Hyperlocal is a term formerly (yet arguably) coined back in 2009 by New York Times in an article on local newspapers migrating to an online presence, and further defined in 2012 by Nesta as “online news or content services pertaining to a town, village, single postcode or other small, geographically defined community”. Although reports do state use of a similar term “hyper-local” as early as 1991 by The Washington Post, the term does not reference the online industry.
To be true Hyperlocal in 2015, the process must focus on geography, time and reside online. This ensures local content, within specific boundaries, offering a specific service over a specific period in time. Hyperlocal is a methodology that has the ability to position the real estate industry to maximise it’s full capacity.
At the real estate office level, most real estate agents & brokers traditionally have employed marketing techniques similar to the definition of Hyperlocal (an offline Hyperlocal per se). Combining these well-formed strategies (local area marketing over a specific period) with online services, an individual real estate office can really maximise their marketing ROI.
Hyperlocal websites focus on a specialised topic, with the majority of these websites being news related, describing the move of the local newspaper to online (Hyperlocal). Of recent, the sharing and classifieds industries have taken full use of the term Hyperlocal, such as Yelp, Airbnb, eBay and Gumtree to name a few.
Oddly enough, Social Media can fit into the mould of Hyperlocal, in almost a juxtaposition in terms; Global Hyperlocal. The reasoning Social Media can fit Hyperlocal comes down to the ability of the media to sort itself into local and finite geographical locations. Tagging on Facebook and creating local pages such as a real estate office Facebook page fits the Hyperlocal theme. Similarly, Twitter can be classed as Hyperlocal by the use of hashtags.
To clarify, Social Media can be classed as Hyperlocal, but it is more of a Hyperlocal platform rather than the full sense of the term. To take full advantage of Hyperlocal via Social Media, content is required. This can be editorial or an offering, such as real estate services or a house for sale/lease.
In review, Wikipedia describes Hyperlocal as:
Hyperlocal connotes information oriented around a well-defined community with its primary focus directed toward the concerns of the population in that community. The term can be used as a noun in isolation or as a modifier of some other term (e.g. news).
Employing Hyperlocal for the real estate industry requires exploiting Hyperlocal techniques and repositioning for real estate marketing purposes. Here are the best means to maximise Hyperlocal in your area:
Local
The Hyperlocal Business
Remember to keep things local. As the name implies, Hyperlocalis local area online marketing. Focus efforts on informing the community and keeping things at the local area. This is the local main street online.
A great way to do this is to create a local business/services directory on your website. This does not need to be in depth and a few service offerings is completely acceptable. Examples could include the local Butcher, Hairdresser/Barber, Accountant, Postoffice and Coffee Shop.
A good rule of thumb is to infrequently feature a local business/service, via your local directory on a Social Media platform as a community service.
Know your Neighbours
If you haven’t already, get to know your local community. It is quite difficult to comment on it local issues if you don’t know what is going on or who is who in the zoo. Get a good understanding of how things work in your local area, who are the owners of the local businesses and what are the main groups you can belong to?
Once you have built rapport with your local business owner’s and peers, it makes it much easier to get a good understanding of what is going on and of course cross-market your services.
Content
As with most online efforts, content is key. This is not houses for sale, content in this instance is editorial and general interest pieces that are newsworthy and focused on the local community. A good source of content is from getting to know your neighbours. Get involved with local groups, where you will be given access to local issues that you can comment on and publicise. Additionally, if time is an issue, you can subscribe to local community groups and councils.
Once you have the content, there are different channels to maximise your Hyperlocal strategy. Your own website is a good vehicle to launch your Hyperlocal efforts. A specific section on your website devoted to the local area (local businesses, groups & services) and/or a blog, detailing opinion pieces or local community announcements. To gain traction for your Hyperlocal strategy, employ Social media to market your website and gain traffic from the local area.
Blog
Blogging is a great platform to maintain the Hyperlocal experience. Again, remember to keep things local. Write articles based solely on local area activities that directly affect the community. Try not to re-publish houses for sale or houses recently sold. Recently sold and available homes should reside in a search area on your website. However, it is ok to publish the odd property sale or sold that could be interesting to the local community. Example, a 100-year-old home previously owned by a celebrity or local hero was sold by your agency.
When writing a blog, be careful to not plagiarise. If you are re-purposing an article from a local community group, seek their permission or cite and reference the website where the article originated.
Writing can be a timely and length experience, luckily there are many content/copy services that can help with writing articles for the blogs.
Remember to market your blog, as a guidepost through Social Media first. If you are feeling more adventurous, create a Search Engine Marketing strategy to increase local traffic to your site.
Video
Video in this respect does not refer to a video walkthrough of a house for sale. This style of video is a commentary on the local market and community issues. Video can act as a great way to interact with the community and can seem an attractive mechanism to get your message across. Try to resist placing your self in front of the lens, unless you feel comfortable with speaking fluently and have a professional look with the right lighting and sound editing.
