CMAEON's CEO Tim Vasko just returned from New York, where he was invited to speak at the REMarTech conference. One of the presentations he was asked to give was on social media, and how it in particular, is changing the way the Real Estate industry is using the Internet to generate leads, find qualified buyers, and market itself.
Tim's talk, titled Social Conversation Lead Generation, covered some of the most common questions from Real Estate agents about social media: How do you make sure that you are the real estate professional that gets referred? How do you become part of natural social conversation? How do you inspire word of mouth online? How do you find buyers? How do you qualify them? How do you convert them to use you rather than your competitor?
Sound like something you've been thinking about? As not everyone could be in New York to hear Tim's presentation, we have uploaded a Podcast of Tim's presentation, and a copy of his slides. Please let us know what you think in the comments below.
CMAEON's CEO Tim Vasko was recently invited to speak at the REMarTech Conference in New York City. The goal of the conference was to connect the real estate world to the technology and tools that are shaping its future.
On that matter, Tim delivered a keynote presentation entitled 'Web Portal Magic'. The basis was this:
“Don't just build a website – build a web portal that utilizes SEO, social media and interconnectivity to take your web presence to the next level. What is that next level? A web portal that comes out more highly ranked on Google, keeps content fresh and alive with minimal time each week, and engages buyers with interesting content.”
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Apr , 2010
Lead generation has long been one of the most challenging parts of the real estate industry. Sourcing new clients can be time-consuming and expensive. Search marketing has provided new light and new hope for an industry. This new marketing channel provides an incremental approach to a field that has been historically plagued by high-cost print and media advertising campaigns.
Under the new real estate pay-per-click model, realtors and real estate companies pay only for completed clicks to their website. In other words, traffic and exposure are guaranteed before any money is paid. This provides security and comfort for some knowing that they’re guaranteed website traffic for the dollars they spent. Having said that though, the ability to convert this traffic into buyers and sellers is the tough part.
What do real estate "marketers" who were in high school or university a just over a decade ago, who became "marketing experts" in real estate and old-school sales guys have in common? The first group, the "marketers", learned their trade in the hottest market ever in the history of real estate. The second group, the sales guys, hasn't had to change a thing for more than a decade, or two (or three or four or even five!). The Internet and information were held close to the vest through the MLS.
Where were today's marketers in the mid-eighties? Many of them were in high school. So - a wise person might ponder - what is their experience in a tough market?
Over the last four days, I've talked about the dangers of developers and sales people "knowing too much" and thus not doing the jobs they should be doing. Yesterday, I spoke about what can happen when a Print Media Expert is hired to do an Online Media Expert's job. Today, I'm going to switch gears a bit, though, and wrap up this week with one of the biggest mistakes I see developers making today.
Mistake #5 - Waiting for the Market to "Come Back". The market is ripe for buyers right now. The main mistake developers make is they are waiting for the "market to come back" while at this very moment discerning buyers are looking hard at where they will buy.
Yesterday I discussed the mistake developers often make in presuming that they themselves are Media Experts. In that same vein, I will show you today how hiring a Print Media Marketing Expert is a not only an outdated but also wasteful mistake many developers often make.
Mistake #4 - Hiring a Print Media Marketing Expert. Print media is not a dinosaur - it's an albatross. The problem with print media marketing agencies is a two-headed one: First and foremost, they are excessively expensive, with no real proven ROI. At 15% - 30% , why would any well founded print media marketing company mess with the web? The fact of the matter is that they don't really use online marketing beyond instances when they are forced to. Second, on the rare occasion that they do decide to utilize online marketing strategies, their vacuous knowledge of this very different technique forces them to lean heavily on their print media background, thus costing their developer clients tens of thousands of wasted dollars.
Just as dangerous as assuming a salesperson has an intimate knowledge of media and marketing - as I touched on yesterday - is a developer who assumes that he or she has that same intimate knowledge.
Mistake #3 - Being a Media Expert. Would a developer hire a general contractor to do an architects job? "Hey, here's a piece of property, Joe. Go ahead and build something, we'll get it sold..." I don't think so, either.
An excerpt from a conversation between Michael Tuff, CEO of Racaria Capital Financial Solutions and Myself
MT: Why has it been so difficult for the process of buying real estate to make the jump onto the internet?
TV: Because the MLS was designed to make it impossible. To buy a house or a car, you need to see it, right? So the MLS system evolved to make real estate agents indispensable. We have traditionally paid tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to get the key, get in, look around, get the "feel" of the place. However, more and more people are now coming to realize it's not really worth $50,000 to get a key and take a look around.
Yesterday, I spoke about the first mistake any developer can make in project marketing and sales. As I said, I've seen a lot of developments stall or self-destruct at the hands of a developer who felt like he or she "knew it all." I told you about my friend the hotelier, who became a developer, then a travel "guru," then a marketing and sales "expert" capping off this illustrious and varied career with a stint as a financial products broker. His development is still just a patch of dirt.
Continuing in the same vein of "knowing it all," today I'll tell you what I've seen happen to developers who entrust their marketing efforts to brokers and sales people. Until recently, I've seen a lot of luxury brokerages trick developers into thinking that they were the total solution - a sales and marketing firm. I'll show you why sales and marketing under one roof make ineffective and wasteful bedfellows.
I've recently watched several developments either stall, or implode completely. This is not because of the economy, nor is it because people aren't buying. Rather, it's because the developers "knew too much" - or so they thought. In order to sell a partially completed project, a new development, or a completed project with the balance of inventory, developers need to wake up and get into the Connected Market Space where 85% of buyers are searching or "hiding out".
How can properties that are so beautiful - situated on a magnificent oceanfront, in the perfect untouched mountain valley or in one of the world's many vibrant and lively cities - be doomed to fail? Over the next five days, I'm going to outline the five most common mistakes that I see many developers continuing to make in their efforts to market their project.
