#retechchat Mobile Marketing Archive and Wrap
For the second week in a row, the #retechchat Monday evening discussion was off-the-hook-awesome. This week, we tried to start an hour early at 6 PM PST to give east coasters a better chance to tune in, but ended up doing a full 2 hours of discussion on the topic of mobile marketing since so many people joined closer to the original time of 7 PST. Most of the discussion centered around mobile strategies and tools, though we did sidetrack for a bit on the prospects of Google +1 (I’m bullish) and QR codes (I’m not so bullish) were brought up once or twice.
For the full rundown, you can view the archive of this past week’s #retechchat (and the prior week’s for that matter) at TwapperKeeper under the #retechchat hashtag. Note that you’ll have to change the time filter to see more tweets on the page. Unfortunately, there is no perfect solution for archiving hashtag discussions that I could find. I ran out of my monthly limit of 500 tweets using RowFeeder, so that wasn’t an option for week 2. If you have any ideas, please do share.
I do have a few thoughts to relay through my keyboard. I think it’s a given that mobile is going to be hugely important going forward in the real estate vertical – consumers are spending more and more of their time on mobile devices each and every day (30% of Zillow searches are on mobile on weekends). What I don’t think we’re sure on is what strategy will be most effective to reaching those buyers and sellers. I personally 100% agree with Matthew Shadbolt at Corcoran that an “app” for an individual agent doesn’t make financial sense — at least not an app with a focus of searching for listings. The technology cost and the marketing required to get consumers to download and use it is simply too high. The fact of the matter is that an agent app will never be able to compete against the Zillow’s of the world in mobile search. I happen to think there is room for an agent app that is NOT search; perhaps a neighborhood community app that includes news and helps connect people with their neighbors. That app could then be teamed with an existing app whose core focus is search. That’s where the possibility of “The Ines app powered by Zillow” comes into play. Zillow could white label their app and give a particular agent control over the branding in it when their past clients sign up. I’m sure they are already thinking about this type of scenario for their Zillow Premiere Agents. Note to Amy – Ines should be your first beta client should Zillow go this route :).
If you have any thoughts to share on the use of mobile in the real estate vertical, leave them below in the comments.
Next week’s topic will be FACEBOOK ADS (if there is not enough discussion about ads, we can discuss Facebook pages & engagement strategies)! Video was the next most popular topic from those who voted (VOTE HERE), so we’ll plan on discussing that the following week.
See you next week at 6 PM PST / 9 PM EST for another amazing hour (or two) of conversation.
Nick
Posted at 14:55h, 21 Aprildoesn’t smarter agent already do what you suggested?
drewmeyers
Posted at 16:30h, 21 Aprilhttp://www.inman.com/news/2010/04/8/lawsuit-targets-mobile-real-estate-apps
Maybe – but I don’t think they’ve teamed their app with anything beyond search. And smarteragent will never beat a company like Zillow in search. They technology investment required is just too great. In all honesty, I’m just not a fan of their business model – which seems to be to sue everyone else. I get that patents are part of business, but protecting a patent shouldn’t be a companies entire revenue model. That just doesn’t do it for me. If they want to do that, it’s their right of course. It’s just not a company I’d recommend doing business with.
Brad Blumberg
Posted at 00:54h, 23 AprilHi Drew. It’s Brad, from Smarter Agent. Zillow does a wonderful job, and I remember you from your leadership in social media. Did you know we power 1000’s apps at Smarter Agent. For $30 a month any agent can hand their clients mobile search and be directly connected to them. It is different than Zillow’s model. My mom was a broker and I woudl tell her that everyone can use the power of a Realtor.com and Zillow to generate leads, at some point you want products that are a realtionship only between you and your client. We’ve raised over $20 million, with another round pending, and our mobile search platform has won far more awards than Zillow in the mobile space. Also, we have well over 2 million downlaods and guess what – we don’t have 10 million customers on the web to migrate to mobile so our “search and discovery” platform works. Indeed since we work with over 300 MLSs, so I’d say in many markets our agent clients are showing more complete data than Zillow. I see this site is powered by Zillow, but if you ever want to really learn about our business feel free to contact me, brad[at]smarteragent.com. And yes, we were the first to so real estate location-based search and I’d argue still the best at it. Like all apps, it will evolve beyound just search. We power brokers, agents, franchisors, MLSs and other real estate entities on the enterprise side. Agent’s probably can’t create websites that match Zillow, but nonetheless they need the tools that help them communicate. Thanks for posting another point of view.
drewmeyers
Posted at 05:50h, 25 AprilBrad-
Just to clarify one minor point – this site was founded by Zillow, but is now owned by me. But am I biased on this topic given my zillow background? Of course.
