5 Key Takeaways from the Accelerate Real Estate Marketing Conference

The real estate marketing landscape is evolving fast. At Zonda’s Accelerate conference, industry leaders tackled the biggest challenges and opportunities shaping how we connect with today’s homebuyers. One thing was clear—what worked in the past won’t necessarily work in the future.

From the shifting role of AI in search to the renewed focus on brand and trust, here are five key takeaways from the event.

1. Brand Matters More Than Ever

For years, digital marketing has prioritized the numbers—clicks, impressions, leads. But as Swan Sit, former Global Head of Digital Marketing at Nike, put it: “Be human. Brands do matter.”

With the rise of AI-generated content flooding the internet, simply chasing metrics isn’t enough. Homebuyers want to feel seen and understood. That means telling a compelling brand story, building trust, and offering insights that go beyond just selling a house. Marketing today isn’t about just being found—it’s about being remembered.

2. AI is Changing Search—And How We Think About SEO

Organic search traffic isn’t what it used to be. “96.6% of content gets no traffic from Google.” – Tim Soulo, CMO of Ahrefs and AI-driven tools like Google’s AI Overviews and ChatGPT are answering questions without requiring users to click through to a website. This shift is fundamentally altering SEO, forcing marketers to rethink what success looks like. 

Tom LeBaron, VP of Performance & Growth Marketing at Zonda, pointed out that top-ranking websites actually use AI less often. Why? Because Google’s ranking priorities have shifted—it’s not just about producing content, but producing the right content. With AI-generated material flooding the internet, Google is prioritizing originality, authority, and relevance over sheer volume.

Britney Muller, an AI consultant, summed it up perfectly: “AI-generated content represents the literal average of everything online.” If you’re relying solely on AI to churn out articles, you’re not adding anything new—and Google knows it. Instead, the brands that will thrive are the ones bringing original insights, unique perspectives, and deep expertise to the table.

Michael King, founder of iPullRank, put it bluntly: “We are all relevance engineers.” That means the role of SEO is evolving from just ranking for keywords to establishing true thought leadership in your space.

Swan Sit, former Global Head of Digital Marketing at Nike, Estée Lauder, and Revlon, reminded us that “AI won’t take your job, someone who uses AI will take your job.” This serves as a powerful reminder: Embrace AI as a tool to amplify creativity, not as a replacement for human insight. The marketers who will thrive are those who can leverage technology while maintaining a distinctly human touch.

So, what should marketers do?

• Stop chasing clicks—start building brand authority. SEO isn’t just a lead generation tool anymore; it’s a branding channel. It’s about being present and visible in the right searches, not just driving traffic.
  
• Create content for humans, not algorithms. Google’s EEAT (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) framework rewards brands that demonstrate real expertise and provide meaningful value.
  
• Know your brand’s topical authority. Take stock of your website’s content—is it aligned with what you want to be known for? Are you leading conversations, or just adding to the noise?

In this new landscape, your brand is your backlink. It’s no longer just about ranking high on Google—it’s about being a trusted voice that people actively seek out. And that’s something AI alone can’t replicate.

3. Personalization is the Future of the Buyer’s Journey

Buying a home isn’t a quick decision—it’s a long and emotional journey. Ed Carey, CEO of Audience Town, shared fascinating stats from a typical home-buying journey:

• 75 days from the initial website visit to calling the builder
  
• 185 days to visit a model home
  
• 263 days to sign a contract

That means marketers need to stop thinking in terms of campaigns and start thinking about ongoing, personalized conversations. And, the work isn’t over once you get to the signed contract. The Bokka Group’s, Paula Huggett, stressed the importance of perfecting the entire buyer process which also includes financing, design, construction, close and warranty. It is these steps in the process that cement buyer loyalty and referrals. David Edelman, a digital strategy expert, urged brands to shift from campaign bombardment to a “next best conversation” approach—serving the right message at the right time.

Personalization isn’t just about automation—it’s about making buyers feel understood. As Swan Sit put it: “Personalization is saying, ‘Hey, I see you.’”

