Real Estate Marketing - What Type of Marketing Works?

Over the past few years we have seen a huge shift in the way small businesses and multi-billion dollar companies market their products. There has been a big shift in where these companies have allocated their marketing budget and there is a reason why. The Internet & Social Media is changing the way we market products, engage with prospects and use technology to our benefit.

For informational purposes only. Always consult with a licensed real estate professional before proceeding with any real estate transaction.

Print Marketing in Real Estate

In the past print marketing was a very effective way for real estate agents to market homes to buyers. People used to pick up the weekly real estate news paper, magazines and property books to view all the new homes that were for sale. There is still a large portion of agents that advertise their clients listings in print media, but DOES IT REALLY WORK?

Agents normally use print marketing to make the sellers happy and to show them that they are doing something to earn their commissions. You may see pages upon pages of some agents in news papers and magazines, but does print advertising work to SELL homes? No it does not sell their listings.

The National Association of Realtors did a study in 2008 and they found that less than 1%, YES, less than ONE PERCENT of home buyers found their home through a home magazine. The percentage increases a little when it comes to news papers, but still very low.

I have also used print media in the past as a part of my marketing plan, but I found that there were barley any response from these adds. Print marketing is not cheap and agents spend a lot of their marketing budget on print media, but does it get their clients RESULTS? I don't think so, not from my experience.

90% of Buyers Start Their Search ONLINE!

It is 2010 and over 90 percent of home buyers start their search on the world wide Internet. Yes, this is where buyers search for their next home, they sit at the comfort of their home computer or while at work. This is where buyers search for their next home as they have started to dream about moving to their next house. They can view up to 20 images as to one or two images that they would see in print advertising. Some agents have even gone above and beyond by using professional photographers to take the pictures of their listings. This is also a must when you are dealing with buyers that search online. You want to capture their attention when they are sitting by their pc at home or at work.

This is where the dream starts and they can view additional details including virtual tours, interactive floor plans, walk score (the walk-ability of the property to local amenities), Google Street View so they can basically drive down in front of your home online in the comfort of behind their pc. You also have Birds eye view, where buyers get an elevated view of your property. They can even get directions from their house to the house of interest, all from their home.

When Selling Your Home, Where Do You Want Your Agent To Market?

If you are selling your home, where do you want your to focus their marketing of your home? There are agents out there that credit their success to print marketing or even their own personalized magazine. I beg to differ that as the evidence point that the INTERNET exposes their home to MORE BUYERS than any magazine or news paper will ever do in today's market.

There are many ways that real estate professionals market homes. Often, home owners have no ability to market their home using the same channels as real estate agents.

For example, the MLS website is a website on which only real estate professionals can post listings. The MLS website lists homes for sale in areas all over the country. Typically, the only homes not included on the MLS are homes that are listed for sale by their owners.

Real estate agents are specially trained to create real estate listings for the MLS. They use their experience and special knowledge of the real estate industry to craft listings that will interest buyers. Real estate agents use a combination of creative wording and good pictures to make a home look enticing. Many homeowners find crafting a listing to be a challenge.

In addition, many real estate professionals have the ability to send postcard advertisements to local property owners. Doing this would be difficult for homeowners trying to sell their own house, because many homeowners lack the resources to design and mail a post card.

Finally, many real estate agents have special marketing training. This makes it easier for real estate professionals to come up with different methods to market the homes they're selling.

Speak to a Licensed Real Estate Agent Today

If you are thinking of selling, make sure you hire an agent with a web presence as this is more important than ever when you are selling your home. Do your re-search and see if you can find them online if you are considering them to sell your home. Do they have one website? Do they have two? Do they market their website so that it easily found on the Internet in the serach engines? Even Google your Agents name, do you find them and how many pages do you find of them in Google? Do they use Social Media? (We will touch on that in another blog)

Next time when you hire an agent to SELL your house, ask yourself where you want them to advertise.

For informational purposes only. Always consult with a licensed real estate professional before proceeding with any real estate transaction.