Zillow is one of the most controversial brands in real estate technology. Although agents have differing views about it, investors, home sellers, and purchasers still frequent it.
Whether you like it or not, as a Realtor, you must use it if you are attempting to assist your clients in purchasing or selling a home. Additionally, you must not only utilize it, but also seize any small chance it presents.
We'll outline more than 13 methods in this post for using Zillow to generate leads—without using advertising. Put aside your ideas for a moment and listen carefully since these easy, cost-free strategies can help you attract your next few customers.
Is Zillow A Rival Or A Marketing Tool?
You must first comprehend Zillow's role in the real estate sector in order to use it effectively.
Let's begin with Zillow's self-description.
The top real estate and rental marketplace, Zillow, is committed to providing users with information, ideas, and expertise about the area they call home while also matching them with the most qualified local experts who can assist.
This comment may give the impression that, in comparison to Zillow's other goals, realtors are an afterthought or, at the very least, a lower priority. But if you give the original goal some time to sink in...
Committed to providing consumers with information, motivation, and understanding
You can begin to see how their objective of "empowering consumers" is similar to theirs of assisting Realtors.
If you’re not following, then look at it this way…
A property buyer or seller will be more educated if they have more data, information, and knowledge. Contrary to what many realtors we've spoken with seem to believe, this isn't a terrible thing.
Here's why.
Zillow allows the consumer to accomplish all of that themselves, saving you as a Realtor the time it would otherwise take to gather comparables, compile data, or communicate the same information to your numerous clients. They have never been more invested in the process than they are now. Active clients are generated from engaged prospects.
Additionally, when it comes time to buy or sell a property, your customer will pick you not because you can offer them statistics but because of your expertise, local knowledge, timeliness, dependability, negotiation abilities, and creative thoughts. Robots are capable of doing that. In the near future, robots will accomplish things entirely without you.
When you allow it to, this amazing marketing tool will only compete with real estate agents in search results. You can outrank Zillow if you truly want to. You shouldn't get caught up on that; we'll keep that for another post. The way people search has changed over the past few years. These days, buyers and sellers use a variety of methods outside a Google search to locate houses and contact with realtors. Yes, it's significant, but it's not the end of the world; things can return to their former state.
Realtors are still necessary for Zillow to succeed, even though the company has a bright future. The majority of real estate deals include strong emotions. No artificial intelligence (at least not now available) can take the place of a self-assured, trustworthy, and affable real estate agent who can fulfill their fiduciary duties while giving their clients peace of mind that their money is in good hands.
If you accept that, Zillow—or any other real estate technology—will just be another tool in your toolbox to help you expand your company.
Zillow Optimization Checklist
If you won't do anything correctly, there's no use in doing it.
This is particularly true for any kind of internet marketing strategy or technique related to real estate. Zillow has the potential to be a superb real estate marketing tool when handled appropriately and comprehensively.
The following optimization methods will help you get the most out of Zillow and are free and take very little time. Make it a point to fulfill each of these stages. Both your company and your customers will appreciate it.
#1 Create And Enhance Your Profile
It should go without saying, but a lot of agents are still not active on Zillow. Make sure you have a Zillow profile set up if you haven't already. Above all, make sure you have filled out all the forms as thoroughly and meticulously as you can. This is frequently your first impression on many potential customers, so don't be lazy and make the most of it.
TIPS: Spend a little more time adding a video, connections to your website (which are dofollow links, by the way), social media profiles, and a comprehensive description of your service regions in addition to the obvious boxes to fill out (picture, license numbers, etc.).
NOTE: Zillow shows you how much of your profile has been completed with a progress bar. Use it. Make sure it is at 100%.
#2 Make Use Of The Proper Agent/Team Connection
Do you work in a group? If so, you can let people who are looking at your profile and listings know about it by using a particular association that Zillow provides. Too many team members are incorrectly presenting themselves as a single, combined profile. Your account management may become easier as a result, but you may have data problems if you have a listing that your team member does not.
SUGGESTIONS: Ensure that each member of the team has their own Zillow profile. After you've done this, you may inform Zillow and your guests of your team allegiance using the team association setting.
NOTE: Please make sure you don't have any duplicate accounts out there because you may only be a member of one team at a time.
#3 Update Your Listing Information
Familiar with the saying “garbage in, garbage out”? Real estate data is one of the few instances where this is more applicable. Furthermore, because Zillow depends so much on the information it gets from its users and suppliers, errors and incomplete data are common. Particularly for your listings, don't rely on what Zillow receives.
SUGGESTIONS: Take the time to write imaginative, educational descriptions for every property. Complete as many fields as you can. Upload photos that were taken by professionals. and produce videos.
NOTE: The majority of brokers now provide their property data to Zillow automatically. If you make a modification to listing data simply on Zillow and not on your local MLS, then there’s a significant risk that your Zillow data can be overwritten. It’s a good habit to update your MLS data after you update your Zillow data.
#4 Incorporate Your Previous Sold Properties
Sellers in particular like to know what kinds of homes a Realtor has sold in the past. More significantly, they want to know how much a house sold for in relation to how much it was listed for. The absence of previously sold houses on Zillow, even from the largest and most prosperous agents, is one of the most significant mistakes we observe.
SUGGESTIONS: Include as many of your listings that have already sold as you can. Login to your Zillow account and browse to the Sales History page to review/submit listings. Make sure that all of the sold information is correct, including the sold date and price. Additionally, if a sold listing's featured image isn't very good, alter it.
