,500 X 500 pixels Google+ profile picture: 250 X 250 pixels (minimum) Google+ cover photo: 1080 X 608 pixels LinkedIn profile photo: 400 X 400 pixels (minimum) LinkedIn custom background: 1584 X 396 LinkedIn cover photo: 974 X 330 pixels LinkedIn banner image: 646 X 220 pixels In...