It’s no secret that your ability to engage, entice and capture customers can make or break your ability to generate real estate leads.

While you may have mastered the art of all three in the real world, you may struggle to know the best way to convey that charisma when trying to get real estate leads online. Your social media posts may fall flat, your email list generates might cause more unsubscribes than subscribes and your online listings might only receive 15-second views at most.

If you feel like you don’t know exactly how to get real estate leads online, don’t worry – you’re not alone. Real estate agents, brokers and investors are natural people-people, but their online personas can tend to be, well, dry. However, while the closing of a deal may happen in person, you still need to hook prospective buyers, and the truth is that most prospective buyers begin their search online. If you don’t take action to inject some zest into your content, your hook stands to remain dangling for a while.

What are Online Leads in Real Estate?

Before we get too far down the rabbit hole of how to increase engagement with your written SEO content, it’s a good idea to define exactly what online real estate leads look like. Online real estate leads usually come in the form of a “contact us” form, live chat session, phone call, or contact from a real estate lead generation website. Most leads come from direct engagement with your online real estate content.

When interested buyers or sellers come to your website, they’ll typically contact you about your real estate services in one of these ways. Although there are many creative ways to get real estate leads online, there is a catch. To find online leads, you’ll need to increase your traffic. Without that precious traffic to your website, your leads won’t be able to find you. We have a few ideas that can help boost your website and help you generate leads.

How Can You Generate More Real Estate Leads Online?

We’re glad you asked. When you’re trying to learn how to get more online leads in real estate, every little bit helps. Below are 10 innovative ways to generate buyer and seller leads this year.

1. Start a Real Estate Blog

Blogging continues to be one of the most powerful ways to generate website traffic and get real estate leads online. If you want potential leads to find your newly optimized website, you need to start blogging. Why? Because properly utilizing SEO keywords in your blogs is one of the best ways to start ranking on Google and establishing an online presence. The statistics speak for themselves.

According to many sources, SEO blog writing is responsible for 434% more indexed pages and 97% more indexed links. On average, companies that blog produce 67% more leads per month than those that don’t. Companies that publish 16 or more blog posts per month get 3.5 times more traffic and 4.5 times more leads than those that publish four or fewer posts per month. However, those numbers triple for companies that publish longer and more in-depth blog posts of 1,000+ words.

Additionally, Hubspot figured out that consistent blogging leads to compounding results:

How do consumers feel about blogging? Well, 60% of respondents say they feel more engaged or positive about a brand after reading custom content on a blog. The benefits of blogging go even farther than creating a community for your readers and increasing traffic. Providing informative real estate content can establish you as an expert in the industry. Over time, people will see you as a resource and come to you for questions and more importantly, request your services. 

If you don’t have time to blog 16+ times a month, you’re not alone. The average blog post takes more than three hours to develop, which is why 64% of marketers outsource blog writing to an online marketing company. If you want to generate online real estate leads while focusing on growing other aspects of your business, outsourcing is way to go.

Keep in mind, though, that blogging just for the sake of blogging doesn’t cut it! Blogging with a solid SEO strategy is what brings these kinds of results. Writing blogs that are optimized around keyword phrases your target market is looking for while also providing value is the best case scenario. SEO blog writing for businesses also happens to be something we specialize in.

2. Optimize Your Website for Online Real Estate Lead Generation

Optimizing your website to generate real estate leads online is not as simple as throwing a “Contact Us” button on the bottom of each page. Rather, website optimization is a strategic process, one that begins with a basic understanding of the lead generation process, which typically begins with a call to action and ends with the visitor filling out a contact us information form. But how do you get the customer from A to Z? Below are a few ideas to get you started when learning how to find real estate leads online:

• Up Your Number of Landing Pages: According to a recent HubSpot survey, websites with 30+ landing pages produce seven times more leads than those with one to five landing pages.
• Incorporate a Basic CTA Into Your Homepage: Your homepage is at the top of your marketing funnel so should therefore offer visitors something of interest – a free real estate e-book or a subscription to a “How To Sell” course, for example.
• Personalize Your CTAs: Want to take your real estate CTAs to the next level? Personalize them to each visitor’s interests, items they’ve purchased or pages they’ve viewed. Websites that do this convert 42% more leads than those that don’t.
• Send a Kickback Email: Once a visitor converts to a real estate lead, send a “thank you” email. Studies show that kickback emails double the engagement rates of standard marketing emails. In addition to sending a kickback email, consider sending real estate leads to a thank-you landing page, which may include social sharing buttons or a link to download the promised offer.
• Include Live Chat: Once a person decides to buy or sell their real estate, he or she wants to get started right away. Make yourself immediately available to answer any questions prospective clients have by allowing real estate leads to communicate with you via a live chat.

