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With the new year upon us, I wanted to share my 2021 predictions for real estate marketing. The impact of the last year and how it will play into this year will redefine the real estate marketing sector for years to come as digital and virtual protocols take over, enabling empowered consumers throughout their moving journey.
WATCH MY TOP 10 PREDICTIONS VIDEO OR READ THE FULL LIST BELOW.
1. Strong housing demand will question the need for marketing.
With an increased number of Americans moving due to major changes to office work and the coronavirus disruption, is there a need to spend on marketing? Strategic companies will continue to invest in marketing and marketing technologies, but many companies will prioritize their bottom line by decreasing marketing efforts. However, the former will gain market share, while the latter will lose it over time.2. Paid digital advertising will continue to replace the traditional functions of brokers, thereby driving lower commissions.
3. High profile real estate IPO firms—like Compass and OpenDoor—will attract more sophisticated digital marketing vendors into the category.
4. WTF is PropTech?
5. Real estate brands will have their ‘woke’ moment about Facebook being ineffective for lead generation.
Posts on Facebook are only seen by 1% of followers. Paid housing ads are subject to FHA targeting restrictions. Consumers are skeptical of social media legitimacy. Sure, Facebook has eyeballs so is considered “must-have” marketing, but Facebook is not an effective lead driver unless leveraged with other ad platforms.6. Obscure consumer privacy laws, FHA, and ad tracking policy changes by Google, Apple, and Facebook will inexplicably reduce the ROI of lead gen marketing by 10%.
It will be harder to find and reach your customers online due to policies like GDPR & CCPA, and tracking restrictions enforced by companies like Apple. By the end of 2021, digital marketers will be unable to ignore these changes and will scramble to find new tools and data practices that drive the same effectiveness.
7. The year of video.
8. Consumer preference data is the best solution for today’s unprecedented mobility behavior.
9. Survival of the Fittest: Agent Edition
10. Those agents that survive will prevail.
With the broader implications COVID has had on the way businesses operate, variable cost employees (aka gig workers, freelancers and contract employees like agents) are the future of work across all industries. Real estate agents are poised to succeed as the industry navigates economic, social, and consumer behaviors.
Agree? Disagree? Have any additional thoughts? Reach out - we'd love to hear from you!