I don’t have real data on your apps usage. But I do believe # of downloads is a bogus stat in general because it doesn’t prove if people are actually using something. Active users is a bit more telling. I heard from a few people with smarter agent that they were getting almost zero activity from it (but I admit that is dated and I haven’t talked to anyone recently).
M Squared Real Estate
Posted at 16:35h, 28 JuneSmarter Agent is offering a private-label search solution; actual apps, not shared. This solution, integrates tour.me to provide direct links to mobile-formatted sites with the property info, via QR code. There are pros and cons to this private-label solution.
Pros——
1. Private label app. This is a real app, not some shared BS solution. This means your app is searchable and downloadable, directly from app marketplaces (iphone, ipad [native], android, blackberry and windows mobile marketplaces).
2. Less cost. I forget the pricing, but it’s around $1,200/mo (total). Say you’re paying $14k/year for this solution. If you were to develop these apps on your own, you’d be looking at around $15-25k per app, that’s $60k. Plus, you’ll have to maintain your app and keep it consistent with OS changes. Tack on another $10k/year (total, not per app) for maintenance. For cost, I don’t believe Smarter Agent’s pricing can be beat today, but tomorrow is a whole new world.
Cons——
1. Advertising. They put ads on your application. Did I mention they put ads on your application? They offer a revenue sharing plan, but there’s still ads on your app. I hate ads. I would rather pay a fee per lead that is generated using my app. This is a problem, as Smarter Agent apps do convert, but not very well. The interface is just horrible, very early 2000’s. Reminds me a lot of the Comcast Cable, er Xfinity (wtf?), channel guide that hasn’t changed in the last decade.
2. Did I mention the interface sucks. Face it, look at any reviews out there. Very low opinion of the Smarter Agent interface. Unfortunately, Smarter Agent is starting to look like a lot of ‘real estate technology companies’ that care much more about billing and sales than development and innovation. Let’s hope this changes.
I’m most likely going to signup for a year or two and test the waters. As it will take us this time to build our own apps for our custom wordpress IDX solution in development. 🙂
M Squared Real Estate
http://msqrealty.com
Dominic Morrocco
Posted at 17:17h, 21 AprilDrew,
I’m not too bullish on QR codes either, at least not how the real estate industry has experimented using them. There are, however, practical uses which we’ve implemented that have resulted in media exposure within our market, which has led to new business.
One such use is to embed your vcard into a QR code which is printed on your business card. When scanned, it adds you, with all of your information into the end-user’s phone. As more and more people move to cloud based computing, especially with regards to calendar, email and documents, I believe you will see increased uses such as this.
vCard + QR = practical. Redirecting the mobile user to your non-mobile formatted website, not so much.
Nick
Posted at 21:58h, 23 AprilEngagement in recently sold pieces to showcase the home that was sold isn’t a bad idea either. Especially if you have a mobile optimized experience for the home.
Stephanie Crawford-@AgentSteph
Posted at 02:04h, 25 AprilI think it would be pretty nifty if Zillow and/or Trulia allowed buyers to “claim” their agent online (not just in an app). Currently the backend of my IDX allows me to see what registrants are searching for, previewing, and saving to favorites. It would be awesome if the big sites allowed that too – provided that your client registered under your profile… or something. Does that make sense?
Sajib
Posted at 12:18h, 27 AprilA BC Search Engine Optimization expert can make this an easy, stress-free process as we essentially study your competitors and strives the best ranking for your site at the shortest time possible. Basically we create the sales lead engine on your site. Instead of you putting money on PPC, your BC Search Engine Optimization consultant tweaks your site and visitors will find your business. Whether you are a service-based small business or brick-and-mortar shop, we will deliver you the results that you want – customers to your door that you can convert to sales.
Sajib
Posted at 12:18h, 27 AprilA BC Search Engine Optimization expert can make this an easy, stress-free process as we essentially study your competitors and strives the best ranking for your site at the shortest time possible. Basically we create the sales lead engine on your site. Instead of you putting money on PPC, your BC Search Engine Optimization consultant tweaks your site and visitors will find your business. Whether you are a service-based small business or brick-and-mortar shop, we will deliver you the results that you want – customers to your door that you can convert to sales.