The ‘for sale sign’ placed just outside the home, or property that is for sale still works to bring in the foot traffic of passersby.
Traditional print ads such as posters, magazines, flyers, business cards and such are still all very effective tools to bring in traffic.
The real estate office still brings in traffic. The phones, radio ads, and television ads are still working well for the real estate industry.
Word of mouth, good old get out there belly to belly networking and even the old yellow pages still provide a flow of customers for realtors and their agents.
New real estate marketing ideas.
However there is a whole new world out there or should I say in there, that many a savvy realtor and agent are tapping into called the internet.
Real Estate for many is the single largest expense/investment that they will ever have/make so it makes sense that buyers, sellers, realtors, and their agents would use whatever tools that are available to them to do business and to do more of that business.
Email and basic static websites to showcase properties have been in use for over a decade by most of the real estate industry. Industry forums and blogs have also been used for some time.
Now when you search the internet you will find very dynamic websites showcasing real estate in almost a magical way with 3-D type presentations like hgtv uses to showcase their different home giveaway contests, allowing the user to tour a property like they are actually there from the comfort of any location with internet access.
With the advent of web 2.0 properties/interactive social media websites the internet has gained a lot of popularity and therefore acceptance among the general population.
As you might imagine the competition is fierce and the rewards for successfully closing transactions is very high. Therefore most everyone is looking for new ways to locate, offer, and sell real estate.
Many are still not tech savvy but they can use paid advertisement such as Google AdWords, or Bing Ads.
LinkedIn is a highly respected professional social media site. LinkedIn is a great way to showcase or find quality real estate professionals, and the real estate they represent.
FaceBook is the third most trafficked site on the internet. FaceBook will let anyone have their own URL, or FaceBook address but FaceBook also has what they call a FaceBook Page that you can use for paid advertising to an audience that you select the parameters on, you can use anything from script, pictures, to video and more.
Twitter allows you to send short tweets even with pictures to your followers, a great way to update someone, say a prospect.
Pinterest, Instagram, Stumble Upon, Delicious, and more social media sites give you instant and varied ways to find and interact with real estate clients, prospect, buyers, sellers, and professionals where they hang out, and can readily be reached.
The smart phones, iPad, tablets, surface, two in ones, notebook, and laptop computers have forever changed how advertising and instant communications is done.
Cell phones are now the number one device used to access the internet. You can text a messages and get an instant response for virtually no costs to anyone who has a smart phone. With a smart phone you literally have the world in your pocket.
People traditionally have resisted change, but with electronics change has become the norm. New advances in technology bring new opportunities to communicate in more efficient and creative ways.
With new technology comes new real estate marketing ideas become available.
-Bruce