Is an “All-In-One” Real Estate Technology Platform Your Answer? Maybe, But What Does “All-In-One” Mean?

From classified ads in local newspapers and magazines to digital ads on the web and social media, real estate has come a long way. But just creating a real estate website is not the answer — integrating the most-effective real estate tech tools into the website is.

There can no longer be any doubt about the power of the Internet. A business or an industry cannot function without some form of an online presence. At the very least, every business should have a website to showcase its products and services to millions of potential customers online.

The real estate industry is no exception. There was a time when it embraced conservatism and seemed unresponsive to most tech innovations. But times are changing. The real estate market is going through a significant change right now, and technology is the primary driver of this progression. The industry’s market size was valued at $3.69 trillion USD in 2021. By 2030, it is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.2%.

Despite the excellent growth rate, real estate had been an undiscovered area for digital projects. Thus, creative entrepreneurs have had excellent opportunities to develop new disruptive business models synced with the digital world.

Of course, the first step is to have an online presence and a website. However, keep in mind that the website only provides a platform to connect you with your prospects. But if you wish to be more effective and streamlined in your real estate business approach, adopting digital innovations and advanced solutions is the answer. A comprehensive real estate technology platform can skyrocket your lead generation and conversions.

So, in this guide we help you understand the technologies your business must use to make your website an ‘all-in-one’ real estate technology platform. First, let’s understand why you need a comprehensive real estate website.

At Minimum, Your Real Estate Technology Platform Should Have the Following:

93% of home buyers said they use real estate websites when searching for a home in the United States. This is evidence that almost the entire real estate industry is moving online.

The shift naturally triggers the question, what is an ideal online presence for a real estate website? Here are the four most vital features you need to consider –

1. Automated Marketing and Follow-Up

Marketing automation reduces manual marketing responsibilities and lets the tools streamline all activities for you. So instead of sending out flyers, paying for billboards, and cold-calling leads, you distribute your inbound marketing tasks. Be it publishing blog posts, sharing tweets, and sending emails, automation software provides an organized system that completes each of these tasks for you.

The first step to marketing automation is picking a marketing automation tool. If you haven’t begun your search yet, start with ZipperAgent. It has all the features you need to capture, nurture and convert leads.

Here’s how automated marketing software can help your real estate business –

● Responds to Landing Page Triggers

Landing pages work as a window to your main website. They help you capture your target audience’s attention and collect lead information.

As a visitor fills in the information along with their email address, a marketing automation system sends an automated email to their inbox. It can feature free home evaluation, guides, property listings, or other items your landing page promises.

● Creates Behavioral Triggers

Automation tools also create triggers based on which actions need to happen immediately. For example, a customer subscribed to your email through a landing page. Now they visit several new properties in a particular area online. Based on their search history, the tool can send them more details on other properties similar to their search history.

● Segmented Email Marketing

Once leads provide information, an automation tool automatically segments them based on that data. After, you can align your email marketing strategy with no or minimal manual effort. You can use the tool to send regular newsletters or updates and create drip campaigns and listings to mass contacts.

● SMS Campaigns

SMS is one of the most effective ways to send on-the-go marketing messages and stay closely connected with your customers and prospects. The marketing automation tool allows you to integrate a phone number to text your group of contacts straight from the system via drip campaigns.

2. CRM for Customer Communication Management

At the end of the day, a business is a system. And you need agile tools that can keep the process moving in the most efficient and streamlined way.

A CRM – Customer Relationship Management software – is an integrated suite of cloud applications. It collects and stores customer data through a centralized platform. The main goal of CRM software is to effectively manage customer interactions so that no customer feels overlooked, thereby enhancing their customer experience.

ZipperAgent’s predictive CRM is easy-to-use, cost-effective software. It helps you productively manage your businesses with minimal wasted time. Moreover, it improves the personalization of your customer-business communications.

Let’s go through the different use-cases of the CRM for your real estate business –

● Organized One-Stop Information Database

Handling and tracking copious amounts of data manually is a pain. A CRM software keeps all the information and communication between you and your contact in one localized spot. It keeps everything organized so that agents can find, attract, and communicate with prospective, current, and past clients.

● Manage Leads

Multiple leads — especially in a hot real estate market — are a blessing and a curse. CRM software ensures you do not lose out on any one of them while juggling different tasks. It not only sends out an automated message but can remind the agent to follow up with them too.

