As any a good realtor would do, you ask yourself daily: "How do I effectively market my real estate business online?"
That's because you know that in today's world where looking online first has become the norm, online presence is everything.
Without it, connecting with qualified buyers and sellers feels next to impossible.
We at Ylopo fully understand the unique challenges realtors face when developing digital marketing campaigns.
As pioneers in AI-powered real estate marketing technology, we've helped thousands of agents, teams and brokerages unlock new levels of online growth and productivity.
And at this point, we intimately understand this industry's pain points as well as the latest digital opportunities. And that's how we know what still works, what to avoid, and how to navigate a future that's increasingly digital and AI-enabled.
And this has not really changed in the last half decade: the singular, biggest rule of online is this: be online, everywhere, all at once. As Ylopo’s Realtor in Residence Barry Jenkins explains:
“Today’s realtors need effective online presence through social media and websites, alongside targeted campaigns reaching potential buyers and sellers. By using tech-enabled yet personalized techniques, agents can achieve dramatic new levels of growth and productivity.”
This comes from one of our very first Ylopo Training videos meant to introduce clients to the platform.
Today we revisit the strategies covered in this oldie but goodie, and, bouncing off of that, explore Ylopo's philosophy and modern approach to online real estate marketing.
You'll discover proven tactics to attract qualified buyers, generate leads and stand out from the competition.
Expect creative ideas across social media advertising, search engine optimization (SEO), email marketing and more.
Our uniquely tailored digital experiences match each lead to the most relevant properties using smart technology.
That's why we can provide bespoke marketing strategies to help expand your reach, nurture more prospects and drive conversions. Read on for actionable tips from our pioneering playbook.
Chapter 1: BE ONLINE: The Digital Imperative and Ylopo's Response
But first, some context.
Today, capturing consumer attention increasingly happens across online channels.
Over 74% of U.S. adults actively use social media, while homebuyers spend more time browsing listings on apps than meeting agents in person.
On top of that, other recent industry surveys reveal the extent digital channels influence modern home buying journeys:
40% of buyers first engaged their eventual agent through an online platform
34% connected with their agent specifically via a website contact form
Given heavy reliance on internet research during initial purchase consideration stages, expanded digital exposure offers critical touchpoints to engage and qualify inbound prospects.
Maintaining an omnipresent digital presence gives you visibility into these online journeys, enabling opportunities to engage high-intent prospects.
Forward-thinking realtors are prioritizing digital strategies across three key categories:
Social Media Marketing Platforms like Facebook and Instagram enable granular targeting by demographics, interests and behaviors to reach niche buyer segments open to influence.
Search & Content Marketing. Informative, SEO-optimized web content builds authority around localized market expertise. This content captures organic traffic from informational queries to then remarket high-potential visitors.
Personalized Nurture Sophisticated CRM automation continually engages segmented leads based on their digital body language, aligning messaging to their stage within the buyer’s journey.
Cutting across these pillars, AI-powered real estate suites like Ylopo activate plug-and-play leverage for agents through built-in data intelligence.Creating an Online Presence
Platforms like Facebook and Instagram enable powerful demographic targeting.
As Ylopo's CMO Juefeng Ge explains:
“Facebook and Instagram have extensive data on users that lets us micro-segment exactly who comprises high-net-worth individuals in the Bay Area versus military families buying their first homes in Honolulu.”
But generic social media ads alone miss fully capitalizing on this goldmine of data.
What uniquely sets Ylopo’s social approach apart is dynamically matching prospective buyers with tailored property listings. As Barry describes:
“We upload all MLS listings to Facebook, associating data like demographics drawn to specific features with each home. As users view ads, Facebook tracks their engagement across listings and continually refines which homes to show next using this interest data.”
This closed-loop system persistently improves relevancy by linking user responses directly to the algorithm selecting their suggested properties.
Dynamic Social Media Advertising
One of Ylopo's biggest differentiators is its automated access to MLS listing data, which feeds customized advertising campaigns. Simply by syncing up their MLS feed, Ylopo realtors grant the platform information on every home for sale in their market.
