By Geroge O’Neill
Traditionally, real estate agents have been primarily focused on sales, for obvious reasons. To buy, sell or lease houses, condos, land or commercial space, consumers had to come to us to find out what was on the market because we were the only source of that information.
Because technology enables both real estate professionals and consumers in ways never seen before, now our brokerages are not only about sales, but also about marketing properties to the widest possible audience using all available means. Although our products are the same, we now have to do much more than just post properties on the MLS and run newspaper ads. Consumers want detailed information, they want lots of beautiful pictures, they want community profiles and they want to view that information when they want it, not just when we are personally available to provide it. The demand for access to increased property information will continue to be the trend, and digital marketing is the perfect vehicle to provide that.
Digital marketing is about promoting your brokerage, your sales team and your listed properties using digital channels. Television, radio and print, the traditional media, are rapidly evolving to include, and in some cases be replaced by, digital content, thus broadening the available channels further beyond the Internet, mobile and social media marketing.
Digital marketing is categorized in two segments: push and pull. Push digital marketing includes the use of email, text messaging and digital billboards. The marketer (you) broadcasts the same message to potential consumers. For example, although a message on a digital billboard can easily be changed and updated to address current market conditions, it is still broadcasting the same message to whoever drives by. By comparison, pull digital marketing occurs when consumers seek specific information and find your website, typically via a search engine query made on Google or Yahoo. Such traffic can be a rich source of leads if the information you provide is informative and relevant and customized based on the profile of the consumer who is searching.
For example, if someone searches on-line for the phrase “Halifax real estate sales statistics” you could direct traffic to the specific page on your website where this information is provided, or if an address such as “12 Heartview Road in Brampton” was typed in you could display your listing page for that property with pictures, floor plans and even a video tour. Consumers want to be able to find the information they are looking for quickly, and therefore you want to help them find that information preferably on your website and not your competition’s.
According to Wikipedia, the popular on-line encyclopedia, at the first computer Hacker’s Conference in 1984 Stewart Brand famously said to Steve Wozniak: “On the one hand information wants to be expensive, because it’s so valuable. The right information in the right place just changes your life. On the other hand, information wants to be free, because the cost of getting it out is getting lower and lower all the time. So you have these two fighting against each other.”
Brand achieved fame in the late 1960s as the founder of the Whole Earth Catalogue, a counterculture magazine, where he discussed technology as an enabler rather than an oppressor of life. Wozniak is the co-founder of Apple Computer. So, these gentlemen know a thing or two about technology and how it applies in business.
In real estate we are certainly seeing that information wants to be free – consumers want information and they do not want to be forced to fill in a website contact form or talk to a salesperson, at least initially, to get the information. When consumers are ready, they will reach out for assistance.
It is important to understand this trend and to embrace the change. Most people do appreciate the services we provide since the information and expertise we have is very valuable at the right time. Digital marketing helps position us to ensure we are there at that time.
George O’Neill is CEO and broker of record at O’Neill Real Estate Limited, a boutique full-service brokerage based in The Beach, Toronto. He is also the founder of remarkto, the largest Ontario digital marketing discussion group for real estate, holding free meetings every two months to share information with the real estate community. www.ONeillRealEstate.ca and www.remarkto.ca; Email [email protected]; Phone 416-946-1300.
The Digital Broker is a new regular column in REM about business strategy and relevant technology for brokerages and salespeople. We appreciate your feedback and thoughts.