A few tweaks to your website can help increase your ability to find leads online. Optimization can also help your website become more user-friendly, which satisfies readers and increases their likeliness to trust you with their real estate needs.

3. Launch an Email Campaign

If you haven’t already done so as a part of your real estate content marketing efforts, launch an email campaign. Email is one of the most valuable tools you have at your disposal if you use it correctly. BoomTown! details seven ways to use email as a real estate agent, but for real estate lead generation purposes, the content email is our personal favorite.

The content email is informational and serves to establish yourself as a local real estate expert. Anyone can appreciate the content of this type of email, especially when they are seeking more knowledge about real estate. Well-crafted content emails can help you get real estate leads in a practical way. When a personalized real estate email catches the eye of a potential buyer, they’re only a few clicks away to becoming your next real estate lead. As another factor in your marketing strategy, an email campaign can be one of the best ways to generate real estate leads online. 

What to Include In a Real Estate Marketing Email

Not sure what to send to readers? The different types of information you share in these real estate emails may include:

• Local Market Updates
• New Development Updates
• “Just Sold!” Listings
• How To Buy a Home in the Current Market
• How To Turn Your Home Into the Ultimate Investment

Some other real estate email ideas BoomTown! suggests include the introductory email, the testimonial email and the get-to-know-you email. Depending on who you’re talking to, any of these emails can produce successful online real estate leads. 

4. Create a Real Estate Quiz

Quizzes are some of the most underutilized real estate lead generation tools, but any reputable online marketing company will tell you that quizzes are a huge moneymaker.

What’s more catchy than an opportunity to quiz your real estate knowledge? If you don’t know how to get more leads in real estate, this type of marketing gives readers a great opportunity to interact with you. From there, they can explore your website, learn about your services and fill out a form. With a little bit of creativity, you can create an intriguing quiz that can draw readers and potential real estate leads to your website. Here are a few ideas to start with:

• Real Estate Vocabulary: From “proposition” to “appraisal”, quiz readers on their knowledge of challenging real estate terms.
• Interesting History: Give history buffs a run for their money as you create fascinating questions about the history of real estate.
• True or False: Are there some real estate myths that are hard to debunk? Turn them into engaging true or false questions.
• Lead Generation: Cater to potential real estate leads with a quiz that helps them find exactly what they are looking for.

According to quiz stats, 82% of social media users engaged with a quiz that came across their newsfeed, even if it was from a company they’d never heard of before. The standard quiz is shared close to 2,000 times, and in 2015, nine out of 10 of the most shared Facebook publications were quizzes. The typical quiz produces a lead capture rate of 31.6%. Need we say more?

5. Create a Virtual Tour

Over 50% of homebuyers found the home of their dreams online, compared to just 7% who followed a yard sign or open house sign. Does that mean the open house is dead? Some real estate experts say yes, but we say no—it’s merely changed. Prospective investors still want to see the inside of a home before they invest any more time into pursuing it. Make it easy for online real estate leads and offer a virtual tour of a property.

What Does a Virtual Tour Look Like?

A virtual showing gives a 360-degree view of each room, including the yard and driveway. Users can look at every angle and have control over what they see. Some tours even allow you to “walk” through the house, making it faster and more convenient to use rather than in person. A virtual tour may very well be the best way to get real estate leads online, as it gives potential customers the chance to see the house without wasting anyone’s time. If they’re still interested after going through the virtual tour, you’re in for a ride.

6. Invest in PPC Advertising

Pay-per-click advertising may not be a long-term solution when trying to generate real estate leads online, but it does help to produce that initial influx of traffic. If you’re just starting out, or if you’re starting from the depths of Google, dedicate a small portion of your marketing budget to PPC ads. Even if you’re working with a small budget, you can generate a wealth of real estate leads to tide you over until your other efforts begin to pay off.

