Technology is reshaping the world at a breakneck pace, especially in the past two years, and even the most begrudging have had to embrace the online world in some sense.
Within real estate, this meant more meetings over Zoom and FaceTime and open house tours on social media. The combination of a widespread embracement of virtual work and a rapid-fire home-selling industry often meant many homes were being purchased or vetted sight unseen.
“How do you do a property justice from thousands of miles away? said Jon Krabbe, senior managing partner of Agent Image, to Mickey Alam Khan, president at Luxury Portfolio International, in an Instagram Live on the Luxury Portfolio Instagram page in late February.
"How do you add value to that property digitally in a sense that you can really convey the actual experience of being there?” he said.
During the conversation the pair discussed creating a digital presence as a real estate agent, including tips and tools to differentiate agents from the pack.
True colors
Dynamics between broker and agent are also changing because of the evolving technological environment.
“If you were to go back in the industry even five years ago, 10 years ago, it was very much the brokerage that was the center of attention,” Mr. Krabbe said.
“We're seeing a much, much different landscape now, where the agent's brand is taking centerstage because people need to be memorable on these presentations or to their clients," he said. "Their brand is a much larger focal point, where the broker brand is more subordinate to the agent brand – it’s there to support them.”
To stand out in their presentations, agents are curating their personal brand online.
“When people engage, when they look to who you are nowadays, they're going to your social media first, they're going to your Web site first,” Mr. Krabbe said. “They're basically viewing every part of you online before they ever meet you.”
Agents should ensure that this identity is genuine to their true personality. Consumers are increasingly aware of personal branding and if it does not feel authentic, it is an easy way to turn prospective clients off.
“When they meet you, you have to be that person that they saw online,” Mr. Krabbe said.
“Manufacturing your brand or trying to create what you think people want to see - if it's not you, it's not going to be a good thing when you meet in person and do business together,” he said.
Press play
In touring a property from afar, video is now an expectation. As often as possible, agents should work with videographers to create professional video tours of their most premier listings to share online.
Agents should also be able to readily create personalized video tours, as requested by faraway buyers.
“Have those property presentations personalized with video – not only walkthroughs, but talk to that client and make it specific to them,” Mr. Krabbe said. “They’ll feel like it's central to them and they're getting a personal tour, even though they’re thousands of miles away.”
Further considering who the buyer is, mobile is overtaking desktops in Internet usage, so as agents expertly craft their Web site they should think mobile first.
“What I've experienced over the years is that mobile is your first screen and very often we don't pay attention to how the properties or videos or even our own imagery renders on a smaller screen,” Mr. Alam Khan said.
“That experience on a phone for your Web site, for anything you do, it has to be so easy to use, so opt for an interface that is UX friendly, interface friendly,” Mr. Krabbe said.
An abundance of videos and a solid Web site contribute to another vital goal – the performance of an agent’s search engine optimization (SEO). Other key considerations are maintaining consistency, posting high-quality content on a Web site regularly and alt tags.
Depending on resources, each component of digital marketing can be tackled by the agents themselves, an in-house team or through a marketing service such as Agent Image.
In a heated real estate market where every second spent with clients counts, the value of outsourcing this duty magnifies tenfold.
“We really take a lot of pride in being able to personalize - differentiate all of our clients from one another - even though there are a lot of them in the same markets,” Mr. Krabbe said. “We care a lot about our passion. It’s art to us.”
A FINAL BENEFIT of prioritizing digital marketing? The sheer data.
“You're going to be able to go to a seller and say, ‘Hey, this property was put out there. We've now seen the video’s been viewed by 750 people, several out of Germany, one out of Spain. We've got clients in the East Coast looking at it heavily,’” Mr Krabbe said. “Data is king.”