Effectively marketing your property is a critical part of achieving a successful sale. A well rounded marketing plan with a mix of different advertising channels such as internet, social media, signboards, local marketing and newspaper advertising all play an important role in spreading the word about your property and creating healthy competition among buyers.
Each different advertising method comes with a cost that must be factored into your overall budget and in most instances advertising or marketing costs are paid on top of any agent commission.
Creating a valuable marketing plan for your property
Marketing is often a considerable expense, therefore it is important to get it right from the start. An agent will prepare a marketing plan in conjunction with the home owner to ensure maximum exposure is given to the property and to reach as many potential buyers as possible. The most successful marketing plans combine a mix of different media such as internet sites, social media channels, signboards, print advertisements, letter box drops, email marketing to name a few channels. Working out what is best for you and your property should be discussed in conjunction with your agent – they know the market and how best to reach it.
Professional photography, video and copywriting
In most cases the first thing a potential buyer will see is an image of the listing either on line or within a newspaper, therefore the best way to grab someone’s attention is to use a professional photographer who is skilled at capturing the best features of a property. With 86% of potential buyers* using online as their main tool to search for properties, making sure you have high quality, accurate images for the property will help your property stand out from the crowd. Video is also increasingly popular and an excellent way for potential buyers to get an accurate feel of the property.
It is also important to use the skills of a good copywriter to describe your property. They are excellent at writing engaging and accurate text that focuses on the properties features along with any potential lifestyle benefits. This text along with a floor plan drawn to scale will appear right across your property marketing so it is important to get it right.
Signboards in front of the property
Street sign boards are the cornerstone of property marketing. They enable you to showcase the features of the property and as they are positioned out the front of the property, are one of the best ways to capture local buyers who may not be actively seeking a new property but are willing to purchase when the right property appears.
On-line advertising
Social media
LJ Hooker and Facebook have teamed up to create LJ Hooker Boost, a custom built automated Facebook and Instagram advertising platform, which will amplify the promotion of our property listings to ensure the maximum number of people see and engage with our properties. LJ Hooker Boost with its global industry leading technology enables us to analyse and interpret real estate audiences to ensure our properties reach the right people at the right time. No other agency group has the power or partnership with Facebook to do this. It is an exciting addition to our marketing offering.
Real estate portals
86% of potential buyers use online as their main tool to search for properties, therefore it is vital that this channel forms part of your marketing campaign. Websites such as realestate.com.au, domain.com.au and ljhooker.com.au are the first place buyers head to as it is the most efficient way to view all properties for sale in one place. The added bonus is buyers can sign up for property alerts and be notified when a property is listed meeting their criteria. Sellers can therefore be assured that the right buyers are being instantly directed to their property matches.
Print media
Whilst social media and the internet have undoubtedly grown as locations for potential buyers, newspapers still remain a key media placement. Not all buyers are online. Active buyers will most likely see a property online, however there are a significant number of passive buyers also in the market who didn’t know they were looking until they found the right property, or were adopting a wait and see approach to buying. This market is often best reached in print where they will take their time browsing a publication at their leisure.
In addition, because the real estate section of the national papers has articles on market conditions, tips for buyers and sellers plus detailed lists of recent sales and auction results, buyers are drawn to the property lift outs as a research source. Your property’s advertisement will also benefit from the increased readership.
So the ritual of reading the Saturday real estate lift out with the morning coffee is far from over. Whilst there is movement to online channels, it really pays to use both the internet and print media in your marketing plan, particularly for sellers having an auction who need to attract the greatest amount of buyers in a short amount of time.
Drop card and property brochures
Another great way to promote your property to the local market is via drop cards and property brochures. These assets include photos and a description of the property and agent contact information. These are delivered to the local neighbourhood letterboxes, are handed out at open for inspections and are used in the real estate agent’s office window to promote the property.
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