According to Rick Frascona (senior content manager with MadValorem), digital marketing is one of the parts of real estate marketing strategy. Event-driven marketing and predictive analytics can lower costs of direct mail marketing. A Real estate agent can find customers who have a maximum probability of buying or selling houses with the help of predictive analytics.  According to the National Association of Realtors, 92% of homebuyers in 2014 used the internet to search for homes. Read more at: http://www.inman.com/2015/04/21/can-predictive-analytics-breathe-new-life-into-direct-mail-marketing/

The growth of e-commerce in present times has been a cause of worry for many analysts and they proclaim that traditional "bricks and mortar" shopping was going to extinct. But a new study shows the traditional shopping is still alive and well for many Americans. According to new study by global consulting firm A.T. Kearney, consumers continue to flock to physical retail locations and are actually crucial in generating online sales for retailers. According to the study, 90% of all U.S. retail sales conducted last year was done in a physical store versus only about 9% done online. Moreover, 95% of sales were accounted by retailers with bricks and mortar presence. Kearney noted that stores make a significant contribution to generating sales, even if the transaction is eventually done online. Through the five stages of a retail transaction - Discovery, Trial & Test, Purchase, Delivery or Pickup, and Returns - at some point along the chain, the majority of consumers will use a physical store. One could be in smaller mall operators. While Simon is the largest owner, smaller firms like CBL & Associates Properties Inc. (CBL), Macerich Co. (MAC) have all experienced faster funds-from-operations (FFO) growth than their bigger rival. The bottom line is Bricks and mortar stores aren't dead or even dying. Not by a long shot. For investors, that mean the owners of shopping malls, power centers and other retail real estate are in a prime position to continue paying strong dividends for years to come. Read more at: : http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/080614/why-bricks-and-mortar-retail-remains-solid-bet-spg-cbl-mac-amzn.aspx

Big data is the basis for business intelligence, which is about taking all that information and turning it into knowledge to drive better business decisions. Whether its data about retail consumers or homebuyers, it's all the same game.  The business intelligence industry has been analyzing large data sets in corporations for years — decades, really. It’s only now coming to the real estate industry. The amount of data used in the real estate industry isn’t that large. A single major retailer will generate more sales data in a year than the entire real estate industry will in a decade. However, it’s all relative, and the real estate industry is still trying to figure out what data it has, let alone how to use it.

The point is that big data in real estate is about presenting a “whole consumer” picture. It’s about using data to find out who buys what, when, where, why and how. It’s about finding out who will sell a house — when, where, why and how. 

All that data can be used to create tangible insights into consumer behavior using forecasting and modelling software. It’s the analysis that makes the magic happen, that is identifying customers or providing them better services. Analytics is where raw data and the algorithms that crunch it come together. Mining census information, the results of consumer surveys, listings of homes for sale and rent, geographic information systems data and more combine what they draw from numerous databanks with their own proprietary user-generated content. The tools can deliver to consumer’s information about their property's potential value and help them understand home-value trends within a particular milieu, such as a neighborhood or a ZIP code. 

Beyond the consumer and industry-facing aspects of big data, institutions such as banks can plug into big data resources to determine whether a foreclosure or short sale is really worth what a buyer or investor might be offering.

For now, the analysis of big data is likely to stay with those who gather it and companies willing to pay for access, such as the lead generation companies. What real estate agents need to know now is that the data is there and it’s available, in some form or another, to those who are willing to use the right tools.  Read more at: http://mashable.com/2014/07/09/big-data-real-estate/

Today big data is able to change the way real-estate professionals, buyers, sellers and even banks think about transactions involving property. Companies, promoting services that plug consumers into big data real estate information which gives a better education and insight.There are five key ways through which big data is changing the game of real estate business. They are- 1. Big data helps to democratize data for the real-estate customer. Companies such as Zillow combine big data with real estate and offer services like- Mining census information, the results of consumer surveys, listings of homes for sale and rent etc. 2. Big data is not only providing new information to consumers but also new ways of looking at developments and community planning. From that gathered information, real-estate developers can learn what kinds of spaces work best in terms of tenant health, energy efficiency and other points. 3. Institutions like banks are also able to plug into big data resources. 4. As an expert real estate advisor knows recent sales, incentives, and inside secrets to getting the best deal, buyers should have to be careful and should start property searching with the help of big data sites. 5. Finally, Big data let the professionals know what visitors are doing when looking for real estate online and they adjust their paid and organic efforts based on this data daily. Read more at:http://analytics.theiegroup.com/article/53be79af3723a84f1000003f/5-Ways-Big-Data-Is-Changing-Real-Estate