When it comes to attracting the attention of real estate leads online, there are two big winners: PPC advertising and organic marketing. While both can be extremely effective, PPC advertising can yield fast results. Active searchers who need real estate services will look for companies that fit the bill. If you’re not sure how to generate real estate leads online, pay-per-click advertising can more accurately target interested customers by displaying an ad at the top of Google’s search results or within websites they surf. Either way, if someone’s looking for your services, PPC advertising can help you get their attention.

7. Offer Free Real Estate Advice

People who are thinking about buying or selling properties often turn to forums such as City-Data, Zillow, Homes.com and Reddit to ask questions and seek advice. If you can address their concerns or solve their problems, consumers will view you as a trusty source to whom they can turn when they decide to pursue the process more in-depth. In the worst-case scenario, the consumer goes with another agent or decides against taking action, but you expand your reach and influence all the same.

How Do You Spread Free Advice to Online Real Estate Leads?

You can start simply by adding more content to your website. Offer it through informational blogs, or even create a free e-book or guide that can give insider tips and professional advice. As you build your reputation as an expert in the real estate industry, try guest posting on other websites that are related to real estate. One unique way to get highlighted as a professional in the real estate industry is to accept an interview. HARO is a website that provides resources for reporters who need insights from a variety of professionals. Register and watch for opportunities to share your expertise, and receive recognition for the facts or personal experience you supply.

8. Use Social Proof

Like in any line of business, prospective real estate leads want to know you’re good at what you do before they hire you. Highlight your successes in real estate in your blog, on social media and in pop-up ads. If you have several successes under your belt, consider adding a portfolio page to your website dedicated to all the houses you’ve sold and for how much.

What Should You Include in Your Online Real Estate Portfolio?

It takes a lot of effort to build up the real estate portfolio you want. Here are a few things you can mention on your website:

• Education
• Experience in the real estate industry
• Special deals or houses sold
• Customer reviews

Showcasing your successes and expertise are great factors of knowing how to find real estate leads online.

9. Start a Real Estate Podcast

According to Podcast Insights, approximately 51% of the population has listened to a podcast at least once in their life, while 80% of those individuals listen to an average of seven shows per week. The majority of podcast listeners are educated and affluent, which makes podcasts the ideal tool to use to generate real estate leads.

Podcasts offer a unique alternative for users who’d rather listen than read. As podcasts become increasingly popular, you can find online real estate leads by offering a free, informative podcast.

What Do You Cover in a Real Estate Podcast?

If you’re running out of interesting topics to discuss, ask your readers what they want to know about. With such a large scope of topics in the real estate industry, it’s important to focus on what can help you get real estate leads. However, here are some hot topics that can get you started:

• Latest real estate trends
• Beginner’s guide to buying, selling or renting
• Insider tips as a realtor
• Real estate horror stories
• Economic forecasts for the year

Whether you share experiences, make jokes or share valuable information, recording podcasts may be how you generate real estate leads.

10. Use Social Media to Find Real Estate Leads

 Social media platforms are both influential and exciting, especially when they help you attract real estate leads to your website. There are dozens of ways you can use social media to get real estate leads, such as the following:

• Post quizzes.
• Use paid advertising.
• Start a content email campaign.
• Publicize customer reviews and recently sold listings.
• Encourage contact.

Use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn to foster relationships with existing customers, who also happen to be your greatest brand ambassadors. Encourage customers to like your accounts and share content that can benefit their friends. 

Still Wondering How to Get Real Estate Leads Online? We Can Help!

You have charm, charisma and all those other traits that draw investors, sellers and buyers your way—now you just need to inject those attributes into your real estate content on your site. From optimizing your website for SEO to playing around on social media, there are dozens of ways you can begin to generate honest real estate leads online. If you’re overwhelmed with the to-do list, or if you just want to focus your attention on finding the best way to get real estate leads, let us help your voice shine online. Check out our monthly SEO blog writing services for real estate agents or get in touch with us today to see how we can pair you with expert writers that can take your real estate generation efforts to the next level!

Whether you own a small mom-and-pop shop or run a Fortune 500 company, time is a valuable asset and one you never seem to have enough of. Though you can’t tack more hours onto the end of your day, you can gain time back by outsourcing some of the more difficult, specialized or just plain mundane tasks. This is especially true when it comes to content marketing and the idea of outsourcing content writing.

