Seller Series: Is Your Agent a Modern Marketing Ninja?
Question 1:
“Why does it even matter, Paige? My house is going to sell anyway.”
That’s what the agents who are non-marketers say, too, as well as agents who are part-time and don’t have any funds to invest in your home’s online presence.
Here is how I’d answer that: “Do you like money? This is the best housing market ever. I know homes that are turnkey, staged, and well-promoted sell for more money, period. Like $10-50K over non-staged homes.”
It’s no joke. If your home hasn’t been prepped and staged, you aren’t selling for top top dollar. If your agent will pay for all the marketing expenses (staging, cleaning, and full media package), why wouldn’t you go with someone who is going to get you more money?
Be aware, though: not all media is created equal. I still can’t believe there are agents who just post iPhone photos…it’s madness. Dark, awful photos, tilted angles, thumbs and animals in shots…total bananas for such a large asset. *Rant over*
But I’m assuming, since you’re here, you’d never hire someone who is taking their own photos. So let’s talk about a full professional media package and why it’s important. Now, most often you’ll see professional photos on a listing. That’s good, but basic. You can do better.
Here’s what we consider a full production media package for our listings. It depends on the size of home, but an average cost is $1,300.
Did you know homes with 3D tours sell for more money? (Floor plans are so helpful for remote buyers–and pro tip, appraisers love them, too!)
Did you know homes with drone photos sell for more money, too?
Top it off with a lifestyle video for Facebook, Instagram, Facebook Groups, Google, and YouTube.
Buyers have so many more ways to experience your home and fall in love with it, and we have created a really good understanding of all the different outlets they are seeing your home on. Video plays so well on social media (it needs to be video, not photos), and don’t even get me started on Reels. They’re THE BEST right now, and always included in our packages.
All the above is included in our commission when we sell a home for you.
Side note about how 2020 changed marketing in real estate: In 2020, I was covered by the Wall Street Journal for my use of digital media to sell homes virtually. It’s something I had been doing for years but it picked up steam when people still wanted to move even though Covid had shut the world down.
Then came the great housing rush of 2021, when buyers from out of state were making offers on homes they’d never stepped foot in because the market was moving so fast. Those homes that got all the remote offers were the ones that had all the media included on the listing or a link to a home website.
QUESTION 2:
“Paige, my agent is a top agent—doesn’t that guarantee they’ll be great?”
Top agents are very similar if you take personality out of it. They are typically local to one area, they have helped sell and buy a TON of homes, can negotiate well, and have built relationships in the industry.
So where does marketing fit in?
You want to hire an agent who doesn’t just care about marketing themselves. (Side note, if an agent is great at marketing themselves, it’s a good sign they’ll do well for you…but you need to guarantee they are doing it. It costs money to market your home and themselves as an agent, so you want someone who is spending money on both.)
You want to know they are investing in your home sale marketing as well as their own brand.
Most great agents (who are also great marketers) will really care about how YOUR HOME reflects on their brand.
There’s a reason you’ve never seen a home that I listed that wasn’t staged. I absolutely want every home to reflect high quality and inclusive service, and cutting corners on marketing your home won’t help me when I hold open houses and post your home on Instagram, Facebook, Google, my website and blog, the MLS, fliers, Facebook Groups, TikTok, and more. When YOU look good, I look good. Oh, and for video—again, it’s a non-negotiable.
Here are a few clues as to whether your agent will invest in your property sale:
Do they include staging as part of their service? Every home can use some styling, rearranging, editing, or full-on staging. Not all agents believe in this, though. Veteran agents never had to stage on the regular AND they never paid for it for their clients “back in the day”—that can be a hard habit to break.
Are they active on social platforms? This is a big one. Established agents may not be adopting and adapting to new technology. If they are active on social media they likely have a ton of local followers and local real estate agents who follow them, which means getting more eyes on your property. Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Google My Business, and Facebook Groups are all high-touch opportunities to get your home seen by more buyers. For example, we now offer Reels for every listing because they are trending so well. Homes are getting 2,000 views in a weekend on our videos. But many of the top agents are NOT keeping up with these changing trends on social channels.
Do they run social media ads with your lifestyle videos? Those ads work—you can run them to get more traction on your listing and more traffic to your open house.
