Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
The latest news on the Newark, New Jersey real estate market is that corporations are gobbling homes as fast as possible. Places outside Newark, such as the quaint community of Little Falls and serene sanctuaries just a few miles from bustling Manhattan. So, this week, we thought we’d look at a few of this area's most successful real estate pros and how they leverage digital marketing.
With almost 1,000 sales in the past year, ReMax broker Robert Dekanski is the Newark, NJ, real estate marketing superstar. Choosing him was a no-brainer, really. Almost 2,100 perfect Zillow reviews? That’s insane. But what’s more, Dekanski’s team has nearly as many near-perfect Google reviews (4.9/5.0 from 1,978 clients). Add to these totals over 100 perfect reviews on Facebook, which I’ve never seen before, and it’s clear this team knows the digital marketing business.
Okay, Debanski’s effort is not perfect. For instance, I hate his company’s website. It’s ugly. However aesthetically bad, the site ranks 94/100 for SEO, which is another unheard-of statistic compared with hundreds of agencies we’ve reviewed across the US. This N.J. broker either has a brother-in-law who’s an SEO expert, or he invested thousands in his online effort.
Even the company blog beats 99% of America’s real estate pros’ efforts. Apparently, the guy even uses roadside billboards still. Okay, Debranski’s Youtube effort is pitiful, and the Facebook effort just to best be getting off the ground if you’re looking for a chink in his marketing armor. And somehow, a 10k-follower Instagram account is disconnected from everything else too. So, incredible when you find highly successful businesses with so much room for marketing improvements. Oh, and before I leave off, Dekanski is all traditional local media.
Brendan Da Silva runs the Keller Williams NJ Metro Group, one of the most successful agencies in the region. Digital marketing-wise, he has 3,600 Facebook fans and almost 12,000 Instagram followers, but the rest of his digital footprint is pretty muddy. He emerged on today’s list because of 131 perfect Zillow reviews, which we caught because he chose to become a Zillow Premier Agent. Da Silva’s team also has 4.9/5.0 reviews from 328 clients on Google, which is very respectable.
On the downside, he uses a Keller Williams website that sucks, just to be honest, and not only because of a 67/100 SEO score. It’s just ugly. A blurry feature video that shows a tiny bathroom with a plastic toilet seat at one point - well, you get my point. Despite the marketing shortcomings, Da Silva managed 142 sales in the past 12 months, so his group is going other things right. If I had to offer a reason other than marketing for his success, I’d say he’s a master of the hard sell. The guy even doubles up running Airbnb rentals.
Naeem Boucher’s 185 perfect Zillow reviews transported him here. Interestingly, he only has about 17 perfect reviews on Google. His exp realty website is pretty nice and scored a respectable 79/100 for SEO. Boucher presents himself well in the intro video, which is at the other end of the spectrum compared to Da Silva’s above. His disjointed digital footprint took him out of contention for the top spot today.
Boucher has a very nice Facebook program going, but there’s no linkage between his website and none from his Zillow profile. 4,600 friends out of the loop! Oh well, get this. The man has over 27k followers on Instagram but failed to connect this fantastic account with his other efforts. The same goes for his above-average Youtube effort, where he has great informative videos and over 300 subscribers. The dude seems to be traveling at 200mph, charging hard but leaving a lot of Newark potential in the rearview. The company blog has only the “Hello World” post. Come on, Naeem, you could be No.1 so easily.
Jordan Baris rounds out this list of top Newark real estate professionals. The Berkshire Hathaway agent made the cut by virtue of 270 perfect Zillow reviews and 105 sales in the past year. On Google, a lot fewer clients took the time to review Baris’ efforts. Ditto on Facebook (600+ fans) since it seems like Baris is really old school regarding digital prowess. The firm’s BH cookie-cutter website clocked in at a very respectable 80/100 for SEO. These are nice sites, beautiful, actually. So, who could blame him for going with the standard issue?
Basis does not seem to have bothered with Instagram or Youtube, but his team does seem to know how to draft a press release and to leverage traditional media in general. As I said, the broker is old schOnly one thing that bothers me about “old school” professionals. Sometimes they leave a vast wide gulf of potential between their reliance on big brands and old networks and developing new leads and clients in other parts of the marketing funnel. To be honest, I would not have included Baris at all, had the Newark agent market been more thrilling. There’s room for a hard charger in this part of America, that’s for sure.