 

What Does it Mean to Outsource Content Writing?

In the digital marketing industry, the idea of outsourcing has gotten a bad rap. This is mostly due to the early history of SEO and SEM, when companies tried to game the system and use poorly written, extremely cheap content to help buffer their content marketing results on search engines. The way they’d do it is by “outsourcing” their content writing to the Philippines, or somewhere outside of the country they lived and worked in, in order to get the content for pennies and maximize profits.

In today’s SEO landscape, outsourcing content writing outside of the country to non-native English-speaking writers (or whatever language you’re currently writing in) is a no-go. Google has gotten smarter, improved their algorithm and can see right through choppy content. This type of content is a non-starter, provides little to no results, and ultimately is bad for branding.

Today, outsourcing content writing literally just refers to using content specialists that are not a part of your organization. There are many reputable content writing outsourcing companies today that are specialized in writing and hire, staff and manage writing projects for companies that need it at scale. It typically is still more affordable than doing it in-house and provides the added benefit of diversity, knowledge and experience in one central online location.

 

 

Why Should You Outsource Content Writing?

We get it – even the term outsourcing makes entrepreneurs like you cringe. You didn’t get where you’re at today by shirking away from hard work. However, as your business grows, so does your workload. From handling customer relations to training new hires, and from managing your budget to developing new offerings, you barely have time to stress over your company to-do list, much less tackle every item on it. Instead of letting this fact overwhelm you, take it as a sign of your business’s success, then reward yourself by hiring others to take over some of the workload for you.

Creating content is more than just busywork, too. Each piece you publish for your website and social media platforms needs to be carefully crafted and search engine optimized to receive the best results. You can outsource content writing to professional writers who are skilled and experienced in web writing. Handing this responsibility over is a smart move, especially when you already have plenty on your plate.

The Benefits of Outsourcing Article Writing

Still not convinced? Below are four reasons outsourcing content writing is, as Forbes calls it, marketing’s modern solution:

• Outsourcing provides access to a number of different specialties, all of which can become extraordinarily expensive and difficult to try to manage in-house.
• Outsourcing brings experience, knowledge and insight to which many in-house team members may never be exposed.
• It also allows you to explore new ideas and execute fresh content marketing campaigns at the drop of a hat.
• Outsourcing is cost-efficient, as you retain services on an as-needed basis. For instance, instead of paying full-time for strategy, design and content writing services, you pay for each as the need arises.

A part of building up your online following and getting on the search engine radar is having lots of diverse content, each with quality writing. So, if content marketing is such an important part to your business, don’t let yourself become limited in this area. Outsourcing article writing introduces new perspectives, ideas and writing styles to your growing stack of articles, product descriptions and other types of content.

Perhaps one of the best parts of outsourcing for any service is that “you pay for each as the need arises.” Whether you’re a big company or just starting, you will have different needs at different times. Find an outsourcing content company that you trust and reach out to whenever you need content written. If content becomes an important marketing factor for your company, consider paying for outsourced content more regularly. Ultimately, it depends on your needs, schedule and budget.

 

What Should You Outsource to Content Writing Services?

There are hundreds of online marketing services you can outsource content writing to free up your time and grow your business. However, we’re going to focus strictly on the top five content writing types you should delegate to high-quality content writing outsourcing companies.

 

1. Outsource Article Writing, Blogging and All Associated Tasks

 

 

To generate the most success with your blogging efforts, you should post 16 or more times a month. The average blog – which should be 1,000+ words in length – takes three hours to write. That means you should set aside at least 48 hours each month for writing. Realistically speaking, though, you likely need to set aside closer to 60 hours if you take into consideration the additional tasks associated with blogging:

• Developing blog topics and titles
• Proofreading blog articles
• Formatting blogs
• Copyediting blogs

Or, you could save yourself an entire workweek’s worth of time and outsource content writing services to an affordable content writing service that can handle the writing and related tasks for you.

They can take care of the idea-generating, blog writing and proofreading for you. Depending on how much you’re willing to pay for quality content, you can get extra editing and SEO help on each piece of content, making them potentially golden pieces of marketing. Most outsourcing companies are prepared to handle this type of content, but you may want to do some research to find which company can best fulfill your needs.

