There’s no doubt the pandemic has changed the real estate world. However, open houses — whether in-person or virtual — still remain one of the most valuable ways to drive qualified buyers.
The secret is being able to connect with potential buyers at each stage in the actual buying process. Rather than assuming everyone is in the “just looking” phase, it’s important to realize some prospects may be more intent on buying than others.
That means segmenting your open house messages accordingly can have amazing effects when done right.
Here’s what to do and when to do it, no matter which type of open house you’re hosting.
Create a Short Video and Email It To Potential Leads
If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a thousand more. Keep it short — around 60 seconds at most. Then, two days before your scheduled open house is about to begin, email it to your leads to let them know about it.
Of course, a minute of footage isn’t nearly enough to learn everything there is to know about a given property. If done right though, it will definitely whet their appetite and encourage them to come in and see it for themselves.
Utilize Facebook Advertising to Turn Your Post Into an Ad
Facebook isn’t just for games and chatting with old friends. It’s also a powerful tool in your real estate marketing strategy. Creating a post about your open house, and then turning it into an ad, will let you segment the post and direct when, where, and approximately who will see it.
Using Facebook Ads Manager, you can target your open house announcement to people within a certain income range, families, those with school-aged children, and much more. This intricate audience detail is at the heart of what makes Facebook ads function so well. It’s definitely something that costs very little, but can help you earn a lot!
Meet the Neighbors
Going to nearby homes might not be advisable in the midst of a pandemic, but it’s always a good idea to go to neighborhoods near where the home is and leave flyers with a photo of the home, some details, and the price.
Explain that there will be an open house going on soon and that they can be the first to look and make a bid if they’re interested. When it’s acceptable to go door to door again, take the opportunity to meet and greet in nearby communities.
This not only helps you gain more of a familiar presence in the area, but may also ensure that your message is received by the right user at the right time who just so happens to be looking to buy.
On the property itself, make it abundantly clear that you’re the agent. Most people driving by who may be interested won’t see a tiny sign, much less its even tinier contact details, so now’s your time to go big and make it easy for people to contact you.
Leverage Existing Advertising and Alerts
A great real estate marketing strategy doesn’t happen on its own. It’s often a key part of other strategies used by the franchise or brand to consistently drive open house foot traffic (or even virtual traffic).
To that end, it’s a good idea to include relevant information about the open house with any larger scale advertising that your agency is doing.
Whether by mail, email, or social media, making sure that information gets into the hands of people who are actively looking will greatly increase the turnout to your open house event.
Marketing Your Open House: The Best of Both Worlds
With these points, it’s easy to see how a combination of old-fashioned, door-to-door marketing combined with online technology can truly bridge the gap and help you solidify your real estate marketing strategy.
Depending on where the property is located and if it’s an in-demand area, getting people to your open house could be an uphill battle. However, with the right combination of marketing tactics, it doesn’t have to feel like such a slog.
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