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Showing posts from April, 2017

Should I jump on the latest social media marketing trend?

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While it is always a good idea to watch trends and to stay up-to-date on what people are talking about; is it always necessary to incorporate every trend into your social media marketing plan? Being an early adopter can position you as trendsetter but if it doesn’t work for your business it can be a big waste of your time and effort, so how do you know if will work for your real estate business or not? In order to establish whether a new trend is worth your time and effort, you should ask yourself these five questions: Will it build on my customer base? Lead generation is one of your most important daily tasks, so the trends you use to market must be efficient and effective. In 2016, Pokémon GO took the world by storm and we saw some real estate agents promote listings by including Pokemon-related information under amenities and selling points, with ads that read like this one “Within a mile of several Pokémon stops and home of recently captured Paras, Shellder, Drowzee, Squ

Sharing your property listings on Facebook

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You have set up your Facebook Business page and now your next step is to start sharing posts on the page - but how do you share posts and listings? And what works best? According to the latest available statistics, Facebook has 1.86 billion monthly active users as of December 31, 2016 (1.74 billion of which are mobile monthly active users as of December 31, 2016) which just goes to show that not only is Facebook a powerful marketing tool, it is also browsed mostly from mobile devices. The mobile dominance plays a large role in how your content is viewed - for marketing purposes this means that visuals matter and written posts should be short and engaging. Take a look at any millennial's phone, messages contain a vast array of emojis that replace words and reduce messages to increasingly smaller tidbits. What does this have to do with marketing your content and listings on Facebook? The way millennials speak is very similar to the way they consume media - even older ge

What is social proof and how can you use it to drive traffic to your real estate website?

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Believe it or not but psychology is actually one of the best tools to have in your real estate marketing toolkit - this has been proven time and again by the social proof concept. We take a closer look at his concept and how you can use it to drive traffic to your real estate website . Firstly, in simple terms, social proof refers to a psychological phenomenon where people mimic the actions of others in an attempt to reflect correct behavior for a given situation. So what does this mean for marketing? Well this boils down to when a potential client sees great reviews of your brand, they are more likely to use your services, or at the very least follow you on social media and engage with your website content. We are really not making this stuff up - YotPo conducted a study on the consumer decision-making process of 500 different sites. They found that when those sites added social reviews to their website, their traffic increased 50% on average over the next three months. |

Property Alerts and Automated Newsletters as a part of your real estate marketing strategy

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Websites have become an important part of the make or break success of a real estate agent and as we have seen time and time again, a responsive real estate website will always win out in terms of user experience and search engine rankings. However, for a user what you can add to their overall experience online is just one part of the story. What you can offer them offline is the other. With newsletters and property alerts you are adding to their overall perception of your agency, and with our automated features, you don’t even have to do anything to help you market your properties and agency. Newsletters have been around for years, although presentation and industry best practices have changed to allow them to stay ahead of the curve, used correctly they are still a very powerful marketing tool. With Entegral’s Flex websites you are able to create automated newsletters that are not only beautifully designed but also (and most importantly) branded. Clients stay updated with th

#OMS_QuickTip - Showcasing your sold property listings

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If you have an Entegral Flex responsive website you can showcase all your sold property listings - this will not only help your online credibility it will also hold some marketing value for you. Showcasing your sold property in the areas you operate in will promote you as an area specialist and will also bolster your reputation as an expert in the property industry. You can create a page that is dedicated to showcasing your sold stock on your Flex website and whenever an estate agent has sold a property, the status of the listing can be changed in the OMS to ‘Sold (Registered)’ Sold listings will automatically display as live listings on your website for a period of 6 weeks, thereafter they will automatically be removed from your website.  You will still be able to find your listings under the sold stock in the OMS. Order an additional page for your Flex Real Estate Website to showcase all your Sold listings individually by contacting our Support Team

Social media marketing for real estate agents - Have you considered going live?