Are they holding open houses and broker opens? Just because it will sell doesn’t mean you should skip the open houses. So far this year buyer’s agents are running ragged to get inside homes before they go pending, but open houses allow buyers to visit the home without their agent who might be busy with another client. It opens your home up to more eyeballs and allows the buyers to come. We are currently holding open houses 2-3 times in a weekend so buyers have the chance to see it once or even twice, to make sure they are in love. Remember, the more they know about a home, the more comfortable they feel about making a very strong offer.
One thing most agents DON’T DO: blogging. We have an in-house blogger and a listing questionnaire we send to our sellers so you can help us tell the story of your home. This helps in the listing description on the MLS, Zillow, Redfin, and other syndicated sites. Hiring an agent who is also a marketer will allow us to help you write great copy for your home story. Telling the story of your community can help sell your home.
We have a killer YouTube channel where we can share community videos, because when we sell homes we are selling the community you live in, not just your home. Sellers coming from out of state want to know everything, so we can share our community videos with out-of-area agents to help them educate their buyers on what it’s like to live in your town.
We adapt when technology changes. QR codes won the tech award for 2022 COVID KING. Thanks to restaurant menus everyone knows how to use a QR code, and savvy agents are now using them to get buyers more info on your home than can fit on a flier or fancy brochure. We have just ONE flier (save the trees) with a code they can scan; this takes them to a website built just for your home with a lifestyle video, community video links, full home story details, and all the photos they could dream of.
Facebook Groups—such an untapped market when used correctly. Is your agent utilizing Facebook to its full advantage? Targeted marketing in Facebook Groups that have YOUR ideal buyer in them is a direct sales piece. Video is perfect for this method, so get an agent who is bold enough to know how to use Facebook and who will get a video made for your home so you can share it in groups.
Does Your Agent Think Like A Marketer?
I have taken every course under the sun to become a better marketer for my personal brand and for homeowners. Every house I sit in I think, “Who is the ideal client for this home?” and weave that person into the home story, writing it for them so they feel compelled to come see it. Buying and selling is emotional; we can leverage this knowledge to brand your home and help it “speak” to your buyer.
I am a member of the Social Media Marketing Society, the largest community of online marketers who are constantly learning to up-level for their clients.
I attend annual summits on marketing and have paid for high-level coaching with the best of Instagram (Sue B. Zimmerman and Jasmine Star), Facebook (Mari Smith, the “Queen of Facebook”), and online marketing greats like Amy Porterfield and Marie Forleo.
I also pay the best people to help make sure that we are at the level we need to be to stay a top marketer in the real estate industry.
We invest in our company and we invest in our clients to stand out. Whether it’s a seller’s market or a buyer’s market, we are making sure our good is great and our better is best.
We also have a partner company out of Silicon Valley that manages our technology and supports our marketing efforts for your home sale. In addition, our network of agents is INSANE—we are connected to all the top agents in the country through this partnership and most of them are in our biggest referring state, California. (We love some CA cash money when we sell a home.)
Every client that chooses us is a gift, and we are incredibly grateful for these partnerships. We will always continue to level up for you. As an office of entrepreneurs (that’s a requirement for our agents) we enjoy every minute of figuring out how to serve at a higher level, investing time and money to be at the top of our game every day.
To Wrap It Up
Oof! That was a long-winded response on what it means to be a marketing ninja. I suppose I could have just said, “It’s a mindset on how I run my business to serve my clients best,” but you probably would have rolled your eyes, so I got specific.
Hiring a marketing ninja for your home is imperative to make sure you don’t leave a dime on the table. And we don’t cost more than your average agent, we just bring a ton more value. It’s a win-win!
If you have questions or want to hire us to sell your home, please reach out at (253) 313-4093.
Pro Tip: Prices right now are mind-blowing. Part-time agents are likely to price your home much lower than market value, which you might think is still an awesome price. But us trained full-time professionals know when we see an out-of-area agent price a home insanely low and can come in with a heart-stopping offer and try to take it below market value. A discount agent OR a favor to a friend isn’t worth leaving money on the table. A savings of 1% is $5K on a $500K house…a full-time agent who knows the market, preps your home properly, and prices properly will get you SO much more money.
Cheers and Happy Home Selling,
Paige Schulte
Top Gig Harbor Real Estate agent
Neighborhood Experts Real Estate