 

2. Outsource Social Media Content Writing

 

 

What good is your blog if no one is going to read it? Social media is a great platform to share links to your latest articles and garner interest. You can outsource content writing for this type of content, too! Besides, the writer who wrote the original article is most familiar with the content, making him or her the best person to write an accompanying social media post.

Any great marketer knows you need to post to social media more often than every 16 blog posts, though. Social media marketing is less about generating awareness and more about nurturing relationships with customers and fans (though it can help generate awareness as well). To do this successfully, you need to always be posting inspiring, helpful, interactive and relevant content.

A writing agency understands not only what types of users frequent which outlets but also what type of content is most successful on the various platforms. If you outsource content writing, including your monthly social media writing needs, you can ensure your fans receive just the right amount of high-quality and engaging content with which they can interact throughout the month. And you won’t have to do the work to come up with engaging writing.

 

 3. Outsource Webpage Writing

 

If you’re like most business owners, your website is all about you, you and you. And while Toby Keith would be proud of your taking time for, well, you, your visitors may be less than impressed. Consumers today are not interested in you, your company or your products. (It hurts, right?) What they are interested in is themselves. Appeal to customers’ egos by ensuring your web pages do the following:

• Address how each feature of your offerings can benefit the reader.
• Identify customer pain points and explain how your offerings can help.
• Acknowledge objections your readers may have with buying from you, then assuage those concerns throughout your content.

One of your roles as a business is to fulfill the needs of your customers. You can do this by convincing them on your webpage. Content is powerful, and it can be very persuasive to readers. Don’t forget to include some media and stylish design to complete the package.

That’s not all your web copy should do. It should also help prospective customers find your website, which means the site needs to be optimized with key terms and phrases. It should include an enticing value proposition, be seductive and be well written.

Creating compelling web copy requires research, writing skills and best-practice know-how. Don’t have time to retain or develop those skills and knowledge? Outsource your webpage copy to a writing services team that has the talent to develop converting web pages on your behalf today.

 

 4. Outsource E-commerce Writing: Product and Category Pages

 

A product description does a lot more than just describe. It informs, persuades and convinces customers why your specific product is better than the rest. Products that have unique descriptions help potential buyers understand what your product can do and why it’s important to them.

An outstanding product description can work for you in three major ways:

• Help searchers find your product
• Sell prospective buyers on your product
• Sell prospective buyers on the lifestyle your brand offers

For a product description to do each of the things above, it needs to do more than list the dimensions, size, availability, color and price. It should also contain keywords and terms users search to find your product. You want to eliminate buyer’s guilt by turning the product from a want into a need. Also, conjure up images in the buyer’s mind about life with your product and make them feel remorse for not already owning it, all while creating original content.

You may be the mastermind behind your products, but are you the best person to sell them? And even if you are, do you have the time to craft the works of art that are converting product descriptions? If you didn’t answer no to the first question, chances are you did to the second. For descriptions that highlight your product’s best features and that prompt shoppers to click “Buy,” outsource your e-commerce writing projects to a reputable content writing services agency.

And when push comes to shove, if you have more than a handful of products to sell, it will take a lot of time to create unique product descriptions for each. Save the stress and outsource.

 

5. Outsource Video Script Writing

 

Recording a three- to five-minute brand video takes much longer than three to five minutes. Creating a brand video that makes an impact often requires an investment of days, and much of that time should be spent on crafting a compelling script. Guess what? You can outsource content writing AND script writing.

Too many people assume they can refurbish a blog post to use as a video script. That is far from the case. HubSpot suggests starting with a brief, which should address the following:

• The goal of the video
• Your intended audience
• The (specific) topic of discussion
• Key takeaways

Once you have a brief to work from, you can start the script-writing process. Your script should be conversational, thorough and appropriate for the audience you wish to target. It should also be brief. While two pages is okay, one is better.

As the owner of your company, you have a lot to say. If you don’t have time to pare down your extensive script into a one- or two-page masterpiece, reach out to a copywriting agency that does and outsource your content writing.

 

Outsource Content Writing Today!

Although you may have heard some rumors about outsourcing article writing, we can assure you that it is a reliable, convenient and practical way to generate quality content. In fact, outsourcing may be one of the best ways to save money in your content marketing strategy.

