Building your digital brand has changed. Security concerns, platform outages, and constant algorithm changes make digital marketing even more challenging. As a result, it is getting harder to break through the noise and get your content in front of your target audience.
In April 2021, Apple took a big bite out of the digital marketing landscape with App Tracking Transparency (ATT) launch. This feature was part of the iOS 14 update allowing users to easily block apps from receiving a unique Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) embedded in their iPhone devices. Blocking the IDFA eliminates user activity tracking across apps. So the next time your client is on their iPhone looking at your listing alerts, any activity tracking in place would be lost.
According to researcher eMarketer, the iPhone owns an estimated 47% of the U.S. smartphone market. After Apple launched ATT, only 9% of iPhone users reportedly initially consented to share their data across apps. That number has slowly increased to around 15% after the iOS 14.5 launch according to Flurry.com. So, as you can imagine, platforms like Facebook that rely on this information to sell advertising were not happy.
It turns out this was just the beginning. In September 2021, Apple introduced iOS 15 and even more digital privacy features. Most notably, Mail Privacy Protection, which prevents senders from learning whether an email has been opened and hides IP addresses so senders can’t learn a user’s location or remember their browsing activities. So the ritual of sending mass e-newsletters to your database and tracking open rates as a measurement of success disappears.
As a real estate professional, your brand is everything. It is why people work with you, refer you to other clients, and continue to support your business. Therefore, it would be almost impossible not to use some form of digital marketing as a routine part of your daily business.
These changes are just the tip of the iceberg of what is to come as Apple, Google, and Facebook begin to battle over digital security. A simple email newsletter or Facebook ad that may have converted business in the past may become ineffective as a result.
Digital marketers must reexamine every strategy and tactic. That means we must do the same as we plan our marketing campaigns going forward. Areas of your brand marketing to examine include:
● Google, Facebook, and Instagram ads
● Sponsored content on any digital platform
● Email newsletters and drip email campaigns
At Fathom, we have an Agent Branding First philosophy. Meaning, we support our agents in promoting and growing their brands first. Our business model of 100% commission and a small transaction fee gives our agents the financial freedom to invest money into growing their business and their brand. As the digital security landscape unfolds, we will be working closely with our agents to ensure they are at the forefront of knowledge and opportunity.
If you’d like to learn more about Fathom’s business model and how our value proposition is helping thousands of real estate professionals across the country build their business for today and tomorrow’s success, we should talk. Learn more about us at www.fathomcareers.com
In the meantime, check out our 3 Critical Digital Marketing Updates download on the latest digital security changes so you can evaluate your online marketing strategies and make sure you aren’t throwing money and time away on outdated tactics.