● Contract Management

Real estate agents can be buried up to their necks in paperwork. Storing and tracking each one of them is challenging. CRM allows agents to upload contracts and manage deadlines for transactions. It also gives individuals who are part of this access to view the documents and ask questions.

● Oversee Marketing Campaigns

Marketing automation tools help you run several marketing campaigns at once with ease. CRM software helps you manage and track all those campaigns. It follows all the campaign types and their associated data. Using the insights, you can figure out which types of campaigns work for your business, and which are less successful.

3.  IDX Websites

IDX websites, or Internet Data Exchange websites, list, and can display real estate data from various sources. The software lets buyers search for their area’s MLS (Multiple Listing Service) properties. In short, IDX is what enables agents and brokers to integrate real estate listings from the MLS database into their websites.

Without IDX, the only person who can access up-to-date property information using the MLS is a realtor. Since customers can’t access the listings themselves, realtors get burdened to communicate every bit of detail with them. ZipperAgent can help you create a fully-featured and responsive IDX website.

Here’s how an IDX website provides leverage for your real estate business –

● Attract Audience’s Attention

Prospects want to access websites that provide them with updated listings. With IDX websites, your real estate audience can find what they need. The software integrates user-friendly search features, such as attractive property galleries and interactive map search. Since it allows customers to find their dream property, your website visits could dramatically increase.

● Capture Leads

Prospects can find home listings directly through a Google search. However, it may not provide filtered listings with all the related property information. IDX websites allow realtors to give consumers access to MLS data directly on their websites. So, you no longer need to send potential clients to third-party listing services or local MLS.

● SEO-Friendly Website

IDX websites offer search engine indexing and SEO benefits, so your website ranks high when are prospects searching. You can also integrate social media share buttons to let customers share listings on their social platforms. Additionally, it provides SEO features that make it easy for your audience to find you when they want information.

● Responsive Design

You can add responsive and intelligent features to your well-designed website with the integration of IDX software. Customize your website to meet your market needs and stand out from your competitors. It also provides the functionality to resize, hide, shrink, enlarge, or move website content to any device or screen size without issues.

4. Workflow Management

Real estate agents spend a lot of their time tending to repetitive duties. Between prospecting calls, emails, listing presentations, buyer’s appointments, and open houses, growth strategies can seem impossible to adopt. Workflow automation can help you manage all this and more.

Workflow management is a set of sequential activities that lets you automate standard internal procedures and processes to save time across your real estate organization. You can optimize the steps in the workflow to ensure the task is completed correctly, consistently, and efficiently.

If you wish to save time and resources and develop a streamlined workflow in your organization, transaction management software can fit your needs. While the options are several in the market, you need to choose one that not only allows you flexibility in work patterns but customizes tasks as per your team’s schedule. ZipperAgent’s transaction management software can help you manage prospective buyers effectively while saving time and money.

● Superior Project Execution

Most real estate transactions are time-bound and thus, make deadlines vital. However, if you don’t plan or time a project properly, it may get delayed by a human error.

Workflow automation integration allows you to establish a process for all your projects. You can easily set tasks in the software for milestones. This way, you won’t need to chase anyone. Your software will keep initiatives on track without you having to intervene.

● Faster Response Time

46% of customers expect companies to respond to their queries within 4 hours. 12% expect a response within 15 minutes or less. As we progress, the expectations only seem to keep thinning. As a result, real estate agents that come through with these expectations and respond quickly have a much better chance of converting online leads. Workflow management software automates lead follow-up and ensures leads aren’t left hanging for a reply, regardless of time.

● More Productive Interactions

As real estate agents, you keep running into meetings with prospects, marketing assistants, listing coordinators, or others. To make your interactions more productive, workflow management software sends an email before the meeting to other parties, reminding them about the time and providing talking points.

● Eliminates Micromanagement

Micromanagement looks like an idea that enhances productivity. However, reporting on every little task diminishes employee performance and underutilizes employee talent. With a workflow process in place, employees perform predefined tasks within deadlines.

Conclusion

A real estate website with advanced technology integrations serves as a powerful marketing outlet. It generates new leads, converts them to clients, and lends trust and credibility to your business.

Whether you’re building a website from scratch or upgrading an existing one, ZipperAgent is always happy to offer unmatched expertise. Our smooth software integrations guarantee the highest quality and advanced performance of your site.

 

Take your real estate business to the next level with our personalized assistance. Book a demo now!