Leveraging Ghost Writing for Real Estate Contributor and Thought Leadership Articles

Recent research by LinkedIn and a team of third-party analysts revealed that 58% of decision-makers attribute their closing decision to the clarity and articulation of a firm’s thought leadership strategy.

Brand positioning requires diligence and consistency, and it’s sometimes hard to know what to write about, how to present it, and where to publish, but for those executives that make the commitment to a thought leadership strategy, the results are tremendous.

SEO-optimized articles written on topics that prospects are actively searching for drive quality organic traffic from search engine results pages (SERPs).

This approach projects your personality and positions you as an expert, commanding the attention of accredited investors, potential partners, clients, and community stakeholders.

Let’s discuss how a thought leadership strategy driven by informative and actionable articles precipitates increasing returns.

 

Sharing Your Knowledge

What is the most valuable commodity in the digital age?

Knowledge.

Knowledge is the intellect’s interpretation of available information and data.

Specialized education and experience as an executive in your industry equip you with the insight to provide valuable information to audiences needing extremely specific types of knowledge.

The most in-demand pieces are articles and blog posts that provide insights from credible experts in focused niches.

How do you most effectively convey this knowledge?

Sensible advice shared where it’s sought.

Dedicated channels exist in every industry:

• Professional forums.
• Community and professional/corporate blogs.
• Print and digital news publications and journals.

Your prospects are searching for answers related to the problems or needs your offerings address. How do you learn what solutions are needed?

The concerns that you identify provide the ideal focus for your answer-based thought leadership strategy.

 

Understanding Your Target Market in the Real Estate Industry

 

 

It’s your task as a thought leader to learn what challenges your potential clients and stakeholders are facing. The most efficient way to achieve this is by engaging with them on the social channels they frequent.

Take note of your prospect’s communication styles and the favored means of consuming information – video, infographics, webinars, ebooks, etc. Listen to the kinds of questions they’re asking and what feedback they’re offering on the industry.

Through your writing, you can establish a sense of rapport with your readers. By the time potential clients take the initiative to call you, they’ll feel as though they know you personally. You’ll have fought and won the hardest battle at the outset: earning trust.

As you proceed with your research, keep these in mind:

• Study observable prospect problems and needs.
• Pay attention to communication styles and preferences.
• Consistent content development and posting build readers’ trust and sense of rapport.
• Focus on providing pertinent answers to specific (long-tail keyword) questions your audience is asking.

 

How to Choose Topics: Keyword Research

 

 

Selecting a topic that appeals to readers and gets the attention of search engines is the most challenging aspect of a thought leadership article strategy.

We want our content to provide valuable information, but that won’t be possible unless our ideal prospects are looking for and can find what we’re offering.

How do we make sure that what we write is something our readers want to hear?

Diligence and cutting-edge keyword research.

Taking a scientific approach to generating content helps you feel more confident about the message you’re sending, and that it will have the intended effect.

Keyword research reveals insights to more fully solve our readers’ problems.

What to consider in your keyword strategy:

• Focus on providing value according to existing demand for knowledge.
• Be receptive to insights regarding user search behavior and needs.
• Develop content that comprehensively addresses prospect needs.
• Analyze keyword volume trends to predict PPC (pay-per-click) marketing results/costs and minimize CPC (cost per click).
• Utilize Latent Semantic Index (LSI) keyword suggestions to generate well-rounded body content for your article.

 

SEO Benefits of Thought Leadership in Real Estate

 

 

Though our high-level intention is to shape our prospects’ image of our brand, the pragmatic objective of thought leadership is to generate traffic and conversions.

Ghostwritten contributor and thought leadership articles are the most effective approach to improving your site or profile’s ranking in search results.

Why are thought leadership articles so effective?

A properly optimized article based on thorough keyword research answers specific questions for which your audience is searching.

This article is an example of a topic based on keyword research. The title, headings, and body incorporate keywords based on the highest-ranking phrases for search volume.

For real estate contributor articles published to channels such as Forbes, Business Journal, and Huffington Post, you’ll receive a ‘follow’ backlink – an embedded link that search engines and readers can follow to your sites.

Aside from providing direct referral traffic, search engines will notice the link and crawl it to your website.

All things being equal – having a spectacular website with compelling and professional real estate copywriting – search engines favor keyword-optimized content and sites in results.

Why go with thought leadership for SEO advancement?

• Contributor articles provide high-quality backlinks generating direct traffic and kudos from search engines for relevance.
• Search engines and readers appreciate easy-to-read content with limited passive voice, balanced sentence length, clear structure, and varied vocabulary.

 

Posting Frequency and Choosing Publications

 

 

How often should I post contributor articles and thought leadership content?

Depending on your budget and the demand for new content in your field, weekly or monthly (at the least) posting will build momentum and generate results in the near term.

Whereas a blog post on your website might capture a few hundred views initially, contributor articles on high domain authority (DA) websites yield thousands of reads and website clicks in the same timeframe.

Should I post content to my blog, LinkedIn, or third-party publications?

In choosing whether to post content to your website or a third-party media outlet, weigh the potential PR and SEO benefits of each channel against the cost of professionally prepared and well-reasoned content. You’ll want to opt for the best writer you can find if pursuing trending media publications, high-quality traffic, and organic rankings.

Quality content always costs what it’s worth.

A note about budgeting as it relates to marketing, written content, and business strategy: every dollar spent on advertising will generate a measurable return on investment – worthwhile when well executed.

Consider the potential closings, pledges, and dividends when deciding how much to allocate to marketing in relation to R&D, technological infrastructure upgrades, training, and other business activities with a less direct impact on revenue.

To reduce content costs but maintain a daily posting schedule, content curation via tools such as Curata, Scoop.it, and others allow you to provide valuable content to your audience without the pressure of generating it on a daily basis.

Posting and publication guidelines and notes:

• Posting 1-4 times per month is optimal.
• Weekly blog postings generate readership and boost rankings.
• Daily social posts can consist of curated and reshared content.
• Publish contributor articles at least monthly.
• Target publications that serve your audience specifically.
• Targeted campaigns earn the most results per ad dollar.
• Credible content is worth the cost considering potential ROI.

 

Getting Started with a Ghost Writer for Real Estate

 

Now you’re convinced that thought leadership is a great thing and you’re ready to go for it.

 

How do I get started?

1. Contact a writer and/or marketing consultant with industry-specific knowledge.
2. Identify whom you want to target with your message, and the results you envision.
3. Select publications that serve and are trusted by ideal prospects.
4. Write articles that meet actual consumer needs, and publication guidelines and standards.
5. Contact editors in the real estate or business departments.
6. Reach out to industry associates to negotiate mutual guest blog posting opportunities.
7. Submit your piece and collaborate with editors on final product.
8. Generate traffic, improve ranking, and enjoy benefits to reputation.
9. Stay the course to generate increasing returns with consistency.

 

What do I look for in a real estate copywriter?

• Industry experience and insight.
• Industry education, credentials, and designations.
• Sustainability awareness and knowledge.
• Flexibility and appropriateness in tone and complexity for B2B or B2C prospect groups.
• Communication skills and timeliness.
• Logical and coherent writing.

 

Reach out to and have conversations with specialist writers in your industry niche. Unless you’re marketing a product or service that falls within the realm of general knowledge, hire a real estate copywriter that understands industry best practices, professional communication, and that seamlessly integrates credible content and agile digital marketing strategy.

How has thought leadership benefited your branding strategy?

I welcome your shares, questions, and comments!