I got a “Must try local restaurants that just opened near you” email from Yelp yesterday…
Yelp – New businesses
Please tell me, why exactly are brokerages/agents/teams not the ones delivering this?
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B.E. Ward
Posted at 08:16h, 15 JulyPresumably, they’d be delivering it to people that are looking at homes in a new neighborhood? Or are you suggesting they send it to people as it is above as a marketing tool?
Drew Meyers
Posted at 08:23h, 15 JulyManually curating something like this, and sending it to people in the hyper local area once every 6 months would be a good strategy imho.
B.E. Ward
Posted at 08:28h, 15 JulyInteresting..
I’m pretty new to this whole world, but I come at it with the angle that I despise being marketed to. Maybe I’m alone on this, but when I receive something from an agent I’ve used (either an email with a tagline saying “please send me your referrals!”, a small Christmas gift, or whatever), I think to myself “here’s someone that sees me as an opportunity to make money.. and is clueless to the reality that I have zero interest in moving.”
Like I said, I’m fully aware that I might be in the distinct minority here, and I hope my words aren’t too strong. But I really wish RE professionals would go beyond seeing people as ‘leads’, and dispense with the idea that ‘if you put your name in front of them, they’ll appreciate it!’ That most people don’t trust agents in the first place doesn’t help..=/
Drew Meyers
Posted at 08:42h, 15 JulyThe manual nature, ensuring it’s incredibly hyper local (aka relevant), and done in a way that’s not salesy is critical. As a home owner, if an agent sent me this, it would earn them a small degree of trust. Over time, that builds.
B.E. Ward
Posted at 08:56h, 15 JulyHmm.. the way I could see something like this vaguely working without looking like an ad would be to have an agent forward that info to me from Yelp (rather than looking like they procured it themselves – that always looks as fake as it is). Then included with that forward would be something like “I really want to try this place (or one of these places). So I’d like to invite the X number of you to dinner at Y place at Z time. The tab’s on me! Feel free to bring any questions about real estate or our market..” Send that to the few of us in the neighborhood that have been clients for the past 3 years, and we’re good.
deidrew
Posted at 08:31h, 15 JulyLocal content is relevant for real estate agents and a good marketing tool. It’s one that I’ve helped craft and advocate for with real estate agents I’ve worked with. However sometimes I worry that it ends up devaluing the role of a realtor as a professional (substitute in dentist, lawyer, or architect in the same marketing and it looks a bit different). I do think that if this content is framed in the right way (as part of an assessment of how a neighborhood is growing) or as the dessert in a more data/market driven marketing piece, it could be very effective.
Bryn Kaufman
Posted at 11:15h, 16 JulyI agree. If an attorney or doctor started sending me this random marketing stuff via email I would put them on my Do Not Use list immediately. My thinking would be if they are this desperate for business, they are probably not my best choice.
However, if they send me things that make sense from their area of expertise. For example, a doctor sending tips on how to prevent getting sick, then I would be thankful.
Framed in the right way is a great way to put it. I could see a section of an agents website dedicated to announcing things like this in specific neighborhoods. Then people that are interested could view it and it would be seen as a nice public service by the agent.