Today’s consumer makes buying decisions for reasons that are far more emotional than practical, and this is no less true with real estate. The concept of “falling in love with a house” isn’t a new one, but digital marketing offers new ways to capitalize on it.
There is a variety of ways to use storytelling in all your content to create a sense of consistency and flow and we will look briefly at a few examples later. For now, I want to explain by example why you should at least be testing it out as part of your real estate content marketing strategy.
To be clear, we’re not talking about, “once-upon-a-time” storytelling; your audience will demand something more real than that. We’re talking about creating a world within your marketing strategy that speaks directly to the individual. That is accomplished by using narrative-style content to help them see your agency as the one that understands them best. Good storytelling makes the reader feel secure in your ability to find them the perfect home.
With that in mind, here are a few ways storytelling enhances content and how it relates to selling real estate properties.
1. Storytelling Creates and Evokes Memories
Shared experiences are a huge vehicle for gaining interest and trust from an audience. Using plenty of details and a narrative format in content is likely to help people find more points of relatability in it.
Those points of relatability they create brand associations between people’s own experiences and the details of your content. This is crucial. You want people associating your brand with positive experiences, especially when it comes to things like homebuying.
Let’s face it: Buying a house is stressful (I know, selling houses is stressful, too…). Set the prospective buyer’s gaze upon all the positive things about living in their new house in your content, not buying it. You can — and should — develop content around the latter, but narrative content actually can make that process seem more stressful.
2. Storytelling Keeps Your Audience Engaged
It may seem a little obvious, but there is a knack to it. A story by itself might hold someone’s attention at the moment, but long-term engagement takes a little more effort. When I get into the different kinds of content, I’ll give some advice on how to links pieces of content together in an engaging way.
For now, just understand that good story-based content keeps an audience coming back for more. Does this really apply well to real estate? In marketing terms, it applies to practically everything. You’ll see what I mean in a minute.
3. Storytelling Creates Emotional Investments in Your Content
The above two items lay the foundation for this one, in my opinion. By delivering evocative, detail-rich story content, the audience gets drawn in. Members make connections between your brand and their own experiences, which, in turn, starts making the brand more relatable.
People pay attention to brands that they believe understand them. It is at that point where emotional connections start getting made. Yes, of course, everyone wants to know how many bedrooms and bathrooms a house has, but today’s buyer wants to know more. How will becoming a homebuyer feel? What will people like about being homeowners? Narrative content should be able to answer these questions, along with those that matter most to your ideal buyer.
How to Use Storytelling in Your Content
I don’t usually have an Act II in my blog posts, but I thought this would be a good opportunity to help you get the creative juices flowing. Here are a few ways you can incorporate storytelling into the most common types of marketing content.
Email — Soap opera sequences and open loops are at the heart of Andre Chaperon’s AutoResponder Madness system. The name “soap opera sequence” refers to the ability to continue building on a story indefinitely. Keep the story going as a means of nurturing leads until they become clients.
Blog Content — This one is kind of a no-brainer, but if your blog is already inundated with more technical content, it might be better to start a new one that focuses on more emotional and evocative content. Not all storytelling has to follow a linear narrative, but it does all need to paint a more vivid picture than can be accomplished through emotionless descriptions, how-to list articles, and static informational content.
Newsletters — Your newsletter is a great place to market story content, and true stories have even more relatability. Share any and all noteworthy experiences your agency creates for buyers. Get permission to share personal details or leave them out completely. Either way, you’ll be creating those points of relatability that form bonds, nurture leads, and convert leads into buyers.
Social Media — Engaging social media posts with evocative visuals that pose specific questions about homebuying and homeownership can start some interesting conversations. In other words, you can get them to tell the story. Be active on your social channels and post lots of conversation starters. You can even curate content from these conversations to create more of your own by developing blog content around them or featuring them in your newsletter.
Telling a Better Story
If you’ve gotten this far, you’re clearly interested in upping your agency’s content game. If, however, you’re reading this and thinking that developing a full-scale content marketing strategy around storytelling is beyond what you can manage, contact us at BeezContent.
Our agency can help you prepare that strategy and deliver the killer content that helps sell more homes. Our staff writers and freelancers have extensive experience in developing story-based content for a variety of industries and niches. We welcome the opportunity to discuss all your content needs and show you the difference working with Beez can make to your content marketing efforts.
