Move over bricks and mortar – tips to build your brand’s online presence

With the average Australian spending nearly 40 hours a week online, ensuring your business has a digital presence is no longer a nice to have. And just having a digital presence alone isn’t enough. To thrive in the digital era, it’s crucial to have a strong online presence that accurately reflects your brand personality and engages with your target audience in a way that resonates, and on the right platforms. Here are our tips to get you started.

1. Know your brand

From personal brands to product or business brands, having a deep understanding of your positioning in the market is paramount in creating a robust digital strategy. Investing in building a strong brand is essential for differentiating your offering from competitors, creating consistency in your messaging, building trust and credibility, and ultimately, winning business.

In real estate marketing, brand building is something we live and breathe daily – we don’t just invest and focus on the First National Real Estate brand; we encourage and support the individual personal brands of our local experts right across our network. Personal brand is important because it represents your professional reputation, can help you stand out from your peers, build credibility and trust with potential clients or employers, and increase your professional opportunities.

2. Get social media savvy

With social media penetration in Australia sitting at over 80% and over 90% of businesses using it as a marketing tool, social media is no longer a place to just share cute puppy snaps. It’s a place where 75% of internet users turn to research products, new products are discovered, brands are built, and customers are driven to purchase. While the power of social media is undeniable, there is a big difference between simply setting up pages on every platform, and using social media effectively. The mix of social platforms you need to activate comes down to having a good understanding of your target audience. Here are our top picks to help you chose what’s right for your brand:

• LinkedIn – with over 900 million members, LinkedIn is a professional networking platform making it the ideal place to establish yourself as a thought leader and build your personal brand.
• Facebook – with just under 3 billion monthly active users, Facebook’s audience tends to skew towards Gen X and baby boomers, making it a perfect tool to reach those within that demographic.
• Twitter – known primarily for real-time engagement and sharing news and updates, Twitter’s strength for brands lies in PR-style content that’s punchy and timely.
• Instagram – originally more about static content and stylised images; now, it’s becoming more real with reels. It’s a great platform to engage with consumers, particularly if your brand is focused on lifestyle, property, fashion or something equally gram-worthy.
• TikTok – while TikTok may have recently been banned from use on government devices in most Western countries, its popularity amongst younger audiences continues to explode. It’s a playful space for brands where culture and personality can shine through.
• YouTube – the original video-sharing platform now has over 6 billion monthly users. It’s a place where you can become an overnight sensation or potentially make millions, and from a business-building perspective, it’s where you can bring your brand’s personality to life.

Remember, social success is driven by posting consistent, relevant content and choosing platforms that align with your brand and target audience. It’s essential to be authentic and transparent when posting on social; this helps build trust and a deep connection with your audience, driving increased engagement and loyalty.

3. Check your website is up to scratch

Your website is the digital destination for all customers and future customers, and like many of today’s marketing activations, you only get one shot at making a good impression. In fact, 88% of customers are less likely to return to a site after a poor user experience. Here are the key considerations which we’ve taken into account in creating the First National Real Estate website:

• Easy to navigate – an effective website needs to make it easy for visitors to find what they’re looking for. Keep it simple, intuitive, and consistent – you won’t find any ambiguous terms on our website menu!
• Mobile-friendly design – with almost 60% of total website traffic coming from mobile devices, it’s essential to have a website that works seamlessly across multiple devices.
• Relevant and engaging – what is the purpose of your website? Keep the intention of your website at the forefront and focus on delivering relevant content that provides value to your target audience. For us, that means all things property and real estate.
• Glitch-free – websites need to load lightning fast (or risk losing visitors). In fact, 40% of consumers will wait no more than three seconds before abandoning a site. Speeding up load times can be achieved by optimising image sizes for fast loading, reducing plugins and choosing a reliable hosting provider.
• Encourages action – what do you want visitors to do when visiting your website? Clear and compelling calls-to-action statements (CTAs) positioned throughout your website are an important feature. These gently steer visitors towards taking the next step like becoming customers. Examples of CTAs on the First National Real Estate website include requesting an appraisal, joining the team, or downloading property-related guides.

• Secure and reliable – it’s estimated that globally, around 30,000 websites are hacked daily. Data breaches not only lead to immediate revenue loss but are also very damaging to a brand’s reputation. These threats can be minimised by keeping software up to date using SSL certificates and partnering with a reputable hosting provider.
• Visually appealing – the overall look of your website plays a crucial role when it comes to first impressions. It needs to accurately reflect the look and feel of your brand and adhere to design best practices. That’s why you’ll see consistency in the fonts and colours used on the First National Real Estate website and minimal clutter.

4. Leverage your digital presence with appropriate marketing

Your social media platforms are humming, and your website’s ready to go, but how do you attract your audience to these well-oiled digital assets? Digital marketing is the use of digital channels and technologies to promote products, services, or brands to a highly targeted audience in a cost-effective and measurable way. The most common digital tactics include:

• Search engine optimisation (SEO) – this process aims to improve your website’s position in search results pages without paying for it. Many things contribute to SEO rankings, from the technical set-up of your website to the content it contains and how links are used.
• Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising – from search engine placements to social media platforms, placing ads that are displayed to users based on specific keywords or demographics allows you to get in front of your audience and only pay for those that click through to your desired destination.
• Content marketing – creating and sharing valuable, relevant, and consistent content can boost your SEO and give you plenty to talk about (and link to) on social media platforms.
• Email marketing – once you’ve built up a database of subscribers, regular emails that share news and provide value or insight will become another digital touchpoint with your customers.
• Mobile marketing – with over 6 billion smartphone users worldwide, it makes sense to be where your customers are. From text messaging to in-app advertising, location-based marketing, and the use of QR codes, promoting products or services through mobile devices is accessible and immediate.
• Hyperlocal targeting – digital platforms make it possible to get very specific with targeting, and Hyperlocal (used exclusively by First National Real Estate) is an excellent example of this. By collating audience information from multiple sources (including social media and search engines), Hyperlocal targets active property buyers, it has the power to showcase your property across thousands of websites, delivering measurable results and maximising reach.

Connect, engage, and thrive online

A well-designed website and active social media presence that aligns with your brand and connects with your audience are crucial for success in today’s digital world. First National Real Estate delivers excellence in all these areas, remaining at the forefront of new digital technologies, combining this with local market expertise and expert networking skills. This ensures a positive experience for buyers, sellers, tenants, or anyone searching for property insight across Australia and New Zealand.

DISCLAIMER
The following advice is of a general nature only and intended as a broad guide. The advice should not be regarded as legal, financial, or real estate advice. You should make your own inquiries and obtain independent professional advice tailored to your specific circumstances before making any legal, financial, or real estate decisions. Click here for full Terms of Use.