Larry, Evan and Brad Sage

Sage Real Estate in Toronto is now making personalized online and social media marketing part of its basic package for clients. Sellers who list with Sage will have their home featured on its own dedicated website linked by key words to search engines such as Google and social media sites like YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Realty Stock, Oodle, Craigslist and Kijiji.

Homes will also be showcased on Sage’s own new site at www.sagerealestate.ca.

“Research now shows that up to 90 per cent of people looking for a new home start their search on the Internet,” says Evan Sage, company vice-president. “It just made perfect sense to us to take maximum advantage of digital technology and the new media to make selling a home faster and more effective.”

The move to add digital marketing has another major advantage, he says. It takes marketing out of the hands of individual agents, expands on it, standardizes the format and makes it a basic corporate function.

“Essentially, sellers no longer have to worry about whether their agent is taking maximum advantage of opportunities to advertise and showcase their home,” he says. “The company ensures terrific web exposure for all the properties it lists including a photo gallery with up to 30 professionally taken photos and a complete description of the property.

Sage tested the service in September and formally launched it on Oct. 1. At that time it had attracted 41 listings. For an example visit www.90douglasave.com

Formed by Larry Sage 33 years ago, the brokerage operated as a franchise member of Sutton Group for 16 years until earlier this year. It has now become an independent.

Larry Sage now works with his two sons. Evan had worked as a sales representative with a competing broker and Bradley had been in senior management roles creating digital media initiatives for a major corporation. As part of the restructuring, Sage downsized staff to 87 agents but created a new digital marketing division.