There’s no question that the online portals dominate the real estate industry in Australia
but as we discussed last week, the face of real estate is changing rapidly and we’re now seeing properties selling through other means including Social Media.
Last week, I provided an example where one of our properties had just sold for $950,000 and the buyer came directly from a targeted ‘Facebook’ campaign.
So why is promoting your property on Facebook (and other Social Media outlets) a good idea?
There are many reasons but from our experience, we’ve found that a well-executed campaign can introduce your property to a much wider audience than the major real estate portals…and for now, it’s a very cost-effective way of attracting new buyers.
One of the limitations of real estate portals is that they are very much ‘area-centric’ in the way they attract buyers.
I’ll give you an example…
Let’s say I’m advertising a property in Brisbane’s CBD, the advertisement will initially attract buyers who are placing ‘Brisbane City’ in their search engine on these sites (how quickly they find it depends on the type of listing you’re paying for).
Once you’ve searched to the very bottom of the list of properties in this suburb, you’ll see a heading come up that says ‘Properties in Surrounding Suburbs’.
Now this list of properties is not confined to the property in the very next suburb but could attract properties in suburbs that are 4-5 suburbs removed.
Having done this exact search now, the first few pages of properties in ‘surrounding suburbs’ includes Spring Hill, Teneriffe, New Farm, Kelvin Grove, East Brisbane, South Brisbane, Red Hill, Paddington, Kangaroo Point….even suburbs such as Wilston and Windsor.
The list is not prioritised by distance but more so, by the level of upgrade of the listing and the time on the market.
It wasn’t long ago that an ‘upgraded listing’ would cost around $60 on websites such as www.realestate.com.au and nowadays, whilst there are several different options, an upgraded listing can cost as much as $2000 (or as much as $4000 if the agency isn’t paying for the highest level of subscription).
So why Facebook?
Facebook allows us to target specific areas that may not be directly tied to the location of the property in question…or we can target a much wider geographical radius so that the property is displayed as a sponsored advert in the ‘feed’ on someone within that area we’ve targeted.
Facebook also allows us to tap into the people that Facebook knows are clicking on properties for sale, thus placing your property in front of people that are likely to be in the property market now.
Have you ever clicked on a holiday destination and wondered why advertisements seem to be popping up on lots of different websites for this exact location?
It’s not a co-incidence in case you’re thinking that it is.
Additionally, Facebook allows us to target these buyers, analyses their likes, interests, ages and locations and then can create a brand new group of people to target that have similar likes, interests and ages in similar locations.
Very sneaky? It certainly is but it’s the way advertising is fast heading right now.
There’s certainly a lot more to Facebook than simply promoting a property on the agency’s Facebook profile where the only audience will be those that ‘Like’ their page…that’s already a very out-dated way of marketing listings.
By the way, our research shows that we’re about 20 times more likely to engage you as a buyer if the advertisement features a video than if the advertisement features nothing more than text and still photos.
And here’s an interesting fact…Facebook is adding new facets to its’ ‘backend’ every single month.
In other words, there’s likely to be new ways to target an audience than are now in operation that we haven’t even learned about yet.
So there’s a quick snap shot of the way real estate portals work compared to Social Media.
I’m no expert in Social Media but ‘Innov8 Property’ professionally consults with one of Australia’s leading business Facebook strategists as we aim to be on the ‘cutting edge’ of new technologies as they emerge.
Remembering that a buyer that might be ‘out of area’ may not be as finely tuned into current local prices, there’s every reason to suggest that these buyers could be the ones that are prepared to pay the premium price for your property and at the end of the day, this is ultimately what we’re looking for from the day we list your property for sale.
One final note…I want to say a Happy 70th Birthday to my amazing Father Reg. You’ve been the greatest mentor a son could ever have and I’m truly blessed to have you in my life. Thank you for everything you do for me mate – I love you very much!
Until next week, Happy Listing & Happy Selling.