In what has been a long awaited and highly anticipated arrival, yesterday McGrath made the strategic marketing move to join the Facebook conversation by launching their McGrath Estate Agents Corporate Facebook Fan Page.
Virtually overnight their following on Facebook has begun to take-off with over 500 fans liking their page already.
Whilst McGrath have been surprisingly slow to adopt Social Media previously, the Timeline functionality on Facebook Fan Pages has meant that a history of their company could be uploaded, featuring images and company milestones that took place even before Facebook existed. This helps to give the impression that McGrath have been on Facebook for a long time.
It will be interesting to see what McGrath do next. I think the real estate industry will be watching this page very closely.
(Disclaimer: I have previously consulted directly with John McGrath and have presented on Social Media to some of the McGrath team)
Social Media looks set to continue to change the way real estate agents market themselves, their business and their listings.
In fact, earlier this week, there was an article that featured on the national news.com.au site that was compiled by Victoria Craw and Sonja Koremans about “How To Sell Your Home On Social Media’ and I shared this insight into “How To Sell A Property Using Social Media?”
Now whilst some people may interpret this to mean that instead of using the major property portal sites like realestate.com.au, signboards, print media, window displays, etc, or even an agent for that matter and that a property owner could simply put their property up onto Twitter, Facebook or YouTube and it will sell. If that did happen and the buyer paid the market price or above market price then that would be what I’d call an “Epic Real Estate Fluke!”
Selling a property for the right price in today’s market requires a strategic approach and as more and more property seekers are now spending so much time researching the web before buying a home, the effective use of Social Media should definitely become part of the property marketing strategy.
As I mentioned in show, the initial results speak volumes for the effective use of Social Media in marketing a property the way that Laura & Rohan Bell have adopted it…
“48 groups is very rare in our area. We normally average 12 groups through an open house. The open house before this one had 21 groups through and is that same price range and 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment. So there is the comparison. More than twice the attendees.” ~ Braden Walters, True Property
The Erskineville Apartment has it’s own (blog) website ErskinevilleApartment.com.au which “attracted more than 600 page views within hours of going live” as reported in the article.
There is also a Facebook Fan Page, Pinterest page featuring numerous boards of photos, Google+ and a Twitter account @Ersko_Apartment where they can share some of the real time happenings at and around the apartment and tweet out their Instagram photos (another Social Media application they’ve incorporated).
Below are a couple of the apartment’s Social Media profiles…
Twitter Profile @Esko_Apartment
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Erskineville Apartment Pinterest Boards
As Braden Walters from True Property Erskineville said in the news.com.au article…
” the online approach has been an instant success.”
“We were a little bit nervous about people passing the property around and saying what they like but it’s full disclosure and if you’re honest with people, it’s easier for them to make a decision,” Mr Braden said.
He said social media evoked attachment with potential buyers.
“On social media, people can ask the owners questions so they can portray what they love about the property versus what the agent writes in his marketing.”
As I mentioned in today’s show and was quoted in yesterday’s article…
“A lot of agents use a standard approach to marketing, whereas this involves a lot more of the feeling around the home because it comes from the owners’ perspective.”
But he warns that while social media exposes listings to a new audience, it requires a well-planned strategy.
“The biggest thing that needs to be done is that the agent has to have some sort of ability to administer the site … the agent has to be very careful the property isn’t misrepresented.”
…and I must say that it was really pleasing to see that amongst the numerous “TIPS (from home owner Laura Bell)” she said…
Know your limits: “Ms Bell directed all inquiries to her real estate agent. “That’s not my field of expertise, best to leave that to somebody who knows.”
Content: “The number one thing is populating the blog with great things.”
To read the whole news.com.au article Click Here
What else can Real Estate Agents and Sellers Do?
Another way that I have seen agents using a similar approach to get the sellers involved in some of the online context and what it’s like to live in their place is by interviewing the sellers via video and uploading it onto YouTube.
Here’s one that I saw the other day by real estate agent, Tony Santolin of Griffith Real Estate.
Electric Avenue Wrap-Up
Monday’s Show was about “Embracing Change in Real Estate” and also featured a mini-movie designed to help agents navigate the changing maze.
On Wednesday’s episode, I posed the question “Why Not Try A Mobile Property Inspection?”
Yesterday’s Electric Avenue Show featured a “Real Estate Video Marketing Tip”
…and today, the show featured “Some Do’s & Dont’s of QR Codes for Agents”
I hope you enjoy this week’s Electric Avenue Wrap-Up 🙂