Ylopo then dynamically targets social media ads to serve each viewer listings that match their interests, demographics, and behavior with uncanny accuracy.
In short, Ylopo matches potential customers with the exact types of homes they want to see.
For example, say a realtor wants to target young professionals looking to buy their first home. Ylopo could create a Facebook ad campaign featuring starter homes, condos, and apartments tailored specifically to millennials and Gen Zers.
Whenever someone from that demographic views the ad, Facebook's algorithms will automatically detect what specific listings pique their interest to display in real-time.
The platform essentially turns the social network into an IDX home search experience lined up perfectly with each person's preferences.Unlike static flyers or even advanced drip campaigns, Ylopo's dynamic ads speak to each viewer, resulting in higher relevancy, engagement, and conversions.
And with Facebook leading all digital channels in conversions, Ylopo realtors gain an invaluable edge in connecting with buyers wherever they spend their time online.
Advertisements showcase listings based on demographics, search history, and real-time behavior to capture interest and drive conversions.
Agents choose their ideal customers, whether that's young families, golf enthusiasts, or military members.
Ylopo then dynamically displays appropriate homes to those specific audiences across devices.
This level of personalization and automation allows agents to gain an omnipresent digital exposure that would be impossible to achieve alone.
From our own testing, Ylopo's approach has 600% higher conversion rates compared to typical real estate ads.As buyers and sellers spend more time interacting with professionally branded listings, a sense of familiarity and trust develops that keeps agents top of mind.
Plus, with average costs under $4 per lead, Ylopo’s digital marketing is extremely cost-effective compared to other lead generation alternatives.
There is simply no more innovative digital advertising solution available right now for realtors hoping to dominate their hyper-competitive market.
Ylopo Webinars:
Unlock a vault of real-world, battle-tested strategies from top real estate rainmakers.
Chapter 2: BE EVERYWHERE: Optimized Lead Capture
It used to be that you needed a whole team of ISAs to take charge of cold calling, follow ups, and lead nurture, all while juggling all the other things you need to do as a realtor.
Today all it takes is partnering with Ylopo to cast the widest possible net to connect you with buyers and sellers.
Our multi-channel approach converts interest across social media, search, and partnerships into high-quality leads instantly matched to your expertise.
In order to convert digital marketing interest into tangible contacts, Ylopo developed proprietary Facebook Lead Form technology that maximizes lead capture potential.
Whenever a viewer clicks an ad, the platform launches a customized lead form inside the Facebook interface to keep the user engaged.
By auto-populating from their user profile, the form prefills contacts' name, email address, phone number, and other info to remove friction from signing up.
The platform also attaches additional qualifying questions to learn more about leads' buying timeframe, locations under consideration, and other factors that indicate readiness.
This helps realtors filter and prioritize the hottest, most promising leads first.Moreover, by keeping the questions short, simple, and relevant, Ylopo maintains higher conversion rates compared to leading consumers elsewhere.
After signing up, leads access a personalized Ylopo-powered home search experience tracked back to the realtor. This allows them to explore listings, neighborhood details, market trends, and more helpful info.
Through pixels, cookies, and other tracking technology, the platform captures every click, share, save, and other action to inform follow-up nudges via email and digital ads.
In this sense, Ylopo essentially offers buyers and sellers a custom landing page experience while supplying realtors with invaluable data to segment and retarget leads automatically.
And with an average of 5 page views and 50%+ email open rates per lead, Ylopo keeps new contacts engaged long after initial sign-up.
Round-The-Clock Lead Nurturing
Generating a steady stream of promising leads marks only the first step in converting contacts into clients. To bridge the gap,
Ylopo deploys an AI-powered lead nurturing engine called Ylopo AI (formerly rAIya) to keep leads engaged on an ongoing basis.
Powered by conversational AI, Ylopo AI interacts with leads via text messaging 24/7 to answer questions, provide housing recommendations, set appointments, and more helpful assistance throughout their journey.
