The Five Marketing Mistakes You're Making When You List A Home
Hello to my real estate marketers and agents, alike!
Today I’m going to talk about the five most common mistakes I see marketers make with a newly listed home.
Not using the best listing photographs for your initial promotions: It can be tempting to use a photo of the exterior as your first image in a carousel/multi-photo post when you post to social media but I need you to ignore this impulse. And let me stop you here— if you’re not using a professional real estate photographer for your listings then you absolutely MUST from here on out. Before your photographer comes to the appointment let them know you want some vertical photos and detail shots to use on social media. Using the shot with the most compelling angle or attractive feature instead of a basic shot will get you years ahead of the competition.
Not pre-marketing the home before it goes live: Depending on your local MLS rules, there are many ways to market a home to potential buyers and agents before it’s on the market. Whether that’s creating a ‘Coming Soon’ entry for the MLS, doing a tour for your stories of the layout, calling agents who have sold in the area to announce your listing, scheduling agent previews with your office, creating posts about the neighborhood or your favorite feature, etc. A lot of agents miss the crucial period of time that will ultimately reduce the days on market of the listing.
Not posting information about the listing on all available channels: At the minimum, every listing needs to be posted to Instagram, Facebook, and some kind of video hosting platform at the beginning. You need to post before it’s on the market, when it goes live, a video walkthrough of the layout for Zillow, every open house, when it goes under contract, inspections, taking your sign out of the yard, closing day, with your clients post-closing, and when it’s finally sold. After that, you need to request a review and post it at a later date to remind your followers of the transaction. Additionally, when it’s on the market you need to ask other agents to help you promote your listing by posting photos to their story or on their Facebook account. Teamwork makes the dream work, right? Then be a good person and help them promote their listings, too.
Writing a basic a** listing description loaded with cliches: If I have to read, “Honey stop the car!” in a listing description one more time I might lose it. Do yourself a favor and buy a copy of Words That Sell or Phrases That Sell. I understand everyone has different strengths, but working on your copywriting can make your listing stand out among a sea of a single sentence, all-caps descriptions. The two books I mentioned will help get your creative juices flowing so that you can in turn inspire buyers to schedule a showing. If you need more guidance, read Architectural Digest or Sunset Magazine for unique ways to describe decor, fixtures, and features.
Assuming a home will sell itself: Never, ever, ever do this. Even when homes are selling left and right in the same neighborhood, a client hires you because you’ve promised them services above an entry-only listing. See point number three above for the minimum coverage every listing should receive. Perhaps the only exceptions would include an investment property or a very low priced home. Remember, the more work you do in preparation and organization for marketing a listing the sooner you see payoff in the form of a commission or sale.
If you have any questions about the content of this blog just send me an email to frankcreativeok@gmail.com or leave a comment below. To sign-up for the waitlist on my marketing course, click here.