WHY MARKETING MATTERS

Build it and they will come, right? Or in this case, list it and they will come.
The old adage that says because you have what what people want, all you have to do is show it to them and they’ll come in droves to get it. In today’s wild real estate market this statement does in fact hold true for the most part. In many cases if you list your home for sale buyers will come to look at it, but will they pay top dollar for it? Not always.

My almost ten years of experience as a digital marketer, over a decade of experience as a professional photographer/videographer and over fifteen years in high stakes sales gives my listings the unfair advantage and today I’m going to teach you a little bit about how I get things done for my clients when they choose to sell their home.

I can’t tell you how many listing appointments I’ve been on where I’m taking the seller through my marketing process and they stop and ask: “Is all of this even necessary? It seems like a lot of work for nothing. My home is going to sell pretty easy”.
I will admit that some success can be had by just presenting a listing to the market for buyers to see, but how will you know if you really got top dollar for your home? Is the highest offer, really top dollar? When I list a home for sale my primary goal is to get you every last penny possible out of this market. After all, your home is an investment and when you cash it in you should get big returns, particularly if you are someone who has devoted ample time to proper maintenance and upgrades over the years. I want to see all of that hard work pay off for you.

Getting top dollar is all about generating competition on the home. It’s not just guaranteed to sell at a certain number because your Realtor said that it would. If they don’t do their job properly you will end up with low competition, minimal offers and you will sell for close to list price. If you want to see a number of offers above average on your offer day then all of your other numbers also need to be above average. The number of showings you get, the number of people who view the listing, the number of places the listing is posted etc. How do you do this? With marketing.

When the marketing for a listing is created we think about your home specifically, who is most likely to purchase your home? A young family? A downsizing older couple? A young professional? This will determine the direction of our advertising efforts.

A GOOD VIDEO IS REQUIRED! - Video is the most consumed type of content on the internet and it is absolutely critical that your home is presented to the market with an informative and easy to watch video. The video where the camera floats through the room to some elevator music is not enough. What difference is that from photos? Think about the last video you watched on social media, how long would you have stayed tuned in if there had not been someone in the video to connect with, speak to provide you with information and keep you engaged? Would you shop in a store that had no employees?
My videos are hosted by me, they are a proper tour of the home, full of useful information about the property and little extras designed to help buyers become attached to your home emotionally. People make their decisions emotionally and justify them with logic. Our videos are designed to tap into this.

DRONE PHOTOS/VIDEO - Did you know that listing photos taken with a drone are typically the most viewed images in a listing? It’s true. A drone provides a viewing perspective that we cannot achieve on our own so naturally we find these image more enjoyable to look at, they simply look different. Depending on a homes location a drone can’t always be sent up to capture these images (close to an international airport for example) but if a drone can be used on your property, it should be. Our listing service comes with drone photos and video included!

HIGH RESOLUTION PHOTOGRAPHY - If your agent pulls out their cell phone to take your listing photos, or worse, takes them with a cell phone vertically the success of your listing is already headed for trouble. Professional photography is absolutely key when it comes to captivating buyers. Properly exposed images, with a professional camera that can capture the detail in the bright and dark spots of your home and show off it’s best qualities is required to get buyers to fall in love with your home. The simplest thing such as the angle the camera is positioned can affect how a room looks, a mistake here can make a large family room look dark and small. Make sure your agent is hiring a pro to do the photography, or better yet as well as being a Realtor I am also a Professional Photographer with over a decade of experience and I capture every single one of my listings myself.

SOCIAL MEDIA - Okay so now that we have a great video, drone photos, the best photography, an engaging write up that is more than just a list of features (it needs to tell a story!) what do you do with it all? This is where my almost ten years as a digital marketer in a past life pay off for you big time! I know how to get this content in front of the right people. Avoid the machine gun approach where you just put it out there randomly and hope it lands in front of someone looking to buy a house…like yours…in your neighbourhood…in the price range you’re expecting…when you’re expecting it. Targeted ads and social media allow us to define audiences of people who are likely to act on the ads call to action and book a showing. These types of ads are also included in my standard listing package.

If your listing doesn’t have all of these key elements you’re leaving yourself vulnerable to missing out on potentially tens of thousands of dollars on the sale of your home. In the end, marketing really does matter. Sure you could put your listing up on the MLS and get three offers and sell for 5% over list, or you can go all in, let your Realtor earn their commission and get every dollar the market can possibly bare for the sale of your home.

If you’re considering selling in the near future, do yourself a favor and give me a call and lets discuss these points even further.

Realtors aren’t cheap, make sure your investment is money well spent.