Over the years, the channels for devoting marketing resources have expanded considerably. When our parents bought a home, they looked at the Thursday edition of the daily paper, which was the day the Real Estate ads came out. They would peruse the small blurry photos and call the agent listed if it looked interesting. In order to market a home today, a Real Estate company needs to be prepared to market in a variety of directions… we compare it to an octopus’s tentacles… reaching into a variety of areas to get the information about your property out to the buying public. Here is an outline of the components of our marketing plans.
Photography
Professional photography is extremely important, since it becomes the building block of future online and print advertising. Because the web format is so visual, it is critically important that your home have a crisp, clear representation. Our photographers are well regarded professionals. Even the most humble home will be marketed this way, with every effort made to make your property look its best to prospective buyers in every price range.
Copywriting
River Valley uses a professional copywriter to capture the “feeling” of your home. With so much inventory to choose from, it is important to do more than list the number of bedrooms and lot size. We make an effort to develop a description that creates a lifestyle identity for your home, focusing on features that make your home unique and inviting. Lifestyle marketing enables us to reach the most likely buyer for your home in a way that resonates specifically to them.
Brochures with Floor Plans
We will create 4 page full color glossy brochures that will be available to agents and buyers who have seen your home or indicated interest in more information. These professionally designed brochures will include the professional copy and photography, plus details of the home and floor plans. River Valley has a floor plan designer visit your home and sketch the rooms and outdoor spaces. This service enables prospective buyers to consider how the room sizes and room flow meet their needs. This has been a very popular value added service to our buyer clients.
Internet Advertising
80% of home buyers begin their search on the internet. River Valley will feature your listing on a number of public search engines, including MLS, Realtor.com, Trulia and Zillow. In addition, the property will be on RiverValleyInfo.com. Additionally, River Valley participates in an IDX partnership which allows buyers to access information about River Valley listings from just about any source that also participates in this IDX sharing of information… such as Yahoo Real Estate, AOL Real Estate, and Homefinder.com.
Properties that might attract international buyers will be part of the exclusive international exposure provided by our upgraded membership to the Realtor.com International website. Target markets include 36 countries including China and England, and the site provides translations to 11 languages including Japanese, Russian, Korean and French.
In addition to general property search sites, we will also submit your property to be featured on specific websites: LandandFarm.com., HistoricProperties.com, and New York Times Online Real Estate.
Social Media
River Valley has a thriving Facebook page, an important component to reaching this decade’s buyers. Our philosophy with social networking is that it is a “value added” marketing tool. We maintain a Facebook page that defines River Valley as a resource of the area. We frequently post a new “Thing to Do” to highlight activities in the River Valley. Our site is popular with residents and non-residents alike, and it has been gratifying to see the extensive reach this page has made in a short period of time. We also use social media advertising to target specific buyers in geographic areas. We have been particularly successful with our reach to the New York and Philadelphia markets through this medium.
Print Advertising
The demographics of buyers and sellers in the River Valley are more suited to internet advertising, and recent results from print advertising indicate the same. However, to some sellers, it is a priority to have print advertising exposure for their home. River Valley advertises in the Princeton Packet, the Hopewell Valley News, the Bucks County Herald, Hunterdon Democrat, and US1. We will also submit certain listings to specific niche periodicals, including Delaware Valley Horse News, Philadelphia Gay News, Land and Farm, Bucks Gallery, and other print formats with targeted readership.
Signage
River Valley maintains a crisp, clean logo that stands out among the more traditional signs of our competition. We include our abbreviated, easy to remember website and our phone number…no cluttered signs with long names and illegible details.
Open Houses
If appropriate, we will schedule two different types of open houses to introduce your home to qualified buyers. First, we invite our fellow agents to a luncheon at the property. This is called a Broker’s Open house, and it is an effective way to have agents from other area Real Estate agencies preview the home. They might have specific buyers for the home, or might simply go back to their office and mention the lovely home they just previewed, for a coworker to notice. Our agents are well-regarded professionals who maintain strong working relationships with area Realtors.
We will also discuss holding a Public Open House for the listing. These are held on Sundays afternoons. Open Houses can be effective marketing tools if the home will appeal to a broad selection of buyers. A more unique, rural or estate home is not a good candidate for an Open House. Your River Valley agent will be happy to discuss and accommodate your preferences for scheduling Open Houses.