The Number 1 Reason Investors Fail At Content Marketing
By JD Esajian on June 5, 2015
A new study reveals the number one reason real estate brands and professionals are failing at content marketing. That said, how can real estate investors, agents, and companies avoid this and other marketing pitfalls, and see more of the results they really want?
Real Estate Content Marketing
A new B2C content marketing research study reveals a lot about what real estate pros and businesses are doing, where they are failing, and where the opportunities for growth are. Notable stats include:
- 77% of those surveyed are engaged in content marketing
- 69% are creating more content in 2015 than last year
- Almost 50% are publishing content daily to multiple times per week
Eleven Ways Content Marketing is Being Used:
- Social media
- eNewsletters
- On-site articles
- Images
- Video
- Live events
- Blogs
- Branded content tools
- Infographics
- Microsites
- Mobile apps
Most Popular Social Networks in Order of Usage:
- YouTube
- Google+
Usage trends show that LinkedIn usage is down while Google+ and Instagram use is up.
The Number One Reason for Failure
According to the survey only 27% of B2C content marketers have a written content marketing strategy. As with any other business or part of the real estate business – if you don’t have a plan, you are planning to fail. This means 73% of real estate marketers are already doomed to fail. That’s great news for those that have a plan and are serious about winning. It knocks out almost three quarters of the other players.
It’s okay for your plan to change, but you do need a plan. It needs to be documented – period.
Five More Areas Where Real Estate Content Marketers are struggling
- Failure to Track ROI
According to the Content Marketing Institute 21% of marketers aren’t even trying to track ROI at all. While content marketing can be one of the most difficult and complex types of marketing to track due to long lead generation periods and multiple benefits; failing to watch ROI is a recipe for disaster. It’s hard to track the ROI on a blog post that has turned in real estate leads for 4 years. But if you did you might be putting more cash into great blogs rather than wasting it on other stuff that isn’t working.
- Wasting Money on Marketing that Doesn’t Work
The perfect example from the above is offline marketing. 71% market offline. But 54% don’t think it is effective. The most effective marketing according to respondents has been SEM (search engine marketing).
58% say Facebook is effective for marketing. It may be one of the best social platforms for many real estate marketers. But are they measuring the results effectively? Are leads actually coming in from Facebook, or are people leaving your website and real estate blog to Facebook?
- Trying to do too Much
The report shows “B2C marketers are working on an average of 13 initiatives now, and plan to begin working on an average of nine more over the next 12 months.” Diversification and marketing mix are important. But if you aren’t even properly managing, planning, and tracking one channel, how are you going to be effective at running 22 at the same time?
- Mobile Friendly
Google says many consumers are now mobile only, and may never own desktops. The search giant now prefers mobile responsive websites in search rankings. Almost half of Fortune 500 companies, and 81% of websites are expected to be taking a hit due to this change. That’s a huge opportunity for real estate pros that get ahead of the mobile marketing game.