“Viral” is the cool new term for anything that spreads like… well, like a virus. Viral videos like ‘The Star Wars Kid’ and ‘Leave Britney Alone’ (too annoying to link here…) get passed around until they join the ranks of Internet phenomena. That’s because, thanks to the Net, the world has never been smaller. Nothing can stop the flow of information.
As a real estate marketer, you can take advantage of this trend by starting a viral ad campaign of your own.
Think outside the web page; there are much better ways to get your name out there in the public eye. Sites like YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, and Squidoo are the latest marketing tools. And with a content-rich blog and link exchanges, you can work your name to the top of that most coveted of all pinnacles: the Google search page.
In this series, we’re going to explore all of these viral real estate marketing techniques – starting with blogs. Blog is short for “Web Log”. Many blogs are personal in nature, but savvy marketers also use them as business tools.
Why do you need a blog? First of all, readers like to see fresh information. Blogs can be updated daily, or even several times a day, to bring readers the latest news about your business and industry. Readers are more likely to return if they know something new will be waiting for them, so frequent updates are important.
The content of your blog is vital. You want it to be readable, informative, and up-to-date. When readers consider your blog the go-to place for real estate information, you know you’ve arrived.
If you can’t handle the heavy writing load, invite experts to come write as guest bloggers. Search engines favor sites with lots of internal links, so the more unique and relevant content you get, the better you’ll fare when someone googles “real estate”.
Link exchanges are the Web’s equivalent of, “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine.” Basically, when you do a link exchange, you agree to add a link to someone else’s blog if they will add a link to yours.
Links that point to your blog from other sites also improve your searchability. Just be careful who you swap with. Readers won’t appreciate clicking on your links and getting bombarded by pop-up ads on someone else’s site.
A good blog is your first step to viral real estate marketing. The next step? Social networking sites…
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