marketing: When reality does not meet expectations disappointment ensues!
- 01/07/13 10:34 PM
The much ballyhooed BCS Championship game was supposed to be edge-of-your-seat non-stop excitement. Instead, it was a snooze. Even college football fans with no particular affiliation or inclination were disappointed when reality did not meet their expectations. The same phenomenon can occur with hype-marketing in ANY business endeavor. When a product or service is exaggerated to the point of hyperbole, consumers are often left with the feeling of being misled. There is a significant difference between showing a product in its best light and overkill. Knowing the difference is what sets good marketing apart from the rest. And it is often … (18 comments)
marketing: Has the Internet made marketing easier today than 20 years ago? NO WAY
- 11/22/12 09:10 PM
I often hear colleagues remark about how the Internet has made the task of marketing easier. And while I agree that it may be faster, there is no way that it is easier. In the “old” days, we prepared ad copy and submitted it, much as we do today. But that was all there was to it. We didn’t have to know about SEO and Pandas and we didn’t have to constantly maintain a working knowledge of all of the latest updates and new algorithms. We only needed to know the circulation, and where the marketing was delivered. I will not … (63 comments)
marketing: Rogue, renegade reactionary or resourceful? Marketing on the edge.
- 06/12/12 10:39 PM
Marketing has always been a cutting edge art. Good marketing is not just the simple conveyance of information, but it is doing so in such a way that the message is easily recalled by the potential customer. Remember those horrible “screaming” commercials on TV? The ones that made you lunge for the remote in a frantic effort to abate the noise? Do you remember who ran the ads? If you do the “out-of-the-box” marketing worked. And while I am not an advocate of screaming, I do like to see marketers delve into uncharted territory with innovative and creative ideas that constantly … (9 comments)
marketing: Marketing or gimmickry?
- 03/20/12 10:16 PM
In any business endeavor, effective marketing is the key to success. And there are many theories as to what makes marketing effective. Remember all of those screaming commercials on TV? You know, the ones with the shrieking so loud that it made you change the channel? Can you remember the product or service that was being offered in those spots? Gimmickry has been around as long as there was something to sell. Experienced marketers will tell you that you have to have a “hook” in order to snag potential customers. In the housing industry, most gimmicks revolve around financing. “Special” financing, … (12 comments)
marketing: Instant gratification v. long term success in marketing.
- 03/11/12 11:12 PM
A successful business advertising campaign is NOT akin to winning a lottery. Rarely is any endeavor likely to take on a life of its own without proper promotion or marketing. And as any marketing consultant will tell you, it takes consistent advertising over a period of time to achieve significant results. There is neither sorcery nor magic that will override this basic tenet. It can take months or even years to see significant results from an advertising campaign. That makes it very easy to give up on promotional efforts that may actually be establishing a foothold in the marketplace. Many, many … (11 comments)
marketing: Understanding the infrastructure of marketing. Consistency over time is the key!
- 01/21/12 01:15 AM
Business is cyclical. Marketing is not! A good marketing plan must be consistently implemented over time to be successful. Too many businesses ignore marketing while they are busy, and then splurge on it during the slow times. But pushing peaks of marketing against the troughs of weak business is reactionary and results in a significant lag between marketing and new business. Consistent, dedicated marketing over time acts a damper that mitigates the extreme cycles of business and governs the fluctuations into a manageable flow. So even the busiest of times demands an allocation of resources for marketing. It’s the best way … (13 comments)
marketing: Flying “under the radar” may be great in warfare but for business: not so much!
- 01/12/12 12:30 AM
Stealth can be very useful under some circumstances. Selling real estate is not one of them. The real estate “Secret Agent” may be highly skilled and knowledgeable, but may have lost sight of the ultimate mission which is to engage as many potential clients as possible. In the real estate marketing arena, consumers rarely seek technical proficiency. In the overwhelming majority of cases, visibility is the number one reason a buyer or seller will call a real estate professional. Interestingly enough, developing a dominating presence is no longer the purview of the wealthy. Anyone willing to roll up their sleeves and … (31 comments)
marketing: Don’t wait for customers…create them! Do you sell houses or do you sell your community?
- 08/20/11 01:57 AM
Not every buyer has chosen EXACTLY where they would like to live. Many are looking at a region or a metropolitan area, but have NOT selected any particular community. So it stands to reason that in order to attract these undecided buyers, you have to sell your community first, and if you are successful in doing so, you may create a buyer where before there was none. Marketing is not just about bedrooms and bathrooms. It’s about parks and schools and shopping and churches and good restaurants. It is also about available services such as airports and hospitals and full … (86 comments)
marketing: Early bloomers get the jump, but they disappear quickly!