As digital marketing continues to gain traction, the need for quality content will grow quickly for companies of all sizes. Today, there are many more outsourcing options you can use to meet your needs. Depending on the company, you can opt-in for professionally edited articles as well as help with SEO. Ecommerce content (such as Amazon product descriptions) and ebooks are potential options. With the right company, you can outsource content writing of all kinds!

You owe it to yourself to delegate five or more of your most pressing content writing tasks to a qualified agency. Doing so may be the best investment of both your time and money. Shop our outsourced content writing services to start checking off your to-dos today.

Neil Patel once said, “There’s no such thing as a boring industry … just bad writers who aren’t creative.” He said this in response to thousands of business owners who were complaining that content writing wasn’t for them because they were in a boring niche. The truth is, content marketing is for every business in every industry — even insurance.

 

Why Should You Incorporate Content Writing Into Your Insurance Marketing Strategy?

We get it — you’re in the business of avoiding risk. It’s what you do. However, while this aversion to risk makes you great at your job, it may make you resistant to change that could lead to very real business growth. While you should continue to encourage your clients to steer clear of the unknown, take a leap of faith and invest in content marketing. Here’s why.

 

Stay Top of Mind

As an insurance company, it’s difficult to stay relevant as the only interaction customers have with you is either via a monthly bill or a phone call during which they file a claim. Both types of interactions are less than ideal. If you want to stay at the forefront of your customers’ minds for, say, when a friend or colleague asks for a referral, you need to give them small reminders throughout the month that you exist and that you’re ready to help. 

Content marketing allows you to grab your customers’ attention, for however briefly, a few times a month. Make each interaction a positive one by sharing pieces of interest. When trying to come up with ideas for content, think about the relevancy to the readers’ interests. What do your customers want to know? Below are a few topic ideas you can turn into great pieces any policy holder will want to read:

• How to reduce car insurance rates
• Seasonal maintenance or hazards (winterizing your home, staying healthy during flu season, etc.)
• Best foods for a healthy heart
• Exercises to reduce joint pain
• Frequently asked questions

 

Foster, Nurture and Maintain Relationships With Your Customers

One of the greatest benefits of content is its ability to connect a business to its customers. Whether you have 100 policyholders or 1,000, chances are you have a hard time keeping in touch with all of them, much less establishing a personal relationship with each. This distance makes it difficult for you to generate loyalty, and loyalty is key to customer retention and acquisition.

According to a HubSpot statistic, 50% of a consumer’s time online is spent engaging with custom content. A TMG finding reveals that as many as 78% of consumers believe that organizations that provide custom content are interested in establishing good relationships with them. If you struggle to form and maintain relationships with your customers, and therefore struggle to garner customer loyalty, it may be time to redesign your insurance marketing strategy so it includes content writing.

 

Establish Trust

Consumers today are smarter about how they spend their money than those of previous decades. While this may not necessarily mean they don’t make impulse purchases or that they save more money than previous generations, it does mean that they spend more time reviewing and comparing products and services and the brands that provide them. When two offerings are equal in quality and value, the customer is more likely to go with the company they trust. Content marketing helps establish that trust. There are stats to support this assertion.

According to statistics shared via WordStream, as much as 95% of shoppers consider content as trustworthy when evaluating a company and its offerings. Nine out of 10 B2B product or service buyers say content plays a moderate to major role in their purchase decisions. As many as 78% of consumers said they relied on white papers to make a major purchase decision in the last year.

 

Have Those Tough Talks in a Personal Manner

No policy holder likes to receive a bill in the mail along with a statement that says, “Oh, by the way, your rates are going up!” These types of inserts add insult to injury and are sure to inspire several of your customers to begin the hunt for a new carrier.

However, rate hikes are often necessary, which many insurance customers don’t understand. You can help them understand, however. For instance, maybe the risk factors in a customer’s particular region changed, or maybe the cost of medical care or repairs is on the rise. Whatever the reason, a friendly email or blog post explaining the rate hike may soften the blow to your policyholders.

Moreover, if you establish a strong relationship with your customers via content marketing before sharing bad news, they’re more likely to take it better. This is because you’ve earned their trust, so when you say the spike in rates was out of your control, they’ll believe you.

 

Brand Yourself As More Than an Insurance Agent

Your policyholders know you as an insurance agent, plain and simple. Because of this, they contact you only when their rates go up or when they need to file a claim. However, as an insurance professional, your knowledge extends far beyond numbers and claims.

