This is a follow-up to last week’s post where we took a hard look at a real estate magazine ad.

 

There’s been a great discussion in the comments of the original post and thanks to all who commented!
While there were some diverse opinions, the general consensus was the ad could be dramatically improved.

The purpose of this exercise was to create an awareness and a discussion around the importance of marketing with the goal of improving your marketing.
The motivation came from the fact that despite being in the worst economic crisis any of us in real estate have experienced, we still see a tremendous amount of complacency & apathy in real estate marketing, branding & communications – as if nothing in real estate has changed.

It has… forever.

Why This Matters

The ad for the exercise represents two properties with an asking price of nearly $4 million each. In order for these properties to sell, someone is going to have to extract a worth of $4 million in perceived value from the property. They are going to have to be convinced and make an emotional connection that the property is worth $4 million. What makes this extremely challenging is that the pool for buyers at a multi-million dollar price point is extremely shallow and the pool for $4 million homes is extremely deep. Plenty of supply but little demand.

So every step along the sales cycle matters more than ever in the effort to create perceived value.

The Premise

Even though this may be viewed as a tactical exercise after all, it’s just an ad – there are some strategic observations that can be applied across the marketing spectrum.

1. People Don’t Read

They scan. They scan magazine pages, webpages, newspaper pages, twitter feeds, etc. Their eyes dart around the screen or page looking for something interesting. Advertisements are scanned even less.

You’re probably scanning this content right now to see if there’s something interesting — to get the essence of the content.

(Highlighted by the text in block quotes.)

Having conducted a number of eye-tracking and usability studies I’ve seen first-hand how easy it is for people to miss even the most important information.
Creating scannable marketing assets is key. Think “Scan-Ability” in everything you do.

2. No Second Chances

This property is on the market for $3.9 million per side. Less than 3/10 of 1% of the people in the U.S. can afford this property.
Even fewer are in the market to buy a home at any one time and even fewer still would be interested in a home in Steamboat.
Even fewer would actually be here and see this property in a magazine.
So for the perhaps the small handful of qualified, interested, potential buyers per quarter who might see the ad it better be compelling. You’re not getting a second chance. This is why print magazines are so tough for single property-type marketing – the frequency and reach for this target market is very low.

With these two points in mind, here are 5 issues with the ad along with commentary on how this ad can be improved to better connect with a potential buyer.

1. Hotmail

Just about every commenter had an issue with the Hotmail e-mail address. So do I. It’s a professional credibility issue. Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail e-mail addresses are fine for personal e-mail but a Hotmail or similar account for business is unprofessional. It lacks credibility. For example spammers, scammers and Internet crooks all use Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, etc. and we’ve developed associations from those experiences. Those negative associations hinder the process of establishing trust in the early stages of a relationship.

For some reason many in real estate continue to use such an email address. I can’t figure out why this is so prevalent in real estate while other professions got the message a long time ago.
A professional company e-mail address is a must.

2. Duplicate Photo

NAR research shows that 84% of buyers consider photos the most important piece of information about the property. In this case a crop photo repeat of the gondola car doesn’t reinforce the value of the property, add context to the narrative or aid in the scan-ability of the ad. In addition the placement of the photo in the center causes an unnatural break in the text. A stunning interior, detail or view photo could have been a great hook to pull a reader in.

We see issues related to photography perhaps more than any other. This is completely at odds with what buyers want to help them extract value and make a decision. Photography is at the heart of marketing because people want passive visuals that help them determine if a marketing message is worth their time. Again, photography speaks to the “scan-ability” of a marketing message.

3. Copy/Information

Since we know people initially scan it’s important to present critical marketing information in a way that scannable and easy to understand.

This text is just the opposite.
The treatment of all caps with a mono–spaced font is almost painful to read and impossible to scan.
The main selling and differentiating points of this property should be easy to find, easy to read and easy to understand.

Unfortunately this copy gives no indication of price, property scope or even property type. This is a $4 million property and yet the last line reads “a must see for any buyer.”
No it isn’t.

Finally, a grammar error in the third sentence puts the nail in the coffin of this copy.

The trend we see in real estate is to write uninspiring, generalized, one-size-fits-all copy while using the same tired descriptions over and over. Go read a few more descriptions and you’ll quickly become numb to the echo-chamber of:
“amazing views”
“views, views, views”
“Exquisite”
“Views”
“Luxury”

This is completely at odds with the social-media driven cultural shift to authenticity, tone/voice and transparency.
Once someone makes that initial scan and decides they’re interested, copy gives an opportunity to connect. The copy should be meaningful and relevant.

Having conducted a number of eye-tracking and usability studies I’ve seen first hand how easy it is for people to miss even the most important information.

4. Who is in Charge?

The ad contains three different entities for contact:

• The developer
• An individual
• A brokerage

From an interested buyer’s perspective this is confusing and adds unnecessary clutter to the ad. This ad can be improved by providing a single clear contact.

Real estate developments typically have a number of “cooks in the kitchen” all wanting exposure and credit for the project. Many brokers even admit they use their listing’s marketing as a primary way to market themselves. But for marketing to be effective all the egos and ulterior motives need to be put aside and the focus put on what’s in the best interest of the potential buyer. Put the buyer’s need for simplicity and clarity first. Don’t make the potential buyer think.

Internet adoption in real estate is still too low and much of what is being created is way behind what’s needed to meet consumer expectations and be competitive.

5. No Online Resource

We know that 90% plus of real estate buyers begin their search online. I’d go so far as to say an even higher percentage of second homebuyers begin online.

And yet this ad offers no web address for someone to find more information. For an $8 million property this is a lost opportunity. Even the developer’s domain is without a website.

Internet adoption in real estate is still too low and much of what is being created is way behind what’s needed to meet consumer expectations and be competitive.

In this case, a memorable domain with a simple landing page containing property information and a short contact form would be a good start. It would provide the added benefit of being able to track the ad’s effectiveness. Get on the web or get out of business.

Summary
What’s encouraging to know is that all recommendations are essentially free. More attention to detail and understanding of how a medium can best be used can go a long way to improve marketing results. What are your thoughts?
Thanks for reading!