New Technology Could Have Real Estate Customers Seeing Things That Aren’t There

Augmented reality is a new technology that, as the name says, adds things to what is already existing. In the link below, it’s been applied to a real estate development in a way that allows people to see what a finished building will look like before the building exists. Imagine being able to stand on the corner of a street, where a construction site or even old buildings slated for demolition are now, and looking at the finished building with the help of this technology. Augmented reality is in it’s infancy today; but one day you might be able to see not only the building that will be built, but the suite you are thinking about buying!

LINK

Some Hard Numbers on Social Networks

Everyone is on a social media soapbox these days, ourselves included. But to many, the real benefits of these new media channels are yet to be proven.

In other words, it’s clear that social networks are a huge factor in the new economy. But what is the real value of establishing a presence on these channels?

We need more hard numbers.

Thankfully, as more and more companies devote resources to making social networking sites work for them, these statistics are forthcoming.

Performics (a division of Publicis Groupe) and ROI Research recently released a new study that outlines some very compelling numbers indeed.

Some of the more striking findings:

34% of people have turned to a search engine for information on a product, service, or brand after hearing of it on a social network.

30% of respondents have learned about a new product, service, or brand from a social networking site.

36% of YouTube users have gone to an online retailer after learning about a brand or product on social networking site.

46% of people say they would be willing to talk about/recommend a product on Facebook.*

44% of Twitter users have recommended a product from their Twitter account*

(*This kind of peer recommendation is particularly potent.)

28% say messages about sales or special deals resonate with them.

These are telling numbers. They indicate that brands really can penetrate social networks effectively. When they’re not too obtrusive (which takes some finesse, and time), and when they offer real value, users do welcome them.

As many real estate marketing campaigns look to the longer view, social networks are looking more and more compelling as a very effective way to reach new buyers.

The New Age of Marketing

This is a duplicate post from David Allison’s blog on BC Business

What keeps me awake at night? The answer – at least the one I’m willing to commit to a blog post – is below.

It’s in an interview I did to help promote the Canadian Resort Investment Conference (at which I am a speaker), and I’m posting it because, even though I’m talking about real estate, I think its marketing lessons are broadly applicable. Substitute some particulars, and this could be a how-to for branding barbershops or accounting firms. Hopefully, something in here makes you stop and rethink an aspect of your business communication and positioning.

Q: Marketing resort property has traditionally followed a formula – how and why is it changing? What marketing methods are now being used in the industry?

The recession has changed everything. The investors and flippers are now gone. Buyers remaining in the market are thoughtful end-users, and they are being cautious in their purchases. Education and information are the only antidotes to fear and uncertainty. We need to stop being “hype and jive” marketers, and instead become more like journalists – Marketing Journalists, if you will. We refer to our company as a Marketing Newsroom, because that’s the functionality we need to provide to our clients these days. We need to help them BE the media.

Q: What is the impact of social media on the real estate/resort industry? Is it a fad or is it here to stay?

It’s here to stay. The recession has sped up the mainstreaming of social media. At a time when we are a) looking for community and b) distrustful of traditional communications channels, there is suddenly a new way to talk to people and engage them on a meaningful level. What would more motivate you to buy a car today – a fancy ad campaign or two friends on Facebook recommending it? Eighteen million Canadians are on Facebook. Of those, more than 50 per cent are over the age of 35. That makes it exponentially more powerful than the CBC and Globe and Mail combined.

Q: Fill in the blank: “The future success of the second-home property industry is reliant on _______.”

Truth. And plenty of it.

Look, it’s simple. For years we’ve sold resort and recreational property by showing people a sunset with a couple in matching sarongs holding hands. That won’t cut it anymore. Today, our buyers want to know about construction quality, energy efficiency of the appliances, resale potential, demographics of the community, historical averages of weather, cultural opportunities, soundproofing of walls, insurance policies, census data for the area, population and immigration patterns, and so on. Be a journalist. Be the media. Blanket prospects with a nice warm layer of facts and credible information. They will respect you for it.

Q: Today, developers and hoteliers are trying to make their product more attractive and marketable. What can they do to achieve this in today’s climate?

Be reasonable. If you have a “C” site, don’t put in a Euro-kitchen and bidet and try to sell it at premium prices. Build a good entry-level product and sell it accordingly. Second, really think about the consumers and how they will use the space. There are many small questions about which you will have to answer but getting it right on the granular level gives you a strong and solid truth. It’s something your customer can gravitate to.

The The Next Big Thing After the Current Big Thing

This is a duplicate post from David Allison’s blog on BC Business – One Brand Clapping

David Allison predicts that the next new scary channel will be mobile marketing. Brrr you just received a new text message…

I don’t want to pretend to be some kind of marketing Nostradamus, but I’m going to make a prediction. Once social media becomes mainstream and everyone stops prattling on endlessly about it, the next scary new channel for all of us to wrap our head around will be mobile marketing. Mobile marketing is nothing more than messages that show up on your mobile phone.  For those of you who don’t have this on your radar yet, you need to pay attention to this blog post. You’d best be prepared.

There were 4.1 billion mobile phone subscriptions in the world at the end of 2008. That’s subscriptions – people actually using their phones – so it doesn’t include the ones in my desk drawer that will never see the light of day again. And unlike computers, most people have a phone with them at all times. Moreover, people tend to read text messages immediately, unlike emails or voice mails, which increasingly we save for later.

Now imagine if your company could send updates, links, videos, and sales information to customers and fans as text messages. If you could motivate a sales force with minute-by-minute updates on account wins. If you could motivate a database with special offers, 60 seconds from right now. It’s already happening, to the tune of $391 million in spending on this medium in the USA in (2009). And that number is predicted to grow by 35% over the next 5 years. The privacy act dictates that you can only send messages to those who request it, so don’t be worried that you are going to be swamped with unsolicited text spam, but you will be engaged with mobile marketing as a consumer, if not already, then very soon.

“Mobile is like direct mail on steroids. It’s personal, immediate, and fantastically intrusive,” says Amielle Lake, co-founder and CEO of Tagga Media Inc., a Vancouver-based company that sells advertising agencies a platform to launch these campaigns on behalf of clients (full disclosure: my company, Braun/Allison Inc. has purchased this system, and it rocks). “It’s still an emerging medium, but once marketers see what it can do, they are hooked.”

The Fortune 500 are all experimenting with this. Thousands of geeks in thousands of basements are developing applications for your mobile phone. Major consumer brands are investing significant resources to try and be at the front of the wave. At Braun/Allison we’ve used it on real estate project hoarding and in print ads as a way for pedestrians and drivers to register for more information or prizes (try it: text the word CENTURY to 82442)*. We’ve used it to promote restaurant chains, and push out special offers (Want a free entree? Text GLOWBAL to 82442)*. We’ve even used it in a very rudimentary way to promote One Brand Clapping, the very blog that you are reading right now (text ONEBRAND to 82442)*.

* Message and data rates may apply

As far as I’m concerned, it should be a response mechanism on every print ad, direct mail piece, billboard, and bus side that we produce for every one of our clients. It makes all mediums interactive. Every one of your customers has a mobile phone, they all know how to use text messages, and they read text messages right away. This will become a part of your marketing program…maybe not today, but someday sooner than you think. Are you ready?

Read more: http://www.bcbusinessonline.ca/onebrand#ixzz0NzyU0LTc