Marketing your property effectively is essential if you are putting your home up for sale. Read on to discover some useful tips that can help you…
Five sides of marketing your home
There is a lot more to marketing your property than meets the eye! Gone are the days whereby an advert in your estate agency’s window was enough! You need to use every tool available to give your house the best chance of selling…
- Newspapers – Print advertising still has a role to play! Lots of national and local newspapers have property pages dedicated to listings. You find that buyers often buy these papers with the sole purpose of heading to the property pages.
- Online – Not only do you need to be included on portals, such as Rightmove, but you should also consider using social media websites to advertise. Head to this HDB Choa Chu Kang property page and you can see a great example of online listings that are structured effectively.
- Brochure – Don’t let an estate agent tell you that brochures are worthless. They are not! They offer a glossy and elegant way of showcasing your home. Include high-quality pictures, including lifestyle images, as well as information on the property and the neighbourhood.
- For Sale signs – For Sale signs provide exposure whilst also making sure everyone knows your house is on the market. They still drive every one in three sales, and therefore are just as important as ever!
- Property details – You need to prepare details about your property. Do your research online or in magazines to discover how competitors nest approach this.
Do I need a For Sale sign?
Several of years ago if you had asked whether you need a For Sale sign people would have looked at you as if to say ‘are you seriously asking that question?’ However, nowadays people are genuinely questioning their worth! Do they actually drum up any interest? They don’t exactly look attractive either!
The truth is, a For Sale sign is just as important as it ever has been! One in every three sales is triggered by this. Firstly, it is a way of marketing your property. From your neighbours’ friends to people driving by your home, you never know who could pass by and be interested in your property. The more exposure you have, the better!
Yet, one of the most important things about a For Sale sign is that it confirms your house is on the market. Otherwise, interested parties could drive around aimlessly looking for your home and not being able to spot it! Or, they could have seen your property on the Internet, yet when they see it up close and see there is no sign they may assume it was an old ad and that it has since been taken off the market or sold.
For Sale signs have advanced too! They offer a lot more than what they used to! Take the recent addition of a QR code as an example. People can use their smartphones to scan the code and it will take them to an online brochure, or listing, or similar.
Nameless?
You have put your house on the market! So, this means (hopefully) that you are featured on Rightmove and perhaps some other property portals and sites too? Great! You should definitely look up your property and check out your viewing to see if you are happy with it! And, whilst your there, make sure you are not nameless!
What do I mean? Well, go to your photographs, click on one and see what the caption says? Nine times out of ten it will simply say ‘picture 1’. This needs changing! What to? Well, put the pictures into perspective, i.e. ‘garden and view from the living room’. Don’t just assume the viewer is going to know what the picture is! They may think your garden is so spectacular that it is a nearby beauty location.
This is no trivial issue. You need to attend to it as soon as possible, or rather your agent does! Your photographs are your most important marketing tool, so being nameless can really sabotage your online advert. Just give your estate agent a call and tell him that you want all of the images to be renamed. It is as simple as that.
Is your home marketed badly?
You have advertised your property on major website portals, such as Rightmove, you have used social media in an attempt to drum up attention, you have even tried to generate free PR on local websites and blogs, yet you don’t seem to be getting any interest in your home! Could it be that your marketing campaign has actually taken a turn for the worst?
Are you blending into the background? You need to ensure your home stands out from all other comparable properties on Rightmove. Merely having a presence is not enough. You need to deliver a killer headline and pick a stunning main photograph to ensure the reader clicks on your advert and discovers more about your property.
Are you actually using Twitter and Facebook correctly? These platforms are all about sharing. Message your friends and family members and ask them to share or re-tweet your messages so they showcase them to everyone they know! Twitter is a great way for you to connect to local business in the area and anyone else that would happily re-tweet your update to their followers. This can really give you the amount of exposure you are looking for.
Re-assess your marketing campaign every now and again! You should also use the Rightmove Property Performance Report for key statistics regarding your performance on their portal. Get your estate agent to send you this every week.
So there you have it: some great tips to help you get started with marketing your property. Good luck!