Real Estate Marketing Blunders

Until this morning, I couldn't think of a single company that hadn't evolved their marketing tactics since the internet took hold. That is, until I looked at the For Sale sign outside my building.

A Real Estate firm in SF, that we will call "ACME Realty" to protect their identity, is selling a unit in my building. To market the property, they placed a For Sale sign in the front of the building containing paper flyers highlighting the condo details and amenities. While there is nothing wrong with the use of paper flyers, it was the tactics the real estate company used to market the property that has me bewildered.

1. The flyer contained no URL to view the property; not even the URL to ACME Realty. How is this acceptable to the property owner, or to a potential buyer who wants to quickly find more detailed information?

2. Speaking of finding information quickly, it took me a total of eight steps to find the specific property online (over 5 minutes of searching).

3. The agent listed her Yahoo! email address as the method of contact. This was shocking. Not only did this make me immediately question the legitimacy of ACME Realty, but it offered me insight into the lack of CRM tools the company offered its agents.

4. Worst of all, the flyer was out-of-date. The open house dates listed on the flyer had already occurred.

I understand that budgets are tight right now, but I also know the tremendous impact that marketing can have on sales. Below are two quick thoughts on how to improve the tactics this real estate firm is utilizing to market their properties.

1. Make it as easy as possible for a buyer to learn more about the property:
- Include a unique URL on all marketing materials. It can be a unique URL, or something as simple as www.ACMERealty.com/1540lombard.
- Install Bluetooth devices into each sign so that buyers can download all pertinent information to their smart phones.
- Use social networking utilities to communicate with buyers (Twitter, Facebook, etc). This is a simple and free way to disseminate information on new listings.

2. Provide agents with a CRM tool that can aggregate and manage contact information, easily distribute email communications, etc.

Now, I am sure that some would argue that the marketing of properties is the responsibility of the agent and that little support is given to individual agents. While this may be true, this type of short-sighted approach drives me nuts. Here is why.... When making a $800,000+ purchase, I don't want to have to "work" to find a property I am interested in. I want to be given the information when and where I want it. And remember, a potential buyer today could be a seller tomorrow. So, if I have a great experience as a buyer today, the more reason I will have to use ACME Realty when I am ready to sell my home.

No question, ACME Realty has made some silly marketing mistakes, all of which can be fixed rather quickly and easily. I just hope they turn things around for the sake of future owners and buyers. If not, I know of at least one property that will not be sold through ACME Realty... mine!

Thoughts?

- Chris