Real Estate Marketing: Don’t Be Average
When marketing a home in the West Michigan or Grand Rapids area, do you play it safe and stay in the middle? Or do you go all the way and deliver an exceptional marketing campaign?
In this video, marketing guru Gary Vaynerchuk shares his thoughts on marketing, and I would encourage you to take a look:
(Caution – Gary uses some strong language, so you may not want to watch this with children around.)
I want to pull out some important things that Gary said here:
“One of the things I’m obsessed with is extremes. If I started an event business, if I was like in the blow-up castle business to rent to bar mitzvahs and birthdays, what I would do tomorrow is go to China and make the most extreme castle of all time. Like a 900 foot castle! Because what’s happening in our society right now is it’s minimalism and it’s extremism.”
I think that what he says here makes a lot of sense. If we look at the content on social media, the photos and videos that go viral typically have the extreme marketing campaigns. On the other hand, the bland ones get passed over. Similarly, the TV ads that get picked up and shared by millions on social media are either completely out there in terms of crazy, have super high production values, or they have an incredibly positive message.
Gary goes on to say:
“It’s the club dynamic. Why do clubs right now have, when you order the champagne, the sparklers come out? People want attention. They’re not buying the champagne, they’re buying the attention.
… Don’t live in the middle. The world is getting pulled that way because of the internet. The middle is bad.”
What does all of this tell us? Simple. You do not want to live in the middle. Average doesn’t get any attention these days. In terms of marketing strategy, you want to go to one extreme or the other – either absolutely crazy or very minimal.
Why should you market anything this way?
Because of the attention that you will get to your marketing campaign and to the realtor or agency running that campaign.
In real estate marketing, you may not have sparklers in your champagne (although this might not be a bad idea if you’re wanting something extra special for your next open home!), but if you want to stand out above all the noise from average listings you need to bring something extra to the marketing that gets attention.
A lot of real estate marketing these days is very ho-hum, boring, and in the middle. This mediocrity will be different in depending on where the property is located. In some areas the middle ground in marketing is a real estate agent taking really bad photos with their cell phone. In other areas of the world that kind of marketing would be at the extreme low end (think high end luxury properties). In those areas the middle ground is nice photos with a neatly drawn floor plan.
To identify the middle ground in your local neighborhood, take a moment to browse through the top 10 or 20 property listings in a search online or on the MLS. Then look to see what the majority of real estate agents are doing with their marketing campaigns.
Once you have identified the middle ground for marketing in your area, then you will be able to decide if you want to do ordinary or if you want to go to the extremes. Keep in mind, there is no right or wrong answer here, since in the end the choice is up to you. But if you were to ask Gary Vaynerchuk what he would do, he would say:
“Don’t live in the middle ground alongside the majority of local real estate listings.”
Instead, think about moving to the extreme end in order to stand out. Isn’t the goal of a real estate marketing campaign to get the attention of as many buyers and sellers in your market as you can?
So, what could extreme real estate marketing look like?
This is going to depend somewhat on the market you are in, but at a minimum you will need above-average photography and an amazing video. For example, if daytime photos are the middle ground in your market, then you could stand out by using first-class twilight shots. Just a word of caution though, not all photographers are created equal when it comes to their ability to create twilight photos, so make sure you get the best in your area.
If shaky and grainy real estate agent videos are the middle ground for you, then look at hiring a videographer that can create a cinematic video with strong visual elements and great audio and music. If there is any voiceover or spoken word, then the audio will need to be highly professional and sound amazing.
Would This Work For Every Home?
Investing heavily in marketing is absolutely essential for the luxury end of the property market where competition for that small pool of buyers is high. As one luxury realtor in Nashville stated in this news piece for Channel 5:
“With the luxury home market, the caliber of photography and photographers you use is much, much better. We’re not trying to find 5 buyers who want this property, we’re trying to find the one buyer who wants this property.”
But What About That Mid-Tier Real Estate Market?
I think there is definitely a place for extreme marketing at this price point – when it’s done right.
Not every listing will benefit from extreme marketing, so here are three questions to help you decide if this will work for you or not:
- If you are a realtor, would 10% of your commission sufficiently cover the costs for this high end, extreme photography and video marketing? You should expect to be paying at least $500 to $1000 for this style of photography and videography, otherwise it’s not extreme enough.
- Are you or the homeowners able to perfectly stage the home so that you will see the highest possible benefit from a first-class visual marketing campaign?
- As a realtor, are you looking to attract more luxury listings?
If you answered ‘yes’ to each of those three questions, then considering an extreme marketing campaign for the right listing would be well worth your time.