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At the recent Social Media Marketing World event in San Diego, United States it was revealed that one of the top emerging trends in social media marketing is leveraging live streaming as a tool for your business. But as a real estate agent how do you do this and does it even matter? According to We Are Social , Facebook generates 8 billion daily video views, this is a massive 700% increase from just 3 years ago and people are three times more inclined to watch a live video than a prerecorded video. Clearly, video matters and live videos matter, even more, even Facebook acknowledges this as they adjusted their algorithm so that live videos are more likely to appear higher in news feeds than those that are not. Another staggering statistic is that video posts on Facebook have a 135% greater organic reach than photos. This is quite something in a world where organic reach is becoming something of the past. But how do you as a real estate agent use live video to your advantage? Th

It is all about you - how to write a real estate company profile

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An engaging real estate company profile is a great way to connect with your prospective clients by portraying a professional image and establishing and building your brand further. Your Flex responsive website offers you the space to present your agency to visitors in the ‘About Us’ section of your website. And by keeping a few things in mind when you set out to write the profile you can ensure that you put your best foot forward. Provide useful information Where are you based, in what area do you operate, how long have you been in business or are you a specialist rental agent? These are just some of the questions you can answer in your company profile. Also, mention awards that you might have won - who wouldn’t want to work with award-winning real estate agents? Infuse some personality Don’t just give the cut and dry bones of the business - infuse some personality into the profile to attract potential clients. If your agency is really involved in the community mentio

Word-of-mouth marketing still matters in real estate

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It is almost impossible to track the influence of word-of-mouth marketing but it is still incredibly influential - here are a few ways to improve your word-of-mouth (WOM) recognition. According to a study by Nielsen Co., 92% of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family over other forms of marketing. While WOM cannot be controlled, it can be encouraged. Start in the community For real estate agents, this means they should be active in the area the work in - this can be anything from sponsoring a local high school's rugby jerseys or taking part in a local event (proudly waving your branded banners or running in a 5k with a branded shirt) The community will not only see you as someone working in the area but as someone that cares about the community, and therefore will be more likely to recommend your services. Host an event Don’t use this opportunity to sell a property - use this as a chance to make current, past and future sellers feel appreciated. For e

New Tivvit interface for OMS and Sync

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Entegral clients are now able to feed to more portals thanks to a new partnership with Tivvit . The new portals are available to OMS and Sync clients. There is a R249 activation fee payable to Entegral for the Tivvit setup and its affiliated websites . The monthly support fee is covered in your Sync  costs that you already pay to paid portals like Property24, Private Property, Zoopla, IOL Property etc. Please  follow this help link  to get Tivvit activated for your office. You will need to sign a contract with them which includes a monthly fee to feed to their portals. Once set up, listings can be sent to Tivvit via the normal online marketing page on property listings as illustrated below. You will get a status indicator and link to the property once live. Your property listings will then be activated on the Tivvit website: Note: To avoid duplication, we only feed to the portals like Tivvit.com and Cyberprop.com not covered by Entegral's existing interfaces. Entegral offers prope

Asset Property Group launches new Flex responsive website

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Asset Property Group’s new Entegral Flex responsive website is a showcase of how we can customise the website to fit your real estate business - from residential sales to commercial rentals, Flex can do it all! www.assetpg.co.za Asset Property Group has a wealth of industry experience backing them and as specialists, in the sale and rental of warehouses, factories, commercial land, and office space they needed a website that would not only showcase their listings but the company at large. Using the Elegant theme from our Flex responsive website templates , Asset Property Group can now ensure that their stock of reaches the right audience whether they are browsing the website using a laptop, tablet or smartphone. Property buyers and sellers alike will be able to make use of the integrated monthly bond repayment calculator to see how much they will be repaying on their bond or they can use their map search to find their ideal property! Prospective clients on-the-go will appreci

