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How We Breathe Life Into Dead Advertising Space

By
Real Estate Technology with ActiveRain

One of the awesome things about Ben Kinney buying ActiveRain, is I get to once again be really close to a successful real estate operation (those that have been around for a long time know that prior to launching ActiveRain back in 2006, we owned our own brokerage in WA, Brio Realty).

Today, I want to share with you something Ben's team is doing to breathe life into what was previously dead advertising space.

Open House Directional Signs - Dead Advertising Space

Ben's team does Open Houses. If done properly, they can be a great source of lead generation at the property and lots of agents and teams swear by them (and I know, plenty don't). But what about those 10-12 directional signs that go out around the neighborhood? Until recently, those have always been 'dead advertising space'. Meaning, people drive by and see them, but they have no real call to action and they don't do a ton for our business from a lead generation standpoint.

Think about it, maybe, if the person is actually headed to your open house, they serve to point them in the right direction. And maybe, maybe (we should probably throw in a third maybe here, because I seriously doubt this happens often) maybe they get lost, see the phone number on the sign, and call? Seems pretty doubtful.

So what then for that person that has no plans to attend your open house right now? Well, when they drive by your open house sign, it's dead advertising. There is no call to action for that person. So we tried to solve that on Ben's team. This is what we came up with:

 

 

Give Dead Advertising Space a 'Call To Action'

As you can see, we created a call to action for someone that might just be driving by the sign, but isn't actually headed to our open house. So what happens when you text BKOPEN to 59559? 

You get this message back:

"Here is a list of upcoming open houses this week courtesy of the Ben Kinney Real Estate Team! whatcomopen.com"

At this point, it doesn't matter if the consumer actually goes to whatcomopen.com (although if they do, they will get exactly what we said they would, a list of all open houses in Whatcom County coming up via the IDX feed on our website and we don't have to update it.....), the act of them texting BKOPEN to 59559 delivered their cell phone number to us.

We get their cell phone number, they get a list of upcoming open houses this week.......everyone wins! And we figured out how to turn dead advertising space into something useful for his real estate business!

In a decent location, this will generate a few leads per open house when there are 10-12 signs out. Nothing huge. But before these signs did nothing more than point them in the right direction......

(FULL DISCLOSURE: Ben created that text code using KWKLY, a text messaging service that we own and operate)

 

Posted by

Bob Stewart
ActiveRain
408-638-1834

 

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Diana Dahlberg
1 Month Realty - Pleasant Prairie, WI
Real Estate in Kenosha, WI since 1994 262-308-3563

A great and innovative idea that can also be used in our print advertising and regular signage.  Thanks for sharing.  Definitely outside of the box marketing.

Jun 15, 2016 12:08 AM
Ron Aguilar
Gateway Mortgage Group - Saint George, UT
Mortgage & Real Estate Advisor since 1995

I have always been a fan of Open House concepts. This is also a good strategy. And today we still have agents that oppose particpating in Open Houses. That's OK it leaves the business to those that are willing to meet people if done correctly.

Jun 15, 2016 12:40 AM
Kathleen Daniels, Probate & Trust Specialist
KD Realty - 408.972.1822 - San Jose, CA
Probate Real Estate Services

Thanks for sharing this.  I am one who is not a fan of open houses. That's okay. Also, in my market ... working with buyers is not on my top 100 list.  

Jun 15, 2016 12:55 AM
Donna & Larry Johnson
Keller Williams Real Estate - West Chester, PA
Chester & Delaware County

Always glad to hear about another great idea from Ben Kinney Team.

Thanks!

Jun 15, 2016 01:18 AM
Mark Artesani
Keller Williams Realty - Fountain Valley, CA
Huntington & Newport Beach, Fountain Valley Homes

Good Stuff There is a good reason Ben is where he is.

Jun 15, 2016 01:36 AM
Kelly Turbeville
Keller Williams - Lake Forest, CA
Turning Real Estate Dreams into Reality

Great idea.. only issue we have here is many of the cities/hoa only allow the green directional signs... Drives me crazy... why do they care..

