It’s been quite the rough and tumble for the Perth property market in recent years, hasn’t it?
Interest rates doin’ their thing, buyers are choosier than ever and real estate agents who aren’t making the most of digital marketing, well, they’re out there fighting with one hand tied behind their back.
If you’re still using the newspaper and letterbox drops to attract business, then you’re behind the times in terms of where your customers actually are – online. Let’s fix that.
Why Digital Marketing Matters More Than Ever for Perth Real Estate
Here’s something that might surprise you: 97% of home buyers start their property search online. Not at open houses, not through referrals (though those still matter), but staring at their phone or laptop screen at 11 PM on a Tuesday night.
The Perth market’s got its own quirks too. We’re dealing with a geographically spread-out city where someone in Joondalup might never consider a property in Rockingham, no matter how good the deal is. This makes hyper-local targeting absolutely crucial for your marketing efforts.
The Perth Advantage You Probably Don’t Know About
Perth’s actually got some massive advantages when it comes to digital marketing that most agents never tap into. Our time zone difference means we can catch interstate investors when other agents are asleep. Plus, our mining boom cycles create unique buyer patterns that smart agents can predict and market to.
SEO: Your Foundation for Long-Term Success
Search engine optimisation isn’t just about ranking for “houses for sale Perth” (though that’s nice too). It’s about becoming the go-to resource when someone searches for anything property-related in your area.
Local SEO That Actually Works
Here’s what most agents do wrong – they are trying to rank for massive keywords like “Perth real estate”, when they should own their farm areas. For example, someone with the search term, “3 bedroom house Subiaco under 800k” is much closer to purchasing than a person just looking for “Perth properties.”
Your website wants to say something to individual suburbs. Develop landing pages specific to suburb that don’t just show properties, but add value. What is Mount Lawley like for coffee? Where Cottesloe families send their children to school? This kind of content is what builds trust and authority.
Google My Business is your Friend here. Keep it fresh with photos, reply to reviews (positive and negative) and update it regularly. When an individual does a search of ” real estate agent near me” while in Fremantle, you want the first face they see to be yours.
Content That Converts Browsers into Buyers
Stop blogging “Tips for First Home Buyers”. Every agent’s doing that. Try instead pieces like “Why Joondalup Property Prices Are About to Shift” or “The Hidden Costs of Buying in South Perth’s Heritage Areas.”
This does two things: it establishes you as the local expert, and it also catches people doing research in your general areas, instead of people just searching the larger metro areas where you’re working. Better than competing against Domain and realestate. com. au for generic terms.
Google Ads: Fast-Track Your Visibility
So while SEO establishes the foundation, Google Ads can put you in front of eager buyers right away. But the thing is, most real estate agents are pissing money away with google ads, driving clicks to the wrong keyword at the wrong time.
Timing Is Everything in Property PPC
The Perth property market is seasonal. Beach suburbs becomes a lot more of hotspots over summer, and family-friendly areas peak over December-February period when people are wanting to move before school starts back.
You want your Google Ads to mirror these trends. You don’t want to be running the same campaigns year-round (that’s just setting your money on fire).
Bidding Strategies That Don’t Break the Bank
High-competition keywords like “Perth real estate agent” can cost $15-30 per click. It is expensive, especially if you don’t convert well from the words that they require.This trick is particularly effective for local keywords because people usually navigate online quickly and preferences will change over time.
People will drop off the moment on one dayYou can use longer tail keywords and phrases that show intent: “sell my house fast Scarborough” or “property valuation Applecross”, and run them in parallel with the short-tail summer or yearly themes.
Long keywords like these cost less to bid on than the short ones but attract people who are further along in their decision-making process. Here’s a trick most agents miss: Use location-based ad extensions.
When someone in Subiaco searches for a real estate agent, your ad can show your Subiaco sales, your knowledge of Subiaco schools, even your Subiaco client testimonials.Want to know how much digital marketing really costs in Perth?
Check out the breakdown on Slinky and see how real estate agents can use it to boost leads and listings.
Social Media That Sells Properties
Facebook’s still king for real estate marketing in Perth, but the way you use it needs to be smarter than posting pretty property photos and hoping for the best.
Facebook’s Hidden Real Estate Goldmine
Facebook’s targeting options are ridiculous. You can target people by income, interests, life events, and even behaviours. Someone who’s been looking at home loan calculators online? Facebook knows. Someone whose relationship status just changed to “engaged”? Perfect target for your first home buyer campaigns.
Create custom audiences from your existing client database, then build lookalike audiences to find similar people. If your past clients typically earn $80-120k, have kids, and live in northern suburbs, Facebook can find more people with those exact characteristics.
Instagram for the Aspirational Market
Instagram’s where you showcase the lifestyle, not just the property. That oceanfront apartment in Cottesloe? Don’t just show the rooms – show the sunset views, the morning coffee on the balcony, the weekend markets within walking distance.
Stories are particularly powerful for behind-the-scenes content. Show the inspection process, share quick market updates, or give sneak peeks of new listings before they hit the market.
Email Marketing: The Follow-Up Champion
Most agents are terrible at follow-up. Someone inquires about a property, doesn’t buy immediately, and falls into a black hole of no communication until the next listing appears.
Email automation fixes this problem beautifully.
Nurture Sequences That Keep You Top of Mind
Set up automated email sequences for different buyer types:
First home buyers get a series about the buying process, government grants, and suburb guides. Investment buyers get market analysis, rental yield data, and property management tips. Sellers get market updates and property preparation advice.