Following initial registration, Ylopo AI reaches out to contacts personalized by name via SMS to kickoff friendly dialog.
The bot offers links to recommended listings based on the lead's earlier housing searches as natural conversation starters.
Whenever a lead responds or asks follow-up questions, Ylopo AI matches their tone and terminology while interfacing with the back-end CRM to continually track and document insights.
If at any point the lead asks to connect directly with an agent or schedule a meeting, Ylopo AI seamlessly facilitates contact.
However, the system still captures these hand-offs to inform the realtor on talking points and engagement history to personalize discussions.
This human takeover allows exceptional flexibility based on lead maturity and interest while still benefiting from 24/7 automated nurturing.
For many novice home searchers, Ylopo AI also helps leads clarify their needs long before meeting an agent.
The AI chatbot can suggest ideal neighborhoods, property types, amenities, and other options while leads weigh what matters most.
In a sense, conversations prune interest graphs to prime leads for a smooth transition to working with a realtor once seriously ready to buy.
Between dynamic lead gen, conversion, and nurturing, Ylopo pioneers online real estate marketing from awareness to assistance better than any other platform.
Direct Connect
It's been quite some time since the webinar released, and Ylopo's suite of tools has expanded.
Direct Connect is a recent addition that turns traditional lead capture on its head through an innovative registration flow and proprietary matching technology.
We qualify each lead with over 25 tailored questions to understand their unique homebuying needs, budget, and timeline at an unparalleled depth. This delivers leads ready to take action with either you or a lender.
No more wasting hours calling unqualified internet strangers who “just want information.” Direct Connect leads come pre-vetted and pre-validated as serious buyers.
Even better, our leads self-select their level of readiness through three interest categories:
Prequal Leads – Buyers eager to get pre-approved for financing with a lender. We automatically nurture this warm 14% of leads, transitioning them to you when loan-ready to begin their home search.
Hand Raiser Leads – A direct 20% of leads straight up ask for a consultation call with you. No guessing if they’re just browsing—they raised their hand for your expertise. Nearly a quarter of these hand raisers convert into active conversations when you follow up quickly.
Home Searcher Leads – The remaining 66% of leads verify they’re ready to start viewing homes within their detailed preferences. Nearly 20% actively engage when you call them off the Ylopo platform.
And our revolutionary lead gen process doesn’t end there. Here’s what sets us apart:
We ensure lead accuracy through direct phone/text verification. No more wrong numbers or phantom leads wasting your time. Over 95% of our exclusive, private database is legitimate and qualified.
Over half of all leads engage with our proprietary AI assistant, Ylopo AI, during sign up. She answers their questions, builds excitement, and warms them up for a conversation with you.
Ylopo AI’s automated nurturing sequences keep leads active and ready to transact when you call. No more phone tag or trying to resurrect cold leads.
This end-to-end qualification converts looky-loos into serious buyers ready to pull the trigger now. The key is connecting quickly when we deliver a new matched lead. Our data shows calling within 5 minutes converts at the highest rate.
Ylopo AI primes them for your outreach, so they’re expecting your call. Strike while the iron is hot!
Automated Video Marketing
Another critical addition is DyVA – Dynamic Video Ads. These are video ads dynamically generated from MLS listing data.
Video dramatically outperforms images for capturing attention and conveying information. By automating video creation for listings, you can showcase homes in a far more engaging format across social media.
DyVA ads feature property walkthroughs, neighborhood overviews, listing highlights, and more in eye-catching video.
Our platform renders these on-the-fly using MLS inputs, allowing rapid iteration of countless tailored videos.
We built machine learning algorithms that ingest listings and automatically generate scroll-stopping video ads.
This lets us showcase every home you represent in a cinematic way targeted based on each buyer's preferences.Our data shows DyVA video ads receive 300% more clicks and 80% lower cost-per-view compared to still images. Viewers also watch 95% of each video on average.
