How property marketing was presented just a few years ago

Today the world of Real Estate marketing is radically different from just a few years ago.  Back then on-line 360 virtual tours  with a small set of pictures on a limited size screen was a marketing plan that could sell houses with diligent follow up from your neighborhood Realtor.

Internet property exposure has changed the process radically

Today bandwidth considerations are much more permissive enabling technologies that absorb the viewer into a more complete visualization of the home.  Virtual Tours use all types of marketing phrases for photography techniques, engaging technologies and delivery techniques. There are 360 degree panoramic images, Photoshop retouches, traffic reporting for your virtual tour, marketing plans, floor plans, video clips, HD and full screen delivery and HDR imaging just to name a few and 101 different other ways to present a home to home hunters on line.  The Realtors role has changed to being an expert advisor in the process of buying a home and an expert in negotiating the financial aspects of a home purchase.  Developing a compelling property marketing plan is a challenge to accomplish with all the other demands placed on a Realtor.

A lot of features but no real plan to build a complete property marketing plan

Many Realtors realize that virtual tours are a central piece to the marketing plan for a listing today but all too often virtual tours are just a set of images with modern bandwidth demanding features but no real delivery plan behind the images.  A Realtor should have a marketing strategy that ties all of their tools in to a cohesive system.  A marketing system that addresses the prospective buyer’s questions during the internet search,  at the point of interest and in casual meetings with interested prospective buyers or other Realtors is needed to create a consistent message about the listing that is easily identifiable no matter what Realtor is showing the property or what research is being done on the internet.  With statistical data being the constant factor the variables are the Realtors property description and the photography images available on line and in the virtual tour.  The message in these subjective elements of the plan need to be synchronized so complete marketing system can be a compelling orchestra of information.

A Complete Property Listing Marketing Plan

While we take care to discuss each element of a listing marketing plan below, the key fundamental of a successful system is cross-marketing.  Cross-marketing of programs ties all the different programs together and validates interest by reinforcing one marketing source with another.  People like to hear the same story from different sources, even if those sources originated from the same place!

During the Internet search

Just posting a virtual tour on the internet isn’t enough anymore.  Home hunters are looking at multiple sources of information that validate property credibility.  Sometimes when an outstanding listing is available it gets cross-marketed by other Realtors that want to increase their chances of selling the favorable property to their clients.  This is a good thing in some ways but can be confusing if the message about the property isn’t consistent.  The end result can be loss of potential buyer that couldn’t sort out the selling message of the Realtor and the selling message of the property images made available by the selling Realtor.
The best option is to launch a desk top internet marketing program that includes posting at the top internet home hunting sites.  Exposure Elements offers a comprehensive Exposure Engine to solve this challenge through controlled distribution.  The reasonable cost saves your nights and weekends from the drudgery of listing posting hell as well.  We post to 80+ sites for you and include cross marketing for all the marketing services you choose at the time you book the virtual tour.

At the point of interest

While while the best virtual tours can drive flocks of interested potential buyers to your property it is impractical or just plain impossible to meet every interested party.   Most Realtors use the “property flyer” to solve this challenge. A printed sheet that varies from a 50 cent/sheet budget color copy to productions that can cost as much as $3.00 or more per flyer.  The added challenge is that the fliers can drain out of the flier box at a rate of 30-50 per week or more without leaving any clue to who was interested or taking the fliers.  There is no measurable return on this investment and no way to engage with an interested party.

At Exposure Elements we recommend that Realtors consider using an SMS mobile marketing tool that we offer to provide an accountable and a measurable alternative to the flier.  Our TxT2Look single property mobile website delivers images, a detailed property description, a realtor background and even a link to a mobile virtual tour or YouTube video.  This tool was developed to replace the old single property website that is still being used today by uninformed realtors.  Single property mobile websites get your listing on a home hunters phone providing that  valuable second look that can engage a buyer well after they have made the visit to the home and neighborhood.  It provides information to interested parties 24 hours a day and NEVER runs out.  It presents the information in a data format so it can be easily forwarded.  The service uses SMS text messaging to deliver initial data and to simplify access to the mobile internet.  SMS text messaging is found on 98 percent of the mobile phones in the US today and virtually every cell phone sold today supports SMS text messaging. An included reporting feature can give you the validation and valuable insight to visitor interest and as a silver lining, it will capture their mobile phone number for follow up.   If this home isn’t the right home for the mobile inquirer you may be able to help them find another home that will work for them.

In situations where Information on Demand is required

Anywhere and everywhere the listing Realtor goes they encounter potential home buyers that could be the buyer for their listing.  Usually the common response is to send the interested person home to view the property on the internet.  The problem here is twofold.  In today’s world of information access at your mobile phone anytime, people want information now and are becoming accustomed to getting it.  Being without an engaging tool to share your listing at the moment can potentially lose a buyer and most assuredly can cause you to lose the opportunity to get that interested persons ongoing communication.
Sending people home to see a property on the internet is a lost cause today as they likely forget and move on to another listing.  Sending them to a desk top website on their mobile phone is another lost cause that will only frustrate your potential home buyers.  The Exposure Elements Single Property Mobile Website solves these challenges and does it in an elegant and engaging way using SMS text messaging to access the mobile internet.

Validation of marketing efforts is imperative to a successful marketing plan

Quality images, single property mobile websites, a cohesive distribution strategy, virtual tours,  these are all elements of a marketing strategy that when put together correctly can drive home hunters to your listing BUT they are not worth much if you can’t prove that they are working!  Reporting mechanisms need to be in place to monitor the success of the strategy and understand what parts of the plan are driving the interest.  As I mentioned above, the single property mobile website has some very good reporting tools included in the service delivery but that isn’t enough.  Exposure Elements also offers a virtual tour reporting tool that provided weekly reports showing the number of visitors by day, which tour images are the most popular and how those people are getting pointed to the virtual tour.   With the ample amount of data proving that home shoppers want to see virtual tours it becomes a no brainer to point all your marketing efforts towards the virtual tour ultimately providing the validation or rejection of marketing sources and your property listing strategy.

Tying all the services together to create one cohesive and consistent marketing service

In review, the three components for a successful marketing plan are internet property marketing at real estate portal sites, internet property marketing at the point of interest and an internet property marketing tool that is easily accessible to a Realtor in his/her daily public activities.  Creating a unified approach using cross-marketing techniques that tie the images, the property description and the property statistics into one consistent message focusing on the same value points eliminates home hunter confusion and ultimately builds buyer confidence in the property.   Adding validation reporting that can be delivered to the seller increases seller confidence and validates the value of the marketing system by proving the marketing plans effectiveness.

Exposure Elements is a growing Silicon Valley Virtual Tour and SMS Mobile Marketing company wrapping these services together to create the first complete property exposure marketing company in Northern California.  We are committed to creating a better, more efficient method of marketing property that adds value to everyone in the selling process.  To order an Exposure Elements listing marketing program in the San Francisco Bay Area call us at 408-440-2278 or 408-431-0461.

www.exposureelements.com
Order a virtual tour: 408-431-0461

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