The key is providing value first, selling second. By the time someone’s ready to buy or sell, you’re already the trusted expert in their inbox.
Market Updates That People Actually Read
Monthly market reports are good, but weekly suburb spotlights are better. Choose one suburb a week and really drill own into recent sales, new developments and local insights. People love the inside scoop on their own region.
Website Design That Converts Visitors
You are probably losing money right now, on your website. Harsh? Maybe. True? Probably. The vast majority of agent websites are digital brochures—they have nice pictures and the agent’s phone number, but no indication of where to go next. Visitors touch down on your site, look around a little bit—and then head on out without reaching out.
The 3-Second Rule
You’ve got three seconds to explain who you are, where you cover, and why someone should hire you rather than one of 847 agents in Perth. You are losing prospective clients if your home page is not hitting these three points first and foremost. Your unique value proposition must be absolutely unmistakable. “Perth’s #1 Agent” is not a value proposition—it’s marketing puff. “I’ve sold 127 properties in the last 2 years in Fremantle” is much more compelling.
Lead Magnets That Actually Attract Quality Leads
Quit asking for contact info in return for “more information.” That’s not valuable enough anymore. Instead, suggest something concrete “and instantly helpful,” the authors caution:
- “Subiaco 2026 – Something For Everyone”
- “The 47 Questions to Ask Before Buying in Joondalup”
- “Hidden Costs Calculator for Perth Home Buyers”
They position you as the expert and only require someone’s contact information who’s genuinely interested in your area of expertise.
Video Marketing: Show, Don’t Just Tell
Video’s where most agents drop the ball completely. They either avoid it altogether or create stiff, corporate-feeling content that nobody wants to watch.
Property Tours That Sell Stories
Sure, drone footage of a backyard looks impressive, but it doesn’t sell properties. Stories sell properties.
When filming a property tour, don’t just walk through rooms describing square footage. Tell the story of living there. “This kitchen’s where family breakfasts happen before school runs” hits differently than “This kitchen features stone benchtops and stainless steel appliances.”
Market Update Videos That Build Authority
Weekly 2-3 minute market updates work brilliantly for establishing authority. Pick recent local sales, explain what they mean for the market, and share insights only a local expert would know.
Film these casually – in your car between appointments, at a café, wherever. Polish is less important than authenticity and consistency.
KPIs That Drive Real Results
Track backwards from revenue. How many commissions do you need monthly? How many transactions does that require? How many qualified leads convert to transactions? How many website visitors become qualified leads?
Once you know these ratios, you can calculate exactly how much traffic, engagement, and ad spend you need to hit your revenue goals.
The Attribution Challenge
Someone might see your Facebook ad, visit your website, subscribe to your email list, attend your open house, and then sign with you six weeks later. Which marketing channel gets credit for that sale?
This is why integrated campaigns work so much better than isolated tactics. Your Google Ads should reinforce your social media messaging, which should align with your email content, which should match your website experience.
Common Perth Real Estate Marketing Mistakes
We wrote this post after working with hundreds of Perth businesses in all different industries and watching them make the same errors over and over. And real estate agents are especially notorious for a couple that cost them big time every single month.
These are not tiny little oopsies – these are critical mistakes that can drop a sledgehammer on your marketing ROI before you can bat an eyelash at an off angle property shot.
- Trying to serve everyone, everywhere: You cannot be a top agent for Scarborough surf lovers and Kalamunda families and Fremantle artists. Choose your niche and own it.
- Features instead of benefits: Your subscribers do not want to hear about how you are using “cutting-edge CRM software.” They care about the fact that you will call them back within two hours, and that they’ll be kept informed every step of the way.
- Failing to consider the mobile experience: More than 70% of property searches occur on mobile. If your website is a horror on a phone, you’re losing clients before they’ve solicited your call.
- Uneven branding between platforms: Your Facebook page, website and email signatures should appear to come from the same company. Seems obvious but you’d be surprised how many agents get it wrong.
The good news? These are all solvable problems with no need for a huge budget or tech wizardry. It was not by means of any magical thoughts or tricks.
Making It All Work Together
Digital marketing for real estate isn’t about picking one channel and hoping for the best. It’s about creating a system where each component amplifies the others.
Your SEO brings in organic traffic. Your Google Ads capture high-intent searches. Your social media builds relationships. Your email marketing nurtures those relationships. Your website converts visitors into leads.
When someone’s ready to buy or sell, your name comes up naturally because you’ve been consistently helpful and visible throughout their research process.
Getting Started Without Getting Overwhelmed
Don’t try not to do everything at the same time. Choose a single digital channel and get it working properly before adding another. Most agents jump onto every platform at once, do everything half-assed and then determine “digital marketing doesn’t work for real estate.”
Begin with the platform on which your potential clients hang out. First home buyers in their 20s in your sights? Instagram and TikTok. Is it with existing families upgrading their homes? Facebook and Google.
Just get one channel working and producing regular leads then open another.
Property in Perth is a market in which agents who establish themselves as local experts through regular, valuable digital content are sure to be rewarded. It’s not a matter of if digital marketing works for real estate — it’s a matter of whether you start doing it the way you should before your competitors do.
Ready to quit losing money with your current ad strategy? We know the online world evolves quickly, but the idea of providing value, building relationships, and positioning yourself as the local expert have not changed.
Your next client could be the new client that found you on Google at 12am when searching Perth suburbs. Make sure they can find you.
Searching for more leads for your Perth real estate business? Hit up Slinky today and let’s do it.