As DyVA continually optimizes video content, it learns the exact homes and selling points resonating with different audiences. These insights help you pitch the most compelling attributes to prospective buyers.
Ylopo's addition of automated video marketing and matching through DyVA provides an end-to-end platform for launching effective digital campaigns in minutes without any technical skills.
The results exceed anything possible through conventional digital approaches.
As Kirby Scofield, owner of Scofield Realty, notes:
"The thing that's huge about Ylopo is it's also branding the agent," Kirby said. "So much money I spent before and lost now is being cultivated back into income now due to the Ylopo gifts."
With our arsenal of data-driven video ads, Ylopo creates maximum visibility for your listings while building familiarity that keeps you top of mind as a trusted advisor.
There simply exists no better way right now for you to cost-effectively dominate your market through cutting-edge digital advertising.
MaverickRE:
The data-driven real estate platform that skyrockets your business through predictability, efficiency and control.
Chapter 3: The Ylopo Real Estate Marketing Flywheel
Ylopo consolidates every core aspect of realtor marketing technology into a single platform revolving around proprietary software, integrations, automation, and insight.
As covered already, the engine generates and nurtures high-intent leads through a continuum of tracking, segmentation, and optimization powered by data and artificial intelligence.
However, the system also syncs directly with the realtor's CRM, analytics, website, and other tools to create a seamless experience.
Listing info, lead data, campaign performance, and platform activity all interconnect through APIs for a holistic view of pipeline health. This allows optimizing strategies based on hard metrics versus guesswork.To conceptualize how all of the platform's solutions fit together, envision the following flywheel:
Attract: Through dynamic social and search ads personalized to each viewer, Ylopo attracts hyper-targeted, high-converting real estate leads 24/7 through Facebook, Instagram, Google, and more.
Convert: When visitors click on an ad, the system launches optimized Lead Forms to capture contacts seamlessly without leaving social media or search interfaces to maximize conversion potential.
Engage: Next, Ylopo's AI-powered assistant Ylopo AI reaches out to new leads via text messaging to answer questions, offer recommendations, set appointments, and nurture engagement through two-way conversational dialog.
Analyze: As leads continue interacting with personalized email alerts, digital ads, and helpful Ylopo AI nudges, Ylopo aggregates data across channels to identify who remains engaged versus cold based on measurable activity recorded in the central CRM
Optimize: Ylopo then recalibrates targeting and creative to win back disengaged contacts through referral offers, neighborhood updates, market reports, and other value-driven content while optimizing efforts around high-potential leads
This full-funnel approach combining cutting-edge advertising, conversion, analytics, and automation propels an ongoing cycle where more data informs better results and vice versa.
Now let's explore the platform's capabilities even further from the realtor's seat.
Inside the Ylopo Command Center
While Ylopo works behind the scenes optimizing external channels, realtors access a central Command Center to monitor activity, customize initiatives, communicate with leads, and more.
No other real estate CRM matches Ylopo's breadth of marketing functionality coupled with the ability to track ROI attribution down to each lead and campaign element.
As soon as a new lead comes in, Ylopo creates a detailed profile integrating demographics, contact info, advertising metadata, initial housing preferences, and other useful qualifiers.
The platform immediately populate this data into the realtor's CRM system via API for timely follow-up and frontline visibility.
However, Ylopo also tracks what listings each lead clicked on, shared, saved, and revisited over time.
As consumer interest and behaviors shift, the platform dynamically recalibrates digital ads and email recommendations to better cater to nuanced preferences.When significant activity occurs, like touring several new constructions or visiting a specific neighborhood across multiple sessions, Ylopo flags the contact as a "Priority Lead."
These triggers alert realtors to re-engage priority leads via email or phone with relevant suggestions or invites to connect.
If the realtor remains unresponsive after a reasonable attempt window, Ylopo triggers automated Ylopo AI text conversation as a reliable fallback to keep leads warm.
Either way, the system places communication front and center while handling the heavy lifting of monitoring data and understanding context.
