So we all know that the online real estate market is largely dominated by huge names like Zillow, Trulia, Redfin…etc. It can seem a bit daunting to start marketing against these giants. This post is for you if you want to fight back and beat Zillow… If you’re sick of how these companies basically took your leads only to sell them back to you.
I’m going to give you a set of tools to start your own local online empire.
Gotta run to the next meeting? Click hereto download the cheatsheet.
Before we can try to beat Zillow and Trulia at their own game, we have to see where they have a weakness.
Here’s a video showing the weakness that exists in Zillow and Trulia’s business model:
Generally speaking, the flaw with these huge websites is that they do not have the ability to get hyper local. What’s that mean?
It means there is no easy way for Zillow or Trulia to produce information relevant to helping people decide where to move.
Sure, they can give out school data and population data. But they can’t go interview the principle of every school in the area and post it one Youtube.
Right?
Here are 5 tactics to adopt when marketing against Zillow and Trulia online:
1. Follow Their Lead Capture:
These companies have a huge marketing budget when it comes to split testing. They are always testing words, colors, and locations of Calls to actions in order to get the most leads. Pay attention to what they are doing and copy it.
2. Create Video:
Sure, video open houses are great. But the real money is in evergreen video. Video that is useful all year round. What do people want to see? They want to know about school districts, shopping centers, places to eat out, proximity to airports and transportation. Giving video walking tours of neighborhoods and areas are a sure fire way to stand out.
3. Give Your Team A Face:
Do you have an admin that answers all the phone calls? Do you have buyer agents? Are you a buyers agent? If there is someone that people will be interacting with regularly, make sure they are introduced during the videos. People love doing business with people. And video is a free way to introduce your entire staff to the world.
4. The Echo Effect:
Your first video will not get that many views. But this strange thing happens after you get 10-15 videos. They start supporting each other. The echo effect is HUGE online. The more stuff you have the more it supports each other. Post today and see great results tomorrow.
5. Start Today:
Guess what? Your first video is going to stink. The audio and video quality will stink. You will stutter. There might even be something weird going on in the background. It doesn’t matter! Focus on making videos every single week. Commit to a number today. And start today. The best way to get better at making videos is through practicing them.
Finally, none of this matters unless you’re linking these videos back to an amazing website that captures a ton of leads. Make sure you use your website as the hub and all these videos as the spokes.
Linking everything back to your website will grow traffic and make you unstoppable on Google, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and more.
Let me know how you’re using video and hyper local content to ‘best’ Trulia and Zillow. I can’t wait to hear about it!
-Tyler
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