5 Creative Marketing Ideas to Sell a Home
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Does your marketing need a refresh? Some real estate professionals are trying out some unusual ways to drum up more potential buyers for their listings. Draw some inspiration with a few of their ideas: 1. The house that tweeted: Some real estate professionals are having their sellers create Twitter accounts for their homes. For example, “Bob the House” became a Twitter account and a home with a voice. The three-bedroom ranch in the Chicago suburb of Mount Prospect launched with a Tweet that said: “I am Bob. A House. I’m in a family-friendly neighborhood close to schools and shopping. Hate to say it, but I’m cheap and easy (great price and move-in ready).” Rich Burghgraef, an account executive with sales consulting firm Randolph Sterling, created the account to document Bob’s journey on the market. It worked: Home showings jumped from one or two a weekend to six and eight after the Twitter account debuted. Read more: A House That Sells Itself – as the Salesperson 2. Turn your open house into an event: “We throw events – not open houses – at a lot of our listings,” says Josh Myler, director of the Residential Division at The Agency in Beverly Hills, Calif. “We do everything from a simple cocktail party to a bigger affair. We’ve even hired professional chefs.” Myler recommends looking for event planners, caterers, and others who are just getting started since newer companies may be less expensive and want the added exposure. 3. Add some music: Enhance your open house with some live music. Myler will hire professional musicians (sometimes amateurs) to play softly in the background during an event or open house. “We’ve hired DJs, but we’ve also hired violinists,” Myler says. Read more: 5 Commandments of Marketing 4. Turn it into a game: A game or raffle may keep buyers lingering at the open house longer. “Have a contest for the biggest ‘loser’ renter,” suggests Jana Schmidt, a real estate broker in Seattle. “Have buyers enter the amount of renter they have paid over the years into a drawing for a gift card.” 5. Give out a swag bag: Myler’s brokerage uses a lot of free merchandise giveaways to promote itself. “We offer tote bags, T-shirts, baseball caps, mugs,” he says. “Basically anything you can think of, we give out.” Try making up a magnet, pens, mouse pads, and notepads in smaller quantities to promote a listing. Source: “Freshly Baked Cookies Are So Yesterday – Instead Try These 5 Wacky Tricks to Sell Your Home,” realtor.com® (Nov. 30, 2015)

Does your marketing need a refresh? Some real estate professionals are trying out some unusual ways to drum up more potential buyers for their listings. Draw some inspiration with a few of their ideas:

1. The house that tweeted: Some real estate professionals are having their sellers create Twitter accounts for their homes. For example, “Bob the House” became a Twitter account and a home with a voice. The three-bedroom ranch in the Chicago suburb of Mount Prospect launched with a Tweet that said: “I am Bob. A House. I’m in a family-friendly neighborhood close to schools and shopping. Hate to say it, but I’m cheap and easy (great price and move-in ready).” Rich Burghgraef, an account executive with sales consulting firm Randolph Sterling, created the account to document Bob’s journey on the market. It worked: Home showings jumped from one or two a weekend to six and eight after the Twitter account debuted.

Read more: A House That Sells Itself – as the Salesperson

2. Turn your open house into an event: “We throw events – not open houses – at a lot of our listings,” says Josh Myler, director of the Residential Division at The Agency in Beverly Hills, Calif. “We do everything from a simple cocktail party to a bigger affair. We’ve even hired professional chefs.” Myler recommends looking for event planners, caterers, and others who are just getting started since newer companies may be less expensive and want the added exposure.

3. Add some music: Enhance your open house with some live music. Myler will hire professional musicians (sometimes amateurs) to play softly in the background during an event or open house. “We’ve hired DJs, but we’ve also hired violinists,” Myler says.

Read more: 5 Commandments of Marketing

4. Turn it into a game: A game or raffle may keep buyers lingering at the open house longer. “Have a contest for the biggest ‘loser’ renter,” suggests Jana Schmidt, a real estate broker in Seattle. “Have buyers enter the amount of renter they have paid over the years into a drawing for a gift card.”

5. Give out a swag bag: Myler’s brokerage uses a lot of free merchandise giveaways to promote itself. “We offer tote bags, T-shirts, baseball caps, mugs,” he says. “Basically anything you can think of, we give out.” Try making up a magnet, pens, mouse pads, and notepads in smaller quantities to promote a listing.

Source: “Freshly Baked Cookies Are So Yesterday – Instead Try These 5 Wacky Tricks to Sell Your Home,” realtor.com® (Nov. 30, 2015)