The core principle is, of course, to attract buyers, however, a knock-on effect to a captivating listing and a coherently planned marketing effort is the wider ability to gain future business from those wishing to sell properties.
Here, Sandra Ruttle, Real Estate Consultant for European Tour Destinations, outlines four compelling approaches agents should consider when listing and marketing properties:
Emotion, emotion, emotion
While pictures might first attract a buyer to a property, increasingly, it is the carefully crafted written content that is helping seal the deal.
In addition to the important facts and figures relating to a property, a story-telling narrative around the key features of the property is becoming as important.
“The essence of selling luxury real estate is the feeling and emotion created in what it is being presented in the listing,” said Sandra Ruttle. “Adverts that evoque emotive responses are proving key to attracting interest.”
A sense of exclusivity
Marketers use a mix of psychology and human behaviour factors to influence their audiences into taking particular actions.
Increasingly, emotional trigger words are being incorporated as part of a smart strategy to increase conversions for businesses.
“The trigger words are mostly calls-to-action, aiming to garner the target’s attention, maintain it, and then materialise it for business growth and bottom-line improvement,” commented Sandra Ruttle.
“So, creating events, separate sections on websites and marketing communications labelled ‘members-only’, ‘private client’ or ‘restricted access’, conjure a sense of exclusivity, which gives products a greater perceived value, and make prospective buyers ‘want’ – instead of need – by giving them the feeling of belonging to an elite few.
“Social media is also very conducive to this, with closed groups on Facebook or WhatsApp communities allowing agents to market properties to select people before they go out publicly.”
The psychology of selling
Many psychology experts have weighed in on the best ways of displaying prices that make people want to buy a product or a service.
Sandra Ruttle explained: “Many industries use a ‘starting from’ pricing structure, however, studies have shown that putting a less expensive price second, which follows the subtraction principle of Biswas et al. that suggests that, as we learnt to subtract numbers when the larger one appears on the left, we associate the second numbers as being smaller, and, inadvertently giving us the perception that they are cheaper or more affordable.
“The second price listed needn’t be the lowest one on offer – but it is the one most commonly selected.
“Additionally, the more precise the number quoted, the better the chance of getting this price.
“Based on a study in 2007 that looked at 27,000 real estate transactions, specific prices (e.g., $362,978) are more effective than rounded prices ($350,000) – not because buyers are less likely to negotiate but because we simply associate precise numbers with small values.”
Building Relationships
Once interest has been captured, leading a potential buyer through the sales funnel can be a lengthy process. However, destinations have the ability to develop deeper and more meaningful relationships with prospective buyers and reduce this process somewhat.
“It can easily take two years to convert an inquiry into a purchase, so it is important to consider how to convert that inquiry into a sale,” said Sandra Ruttle.
“A proven method to achieve this is through experiential marketing. In other words, to provide prospects with various opportunities to give them a taste of what their ‘would-be’ home can offer them: invite them to an Open weekend where they can experience the resort and its community, host a tour of the area to showcase the region’s attributes and its attractions, hold an event to teach about buying a home, right on the doorstep of your real estate offering.
“Buyers can then fully engage with the property listings, resulting in deeper connections and higher conversion rates.
“We have fabulous real estate opportunities in the European Tour Destinations network that, when experienced in person, can help provide that final push to convert an interest into a sale.”