For instance, maybe you have extensive knowledge of health issues and what individuals can do to manage symptoms or prevent issues entirely. Or maybe you’re also a financial whiz and know what steps consumers can take to not only reduce their rates but also save in other areas of their lives. If you have the knowledge, share it. In sharing your advice and expertise, your policyholders will begin to view you as more than just an insurance agent — they may begin to view you as a valuable life advisor.

 

Connect With Your Customers Today

If you want to stay top of mind, establish trust and foster and maintain relationships with your customers, content marketing is for you. However, to realize the benefits of content marketing, your articles need to be high quality, genuine and helpful. If you don’t have the time, resources or capacity to create that type of content, look into our content writing services.

As you well know, competition in the mortgage world is fierce, with dozens of lenders in the same region offering different rates, distinctive programs and varied levels of customer service. Each of these factors, along with dozens of others, makes it more difficult than ever to acquire clients and process loans. If you feel the truth of this statement all too acutely, it may be time to look into online marketing.

 

How Can You Benefit From Content Writing?

Digital connectivity has altered everything from how individuals live and work to how they shop and play, so it’s no surprise that it has also altered consumer behavior. Once upon a time, price was the most important factor in the purchase decision. Today, however, 73% of consumers agree that trust and transparency are more important than cost. Another 71% of consumers and 82% of investors said they are more likely to work with or buy from a company if they recognize the brand name. What does this mean for brands today? They must engage, inform, communicate and, most importantly of all, be visible. Mortgage marketing content can help you do each of these things, which will in turn result in increased acquisitions and processed loans.

 

Which Content Strategies Should You Invest In?

When it comes to online marketing, there are strategies aplenty. So, how do you decide which are right for you? Consider the benefits of the following:

Don’t Try To Do It All On Your Own

Developing a working content strategy takes time in and of itself, but bringing that strategy to life requires a time investment most mortgage lenders do not have. If you want help creating a strategy that leads to mortgage acquisitions without taking your time away from pursuing or following up with them, then outsource your online marketing to a team that specializes in strategy, lead generation and, above all, quality content.

Content marketing is continuously changing. As search engines release new and stricter algorithms, and as time increasingly becomes a commodity many are unwilling to spare, content marketing agencies and small businesses alike struggle to produce the type of content that really makes an impact. However, that may be because marketers are trying so hard to impress their audiences that they’re overlooking painfully obvious content marketing strategies that actually work.

What To Do to Get Your Campaign Back on Track

The following five strategies are tried and true — elements on which our content marketing agency has relied from the beginning and ones that continue to yield results today.

 

1. Don’t Discount the Power of Visuals

Content marketers love using text as their main means of communication, which is funny, because the human brain processes text at a much slower rate than it does visuals. In fact, according to findings published by Nielsen Norman Group, the average web user has time to read approximately 28 percent of all text on a single web page during a single visit, though 20 percent is more likely. Moreover, people only retain 10 percent of what they read or hear after three days, but that percentage skyrockets to 65 percent when that same information is paired with a visual. So, what do these numbers mean for your content?

Additional studies reveal that posts with images generate 650 percent higher engagement than posts that feature only text. Posts with videos attract three times more links than text-only posts. Finally, shoppers are 85 percent more likely to purchase a product after watching a product video than if they were merely to read about the product.

Via GIPHY

All that said, not all images make great visuals, and not all visuals are images. Visuals must be engaging, be relevant and add value to the content. Some examples of relevant and engaging visuals are as follows:

• Charts, Graphs and Relevant Images: Leading with a relevant and impressive image is wise, but don’t stop there as so many companies tend to do. Follow the lead of so many a content marketing agency and sprinkle relevant, high-quality visuals throughout a piece. “High-quality visuals” include charts and graphs that back what you say and images that complement your text.
• Infographics: Infographics, when done right and crafted with compelling data, can be powerful tools and easily double your traffic.
• SlideShare: According to Neil Patel, SlideShare has more traffic from business owners than any other social media platform. It is also the world’s 121^st most visited site, with three billion presentation shares per month. Its content marketing potential is huge but, unfortunately, not fully realized (which is a fact you can take advantage of). 
• Videos: 97 percent of marketers claim that video helps customers make a decision, which isn’t too far off from what consumers say. According to 90 percent of consumers, video plays a huge role in helping them make a final purchase decision.

