Content marketing is an ongoing conversation. If you can capture the interest and trust of your readers, you have exponentially increased your opportunity to capture and nurture these conversations into motivated and loyal clients.

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Every time you can provide value to your reader, you have an opportunity to ask for something in return. Namely, you can ask permission to stay in touch or follow up with this reader-turned-prospect.

Asking permission is as simple as presenting your reader with a pop-up, or having calls to action in your site’s sidebars or within the framework of your site design.

1. Build an Opt-in Marketing List

There’s really no better time to reach out to someone to start a conversation about their needs and wants than when someone visits your Web site to view a home for sale. When you’re consistently publishing new opinions, analyses, and insight on your site, you have an opportunity to ask readers for permission to send them updates when you add new content.

From what I’ve heard other industry experts report, it takes an average of nine to 18 months of online research and preparation before a home buyer completes a purchase. So an opt-in marketing list is your nine- to 18-month pipeline. If you’re not adding new information to your site on a regular basis, you lose the opportunity to keep visitors to your site updated.

2. Financing-Related Lead Generation

The focus of the majority of our content marketing efforts is financing-related challenges, qualifying questions, and assistance opportunities.

One of the most effective lead-generation strategies is a buyer assistance finder. This is a form that invites buyers to provide some basic information. This can be used to match them with available assistance once you've determine their eligibility to qualify.

This is a great opportunity to get lenders involved in your marketing efforts, by asking them to contribute content and share their experience and expertise for the benefit of the visitors to your site.

With home buyers and home owners being of common interest to both Realtors and lenders, there is a great advantage to seeking a marketing savvy, content-creating lender partner. This skill set is more commonly found with an individual loan officer, as opposed to something a company offers.

You’re looking for unique, sincere, well-communicated content. A writer’s resume is their blog. All it takes to interview a marketing partner is a Google search.

3. Managing Expectations

Content marketing is a long-term strategy that requires a well-thought-out conversion strategy. An important part of your success is expectation management:

• Expect a lot of trial and error.
• Expect a lot of testing and tracking.
• Expect that you will succeed if you don’t give up.
• Expect that your clients will be more loyal.
• Expect to hear, “I’ve been reading your articles for a year.”

Gaining a competitive edge in your online market may be as easy as creating more content than your competition.