Digital Marketing + Traditional Marketing = A Winning Combination

The most important attributes of a Toronto Real Estate Agent is their ability to Price, Market and Negotiate your home properly. There is a long line of Realtors who have had a lot of success selling homes in the recent past, but the game has changed.

Marketing Properties online is not the way of the future. It is the way of today.

That doesn’t mean that we need to throw out the entire playbook, a lot of the traditional methods of Marketing Real Estate are still valid. But, it does mean that you must have a Realtor who understands what is going on in today’s marketplace or you will leave money on the table.

90% of home buyers used the internet during their home search in 2009*

Evan will assemble a customized Marketing Plan that balances the digital and traditional marketing for your property. Evan will help attain the highest price the market will bare when you decide to list your home. Some of the tactics he will use to expose your property to the market are listed below.

* National Association of Realtors

1. Individual Property Website

With over 90% of home buyers using the internet in their home search every listing needs to have their own Individual Property Website i.e. http://www.6tacoma.com.  Evan Sage will build a website that is centred on your property. This site will be traditionally and digitally marketed. A unique url and website is really important because it will be the centerpiece of our marketing effort. This site will contain the most comprehensive information about your property and will present it in such a way that I has the greatest impact on potential buyers.

2. 3D Interactive Floor Plans i.e. United Lane

Evan Sage will have floor plans drawn up for your property these will be manipulated into a digital 3D version of your house that can be accessed through your Individual Listing Website. This will allow people to interact with the property before they view it, this lets them feel more at ease while visiting the property and they will be able to go back and visit the home after their showing and show their friends, family and colleagues. The interactive floor plans make it easy for people to take psychological possession of the home by digitally placing their furniture in the rooms and/or making alterations to the space.

3. Professional Photos

This could be the most important part of your marketing because photos are used in most of your marketing. Some agents will go in to a new listing and snap some photos on their own pocket camera or even worse their cell phone. This is unacceptable. Evan Sage always hires a professional photographer who uses proper lighting and knows how to highlight the best assets of a home using Photoshop.

MLS limits us to 9 pictures, but all the other listing tools that will be used in your campaign will allow for up to 20 or more pictures. 20 clean professional images is the magic number for purchasers to get a thorough understanding of the listing.

4. Feature Sheet

These comprehensive packages are left at the property as a take home piece for visitors. Evan Sage will prepare a complete package that answers typical questions that buyers might ask. It will steer readers to go to the website for more details. Evan’s feature sheets typically include; professional photos, detailed description of each room, static floor plans, list of inclusions and exclusions, recent renovations and updates, average cost of the utilities, neighbourhood information, land survey, Schedule “B” which include clauses to protect the interest of the seller and it is all laid out in a customized package.

5. Video Tour of Listing

A video tour is a very powerful tool for marketing a property. It give potential buyers a great ability to experience your home. The video will then be uploaded to YouTube to increase the visibility of your property.

YouTube is the second largest search engine on the Internet and they are the fastest growing social media tool. 70% of 18-34 year olds have watched television on the web. Evan has embraced this medium by creating a channel www.youtube.com/evansagetv where people can find all of Evan Sage’s listings as well as his interviews, neighbourhood bios and Sage Thoughts on Real Estate.

6. Attend Showings at Your Home

Evan Sage believes that in order to be a full service Real Estate Agent in Toronto it is important to be present when your property is being shown. No more Buyer Agents fumbling with the lock box and searching for the lights. Those are major distractions at a time when the Buyers Realtor should be concentrating on showing their clients the home. One of the key times for a Listing Realtor to interact with a qualified purchaser is when they are viewing your home and may have questions about why they should buy your property.

7. Google Pay Per Click Campaign (PPC) for Each Listing

Each listing will get a customized Google Pay Per Click campaign where your property will be marketed alongside Google search results for keywords that potential buyers are using during their home search. To find out more about Google Adwords please check out their site, Adwords Home Page.

8. Syndicate the Listing to 5+ Active Listing Sites

Your listing information should be placed on as many listing sites as possible. The sites that Evan has found to be most effective include:

• Realtor.ca Canadian Real Estate Associations national website that combines all the local MLS listings
• Craigslist.ca this is one of the largest online Classified’s website that is organized by local sub sites.
• Kijiji.com another large Classified style site.
• Realtystock.com this is a new up and coming site that has a lot better functionality than CREA’s website.
• Facebook Marketplace is quickly becoming a contender for the top spot on the Real Estate Listing battle

9. Social Networks

There is marketing importance for all of Evan Sage’s networks both online and offline because this exposes your home to several thousand people who know and trust him.  There are many networks Evan actively participates in offline including various volunteer jobs with Mooredale House, Rosedale Public School, The Albany Club, The Toronto Real Estate Board, as well as organizing events to help his colleagues gain a better understanding of Social Networking. One of Evan’s strongest networks is that of his fellow Realtors, Evan has always seen value in taking the time to understand and help his colleagues where he can. This helps him promote his listings, produce much smoother transactions for his clients and increase his understanding of the Toronto Real Estate business.  You can find Evan Sage participating in online groups and networks on Flickr.com a photo sharing site, Facebook.com a place to keep track of what is going on in his friends and families hectic lives, LinkedIn.com a place to link up with all of his colleagues and professional contacts, Twitter.com a great tool that Evan uses to broadcast his most recent articles, listings or share great info that he finds online, YouTube.com the host for all of Evans videos, Yelp.com a great community recommendation site to share experiences as a consumer and Meetup.com a way Evan stays in touch with other people who are interested in the same topics and want to meet face to face. Suffice it to say, it isn’t very hard to get a hold of Evan.

10. Direct Mail

Instead of the boring just listed cards that every agent sends out Evan Sage will print your listing on a ‘Just URL’d’ Card and deliver it to the local geographic area. It is a piece that stands out from the rest. Your Neighbours are a great source of exposure. Most of them will notice your home is ‘For Sale’ when the sign goes in the lawn, but for those who don’t they will also get a just listed card directing them to your Individual Listing Website. Neighbours often have friends or family who they love to tell about the newest home on the market in their area and why they should buy it and move closer to them.

11.  Detailed Site Analytics

For every Individual Listing Website Evan Sage will attach analytic software so he can track where all of the traffic is coming from and which aspects of the site the visitors are using and spending time on. This will help focus the marketing spend for what is successful. This also demonstrates how much exposure the property is getting and whether or not any adjustments need to be made.

12.  Email

This is a very simple tactic to let all of Evan Sage’s past clients, friends and other social networks know about his most recent listing and it gives your home increased exposure to interested parties. The email list is strictly opt-in and is not considered by the receivers as spam.