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In this step we’ll discuss common real estate marketing methods used in NWA and which tactics to use to get your specific property seen by the right pool of buyers.
Common marketing methods in NWA
When developing a marketing plan for your home, first consider what options are available to you. In NWA, commonly used marketing methods include:
MLS (MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICE)
Your agent will enter your home into the MLS database for Northwest Arkansas.
Having your home on the MLS system means your listings will be:
- Included in the online feed of homes available to agents and buyers.
- Emailed to all buyers who have set up searches for properties specifically like yours.
- Sent to local and national home search websites, like Zillow, Realtor.com, and nwarealestate.com.
The MLS is the main resource used by agents and buyers to view available properties online.
An MLS listing provides essential information buyers can use to superficially evaluate if your home is a good option for them. It tells them the basics like price, how long your home has been on the market, acreage, number of bedrooms, and square footage.
Your MLS listing is also the place where buyers will form their first impression of your home. Therefore, you want to make sure your MLS listing is top notch.
Great MLS listings include great:
- Photos, preferably high-quality professional photos to fill all 30 allotted spots.
- Write-ups to tell buyers (in 510 characters) about property features they can’t see from pictures.
- Showing instructions detailing your seller requirements for touring the home.
- Attachments such as a survey, disclosure statement, utility information or other documents a buyer would find useful.
VISUAL MARKETING
In today’s online world, most buyers flip through the pictures of a home listing first to determine whether they want to know more, or whether they want to move on to the next listing.
Your goal is to stop buyers from aimlessly flipping and encourage them to spend more time on your listing.
Online Visuals = First Impressions
VISUALS ARE THE MAIN METHOD FOR ATTRACTING BUYER INTEREST ON SOCIAL MEDIA.
Therefore, it is worth some investment to create a stunning visual package of your home that can be used to market your property through social media platforms and campaigns.
Therefore, it is worth some investment to create a stunning visual package of your home that can be used to market your property through social media platforms and campaigns.
IMAGE QUALIY IS KEY.
While high quality images and videos can attract buyers, blurry images or shaky videos will often have the opposite effect.
Let’s take a look at the ways you can capture buyer interest and show off your home:
- Photos. The pictures attached to your MLS listing are the primary visual buyers see of your home. The quality of these pictures will set the overall tone for how a buyer initially feels about your property. The angles of the shots and how well rooms have been cleaned and/or staged also play a role in how much a buyer likes what he/she sees.
- Drones. Leveraging aerial photography is a great way to show off your entire property or highlight it’s location.
- Videos. Videos set listings apart by inviting buyers inside (like a sneak peek without a showing appointment)and allow buyers to get a feel for the spaces and layout of your home.
- Floor plans. Sometimes it’s hard to get a feeling for the flow of a house by looking at photos. Including a drawing of your floor plan can help buyers see if your home is in line with their needs and allow them to visualize furniture placement and how they would utilize each rooms.
- 360 degree walk through technology. Give your target market an easy way to tour your home right from their computers. Buyers can click on arrows to move through each room of your home at their own pace, as well as look from side to side and up and down.
PHYSICAL MARKETING
Don’t forget about the basics! For Sale signs, flyers and open houses remain tried and true ways to tell drive-by traffic that your home is for sale.
INCENTIVES
Just like in any purchase, incentives help. Offering price incentives, seller concessions or buyer agent bonuses are some creative ways to draw attention to your property.
ONLINE ADVERTISING
MLS listings do have some shortcomings, such as word limits and rules regarding pictures. Therefore, you may want to consider other ways to get your property in front of buyers online.
Some free options include social media and emails. Most real estate agencies have a subscription list of agents and buyers who receive daily or weekly emails highlighting the company’s new listings.
Some paid options include Facebook ads, property websites and ads on specialty real estate websites like NWA Democratic Gazette, Lakehouse.com, or right here on nwarealestate.com.
Which marketing methods are best for you?
While there’s no right or wrong way to market your home, different strategies work better on some homes than others. To determine which marketing methods are best suited for your property, consider the following factors:
YOUR TARGET BUYER
You want to get your home seen by the buyers who will be the most interested in what you have for sale.
Therefore, ask yourself: Who is the most likely buyer for your property? Where are they? How do they communicate?
Let’s say your home is a great starter home for a young family. Since most Millennials today primarily hang out online, a newspaper ad would be money wasted. Instead, you’d want to consider Instagram, Facebook and other social media outlets as the best way to reach your potential buyers.
THE COMMISSION RATE OR FLAT-FEE PACKAGE YOU CHOSE
Typically, marketing in NWA is paid for by your agent who is then reimbursed through their commission when your house sells.
However, the extent of your marketing campaign, and how your marketing campaign is paid for, should have been agreed to when you hired your agent.
YOUR HOME’S PRICE POINT
When implementing a marketing strategy, consider your home’s price point and how competitive the current market is for this price point. The budget and efforts needed to market a large estate will likely be greater than those needed to market a starter home.
THE TYPE AND LOCATION OF YOUR PROPERTY
Your marketing efforts should make sense for your specific property.
For instance, if you own a house on a very quiet country road then creating fancy flyers for drive-by traffic may not be the best use of advertising dollars. Likewise, the location of your home will often determine how successful you should expect an open house to be.
THE DEGREE TO WHICH YOU CONQUERED STEP 4
If you did a thorough job of cleaning and staging your home, then taking advantage of visual marketing tactics will be a great way to attract potential buyers. On the other hand, paying for professional pictures of a messy house may not be money well spent.
Your listing is live and attracting attention. Now it’s time to explore what’s happening while your home is on the market.