Within the Command Center interface, realtors gain visibility into all lead activity encompassing advertising views, website engagement, Ylopo AI dialog, email metrics, priority alerts, and more.
Ylopo compiles granular investigation data historically limited to social and search platforms themselves.
The 360-degree handle on housing interests, questions asked, recommendations offered, and follow-ups delivered ultimately helps agents personalize and prioritize lead outreach for faster conversions.
Ylopo AI Text:
The pioneering 24/7 AI real estate assistant that actively converts leads 365 days a year.
Chapter 4: Website Optimization Strategies
Beyond just having your online funnel set up, optimizing your branded real estate website presents further opportunities to attract and engage buyer prospects.
As a critical digital touchpoint, your listing and brokerage site must offer an experience that keeps visitors engaged.
This sticks prospects into your sales funnel for future remarketing while organically driving conversions as they explore listings or request information.
To facilitate engagement, emphasis should focus on crafting content that informs, entertains, educates – ultimately motivating visitors to linger on your site.
Useful guidelines for evaluating your information quality include:
Do your listings showcase full lifestyle context via rich media, not just basic specs? Immersive content like drone videos and 3D floorplans brings rooms to life visually.
Have you published market reports and trend analyses to position your expertise and inform clients' purchase decisions?
Do you have neighborhood-specific pages sharing hyperlocal guidance on buying, selling, or investing based on area dynamics?
Such value-driven experiences set you up for more qualification conversations. But optimizing your site can’t stop at content alone when aiming for visibility and conversions.
Technical considerations around site speed, navigation, conversion tracking and lead capture workflows also weigh heavily into keeping visitors progressing.
Our comprehensive digital services eliminate much of the heavy lifting via automation. Listing alerts get personalized based on browsing behavior, with lead intake forms pre-configured for instant access.
Backend integrations even push notifications into your favored CRM, keeping you looped into prospect interactions happening digitally.
Conversion-Friendly Local Websites That End the User Journey
Other website best practices for lead generation call on classic SEO and SEM tactics - but with a nuanced approach recognizing new buying journeys.
Keyword targeting now demands expanded inventories like:
Hyper-regional long-tails, e.g. “Saratoga Springs new construction” over just generic “homes for sale”
Conversational variants, e.g. “best school districts near San Jose” as parents early research
Investor terminology, e.g. “flip properties” for those relationship building to make offers
Expanded lexicons allow better visibility against variety of pre-transaction queries. They also inform your content plans prioritizing pages for certain buyer segments and deal types.
Speaking to search optimization, our integrations enhance your visibility even without heavy content investments:
“For AdWords campaigns, we create layered keyword targeting automatically reflecting hyperlocal neighborhoods and personalized interests based on browsing behavior. This means granular alignment with search intent for higher relevancy.”
Rounding out website best practices are technical considerations many realtors still neglect.
Page load speeds remain an important ranking factor with Google, demanding image and script optimization.
Schema markup now also impacts presentation of listings in search results - helping click-through rates when content surfaces more prominently.
For teams without specialized digital expertise, leveraging our done-for-you ecosystem accelerates not just automation but intelligence.
Ylopo gives every agent enterprise-grade ability to capture intent, qualify needs, and continually engage website visitors based on their digital body language.
It’s technology finally realizing marketing’s promise - extreme relevance at scale.
Struggling agents:
End the vicious cycle of wasted time and money on dead-end leads.
Chapter 5: Putting It All Together as a Realtor
Ylopo certainly offers an incredibly wide breadth of real estate marketing functionality few other platforms can match.
Thankfully, implementing the various components happens fairly intuitively in terms of thoughtful sequencing. Follow this step-by-step outline to quickly get ramped up on the system:
Centralize Your Tech Stack
Start by connecting your core real estate management tools like CRM software, analytics, accounting, email services, and more with Ylopo's API to create a centralized command dashboard for your business. This allows consolidating lead data, advertising analytics, conversation histories, and platform utilization metrics across channels.
