Here are some good points discussed by Mike Parker in an article on real estate marketing over at Rismedia.com. Mr. Parker is a principal at the Blackwater Consulting Group, Inc., and specializes in online marketing services for Realtors® and real estate professionals.

His article is about real estate and is written for the real estate professionals. But his points are so right on that anyone can benefit from them. Straight and simple.

Here are the 3 online marketing myths according to Mr. Parker.

Myth 1: The most popular place consumers look for homes online is Realtor.com®
Fact: The most popular place consumers look for homes online is Google®.

Good point. The key element here is the looking and the finding. It’s the search. It’s true that a few people will know the big name sites and will go directly there (chalk it up for good marketing on their part). But the vast majority of us will head straight to our favorite search engine first. It’s a habit and a necessity. This is the power of Google. This is the power of Google marketing. Many people will probably end up at a big name site anyway, but it will be because they rank high in the search results, using their on-target keywords.

Myth 2: You need to be on every portal that is real estate related.
Fact: You really only need to be able to be found by search engines.

Good point. It may be true in the early days of search technologies, when search engines were still going through development stage. Back then, portals were a good shotgun approach. But search engines have now matured and are giving great user experience. Chasing the portals is just a waste of time. Here’s one caveat: depending on your industry, there may be portals that you’ll want (or need) to be on. The bottom line is, have a marketing strategy and follow it.

Myth 3: It’s impossible for ‘the little guy/gal’ to compete against the big guys/gals in online marketing.
Fact: It’s the opposite that is true; you can compete with anyone online.

Good point. The Internet and online marketing is a great and important equalizer. It does not make your competition disappear, but it does help take your business to the competition. It levels the playing field, and it allows anyone to learn to effectively compete online. Like any other business endeavors, it’s not a cakewalk. The marketer still have to develop skills and techniques, but it’s easier and cheaper, and if you do it right, faster, to achieve your marketing goals.

All three myths are important to debunk. To me the last one is especially critical. Anyone can compete online. This is well-known to many, yet it’s still a powerful statement.

If you want to succeed in the online marketing game, then know your facts and debunk the myths.

So do you have an online marketing myth to share?
Is there an industry that may not follow “accepted” online marketing wisdoms? and why?
Are there new data we can use to guide our online marketing strategy?

Post from: Marketing Autopsy Blog
© 2009 Marketing Autopsy Blog.

Online Marketing Myths: These Won’t Help You Succeed in Real Estate, or Anything Else