4. Sales and Marketing Must Work Together

Marketing doesn’t end when a lead is generated—it should be working in lockstep with sales to keep buyers engaged and moving forward.

Jeff Shore, founder of Shore Consulting, drove home a critical point: “Momentum is everything. It’s so much easier to sustain momentum than restart it.” That means reducing friction at every step of the process.

One of the biggest friction points? Affordability & confidence. Ali Wolf, Chief Economist at Zonda, highlighted that today’s buyers need more than just incentives: “Incentives don’t drive urgency anymore. They’re expensive, and they don’t move the needle.” Instead, brands should focus on clarity—helping buyers understand what they can afford and guiding them through the financial side of homebuying, reinforcing their confidence that they made the right decision.

5. Rethinking Metrics: Focus on Momentum, Not Just Numbers

For too long, marketing success has been defined by vanity metrics—website traffic, impressions, and even leads. But the real question is: Are these numbers translating into real outcomes?

Jeff Shore, Founder of Shore Consulting, reminded us that the sales report is a lagging indicator—it’s just a history report. By the time you see a dip in sales, the real problem started weeks or even months ago. Instead of just tracking the past, brands need to focus on momentum—keeping customers engaged and moving forward before they stall out.

This brings us to the most important metric of all: trust. Elicia Azali, CMO of Beazer Homes, put it simply: “Trust is the ultimate metric.” Buyers aren’t just looking for information; they’re looking for confidence. Can they afford this home? Will the process be seamless? Will they regret their decision? Every interaction—whether it’s an ad, a website visit, or an in-person tour—should reinforce trust and remove doubt.

Stephanie McCarty, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at Taylor Morrison, emphasized that brands are built from the inside out. Before you can win over customers, you have to influence your own organization—aligning teams, getting buy-in, and making sure everyone is on board with the brand’s message. When marketing and sales work together, the experience becomes more cohesive, and trust is built at every step.

And when it comes to marketing spend, most brands are looking at the wrong numbers. McCarty pointed out that 95% of budgets are spent on the 5% of people already in the market, while the majority—those not yet ready to buy—are overlooked. Instead of only focusing on the low-funnel audience, brands should be investing in long-term awareness and trust-building. That way, when buyers are finally ready, your brand is the one they remember.

So instead of just reporting on past numbers, marketers should be asking:

• Are we building momentum, or just tracking sales?
  
• Are we creating trust at every touchpoint?
  
• Are we first influencing our own organization to deliver a seamless experience?
  
• Are we nurturing future buyers, not just chasing the ones already in-market?
  

Success isn’t just about more traffic or more leads—it’s about keeping the right people moving forward.

Our Take: Metrics Still Matter

One theme kept surfacing throughout the conference: brand matters more than ever. And while we absolutely agree, we also feel that de-emphasizing core marketing metrics like website traffic, form completions, and phone calls is a bit of a cop-out.

It’s tempting to say that these numbers will become less important, but we believe they remain strong barometers of success. The evolution of marketing isn’t about abandoning metrics—it’s about marrying business metrics with marketing metrics. We need to stop siloing the numbers finance and operations focus on and bring them under one house with marketing.

That means connecting all sources—impressions, clicks, and traffic—to sales outcomes. It’s about linking onsite traffic and tour conversions to lost buyers, co-broke rates, and cancellations, then analyzing those trends over time. Success in real estate marketing requires a holistic view, where brand-building and data-driven decision-making go hand in hand.

Yes, brand matters. But we can’t take the easy road and ignore the numbers. Instead, we need to evolve our approach—integrating marketing and business metrics to drive real, measurable success.

As a sponsor of the Accelerate conference, we were proud to contribute to the conversation on industry innovation. Our proprietary advanced analytics support the integration of marketing and business metrics, ensuring that brand-building efforts align with measurable outcomes. One example is our Resale Geofencing strategy, designed to help builders target their biggest competition, resales, more effectively. By leveraging data-driven insights and strategic targeting, we help our clients navigate the evolving real estate landscape with precision—where creativity and analytics work hand in hand to drive success.