One of the things that separate real estate agents with great online presence from the small town players is actionable real estate content. It only takes a small poking around to notice the mass of real estate websites with no blogs and others with nice designs but really poor blog content quality. Yea, taking time to bring up ideas and research for content that clicks is a chore. No one likes to do it. But some of us just do it anyway. And it's not going to be perfect. But stats by Demand Gen reveal that 47% of buyers will view 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep.

What do we mean by actionable content?

Have you ever read an article and felt like it was talking to you personally? At that point, the writer could have gotten you to do some simple task because he/she already captured your interest.

In an age where brands, businesses, content creators, designers must make their work personable and actionable or get their voice drowned out by the competition, real estate content creators must follow suit.

Actionable content works on relatability to get you as many eyeballs as possible, getting readers to either share, comment on your content or take any other action.

I love the word actionable because it shows the capacity of well-written content to induce readers to take a specific action.

Essentially, the realization that the person at the receiving end of your content has needs they want to be met should prompt you to produce great content that is actionable.

Here are some things that go into actionable content.

1. Time: It's not about updating your website with new content every day but creating value. Neil Patel, founder of Kissmetrics says,

"There is a huge demand for valuable content types in every industry. But, it’s not always easy to produce the kind of good content that gets noticed."

Whatever piece of content you provide should bear enough value to meet the needs of as many people in your niche as possible.

2. Proofs: Nothing gets people to take action like providing proof. You should be able to give enough proof in the form of facts, pictures, and charts. For example, when you say now is the right time to buy a home. Potential buyers are asking, where is your proof?

3. Audience research: Personability demands you boil down your target readers to one or two personas. Study and keep them in mind when you're writing your content.

4. Relatability: Once you know your target audience and their needs, BE RELATABLE. Basically, relatability demands that you ask questions that make them want to share. This potentially gets them in the discussion. Take note, you don't always have to ask for comments. But putting targeted questions throughout your content can make you relatable.

5. An end goal: Ultimately, what do you want to achieve? As a real estate professional, what are your marketing goals? Does your content align with these goals? Actionable content is goal-oriented. And it gets readers one small step closer in the direction of that goal.

Why do you need actionable real estate content?

Jay Baer of ConvinceandConvert says

"Smart marketing is about helping, not selling"

However, for many newbies to marketing, it's a one-way street. Either you're consistently providing value and helping your readers get one step closer to their needs. Yet, your blog is getting scanty engagement. Your readers take what appeals to them and leave. In the other case, you are trying to get them to open up their wallets; supply contact details, while you're providing scanty value through your content. Actionable content is the middle ground. If you have been creating content before and seeing little results, then you need to start creating actionable content.

Hurdles to creating actionable content

Here are two barriers that you'll need to overcome on your quest to make your website content more actionable:

Time crunch: Creating content that demands a reaction or an action is usually not done hastily. You need to devote time to research and brainstorm ideas. For most real estate agents with lead generation, outreach and client demands, there really isn't enough time to produce actionable content.

Poor Customer insights: For the most part, content marketing demands to understand your customer, their pain points and their motivations. I think the question that should definitely be asked becomes: "how do I really understand my ideal customer?". While there are marketing tools to help, it takes time to understand a customer's buying motivations.

What you can do

There are two things you can do to overcome these hurdles:

1. Hire a real estate writer who can consistently create content that resonates with your audience. Not every writer dedicates enough time to producing great content. Hence take the time to check your writer's posts and see if their posts move you to take a specific action.
2. Listen to what your customers say. Get close to your audience. As you interact with them, take note of cues that can help you create actionable content to meet their needs.

In a world of information overload, great content still finds a way to stand out, meet needs and generate specific activity. So, don't just create content. Make it actionable.