Text Me That Flyer: Rundown on Real Estate Text Message Services
Those pesky real estate flyers are always a pain to keep . I like text messaging as a flyer delivery system because you actually get some analytics out of the marketing as opposed to filling empty boxes. The advantages are many: saving money and time stuffing boxes, gather information on the visitors, hopefully opt in to email marketing, convenience. The biggest objection that I hear is that not everyone is texting, but I am curious whether that is purely anecdotal.
With 250% increases in text messaging in each of the last two years, and ZDnet reporting that “52% of subscribers age 25-34 sent or received…37% of those age 35-44…68% of those age 18-24…14% of those over 65.” I’m not, however, going to engage in the text message debate in this article, I believe that text messages will increasingly become a tool in the arsenal of the new marketers, thanks American Idol.
As I looked at the available real estate text messaging services, I looked to price, information capture and reporting, lead capture, CAN Spam compliance and signage. Of course, these were the services that I have compiled, but please comment if you are aware of any other services out there.
FoREM first illuminated Bouncepad offers a text messaging service for a monthly fee (starting at $14.95/month). For the monthly fee you receive (1) text message service, (2) a series of expected add-ons, (3) a website, (4) marketing tools. You can sign up for a “free” version of bouncepad, but you do not get a customized keyword, lead information, and advanced SMS features.
CellSigns offers an SMS Flyer service. They describe their service as:
A potential buyer pulls up to a home for sale. Prompted by a CellSign, he or she uses a cell phone to text message the property’s ID # to 79274 (QWASI). Within seconds a text message is returned to the buyer’s phone with information about the home (including a description, number of beds and baths, and price) and contact information for the agent. The potential buyer may then request a callback from the agent, a property brochure via email, or schedule a showing.
- Pricing text message. All text messages require a $.10 charge
- $499 - 20 listings / 10 signs
- $299 - 10 listings / 5 signs
- $199 - 5 listings / 3 signs
- under our analysis this would cost $259
- Once a listing sells then that item comes off of one of the allowed listings. Once all of the listings are used then you have to re-enroll.
- Fully compliant with CAN spam law
- Signage will be shipped within 3 days
One of the biggest advantages of Cellsigns is that the service may acquire the email address of the buyer.
Our new wireless property search enables consumers to access real estate listing information instantly by using a cell phone or any other wireless device. Consumers can obtain details about a listing when they spot a property on the fly, bringing prospective buyers greater and more immediate accessibility than ever before.
Much to my dismay, Tom, in the sales department said that “we do not service your market.” Too bad, Tom.
FOREM pointed us to Property 4 Cell, which offers another text message service. The hook to their service is that a user can “map your home search with your cell phone.” Other than that the service seems rather unremarkable. This site is a definite buyer’s tool allowing: “buyer… noting likes/dislikes about the property; this info will be stored in buyer’s web profile” and compiling a website of all properties they want more information.
This concept is interesting, but I think the company errs in being too proprietary with their information service. As a buyer, I am going to look at the property site (if one exists), realtor.com, zillow, trulia, etc. to gain a better understanding of the property. I am not going to use one website that is connected to my phone, but that is me.
Finally, text-ed is another service out there. With their service you call an 800 number and enter the property ID. You then receive an unremarkable text message with the property details. The concept is interesting, and if your market is unaccustomed to text messages then it may be a good option, but I think that the whole concept of text messages is that I don’t call any number, listen to any prompts, and most importantly risk talking to someone before I am ready to talk. I text a number and receive information
Of the services, I think that bouncepad and Cellsigns stand out as the leaders. Cellsigns does a good job of lead capture (getting that email address over the text message is a big deal), but I am not crazy about 3 text messages for one request–and the email address capture is not extremely clear. Right now, I am testing Bouncepad at a site. Generally, I like bouncepad, but the user has to have a web enabled phone to get the benefit of the service. More and more buyers will have sophisticated phones but that is a drawback. The pricing is a bit steep for a brokerage, but I am talking to them about bulk pricing. After using trying these services, I will write a follow-up post detailing the in-the-field experience.
September 4th, 2007 at 9:25 am
There’s also DriveBuy (http://drivebuytech.com)
September 4th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
I have to say, I’m a bit disappointed that you didn’t mention House4Cell. We really CREATED the market for this type of system, being the oldest active player in the space. Our service provides photos on all of the major carriers (including Verizon, which no one else does) and we also allow faxes and emails of more info.
January 20th, 2008 at 2:59 am
Not a shameless plug but I see where you were using Bouncepad and they are no longer in business. My company offers a service similar to the Cell4Signs (possibility to capture email and phone number as well as reporting features) for a lower price and more reasonable reuse of the keywords. If you are still interested in this type of marketing please feel ree to contact me.
September 24th, 2008 at 8:08 am
[...] have personally blogged about the no-brainer of text message flyers for over a year now. Joel Burlsem has been talking about mobile marketing for at least two years. [...]