Inman Insights: “How Do I Get People to Actually Download my Real Estate App?”
Here is the question we hear all the time.
“Okay, I know I need to go mobile, but if I get an app how do I get people to actually download it?”
It’s a great question, and I heard it often at the Smarter Agent pod at Inman Connect 2012 in San Francisco.
Mobile was certainly the most talked about, and utilized, subject at Inman. Everyone was tweeting, blogging, posting about it along with snapping pics, taking videos and texting back and forth. However knowing that you need to be up to date on mobile and knowing how to incorporate it into your business are two different things. There were plenty of sessions on how to use social media in your business, how to use photo apps, learn what consumers want and why. However, there were really no mobile topics covered that took the conversation all the way to actually getting your mobile real estate tool into the hands of the end-user.
I was happy that Smarter Agent was there at Inman Connect San Francisco to not only to share the latest and greatest additions to our mobile app suits, but also to answer that very question.
We do not simply provide amazing branded mobile real estate solutions to realtors and send them on their way. We also take the time to educate, train and provide a multitude of sources to help market and distribute their new branded app.
Our clients have the opportunity to get their own white label app in all the app stores. To help get their app into their clients’ hands, we assist them in coming up with keywords that will help their apps be found organically. Keywords submitted with the apps are crucial to helping home shoppers find your app when doing searches; especially when you’re talking about a more localized search like real estate.
The same rule of thumb goes for the app descriptions. You need to market your brand in your local area, but you also need to think outside the box to reach a broader audience who may be researching your coverage area (as in the mover’s market). We know that most people search real estate locally, so adding the organic search keywords to our app descriptions is something big aggregators cannot compete with.
Further, we can make that local search even more targeted by supplying numerous local distribution tools such as unique text codes where you can text clients your app, mobile detect that identifies someone is coming to your web site from a mobile device and asks them if they want to download the free app, QR Codes for quick distribution on printed materials, a web based downloader tool to add to your web site and email/newsletters and more! Each of these is unique to every agent or broker, and leads people directly to their app.
I look forward to building out the many new relationships formed at Inman last week, while continuing to cultivate those we have already had the pleasure of taking mobile.