 

2. Create Clickable, Readable, Shareable and Devour-able Content

Not many people think to ask, “What is copywriting?” but they should. Yes, it’s true that great copy should be be well-researched, professional and relevant to your industry, but shareable content is so much more than those three things. According to a BuzzSumo study, which analyzed 100 million articles, viral content is content that meets the following criteria:

• Has a clickable headline
• Is longer in length — typically, posts between 3,000 and 10,000 words perform best
• Is visually appealing, meaning it includes images, a how-to, list or infographic
• Is perceived as trustworthy and reputable, and appeals to readers’ emotions
• Is promoted several days, weeks or even months after it was originally written

When you compare this list to so many B2C blogs on the World Wide Web today, it’s a wonder that some posts even get the amount of hits that they do.

That said, creating viral content is easier said than done. Though the best route to filling your website with great content is hiring a custom writing service, you can give your in-house content the boost it needs by keeping the following tips in mind:

• Write like a human. Stop using third person and ditch the corporate jargon.
• Don’t be afraid to incorporate your personality into your content.
• Shoot for long-form articles. Long is not boring – in fact, it is more engaging, informative and shareable. That said, don’t say more than necessary. Avoid fluff and the use of superfluous language for the sake of meeting a high word count.
• Send your articles out to industry influencers and ask for feedback. If it’s good enough, they may even share it; if it’s not, you at least have the advice you need to make it shareable.

 

3. Know That a Blog May Not Be Your Only Tool

As a custom writing service, we love blogging — it’s what we do. But even we cannot deny that blogs are just one tool in the content marketing arsenal. Though over 409 million people read over 23.7 billion pages each month, blogging alone does not create conversions, which is why churning out dozens of so-so blogs each month doesn’t create much of an impact. Blogs are just one piece of the puzzle, and you have to figure out where they fit in with your overall content goals — not the other way around. To paraphrase the words of Doug Fowler, President of Waypost Marketing: Though search engines still value fresh content online, you should focus on quality, not quantity. That may mean revising your content marketing strategy to churn out less blog articles and create more targeted content in easier-to-digest and more pleasing formats.

The point? Use your blog to fuel other SEO efforts.

Do not stop writing blogs, as doing so would be counterproductive to your efforts as well. Instead, use your blog content to curate social media posts, email newsletters, videos and SlideShares; to redirect visitors to a video or landing page; to pave the way for a Q&A session or to address customer FAQs; or to set the stage for a future podcast. There are a variety of types of content you can repurpose your blogs into, which Neil Patel shares via this handy visual:

 

4. Don’t Make Your Audience Look for You – Go to Them

When you want coffee, you go to a coffee shop. If you’re in the mood for authentic Mexican food, you go to a taqueria. The same goes for content marketing. If you want to interact with your target audience, you go to where they are, because chances are, they’re not going to magically gravitate towards you.

Yes, your SEO efforts can help them find you, but if they’re hanging out on Twitter or GrubHub and you’ve made no efforts to socialize in those spheres, your efforts are for naught. Take some time to study your target audience and to figure out where they congregate. Once you have identified where your target audience hangs out, take the necessary time to personalize your content to meet audience interests and needs. Platforms aren’t one size fits all, so it’s important that you tailor your content to your audience and the platform of their choice.

 

5. Remember, Sharing Is Caring

As Jay Baer once famously said, “Content is fire. Social media is gasoline.” Though it’s nice to think that your content is so well-written, so engaging and so informative that it creates its own inferno, the truth is that most content remains hidden in the depths of the search results when it’s not shared across multiple social media channels. You can create your own blaze, however, by sharing your hard work across your chosen platforms. Content creation is the difficult part, but sharing takes almost no time at all. Reach as many audiences as possible and post to LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube and Tumblr. If you think there are other places your audiences may be hiding out, post there as well. Never stop looking for new platforms either, as you never know where you’ll find future loyal fans.

Whether you want to get your campaign back on track or are ready to take your content marketing seriously, stress less about keeping up with online marketing trends and spend more time looking toward the older but tried-and-true methods. Create several types of quality content with plenty of visuals, pay attention to where your audience hangs out and share. If you really want your campaign to flourish, turn to our content marketing agency for help. Visit our content shop online to see what we have to offer your business.