Words and Pictures by YOURealty’s photographic team: Real Property Photography
The objective of this report is to detail and prove the vital importance of utilising dynamic visual marketing tools in real estate marketing to increase sales. Using visual content such as detailed floor plans, high quality photographs of properly staged listings and even video of both residential and commercial properties can increase the impact of a real estate listing and translate directly into less time spent on the market. Visual information is everywhere, comprising a growing share of the social media market. It is highly ‘shareable,’ well optimised for SEO analytics and an information format consumers are comfortable with. It is time to explore how visual marketing tools can increase your effectiveness in real estate marketing.
Today, average people are used to the ability to consume images and video to experience remote locations and review products prior to experiencing them firsthand. In a market like real estate, the first thing a sales professional should make available to potential buyers is a floor plan that properly illustrates the layout of the subject building. The value of a good floor plan to buyers is two fold: prior to physical inspection, it will provide an idea of the flow of the structure and help potential buyers begin to imagine themselves in the space and how they might use it; after they have seen the building for themselves, a floor plan is a great refresher and reminder of what they have seen. This floor plan is ideally included toward the front of an online listing and also given in the physical as part of the brochure or materials provided when showing a property so that it serves both purposes. It is worth contracting with a floor plan supplier for the value this tool provides you in the long run.
No matter how attractive your written listing is, you need a tool to draw a potential buyer to your offering and that tool is often a floor plan. Your floor plan provides invaluable factual information, proper dimension and scale, and the ability to assess potential for alteration. A well placed floor plan in your online marketing arsenal of written copy and properly taken photos will provide a dimensional representation of the layout of the building in relation to the words and photos used. It works in tandem with your written description of the layout of a structure and with photo representations of individual rooms by providing a global view of how those pieces fit together. This is especially important when the property you are listing sits empty of furniture. A property that makes sense to a buyer is more likely to catch and hold their attention. With a floor plan, buyers can also assess whether or not a property is able to grow with them or accommodate potential renovations. Floor plans are extremely effective with fact based individuals since a floor plan cannot distort the truth.
It is equally important to provide a print out of the floor plan to buyers you have met with so they can recall your property individually. Memory is an elusive thing and occurs through a communication between different parts of the brain, the prefrontal cortex, the amygdala and the hippocampus. There is vast opportunity for communication to get mixed up, even in important situations such as witnessing a crime. You cannot expect your property to stand out to a buyer effectively after they have left the location, especially if they are viewing a number of properties within a given time frame. Your floor plan, however, can and will jog their memory as they review or compare what they have seen. By providing them this helpful tool to evoke their memory, you are also likely to stand out as a knowledgeable professional who understands their field.
Staging
Staging is a long held staple in real estate marketing that has a psychological effect on potential buyers. Big box store giant, IKEA, owes some of its own sales success to showcasing items in a staged environment rather than simply on a shelf. This is inviting to people, and creates feelings of interest and even security and a sense of home. The world of staging has evolved beyond physical staging to include virtual staging, both of which are effective tools for real estate marketers to engage the emotions and imagination of their demographic of buyers. Like a floor plan, staging helps a buyer see themselves in a property. When using virtual staging, you can provide buyers with the ability to see the property furnished and staged as well as visit in person to experience the building as a blank canvass. It is estimated that 90 percent of buyers begin their home search online. In the Australian market, two of the largest portals are Domain.com.au and Realestate.com.au, which both focus heavily on visual content- because it works. Photographs of traditionally or virtually staged properties introduce your listing to buyers in an engaging and enticing way. This will increase your listing’s engagement.
Traditional Staging
Traditional staging requires the assistance of a home or business design professional and often involves some furniture rental and or storage fees. In a furnished home or commercial listing, a designer can suggest proper rearrangements of already present items and remove those that don’t fit to storage. Photographs are then taken of the property for the online and print listing materials. When buyers inspect the property, they will see a physical representation of what is depicted in the photographs they have already seen. They can take their own photos as well. The key with staging in general is to cause the listing to seem inviting and useful.
Virtual Staging
Virtual staging is a cost effective, updated way to market properties that are empty and could be useful regarding cluttered homes or a rental properties as well. The process is that photographs are taken of the empty structure and provided to a third party service specialising in virtual staging. This individual then digitally manipulates the photographs to add furnishings and decor appropriate for the listing.
