Decode Ep18: Busting real estate marketing myths

In this episode of the Decode Podcast, Danielle and I are joined by Valentina Borbone, a seasoned marketing expert with decades of digital experience.

Valentina has worked across multiple industries and platforms, helping businesses understand how digital marketing works beneath the surface.

Listen in as we bust the most persistent marketing myths in real estate, from budget misconceptions and paid advertising confusion to organic social reach, AI’s role and the belief that one marketing channel should somehow do all the work.

Here’s a summary:

Real estate marketing myths quietly shape bad decisions

• Marketing myths persist because real estate leaders buy into them and pass them down to their teams.
• What worked years ago doesn’t work today – ad platforms, competition and consumer behaviour have shifted.
• Comfort and habit keep businesses repeating outdated marketing tactics long after the digital landscape has evolved.
• Fear of the unknown, insufficient testing, and a lack of understanding around advertising data prevent you from maintaining a competitive edge.

 Real estate marketing budgets don’t magically shrink

• Real estate marketing doesn’t get cheaper over time. In fact, it gets hard to ensure you are getting the best bang for your buck. As more real estate professionals run ads, Google, Meta and LinkedIn increase prices and reap the rewards.
• Opting to spread the same marketing budget across multiple channels simply slices the pie even thinner, reducing the impact of your ads.
• In today’s digital world, a real estate website, backed by social media and search advertising, is business-critical. They are as important as your accounting software and CRM system.
• Switching your ads off when the real estate market tightens and property listings drop only makes you disappear out of sight. In fact, people often think you’ve gone out of business.
• It takes at least 3 months to regain traction with social media and search algorithms because you need to rebuild your audience from scratch.
• Over the long term, it’s cheaper to remain consistent and maintain a presence.

Real estate paid advertising requires structure, not shortcuts

• Boosting a real estate social media post is not an effective strategy. It’s a spray and prey approach because you’re not given the ability to target the right people.
• Paid advertising fails when you copycat the competition. Promoting your real estate services requires a strong call to action, quality creative, and follow-up systems.
• Unlike property campaigns, advertising a real estate business should be an always-on activity.
• Expecting immediate results without long-term consistency leads to disappointment and the false belief that “ads don’t work.”
• Scale matters. You need to advertise across multiple channels to ensure homeowners see your brand in their peripheral vision and keep it at the front of their mind.
• Paid advertising amplifies your reach, i.e. the number of prospects in your market who see you. If the foundations are weak, the results will be too.

Organic social media posts only fill up your ‘shop window’

• Posting without ad spend behind the post results in limited reach. Social media platforms are designed to prioritise paid distribution.
• Organic social media content is a waste of time and effort and fails to generate real estate leads.
• Posting regularly to your social media pages helps prospects who check you out better understand your capabilities.
• Your social media pages and directory listings on the real estate portals validate your credibility, but you need ads to help people find you in the first place. Social posts to validate your presence, demonstrate activity and support credibility once someone has found you.

AI is evolving, but it’s a tool, not a replacement for real skills

• AI tools scan the internet at speed, gathering information from multiple authoritative sources (industry websites, reviews and comments) and summarise what they find.
• Google search and SEO are more important than ever. You need to publish content and consistently seek positive client feedback.
  Real estate websites remain critical because AI relies on structured, credible content to generate answers and cite sources.
• If your website lacks service pages, blogs, reviews and doesn’t articulate your point of difference or outline your niche market and specialisms, AI has nothing meaningful to reference.
• AI can assist with research and content drafting, but it requires strong prompts, detailed requests, and human fact-checking.
• Your storytelling, your perspective and your real-world expertise are what differentiate you and generate enquiry. AI supports that. It does not replace it.

Marketing works as an ecosystem, not a single tactic

• No single channel drives results in isolation. You need a marketing strategy that promotes your real estate business both offline and online.
• Think billboards, bus signage, radio, print magazines, alongside online advertising, a real estate website, and lead-capture mechanisms.
• Homeowners use multiple online sources to determine which real estate agent to call.
• The phone call is the conversion point, but it is preceded by research, reading online reviews, and watching your videos.
• Even with a referral, a prospect will check you out online before calling you.
• Mapping the customer journey helps agents understand what prospects see, read and experience before reaching out.
• You need multiple touchpoints in place to help a homeowner choose you.
• Selecting a real estate professional to work with is a personal decision.
• Marketing helps prospects feel confident enough to take the next step. It helps become familiar and fosters warm sales conversations.

🎧 Listen now to hear the full conversation and Valentina’s insights on the most common marketing myths in real estate.

Written by Melanie Hoole

My team and I specialise in helping real estate and property professionals perfect their personal brand, build a first-class digital profile and implement inbound marketing activities to attract leads. If you are unsure which direction to take with your digital marketing contact me for help.