#5 Make Use Of Videos
The power of a well-shot video to sell a listing shouldn't need to be explained. This could persuade you to include video in your listings if that isn't enough.Video listings appear higher on Zillow's results pages. Now interested in videos? Don't neglect this step because Zillow makes adding a video quite easy, as seen in this example.
TIPS: Include videos in all of your Zillow listings if you can. But don't stop there. Any videos you record should be uploaded to other websites, such as Vimeo and YouTube. You'll have more control over your video material on these platforms, in addition to the fact that these can be used for other purposes.
NOTE: Videos on Zillow do not presently have sound and must be viewed through their app.
#6 Obtain Customer Feedback
You should already be aware of how crucial customer reviews are to your real estate company. This is especially true on Zillow, where users will notice agents with more reviews and better ratings. Start with at least five reviews, and as your company expands, make it a point to add two or three more each month.
TIPS: Give a sincere, personal response to every review you get. This will not only demonstrate your timeliness, but it will also open up new avenues for interaction with your previous clients.
NOTE: Since these are separate profiles on Zillow, if you're working with a team, make sure to acquire reviews for both of you.
#7 Respond To A Few Inquiries
Demonstrating your resourcefulness is one of the simplest methods to increase your internet visibility and produce leads through online marketing. This option is provided by Zillow Advice, which has established an open forum where nearly all parties involved in a real estate transaction can post questions and receive answers. Like ActiveRain, Yahoo Answers, Quora, and other Q&A websites, it has the benefit of having your responses linked to your Zillow profile.
SUGGESTIONS: Aim to respond to two or three queries every week. More importantly, focus on your areas of expertise and establish yourself as Zillow's foremost authority on that subject. Write a longer version of your response on your website if you wish to go further with this.
NOTE: Avoid copying pre-existing responses from other sources. To get the most out of your time here, be creative and thorough.
#8 Set Up Some Email Automation
Your time is precious and limited. It is not only inefficient, but it is also not the best use of your time to send prospects repetitive, redundant emails. Thankfully, Zillow's Auto Actions feature allows you to automate emails that don't always need your direct attention. For example, you can send an email after a specific amount of time if you haven't heard back from a prospect you've contacted.
RECOMMENDATIONS: Automation need not be monotonous, repetitive, or impersonal. Spend some time creating authentic email templates that may be combined to create a seamless flow of beneficial correspondence with new potential customers.
NOTE: The first interaction you have with a new lead cannot be replaced by automated emails. Even now, those ought to be properly customized and started right away.
#9 Align Your Leads
Although Zillow has developed a robust CRM for its users, it is not your primary CRM if you are like the majority of agents. To store and manage your leads, you may be utilizing Contactually, Salesforce, or even your own website. Make it a point to maintain your Zillow leads in sync with your preferred CRM if this is true. This will facilitate the construction of campaigns and optimize your lead management procedures.
TIPS: To effortlessly link your Zillow account with your preferred CRM, use Zapier. Because Zapier can connect several apps without native integration, we adore it for purposes other than CRM integration.
#10 Make Use Of APIs, Badges, And Widgets
You're undoubtedly investing a significant amount of time in developing your Zillow profile if you're interested enough to read this far. It makes sense to advertise your Zillow activity on all of your other websites if this is the case. Since your clients and prospects are most likely already using Zillow, you might as well let them know that you are active there as well.
SUGGESTIONS: Include Zillow's badges and widgets on your website to highlight your activity. Listings, ratings, surveys, tests, calculators, and real estate data are among the items that can be shown. Additionally, you may use their API to pull reviews directly into your website if you have a strong technical resource.
NOTE: Although these badges and widgets are fantastic, they will divert users from your website. Make smart use of them and ensure that the location where you send them aids in the conversion process.
#11 Take A Look At Zillow Digs
Built into Zillow, Zillow Digs is essentially the real estate equivalent of Pinterest. You're probably aware of how captivating Pinterest can be if you've used it for any length of time. When you combine that user experience and resource with a platform that is exclusively dedicated to one subject (real estate), you have a captive, interested audience that you can use to your advantage.
TIPS: To begin, make sure that every field on your Digs profile page is filled in. After that, make three to five initial boards for which you have a sufficient amount of content, and begin adding to them every day or every week.
REMEMBER: Your efforts will be far more effective and gain traction much more quickly if you concentrate on a certain niche (such as particular neighborhoods, property kinds, price ranges, home styles, etc.).
#12 Utilize Reports And Data That Are Available
Helpful market reports take a fair bit of work to complete correctly. You discover that you might have been accomplishing a lot more when you sum up the research, curating, formatting, writing, creating, and sending. Zillow's market data reports, which are typically published every season, are an underappreciated resource. Although you must initially download these reports, agents and anybody else who wishes to use them can do so without restriction.
TIPS: You may repurpose these reports by converting them into blog entries, delivering them to your email subscribers, and embedding them on your website.
NOTE: Zillow's information isn't always accurate. Nobody's. To make sure the data in these reports is correct for your market and relevant to your buyers and sellers, make sure you really read them first.
#13 Get The Premier Agent App Installed
At this point, you have more than twelve tips, all of which are unique to Zillow. Installing their agent-focused app on your PC and mobile device is a no-brainer. You can change your profile, request reviews, and manage leads with this well-designed app. All of these strategies will help you save time, which is something you most likely need more of.
TIPS: Enable notifications and place the app on the home screen of your device. We're all quite eager to hide new apps and ignore new notification requests, even though these seem like straightforward, obvious advice. You can stay active on Zillow and keep the app at the forefront of your thoughts by following these two steps.