The pressure is on. Sales and marketing departments in mortgage and real estate need to work hand in glove to produce leads, while laying the groundwork necessary to build trust in their brands to make them sustainable well into the future. They just need to grind through the present.
Therefore, marketing and PR communications professionals need to be forward thinking and up to date in their knowledge of the most effective communications channels. They need to be aware of the latest in SEO, how AI platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini and others impact search, whether Bluesky deserves any focus, algorithm updates of social platforms, emerging tech, and so much more.
Suffice it to say that the communications landscape has evolved quite a bit over the past 12 months. Let’s take a look at some of the top communications channels you should focus on in 2025.
Top Communications Channels for 2025
The Rise of Owned Channels
“Owned” communications channels include things like your website, blog roll, white papers, newsletters, case studies, eBooks – anything you have complete control over. Owned channels allow you to build a direct connection with your target audience without reliance on a third-party platform.
Leveraging these channels needs to be at the core of your communications strategy because they are part of your knowledge bank. They are important for building your brands’ authority, generating organic traffic, driving leads and supporting your other marketing efforts. They are unaffected by changing algorithms and ad costs. This bank is the source of all your communications with your audience.
For example, a mortgage lender can leverage their blog roll to educate homebuyers and home-sellers about downpayment assistance, while newsletters can nurture leads by delivering personalized content based upon individual journeys.
Social Media: Focused, Strategic Presence
A consistent, strategic presence on social media channels takes time and patience to realize results. It’s a necessary component of a good strategy. Our team comes across many companies in the mortgage and real estate sectors that have a social media presence, but no strategy.
There are many platforms out there to experiment with. However, the key platforms you need to pay attention to are Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, X and TikTok. Study what your most fierce competitors and industry leaders are doing on these channels. Check out their mix of posts, including topics, formats used, and hashtags. Understanding what they are doing to drive engagement to inform your strategy.
There are two sides to a social media strategy: paid and organic. They both need to work together for optimal effectiveness. Your organic social media strategy should focus on your culture, your team, your connection to the mortgage or real estate industry, thought leadership, milestones achieved, company updates, testimonials and anything else that forms a connection between you and your followers. Your paid strategy, however, should be leveraged to precisely target your audience and reinforce your unique selling points, key messages, the problems you solve, FAQs, event promotion (webinars, conferences, in-person events), and brand awareness.
The key to your strategy is determining what KPIs you’re going to track and measure over time. For a well-rounded strategy, your KPI selections should be both objective and subjective. For example, your objective KPIs can include likes, reposts and other engagements, and conversions while your subjective KPIs would include your brand mentions, comments and anything that helps you measure sentiment to help you understand how your audience perceives your brand.
Emerging Platforms and Technologies
Right now is the most exciting time to be in marketing! There are new tools and emerging technologies all around us. However, it’s important not to subscribe to everything and overwhelm yourself.
First, focus on making sure you are taking advantage of the tools you already have in place. Chances are, you have tools at your fingertips that you are not using to their full capacity. Or maybe you don’t even know what they are fully capable of. So, start by fully assessing what you have right now. If you don’t know how to use a tool, find out who your support rep is and schedule an update call and maybe some training sessions. Check out their online support opportunities and even YouTube. I’m always compelled to provide you with practical advice before exploring the latest shiny lures.
Having said this, here’s what’s gaining traction.
- AI-Powered Everything: There are many platforms available that will assist you with everything from content creation to personalization, data analysis and predictive modeling. It is worth your time to explore tools like ChatGPT, Copy.ai, Optimove, Pecan.ai and others to understand what’s available and how they can be integrated to take your marketing communications activities to the next level.
- No-Code & Low-Code Platforms: Tools like Zapier, Webflow and many others make it easier for marketers to build websites, automate tasks and manage campaigns with no coding skills necessary.
- Emphasis on Community and Micro-Influencers: Platforms like Discord, which was originally designed for gamers, is now used by a wide variety of people and communities. It’s like having Slack, Reddit, and Zoom all rolled together. Not being a gamer, I never would have explored Discord. Now that I have, this is a social media platform that I believe should be watched. There are several vibrant real estate communities on the platform for both agents and investors. You can use it for training and education, team collaboration, and lead gen. As for micro-influencing, brands are increasingly partnering with micro-influencers on platforms like TikTok and Instagram to reach niche audiences.
Podcasts and webinars should also be top considerations for mortgage and real estate industry pros. They are both taking off, especially podcasts because they are generally more flexible from a production and planning standpoint.
Both formats go a long way to establish your expertise and generate leads. They also provide ripe opportunities for engagement with your audience.
So when should you use each of these formats? Here are some hints.
Webinars are great for in-depth training or education, product demos, virtual tours or as lead-generation events.
Podcasts on the other hand are great for building your thought leadership, creating evergreen content, or building a community of listeners who share the same interests. You see many of these in the industry from HousingWire, Dave Savage, Brian Hale, Robbie Chrisman and many others.
Partnerships with Industry Publications and Influencers
Forming relationships with the right industry publications and influencers is one of the most important things you can do right now. There are many benefits that come with these relationships:
- They keep you connected to what’s happening in the industry.
- You have an opportunity to learn and provide practical information, education and key strategies and insights that can help others as they navigate the current landscape.
With these relationships, you will lay the foundation for continued collaboration well into the future. These relationships show leadership, build trust with your audience and create a basis for long-term success.
Video and Interactive Media as Non-Negotiables
Video content is considered a must-have for marketing in 2025. It’s highly engaging because, compared to the written word, your audience gets to know who you are and connect a face, name, and voice with you and your expertise. Accordingly, through video, you have much greater opportunity to be memorable and build your audience faster.
Live streaming in particular is growing in popularity. Ryan Serhant, Neil Patel, Neel Dhingra (neelhome), are some of the more popular ones I enjoy that tend to pop up on my iPhone at various times. I find that each of them provide valuable insight, new ideas, or something thought-provoking that I can use.
Key uses for live streaming in real estate could include construction site updates, virtual property tours, interactive staging and more. For tech companies, you can use live streaming for product demos/launches and training. Mortgage lenders also have a variety of ways to use live streaming, from financial education workshops to first-time homebuyer workshops to brand-building and much more.
The most engaging video format dominating social media right now is short-form, “snackable” content, similar to what you see on TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Testimonial videos, animated explainer videos, and live Q&A sessions are also fantastic.
Taking Steps Today to Hit the Ground Running
Communications channels continue to evolve. Taking proactive steps with a forward-thinking strategic mindset, you can be assured that your communications efforts will be relevant and impactful. Start by auditing the tools and channels you’re currently leveraging and identify what’s being underutilized and optimize them to be more efficient. Then, explore opportunities for your team to maximize the potential of current tools before adding more to the mix. By starting now, you will be ready to navigate this environment and position yourself well to conquer and grow.
At Seroka, we specialize in helping mortgage and real estate industry companies implement these strategies to drive results. Let’s work together to position your business for success in 2025 and beyond.