Real Estate Marketing 101

To my delight, I was recently requested to take care of my six year old granddaughter for a couple of days. Realizing that she probably wasn’t going to enjoy one of my high fiber breakfast options, our first outing was to purchase a more kid-friendly breakfast cereal. So we went to the grocery store and headed down the cereal aisle. That was probably my quickest trip ever to the grocery store, as she focused like a laser beam on a box of Cocoa Puffs. That particular cereal would not have been my first choice as a mom, but I’m the grandma. I’m here to please. So in the basket it went.

This outing reminded me that cereal marketing and real estate marketing have a lot of similarities. Eye catching packaging and optimum product placement made my granddaughter’s choice stand out among the others. In marketing real estate, we strive for the same thing. We want to “package” the listing well and place it where potential buyers can easily find it. When a Realtor enters a listing into the local multiple listing service (MLS), these two basic marketing principles should be a top priority.

Packaging a listing involves writing a compelling narrative and taking great photographs. The MLS description field allows only 500 characters, so the product description must be concise, yet comprehensive. MLS allows 32 pictures; one picture on the main page and 31 additional pictures on a secondary page. The primary picture is what most people see first when reviewing their searches on-line. A realtor typically dedicates this picture to capture a home’s curb appeal and entice the viewer to spend more time exploring the listing. If successful, there is a good possibility that the viewer will look at the other 31 photos to see the interior and other exterior views. Pictures should always be well framed, properly exposed and staged to the extent possible to portray the home at its best and to allow potential buyers to envision themselves living in the home. The narrative and number of pictures can be expanded as needed through the use of virtual tour and slide show programs as well as individual Realtor websites.

Optimum product placement involves placing the listing where potential buyers can easily find it. That means entering the listing into MLS, which is the listing’s passageway onto the internet where 90% of potential home buyers begin their search. And properly entering listing information into MLS is of upmost importance as online searches are data driven. All data must be 100% accurate. Price, number of bedrooms, and school district are just a few of the many pieces of information entered into MLS. Inaccurate information could prevent your home from being included in potential buyers’ online searches. It should also be noted that entering a listing into MLS provides a broad internet presence as the MLS data feeds into the most popular real estate websites, such as HAR.com, Realtor.com and Homes.com. And for those few buyers that do not rely on the internet for home searches, print advertising can be useful.

Yes, listing agents and cereal manufacturers have some things in common. But while cereal manufacturers have the resources of large marketing departments to help with product placement and packaging, Realtors go about their business with little or no oversight. So it is most important for home sellers to select competent Realtors that have the experience and attention to detail to get their home presented in the best light and in front of every potential buyer.