- 03/23/11 11:05 AM
Life often parallels nature. As the early blooms of spring slowly yield to the permanent leaves of Summer, the realization occurs that fresh Spring beauty is only temporary. Just like a blaze that flares up quickly and quickly burns itself out, the upstart professional will lay everything on the line up front in an effort to grab attention, only to see any short-term success far outweighed by long term obscurity. Slow and steady marketing efforts deliver results OVER TIME, and a well paced, well budgeted campaign will success over short-term advertising bursts or media blitzes. Christmas may only come once a … (8 comments)
marketing: Photos and reality. Is it deception or marketing?
- 02/28/11 12:44 AM
There has been quite a buzz lately about listing photos not depicting the true condition of the property. Many consider this to be a misrepresentation of the product. And I believe that there are times that a case can be made for the latter. I have seen bank-owned properties that are in terrible condition being represented by the original listing photos which may have been taken years ago while the property was pristine. But I don’t see anything wrong with putting a property in its best light with good current photographs. While a good picture is worth a thousand words … (12 comments)
marketing: Creating a sense of urgency is difficult amid a sea of complacency.
- 11/16/10 12:05 AM
Time is money. One of the oldest marketing techniques involves creating an overwhelming sense of urgency that compels fence sitting consumers to take immediate action. The “If you snooze you lose” mindset of deadlines and incentives is intended to foment a frenzy of furious activity. But is a real estate market driven more by complacency than immediacy, it is a challenge to keep buyers inspired to take action. And all too often these days, the only effective marketing tool is undercutting price. The message is simple: If you don’t have to sell now …DON’T! And if you are buying, be aware … (54 comments)
marketing: Creativity and marketing. There is a method to the madness!
- 11/13/10 12:20 AM
I am often very surprised to hear a real estate agent say that they are not very creative. After all, real estate is a marketing business and separation marketing depends on the ability to cogitate unique ideas. Although creativity is unique to the individual and percolates from deep within the conscious fountainhead, the metamorphosis of transforming an idea to a successful marketing conclusion is a methodical process. My partner at the office and I “brainstorm” every day about new ways to generate more business. And while many of the suggestions that are thrown into the mix are summarily discarded, some … (74 comments)
marketing: “At the end of the day, the property has to stand on its own!”
- 08/06/10 01:24 AM
When I do a listing presentation, I tell potential clients about all of the marketing methods that I will employ to get their real estate in front of as many buyers as possible. Using all of my Internet savvy combined with conventional strategies does indeed present the property to a plethora of possible purchasers. But I NEVER guarantee that I will sell the house. Because at the end of the day, the property has to stand on its own! There is a multitude of reasons that people buy houses, and an even larger number of reasons that cause a purchaser … (45 comments)
marketing: Are you spending too much time, effort and money on marketing and getting too little in return?
- 02/24/10 11:11 PM
Marketing is an essential part of any business. And there are thousands of ways to get your business message delivered to your target audience. But there is one tenet that absolutely holds true and that is that the amount of money that you spend on marketing has nothing to do with achieving measurable results. Because while many advertising efforts may be time consuming and expensive, they are not necessarily effective in generating new business. And since many of the most costly endeavors require long contracts, it’s easy to blow the marketing budget on an inefficient program or system. If a new … (19 comments)
marketing: Sometimes thinking outside the box can create a marketing legend. The Rock City Barns.
- 05/26/09 12:12 AM
Marketing is a strange and fickle paramour. When approached in a conventional manner, it may or may not respond in the way that is expected. Sometimes exercising a little more effort and creativity than the norm is required. A case in point is the famous "See Rock City" barns and birdhouses. The marketing program was instituted in the middle of the Great Depression as a way of promoting a tourist attraction on Lookout Mountain Tennessee. The concept was simple. Rock City would paint a barn for free. Not just any barn, but one that was prominent alongside a well traveled highway. … (70 comments)
marketing: Uncovering the abstract in simple forms ... or ... it's all in the way you look at it!
- 03/04/09 10:57 PM
By nature, we are all programmed to see the ‘big picture." Since human beings have binocular vision and are capable of processing complex three dimensional images, we often seek complexity in our stimuli. We seek the house with the best view, or the properly staged or decorated model that has every minute detail skillfully designed to stimulate the senses. The truly exciting properties are the ones in which we use descriptions like "wow factor" or "blown away!" The same applies to marketing. The latest theories have graphic design pushed to extreme limits, demanding ocular attention and seizing the mind. Once again, … (14 comments)
marketing: Sexism and the Super Bowl ...It's not funny and the message isn't getting across!
- 02/01/09 11:08 PM
Like most adults in the country, I watched the Super Bowl last night. It was a great game, one of the best and most competitive of all time, and my Pittsburgh Steelers triumphed over the worthy Arizona Cardinals. And like most regular Super Bowl watchers, I looked forward to the commercials. When advertisers pay three million dollars for a thirty second spot, you know that they want to make it count and really go all out. Instead of being entertained, though, I was sickened and disturbed. About half of the commercials were very demeaning to both men and women. The men … (68 comments)
The much ballyhooed BCS Championship game was supposed to be edge-of-your-seat non-stop excitement.
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