Where to Find Creative Real Estate Content Ideas

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If you've ever stared at the computer waiting for inspiration to strike, then this episode is for you! 

Over the years, I've found that content is the ultimate goldmine of real estate marketing. It empowers you to show up with your branding, reach a specific buyer or seller, engage past customers, and always have something to say on social. The challenge, though, can be coming up with topics.

Whether you're in a marketing rut or don't know where to begin, I'm sharing the best places to find real estate content ideas. That way, you can spend less time spinning your wheels and more time connecting with your next customer. 

What is Real Estate Content Marketing?

Content marketing is creating content to attract and convert your ideal customer. Unlike traditional sales or ads, content marketing provides valuable information that your buyer or seller would be interested in. This strategy is an opportunity to connect in a helpful way that builds trust. 

The content you create could be in the form of a blog post, website page, video, or even a social media post. You're providing information that will answer the questions your buyers or sellers might have, or you're engaging with content that keeps you in touch with your past customers or the people you know. 

Coming up with captivating ideas that make you stand out online doesn't have to be challenging or time-consuming. Over my career in real estate marketing, I've been a part of thousands of blog posts, hundreds of videos, and countless social posts. Along the way, I've picked up a few tricks to identify the best real estate content ideas that can drive your business forward

Setting Yourself Up for Success 

Set aside time to brainstorm content ideas, separate from content creation. 

By focusing on ideas only, you can strategically think about the topics that your ideal buyer, seller, or sphere would be most likely to engage with. Keep a running list of your ideas in a Google Sheet, Excel spreadsheet, note on your phone, or through a project planning app like Asana. As you're brainstorming ideas, categorize your content by not only the topic but also the intended audience. 

While creativity is exciting, make sure you don't steer too far away from your overall real estate marketing plan. You want your content to amplify your marketing efforts and be in line with your goals. For example, if your goal is to get more listings, come up with content ideas that will attract sellers in your local area. The more specific you can be, the better! 

Let's take a quick look at how one topic idea can turn into multiple content opportunities. If your content idea was "Orlando Waterfront Real Estate," you could create a variety of blogs, videos, email campaigns, or social posts such as:

• Tips for buying waterfront homes in Orlando

• The best waterfront communities/neighborhoods in Orlando

• How much does a waterfront home cost in Orlando?

• Is now a good time to sell a waterfront home in Orlando?

• The best landscaping for waterfront homes in Orlando

• The top 3 mistakes people make when selling their waterfront Orlando home

Once you have a starting topic, it's easy to turn it into multiple content ideas for your real estate marketing! One topic could easily be a blog that you turn into a video and then into numerous social media posts. Learn more about repurposing real estate content here. 

But finding that initial idea might be a challenge. That's why I've come up with a go-to guide for helping you find creative content ideas for real estate! 

1) Your Own FAQs

Who knows your customer or local market better than you as a real estate agent?! Start by listing out the most frequently asked questions that your clients or the people you know ask. 

You can use this as fresh content, but it will also help you save time the next time somebody asks you the same question. You can simply respond, "that's a great question! I have a (blog, email, video, etc.) that I'm going to send your way to help answer this." 

2) Answer The Public

Answerthepublic.com is an innovative tool that helps you visualize what people are searching for online on sites such as Google. 

So, if you type in a topic into the search bar, such as "Orlando Real Estate," it will give you a visual list of the questions people have about that topic. When I did this, I found ideas such as:

• How is the Orlando real estate market?

• Why invest in Orlando real estate?

• Orlando real estate near Disney?

I'd encourage you to try a variety of phrases to come up with more ideas outside of "homes for sale," "real estate," and "tips for buyers or sellers."

When I searched "Orlando neighborhoods," I got a great list of creative content ideas such as: 

• Orlando neighborhoods near the airport

• Best Orlando neighborhoods for young professionals

• What is the most expensive neighborhood in Orlando?

• Orlando golf neighborhoods

• Orlando neighborhoods with Christmas lights. (I love this one for holiday marketing!)

You'll notice a trend here in my searches. I like to go as local as possible because real estate is local. We want the people in your area to find you and be interested in your content. 

If you're focused on creating content for your website, local is less competitive from an SEO perspective than general real estate phrases such as "tips for first-time homebuyers." Learn more about local SEO in your real estate marketing here. 

Content about your local area is also interesting and engaging for the people you already know. "The best neighborhoods in Orlando to view Christmas lights" would be content that still has a real estate spin but helps you stay top of mind with the people who don't have an immediate real estate need. 

3) MOZ Keyword Explorer 

You can use the free SEO tools from MOZ to find frequently searched phrases online or keywords. While this is primarily intended for SEO purposes, it's an excellent tool for content creation. In fact, I use it for this podcast and blog! 

If you're spending time creating content, it often pays to write it out as well. While my primary form of content is the "Ideas for Real Estate Podcast," I try to include a complete blog post with every episode - like this one! This strategy helps more people find my content through search engines like Google because Google can "read my blog." It can't "listen to my podcast." 

However, you don't have to be focused on SEO for the MOZ Keyword Explorer to be a helpful tool. Like Answer the Public, you start with an initial phrase, and MOZ will give you similar keywords and how often those terms are searched on sites like Google. 

So, if you type in a phrase such as "Orlando homes" you can download a CSV file of more keyword phrases to spark your imagination. You'll also know how often people are looking up this information online and how competitive it is. Ideally, we want to find keyword phrases that are frequently searched with low competition. 

4) Pinterest 

While many think of Pinterest as a social media platform, it's actually a visual search tool. 

You can use Pinterest to search for broader topics about the home buying and selling process or find trending content ideas for your local market. Since Pinterest is so visual, it's a great source of inspiration and an easy way to organize your ideas. Simply create a content idea board and start pinning away! I'd encourage you to look at the Ideas for Real Estate Pinterest boards to get started with some creative ideas! 

While you're there, you can also search your local area for phrases like "moving to (insert city)," "living in (insert city)," and "homes in (insert city)" and see what comes up. Pinterest might be another opportunity for your real estate marketing! Learn more in "Ep 34: Should Your Real Estate Marketing Include Pinterest?" 

5) Your Previous Marketing Metrics 

Lastly, don't forget about the value of your own marketing metrics! 

If you've done something in the past that worked well, let's figure out why that resonated with your audience so we can duplicate the results. Take a look at your best-performing social media posts. Which posts did people comment on the most or reach out to privately about? Look at your email marketing stats and see what topics get the most opens or replies back to you. Visit your website metrics and see which pages and subsequent topics get the most traction. 

We can double down on the success you've seen in the past to engage even more people in the future. 

Moving Forward with Creative Content

Once you have a list of real estate content ideas, you'll feel much less overwhelmed when it comes to your marketing. Better yet, when you choose strategic topics for your content, you are creating more opportunities for connection. 

People don't want to be constantly sold to online. They're looking for more. 

By providing relevant content where you showcase your expertise, you can connect with more people because you're helping them versus selling to them. Creative content also allows you to stay in touch with the people you know who aren't always interested in the basics of real estate. 

There are creative topic ideas out there. All you need to do is set aside an hour to do a little bit of content planning. Trust me, you'll thank me later when you feel prepared, have a direction for your marketing, and most importantly - start having real estate conversations with people. 

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I’m Heather Colby, host of the “Ideas for Real Estate Podcast.”

If you like what you read here today, I’d encourage you to take a listen to the episodes. :