Is Real Estate Going Mobile?
In theory yes. In practice, no (or at least not yet).
I 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. So, when I stumbled upon this post this morning about mobile marketing in real estate, I remembered the excitement that I once had for mobile marketing, but at the same time I wonder if we have passed over this window into another.
We tried using text fliers at 3 different properties, and we had 0 uses. Of course, geography and demographics play into the limited use–as these properties were in East Tennessee and most of the end users would be 45-50 age group. In this series of posts, the presumption is that the Agents use technology, so it should not be hard to adapt. The problem is that the 55% of txt messaging users is in the wrong demographic. Some people can’t turn a cell phone on. The largest growing demographic of cell users is pre-teens / teens, which seems to account for the 55% number to me, and this group isn’t buying houses. On the other hand, they are texting their parents, so I would have assumed that the parents would be texting for more information. I haven’t seen it happen yet.
I do, however, agree that the mobile internet (location based information) is going to change the market. The iPhone, whether buyers are currently using or not, is changing the world. It is not longer geeky to carry what some used to call my ham radio on my belt (Old Kyocera Smartphone c. 2002). Now, it is trendy and sheek to have a smartphone. Applications are easier to install and more versatile than ever. FOREM keeps a very good rundown of all of the iPhone apps available. The marketers are poised; now, if the market would adopt.
To me, agents need to put their information into as many streams as possible. The goal is allow the market to raise their hand in the way that works best for them. One couple may want an 800 number (maybe a vanity number). Another buyer may want to text for information on a listing, and another would like an email address. Maybe they want to read a blog or follow the agent on twitter. The point is the agent has to master the technology to meet their market to meet their diverse market by reading great real estate blogs and following market changes. And, the agent doesn’t need to get irritated with the market when they don’t use all of the tools.
* stepping off soapbox *