Jun 15, 2016 03:11 AM
Macy Babb ... North Georgia Realtor
Re/Max Around Atlanta Realtor - 404-234-6166 - Cartersville, GA
Realtor, SFR, HUD/REO Certified

Great idea...may have to research on how I can apply to my niche of HUD homes

Jun 15, 2016 07:36 AM
Robert Hammerstein -
Christie's International Real Estate - Hillsdale, NJ
Bergen County NJ Real Estate

Bob - More forward thinking from the king of forward thinking. Thanks for sharing that with us all.

Jun 15, 2016 07:57 AM
Lise Howe
Keller Williams Capital Properties - Washington, DC
Assoc. Broker in DC, MD, VA and attorney in DC

Bob Stewart - is this something that Kwkly can do for the rest of us? 

Jun 15, 2016 02:36 PM
Matthew O'Hare
Osterville, MA

Branding and devoloping new ideas to sear our efforts into prospective clients brains is an ongoing and out of box experience.

 

Jun 15, 2016 10:10 PM
Chelsea Robinson
Rodeo Realty - Encino, CA
Chelsea Robinson

Great idea! My primary question becomes: now, how do you set it up with the IDX?

Jun 17, 2016 03:50 AM
Tammy Adams ~ Realtor / Podcaster
Maricopa Real Estate Co - Maricopa, AZ
A Maricopa Agent who Works, Lives & Loves Maricopa

Such a simple thing that it seems like a no brainer. I see us all doing that "I could have had a V8 slap.  LOL

Jun 19, 2016 12:08 PM
Evelyn Johnston
Friends & Neighbors Real Estate - Elkhart, IN
The People You Know, Like and Trust!

Brilliant! I love this idea, just had a bunch of directionals printed up....drat!

Jul 22, 2016 09:35 AM
Evelyn Johnston
Friends & Neighbors Real Estate - Elkhart, IN
The People You Know, Like and Trust!

What happened to those meetings that Ben Kinney  was going to do all over the country earlier this Spring Bob Stewart ? 

Jul 22, 2016 09:38 AM
Bob Stewart
ActiveRain - Mesa, AZ
ActiveRain

Evelyn Johnston ,

I believe that Ben has done 8 (but don't quote me on that number) RE8 conferences this year in different locations across the country. (I attended the one just outside of Chicago back in March-ish)

We took a break for the Summer and will be back at them again in September. We'll definitely try to let everyone know when those are coming and what the agenda is for the last four months of the year for the RE8 conferences.

Jul 22, 2016 09:51 AM
Evelyn Johnston

I didn't even hear about the one in Chicago! Larry and I would have been there...nothing would have kept us away!

Jul 22, 2016 11:03 AM
Barbara Calwhite
Keller Williams Realty of Southwest Missouri - Joplin, MO
417-438-7387 Specializing in Relocation

Another great idea from the Ben Kinney Team.  I missed this back in June but better late than never.  Thanks for the info 

Mar 05, 2017 06:11 AM
Jan Green - Scottsdale, AZ
Value Added Service, 602-620-2699 - Scottsdale, AZ
HomeSmart Elite Group, REALTOR®, EcoBroker, GREEN

Don't know how I missed this!  Thanks!

Mar 09, 2017 02:02 PM
Frank Rubi
Frank Rubi Real Estate, LLC - Metairie, LA
FrankRubiRealEstate.com

Not a fan of open house but I can see the use of Texting in advertising. 

May 07, 2017 05:11 AM
LaShonda Solomon
Atlanta Communities Real Estate Brokerage - Kennesaw, GA
Serving Cobb, Paulding, Douglas, Bartow Counties

Great information on texting for leads. Thanks for sharing. 

Aug 16, 2018 08:12 PM
Nick Krehnke 425-202-5655
Barrett Financial Group - Seattle, WA
"Your Trusted Expert Friend in the Home Loan Biz"

Who else also thought having a"Free recorded message" and a snappy phone number seemed less confusing then these text code call to actions?

A worthy cross test?

Apr 07, 2019 09:43 PM