How to use suburb reports for marketing

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Real estate agents are constantly receiving property statistics and it’s not always easy to see how this can benefit your business on a marketing level. We take a look at how you can use the OMS suburb reports to market your real estate agency. 1. Write a blog post about local market information One of the most obvious choices would be to write a blog post about the latest information on the property trends in the suburb - pairing this with other information such as the type lifestyle in the suburb and the amenities, for example, you are giving potential buyers a comprehensive overview of the area. Apart from setting yourself up as the go-to agent in the area, you are also giving your responsive website an SEO boost with your unique content. 2. Create social media snippets It is easy to share snippets of information from the suburb report on your social media channels - what you are doing is promoting your business while showcasing your area knowledge. Use eye-catching p

Should you invest in a copy writer for your real estate listings?

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Most real estate agents wouldn’t even think twice about hiring a professional photographer/videographer for their high-end luxury listings - but should they consider hiring a professional writer for those listings? Buying a home for most people is not just a financial decision but also an emotional one and targeting those emotions in theory should help you sell your listing. But does a listing description really matter enough that you need to hire a writer to help you tell a story about your luxury listing? According to a 2016 study by Zillow, the word “luxurious” added 8.2% to the sales price of lower-tier homes for sale. Among higher-tier homes, the word “captivating” added 6.5% - so it would seem that the right words do matter. Listing features and square meters does help a seller tick off whether or not a property is a good fit for them but it tells them nothing of the experience of living in the property - for family buyers, for example, knowing that the property is in a

#OMS_QuickTip - Custom banners on property brochures

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Did you know you can add optional custom banner text on your property brochures in the OMS? Simply enter a short custom phrase such “Sold by us!” or “Price Reduced” into the text box and it will be placed on your selected brochure. This functionality can also be implemented on custom brochures!                             On custom brochures the banner can be placed over photos or anywhere else, including a custom background colour On standard brochures this will be placed over photos as per examples above Remember that we can also design a custom property brochure for you - simply contact us today for a quote!

Marketing your website to those trying to find it

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A visitor already in the market for your services is always beneficial - they are more attentive and it is easier to convert them into clients - but how do you get them to your website? We take a look at some strategies to implement into your marketing strategy. AdWords A relatively cost-effective solution, AdWords will allow users to find you when they search for ‘real estate agents in Pretoria’ for example. It is all about keyword targeting and we have taken out the guesswork with our Search Engine Marketing packages that will help target buyers and sellers at the point of search and from there directing them to your website. We have been doing this since Google AdWords was launched and we have been growing (and gaining knowledge) ever since, ensuring you get the best bang for your buck. Email Marketing Email marketing is one of the most valuable tools in your marketing toolbox because the sole fact that people have opted into your list is an expression of intere

Find listings by external property portal ref numbers quickly in the OMS

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You can now easily find property listings in the OMS by simply entering the external property portal reference number in the OMS quick search area, as illustrated below. Here we entered the IOL Property reference number and it found the corresponding OMS listing: You can search popular portals like Property24, Private Property, IOL Property and MyProperty through the quick search. The external property portal reference numbers are also imported and displayed on your individual property listing, with a hyperlink to open it on the external portal: To get a global overview of the status of your listings on external portals, you can also visit your office's listing dashboard :

Why a professional logo matters more than you think

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For any business there are numerous questions to answer before they open their doors - one of those questions undoubtedly has to be what the image is you want to send out into the world of your company? One of the ways this is achieved is with your logo - think about it - Twitter, Facebook, McDonald's and Apple - you would instantly recognize their logos whether it is on billboard, website, business card or magazine. It just goes to show that a well thought out logo can draw in people. It is so important that UK oil group BP spent £136m introducing its current sunflower design back in 2000. Why should you have a professional logo in the real estate industry? In a competitive industry such as the real estate industry, a professional logo can make you stand out in the crowd. Sagi Haviv, partner at New York graphic design firm Chermayeff & Geismer & Haviv (CGH) - who has been a part of some of the biggest logo designs -  has been quoted as saying that: “There ar