Sync Your Listings
With decentralized software interconnected, authorize Ylopo to directly access MLS data. This lets our advertising algorithms tap into the most up-to-date inventory specs, prices, statuses, photos, and videos across every on-market property in near real-time. More unique listings equal more ad variations and customization potential.
Set Up Lead Routing
Configure lead routing settings to populate new contacts generated by Ylopo's digital advertising directly into your CRM system automatically. This immediately pushes fresh leads into pipeline workflow tools alongside other database entries for organized tracking and priority assignment based on property interests.
Deploy Advertising Campaigns
Launch tailored social media and search advertising campaigns through the Ylopo platform targeting niche buyer segments, geo-radial zones, or other real estate demographics aligned with your focus areas. Our AI optimization engine adjusts targeting, creatives, bids, and budgets based on performance data to maximize conversions.
Automate Listing Alerts
Activate automated email and SMS listing alerts through Ylopo tailored to each new lead based on their recent home searches and favorites. As consumers demonstrate increased interest in specific properties, locations, prices, or features, the system responds accordingly to send timely recommendations.
Let Ylopo AI Guide Dialog
Lastly, enable Ylopo's conversational assistant Ylopo AI to engage new leads via text 24/7 with helpful answers, suggestions, and meeting invites as needed. Ylopo AI's seamless hand-off allows realtors to personally intervene marketing nudges whenever desired through the central CRM.
Final Thoughts
In an industry overdue for digital disruption, Ylopo emerges as a catalyst accelerating real estate marketing into the future.
Through social mastery, website innovation, and tailored integrations, we resolve persistent advertising and lead gen dilemmas.
At its core, Ylopo creates opportunity by unlocking the value trapped latent across channels.
Social media becomes an interactive sphere of hyper-targeted nurture and remarketing.
Website visitors evolve into scored leads prioritized for follow-up.
Ad campaigns shift from generic awareness plays into personalized promotions aligned to purchase timeframes.
Summarizing our impact, Ylopo’s CEO notes:
“Historically, realtors had ineffective, piecemeal digital plans. Now our platform continually engages audiences through coordinated messaging calibrated to their buying journeys. We give even small indie brokerages enterprise-grade infrastructure for converting today’s consumers.”
But our differentiation runs deeper than just advanced technology or superior data. Creative application of behavioral science allows further optimization into the experience itself during engagement.
Tailored listings make social feed browsing addictive. Personalized search results maintain stickiness as prospects self-navigate.
Dynamic landing pages speak directly to indicated interests for direct lead capture.
At the intersection of marketing science and conversion psychology lies the future blueprint for digital real estate. Ylopo shows how to progress consumers from prospect to transaction through relevance and resonance.Step into the Future with Ylopo's Proven Playbook
The playbook is simple: Meet them where they are, grasp their scenario deeply, motivate progress for mutual advantage.
In a fragmented world demanding 1:1 targeting, we deliver this capability at scale.
As information steers purchasing power towards buyers, seller success now demands fresh digital skillsets.
Ylopo hands these to you immediately by automating complex promotional workflows underpinned by data science.
You spend less time struggling with bid details or deciphering campaign reports. Instead, our industry-leading AI handles lower-order logistics while empowering your leadership guiding client interactions.
The last decade saw real estate finally yield to digital disruption, with new portals stealing authority once exclusive to brokers.
Ylopo promises to return leverage by providing local experts exponentially smarter tools and workflows.
For savvy agents ready to level up through technology, we’re the ultimate system to dominate your hyper-targeted niche. Book a demo today and leave your dinosaur competitors in the dust!
The future has arrived...are you ready to take the leap?
About the Author
Aaron “Kiwi” Franklin
Head of Growth
Aaron "Kiwi" Franklin is the Head of Growth at Ylopo and an innovative technologist and serial entrepreneur who has over 25 years of experience creating digital solutions for major brands and pioneering companies at the intersection of technology and real estate. His depth of expertise stems from leading development of the first website for Apple to founding a global community of over 1,000 elite athletes. Connect with me