Are YOU doing it?
What I'm talking about today is Marketing (no, not advertising). You may be asking yourself, "what's the difference?" and there actually is a huge difference between the two. Today I want to show you the difference between ADVERTISING a home, and MARKETING a home.
When many agents go to a listing appointment, they show their potential clients the many ways that they will MARKET their home, when in fact, with the methods that they use, they should tell their clients the many ways they will ADVERTISE their home. OK so what is the difference? Lets first take a look at advertising, as agents are most familiar with it.
Advertising: The dictionary defines it as: "the act or practice of calling public attention to one's product, service, need, etc., esp. by paid announcements in newspapers and magazines, over radio or television, on billboards, etc.: to get more customers by advertising." Here is typical advertising for a property: An agent takes a listing, and either hires a photographer, or takes the photos themselves of the property, places them on a flyer, postcard, or website with a description, price, and agent contact info....sounds normal enough I know, and the majority of agents do this type of property advertising. The problem is deeper than what we see on the surface of the flyer. Advertising simply places the home in the public view for potential clients to see. It doesn't bring an emotional tie between the property and the potential home owner. Many of us know that many people purchase based on impulse and emotion, so you need to bring that emotion to the flyer or other form of advertising to bring clients to your property that is for sale.
Marketing: The dictionary doesn't give a great 21st century definition, but if you go to google and type in DEFINE: MARKETING, you will get many definitions...I like this one: "perceived by lots of business people to mean simply promotion and advertising, the term marketing actually covers everything from company culture and positioning, through market research, new business/product development, advertising and promotion, PR (public/press relations), and arguably all of the sales functions as well. It's the process by which a company decides what it will sell, to whom, when and how, and then does it." What the world doesn't need in real estate anymore is photos of vacant properties (no furnishings) or photos of half baths that only show part of a pedestal sink or part of a toilet, or a empty bedroom (or so we think, all we see in the photo is part of 2 walls and either a ceiling with a light, or carpet). What I am NOT talking about here is taking bad photos, (there are plenty of great articles discussing this) what I am trying to teach is that instead of showing photos (like what I mentioned above) why not take photos of the front of the house, the kitchen, maybe the living room, and then take photos say the neighborhood, or the great park down the road, or something of the like. Margaret Woda and I spoke regarding this last week while I was working on her PC. She said that if the property you are trying to sell has a gourmet kitchen, show multiple photos of that kitchen or if it is a "large & spacious home" take photos and place them in the flyer of the LARGE and spacious rooms, not necessarily the small bedroom or tiny half bath. If the property is sitting on a large corner lot - that for instance is rare in that area, then you need to showcase that lot, with multiple photos...not saying you need to exclude interior photos, but showcase the exterior and include a few key interior shots as well. Most people are going to assume that the house had bedrooms & baths, and unless the rooms are really outstanding (and you can prove it from PHOTOS) then they really don't need to be in your ad or marketing piece. Let's take that great house on the corner lot. We include the wonderful photos of the front, the side, and maybe a shot or two with the kids playing in the yard (I will talk about this shortly). People will pick up the flyer and go, WOW that really is a great yard, the kids look really happy and there is plenty of room for football, or there is hardly any maintenance needed...lets take a look at this house! BOOM you just got a showing because of the emotion factor and showing them the value in that lot.
Another great form of advertising is using actual people in the photos. You have to be careful with this one, because you can't try and market to a particular type of people or age group...this we all know, so I recommend using different people in different photos. Take for example the living room shot, why not have a family sitting on the couch eating popcorn watching a movie, or a family (different generation and races) sitting at the dining room table eating a holiday meal, or kids in a bedroom playing video games, or people in the back yard enjoying a cookout. This sells emotion as well, and is a great way to help sell your property in this flooded market.
Lets use this example below....which one appeals to you more and makes you want to see it first:
The picture on the left shows me a functional kitchen with obviously room for 4, new appliances, nice countertops etc....while the photo on the right shows a room (actually it's a master bedroom-you would never know it though) this photo doesn't show me size prospective (what can I fit in this room, what does it feature, what IS this room?) It really does nothing for you.
Take a look at major companies such as NIKE or APPLE. When they market a new product (lets take the IPOD for example) they don't show you 20 photos of the thing. They usually give you a LARGE photo of a person on a treadmill using the IPOD or kids in the back of the car watching the video on the IPOD or someone walking down the street listening to the tunes. Then they also show a photo of the actual device. What they are doing is selling you the practical use of the product or the "coolness" factor the product-that's so cool I want one for working out on the treadmill too! They don't need to show you every little photo of every angle of that device, they show you what sells it! This is one way of them making millions of sales. Not saying that the IPOD is necessarily the best music device out there, but it is definitely the best marketed device out there. So you want to go out there and market your home better than all those other homes out there available in your area!
So again as a recap, MARKET those rooms that will truly sell that house or MARKET the property...if that is where the bang for the buck is at. We all know that your clients house is NOT the best property around, but you need to show the potential client WHAT that property has to offer them.
Best of success to you & your's this Holiday season
David Fox,
The Real Estate Tech Desk
www.defpc.net
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