Event Marketing: A New Tool for the Trade
Read this next sentence and tell me if it sounds familiar. Lately, when you get a listing for a modestly-sized, fairly priced home and before you know it you get SO much interest, you can barely add it to your MLS before you start receiving offers– some even above list price. But when it comes to your commercial listings, vacation homes, or even some residential properties, for whatever reason, some properties just sit. And sit. And sit. Your sellers start to get restless, your listing expiration is coming up, and you’ve already considered a price reduction. What are you to do? Sure, almost everything will sell if you wait long enough, but that’s not the strategy that will make your sellers happy, after all, they’re ready to sell, not wait for some time in the eventual future. This is where event marketing can help.
What is event marketing?
Event marketing is an online auction marketing strategy that helps properties rise above the noise and clutter of traditionally marketed listings and grab the attention of potential buyers. Once an interested buyer becomes aware of the property, a genuine sense of urgency develops due to the auction format. Since there is a specific time and date assigned to obtain this “deal”, buyers have to act. This sense of urgency typically creates a very competitive bidding environment. Whether it’s at the online event or at any time prior to the event. In many cases, properties can sell prior to the event if the potential buyer’s offered “pre-auction” bid entices the seller to remove the property prior to the scheduled online event.
Advantages of Event Marketing for Real Estate
Increased exposure on a global level
It used to be that home buyers usually lived near the area they were buying. With the advent of telecommuting and increased globalization, buyers can come from anywhere in the world these days. In fact, according to the National Association of Realtors, foreign buyers closed on $135 billion worth of residential US real estate between April 2016 and March 2017. This is why online marketing is so important. Sure, a potential buyer could find your listing from your local MLS’s website, but why leave it to that? Using an event marketing platform exposes your property to a global audience, at no cost to you, the agent. Additionally, you can use it to generate more interest (and more offers) on your listing from all over the world.
Alternative to Price Reduction
One of the hardest subjects to tackle with your sellers has got to be the price reduction talk. Your sellers are emotionally and financially invested in their home. For this reason, it can be hard to convince them that it is not worth the price they’d like to ask for it–especially if they’re looking to sell quickly. While having hard facts can help with this discussion, for example talking them through what similar homes in their area have recently sold for, it doesn’t always go well.
Using an event marketing platform allows homes to have a lower suggested opening bid than current list price to attract more buyers. Yet, it allows the sellers to remain in control of the actual sale price. For example, a home can be listed at $390,000 with an opening bid of $290,000. If the seller receives a high bid of $350,000 they have the choice to accept the bid and move forward with the sale (after all, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush), or reject the bid and start the process again.
The advantage of taking a property to auction in this method is twofold. On one hand a lower opening bid attracts more attention, more attention creates competition, and competition ultimately raises the price. On the other hand, this method can help determine the true value of a property. If a seller is receiving offers that are tens of thousands of dollars less than asking price, they may see the property is overpriced for the current market conditions.
Tool for Listing Extension
One of the most difficult parts of being a real estate agent is having your clients see the value of the service you provide. Sites such as Zillow assist sellers with by owner sales and a hot housing market. This leaves many clients wondering what you are doing that they couldn’t themselves (hint: a lot, but that’s a subject for another day). One of the advantages of event marketing is that it is another tool in your arsenal to extend your listing. You can go to your clients with this new and innovative process to help gain exposure and increase activity for their home. Interested in getting started with event marketing? Whether its commercial buildings or vacant land. Luxury homes or the Caribbean islands. RealtyHive has the experience and tools you need to move your listings through its event marketing platform. Click here to learn more or get started today!