What Has Your Realtor Association Done For You Lately?
Realtor associations are a puzzling bunch.
I put this down largely to a general lack of focus in their overall mission or raison d’etre. Are they supposed to be market cheerleaders, lobby groups, representatives of the industry - what are they? I don’t think they even know sometimes.
Nowhere is this lack of focus more apparent than in their marketing campaigns, which generally range from bad to the downright awful and out of touch (see Buy a House, Or The Dog Gets It for example). They also usually suffer from a startling lack of creativity.
I have only seen a couple of truly creative marketing campaigns in the past - there was one a while back (from somewhere in Florida I think) that was along the lines of “Don’t DIY” or an anti-FSBO message, that struck me as pretty good. But my memory is failing me now and I couldn’t find it in any of my Google searches (Strike One, BTW).
Michael Smith from Nova Scotia Real Estate Agent, tipped me off to an excellent campaign created by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) however.
HowRealtorsHelp.ca is a very clever use of Flash and video technology that helps consumers answer some of the questions they might have when facing one of the biggest financial transactions in their lives.
The message was bang on and it was delivered in a very soothing, yet not condescending manner (Kudos to whomever casted the talent). The site was comprehensive, easy to navigate and very personal - I almost got the sense that the Realtor was in the room with me answering my questions.
In fact it was so successful, I would say my only criticism was that there wasn’t enough video. I was enjoying just sitting back and have her tell me what I need to know. When I had to sit forward and actually read the text on the screen I was a bit taken aback.
Much of what makes this site successful in my mind is the attention to detail. I love that the Realtor welcomes you back if you’ve been to the site before and how she sits and plays with her Blackberry while she waits for you to make a choice.
This is the type of marketing a Realtor association should be doing. Putting a positive face on the industry. Demonstrating a Realtor’s
value proposition by positioning them in a positive light and show
them as caring, knowledgeable market experts.
By taking off their Industry hats for a moment and realizing consumers have a lot of questions they need answering, CREA has created a meaningful, impactful campaign that uses technology to provide the answers in a fun and engaging way.
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6 Comment(s)
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Phil Thomas Di Giulio | Mar 15, 2007 | Reply
Flash interactivity and video continue to be a powerful marketing tool. As many of you know, advertising companies have been using this combo (flash and video) for years now. When used properly, you can virtually change public opinion of a product or service. A great example of this is a campaign Phillips ran for their ‘Body Groomer’. While not real estate specific, it’s quite possibly the most effective (and funniest) online ad campaign I’ve ever seen. Seriously, laugh out loud funny. Five minutes on the site and they might even convince you to buy one.
http://www.shaveeverywhere.com
Teresa Boardman | Mar 16, 2007 | Reply
Thanks for asking. they made me stop using my domain name because it has has the word realtor in it. i actually created a new word. Can’t fight it had to cave because I can’t do business in my market without belonging to the association. They explain to people what REALTOR means which I suppose is a servce of sorts.
Jesse Bilsten | Mar 16, 2007 | Reply
I actually have the opposite view of Flash. I think it’s over used and is 9 times out of 10 the wrong tool for the job. If you’re trying to promote ease of use, and information using Flash should be the last tool on your list.
That site should have been built in standards compliant HTML so it was easily indexable (so people on google who are searching for “how a realtor can help me” would find it much easier. Also so users who are older, hard of hearing, bad eyesight, etc. could use it via a screen reader or make the font larger.
Flash caters to one market and that is the directly advertised and young. Meaning if you weren’t sent the link at one point, you aren’t going to find it by your means and if you fall into the seniors area you’ll more than likely find it hard to understand and use at all.
If the message is so important why marginalize your audience? Especially since the site uses ONLY Flash to deliver the message. This is absolutely ridiculous for a web company to recommend and in my opinion reinforce the point that the Real Estate industry hasn’t the faintest clue how to use the internet or technology.
TitleRep | Mar 16, 2007 | Reply
I thought it was great… The best part was the “10 Questions to ask your RELATOR” button on the selling side. For putting so much time and effort into a site like that, you’d think they would at least check it for spelling/grammar errors.
for sale by owner center | Mar 27, 2007 | Reply
Hello Joel,
Could not agree more with you…
“Putting a positive face on the industry. Demonstrating a Realtor’s
value proposition by positioning them in a positive light and show
them as caring, knowledgeable market experts.”
Generally the boards and NAR got it all wrong when fighting the DIY movement.
When you see articles like that from REALTOR magazine: Flip Those FSBO’s that use this claim of homes sold FSBO, sell for 25% less according to the NAR 2006 survey is absolutely misleading.
I’ve done a blog post regarding this often used statistic that explains that the statistic is based on a “median” not that two if you two identical properties in indentical areas, in identical condition that the FSBO on average will sell for 25% less… that’s BS.
I indicate how the “median” can easily be skewed to show whatever you want, especially when the provider of the statistic has never released the data set.
What’s funny in this same article is the following chart on page 32 which states “FSBO’s earn less on home sale”. Impressive title. but look at the facts indicated directly in the article which talks about selling price.
Agent-Assisted: 250K median price - o.k., this is the average home sold.
First FSBO, then agent-assisted: $192,000 - this is still sold with agent, but is $58k less…. hmm… thought agents got top dollar or 25% MORE than homes sold by FSBO?
FSBO/Don’t know buyers: $187,200 - what, thats not 25% less than the “first FSBO, then agent-assited”.
Before all you agents come attacking… the above scenario provided directly from the NAR. Check your REALTOR.org/realtormag for April.
The FSBO, who was agent assisted actually nets $180,480 after paying the real estate commission… so it cost the seller who went FSBO about $6,720 more to use an agent. Interesting…
Mind you, I’m very pro FSBO but I’m not 100% against agents. I know that certain people (even some using our site) should and some MUST use an agent.
Some agents are worth every penny of the commission and a few of the 1-6 deal a year agents are worth absolutely nothing.
What gets tiring is how the NAR and REALTORS try to just bash and scare FSBOs and state that FSBO should not even be an option much like political smear campaigns instead of focusing on themselves and the value they bring to the table.
Your take and the CREA on this is very refreshing. NAR should be looking North for examples on doing it right instead of spending 25 million in anti-fsbo scare campaign messages promising some legal snafu or you’ll net 16% less since you sold it yourself.
FSBO Louisville | Apr 30, 2007 | Reply
Very interesting Points of view…
FSBO Louisville