Because of savings on furniture rental, contracting with a design professional, and potentially storage of unwanted items, virtual staging can cost as little as 10 percent of the cost of traditional staging. In the event the real estate professional is attempting to sell a home that is cluttered with a lifetime of items, it may still be cost effective to clear the space entirely, place items in storage, and outsource photos of the now cleared space for virtual staging. Some items may be able to be digitally removed by the third party virtual staging professional. Perhaps most importantly, virtual staging is a fixed, one time cost that does not increase if the listing fails to sell quickly, the opposite of the situation when furniture must be rented for an extended time. This gives a buyer the best of both worlds, as they can then view the property in person as a blank slate ready for their own ideas and creativity.
High Quality Photography
High quality photographs of the interior and exterior of your listing are essential. Professional photographs of your listing will provide added emotional impact and engagement with a property which translates to quicker sales and less time on the market. It is often worth the cost of hiring a professional photographer with real estate experience for their expertise, as it is estimated that professional photography can sell a home up to 32% faster. This statistic is provided by a 2014 study done by VHT Studios, the largest network of real estate photographers in the United States, and focused on Chicago, IL area homes. The number of days on the market for properties dramatically decreased by as much as five weeks when professional photography was used.
When analysing the reasons for this and whether these results could translate to the current market, one must again look back to the overarching themes of this report type; either emotional or practical. A well shot photograph has a greater impact than one taken by an amateur because the professional understands many concepts behind space, lighting and what is aesthetically pleasing.
The skill of the photographer will be transposed onto your listing and could cause a buyer to engage with the beauty or functionality of a space. The attention span of consumers is less than ever before and a quality photograph will catch attention fast. It is suggested that you may have only 3 seconds to catch the attention of your potential market. The human brain processes visual information faster than written information- up to 60,000 times faster. More than 90 percent of the information taken in by the brain is visual. These statistics make a powerful case for all visual marketing and photographs in particular. Domain.com.au and realestate.com.au have taken this information to heart and designed their websites to be visually stimulating as soon as a user visits. Before a potential buyer ever gets to your listing, they are visually engaged by the layout and backgrounds of both websites. This prepares them mentally to anticipate more visual content, which you can capitalise on by providing just that.
These portals are leaders in the real estate market and both understand the vital importance of quality, eye catching listings and seek to drive traffic to listings with a heavy emphasis on visual marketing for that reason. By understanding this relationship and providing content in your listing that meets this criteria, you can capitalise on increased visibility while simultaneously holding buyers’ attention once they arrive at your particular properties.
Video
It may seem redundant to provide video of your listing when you already have photographs. Consider, however, that with video you can not only show the property, but you have some control over walking your potential buyer through the information before you ever meet with them. Video is increasingly attractive to media consumers, evidenced in part by Youtube’s statistic of attracting over one billion unique viewers each month. A video can add the experience of perceived value to your listing which can creative a positive feeling in your buyer. Engaging multiple senses in a potential audience is effective, proven by television advertisements versus a simple print ad.
You want captivating and engaging video, not amateur shots with no post-production. Contracting with a professional individual or company that has an understanding of the process is going to be the most effective overall. A video in your real estate listing will tell a story; a story of the neighbourhood, of the fluid nature of lighting inside a home, or illustrate a listing in different seasons. For all of these things you will need someone to properly edit the video as well as shoot it. The way the video is put together as well as what it contains will say something about you and your brand and this can mean something to potential buyers. You can extend this concept into thinking about noteworthy events in the neighbourhood, even if your listing is commercial. Showcasing pleasing things about your listing’s community and surroundings can make a difference to especially out of town buyers.
An Eye To The Future
The importance and effectiveness of visual marketing is unlikely to fade anytime soon. Instead, professionals are exploring even more ways to capitalise on its benefits. An article recently featured on realestate.com.au goes one step beyond photographs and floor plans to discuss the future of effective visual marketing: virtual reality engagement. With this technology, buyers will be able to do a remote walk through in a more visceral way than simply through static photographs accompanied by a floor plan. The potential buyer has total control in this format which psychologically helps them feel empowered and ready to buy. They are able to spend extra time lingering on any section of a listing without even so much as pausing a video walk through. The successful implications of this advancement are exciting to the market.
The information in this report confirms the effectiveness of adding visual content to your marketing strategy for selling real estate. There are endless ways to do this and your own creativity is part of what will shine outward to potential buyers. In the same way you use your expertise to guide them through the process of purchasing real estate, you will want to consult with professionals who can assist you in creating the visual marketing content discussed here. The sky is the limit with this new and engaging way to reach your next sale.