Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
The sizzling hot Northeast Florida housing we witnessed last year is a thing of the past. You all know the story. The economic slowdown, the recession that never should have been, and interest rates hiked to try and balance the teetering economy. Buying or selling in the coming months will become a pain without the best professionals out there on your side. Our ongoing assessments of the best real estate marketers in the United States seem timely, for sure. Here's a look at four of the best brokers in the Jacksonville area.
The DJ & Lindsey real estate team, sold over 3,000 homes in 2021. In the last 12 months, they’ve sold 1826 more. They’re one of the only Jacksonville pros with perfect reviews on Zillow (1,678) and have over 400 all-but-perfect Google reviews (4.9/5.0). Furthermore, the team’s website maintains a respectable 72/100 SEO ranking, something 80% of realtors never bother to work on.
16,000 plus Facebook fans liking a well-maintained and enjoyable engagement there, plus another 15,000 + entertained and informed via Instagram, certify these J-Ville professionals as the best in the area. Traditional media marketing-wise, the team is all over the Florida Times Union, First Coast News, and dozens of other local and national media channels. This dynamic duo and their team are by far, the most committed Instagram marketers we've found so far in the U.S. A competing media outlet refers to them as "must follow," which makes total sense if you have any interest in the property game, marketing "how to," or just checking out what's going on with Jacksonville real estate.
So DJ and Lindsey DellaSala are No. 1 on my list for Jacksonville and probably the whole of North Florida.
Finding No. 2 for this list was a bit circuitous since a large agency JPAR City, and Beach & Expert Home Advisors ticked all the Zillow and Google (5.0 - 446 reviews) rating boxes instead of a single agent. Interestingly, I found that most of the agents working on this team have individual 5-star ratings on Zillow, but the boss? Who is the boss? Well, CEO Shawn O'Neill is one of them. He’s a bonafide expert home advisor who’s been spotlighted by the Wall Street Journal and Sean Hannity. His agency has also been rated in the top 99% in America.
JPAR only has a couple of thousand Facebook friends, but the social platform is maintained professionally and effectively. They’re also not quite as proud or energetic with their Instagram as DJ & Lindsey above. There may be a lesson in there somewhere. However, the team’s excellent website comes in with an SEO score of 80/100, which puts them in the top 10 percent of national agencies for putting resources behind their digital billboard.
O’Neill seems to have overlooked local media in favor of national fame, which is not a good indicator of comprehensive marketing either. And he should hire a photographer to take a few headshots of him so journalists like me can put his pretty face up without cringing. I had to doctor this one a bit to put some color in those cheeks. Regardless, this is a large, highly professional team of agents canvasing one of the fastest-growing places in the U.S.
Sarah Rocco is one of Florida's most successful luxury real estate brokers. The Rocco Group at Keller Williams has 292 near-flawless reviews, and Sarah's personal Zillow profile reveals 227 perfect ones. The Montana girl who did good in N. Florida has sold over 150 properties on her own this past 12 months. Checking down the line of marketing tools, Rocco has almost 3,000 engaged Facebook fans and over 6,000 on her superb Instagram channel. Website SEO is good, at 78/100, and the Jacksonville pro is in there with Youtube and LinkedIn as well.
Rocco has also seized on local media opportunities to expand her brand. She's also left no stone unturned in ensuring her company is prevalent on third-party sites like Homelight, RateMyAgent, Homesnap, and even Yelp. The proud mother of three also seems to enjoy teaching and applauding the successes of others even more than enjoying her own success. This Jacksonville pro is the one to watch, in my opinion. Any flaws in her digital marketing strategy seem to be from lagging prioritization (she's busy getting there) rather than irresponsible cost considerations most failing agents suffer from.
CC Underwood should be higher on this list of Jacksonville real estate professionals. Here Google and Zillow reviews are stellar, and 114 sales in the past 12 months attest to her individual success. Her team further frames the Keller Williams agent's prowess. She's garnered over 3,000 Instagram followers, and her company's Facebook profile has 8,000 + followers. Underwood even has over 400 Youtube subscribers, which is highly unusual for agents. Even the company website makes the grade with a score of 78/100 SEO-wise.
Like her top competition, Underwood has taken advantage of local media to market and brand her efforts too. A saying on her website says that marketing sells homes, more or less, which is what her team seems to excel at. And watching Underwood on her video channels, it's clear to see she's a highly energetic, hard charger. But something is missing. Something indescribable. It's the difference between a superstar talent like Matt Laricy, who we've featured here, and the thousands of professionals out there you can only call "good." Maybe it's being polished? Or, heightened creativity may make all the difference. One thing is certain, with whatever this special invisible power is, CC Underwood would be a legendary real estate pro in Florida. Perhaps she is already focused on a new superpower? I hope so.
