inman https://quantumdigital.com/ en Send Baby Boomers Direct Mail and Let the Magic Unfold https://quantumdigital.com/blog/send-baby-boomers-direct-mail-and-let-magic-unfold <div data-history-node-id="409" class="node node--type-blog-post node--view-mode-rss ds-1col clearfix"> <div class="field field--name-node-title field--type-ds field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Title</div> <div class="field--item"><h1> Send Baby Boomers Direct Mail and Let the Magic Unfold </h1> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-preview-image field--type-image field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Preview Image</div> <div class="field--item"> <a href="https://quantumdigital.com/blog/send-baby-boomers-direct-mail-and-let-magic-unfold" hreflang="und"><img loading="eager" src="https://quantumdigital.com/sites/default/files/styles/header/public/Direct%20mail%20marketing%20to%20baby%20boomers.jpg?itok=Nh7FExQ7" width="1200" height="450" alt="baby boomer lady getting direct mail marketing campaign" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /></a> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-node-post-date field--type-ds field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Post date</div> <div class="field--item">Jun 29, 2016</div> </div> 1 <div class="field field--name-field-blog-category-new field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field--items"> <div class="field--item">Marketing Ideas</div> <div class="field--item">Real Estate</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p>In this article published on Inman, QuantumDigital's EVP and CMO Eric Cosway explains the benefits of marketing to baby boomers using direct mail and how to make the campaign most effective. Capturing the attention of this demographic can be greatly beneficial considering both their buying power and willingness to act when messaging is relevant. When a realtor uses strategic language and design to appeal to the behaviors and desires of the baby boomers in his or her farming area, the direct mail marketing piece can be used to move the conversation online where further engagement can occur.  </p> <p><a href="http://www.inman.com/2016/05/23/send-baby-boomers-direct-mail-and-let-the-magic-unfold/" target="_blank">Read the Full Inman Article</a></p> </div> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="https://quantumdigital.com/blog/send-baby-boomers-direct-mail-and-let-magic-unfold" data-a2a-title="Send Baby Boomers Direct Mail and Let the Magic Unfold"><span>Share to:</span><a class="a2a_button_facebook"><i class="fa fa-facebook icon-faceook"></i></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"><i class="fa fa-twitter"></i></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin"><i class="fa fa-linkedin"></i></a></span> </div> Wed, 29 Jun 2016 16:42:02 +0000 brianna_mckinney 409 at https://quantumdigital.com The Real Estate Dish: 15 Minutes with Inman's Amber Taufen https://quantumdigital.com/blog/real-estate-dish-15-minutes-inman-amber-taufen <div data-history-node-id="403" class="node node--type-blog-post node--view-mode-rss ds-1col clearfix"> <div class="field field--name-node-title field--type-ds field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Title</div> <div class="field--item"><h1> The Real Estate Dish: 15 Minutes with Inman's Amber Taufen </h1> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-preview-image field--type-image field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Preview Image</div> <div class="field--item"> <a href="https://quantumdigital.com/blog/real-estate-dish-15-minutes-inman-amber-taufen" hreflang="und"><img loading="eager" src="https://quantumdigital.com/sites/default/files/styles/header/public/Amber%20Taufen_RealEstateDish_0.jpg?itok=WWh0NY9t" width="1200" height="450" alt="banner image The Real Estate Dish: 15 Minutes with Inman's Amber Taufen" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /></a> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-node-post-date field--type-ds field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Post date</div> <div class="field--item">Jun 7, 2016</div> </div> 11 <div class="field field--name-field-blog-category-new field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field--items"> <div class="field--item">Podcast</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Join QuantumDigital’s EVP and CMO Eric Cosway as he spends 15 minutes getting to know <a href="http://www.inman.com/author/amber-taufen/">Amber Taufen</a>, Editor in Chief with <a href="http://www.inman.com/">Inman</a>. Amber shares her unique insights on real estate trends as she manages content and oversees a large team of full-time, part-time and freelance writers, as well as 3 editors, plus more than 500 contributing writers.</p> <p> </p> <h3>Listen to the Interview [Audio]:</h3> <p><iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/266812261&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe></p> <p> </p> <p><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> Amber, how long have you been working in the real estate industry, and specifically for Inman?</strong></p> <p><span style="color:#b41f23;"><strong>Amber:</strong></span> I started working in the real estate industry and at Inman in November 2014. Prior to that, I was working in print and digital media for about 10 years. My first exposure to real estate was my job at Inman, and that started in 2014.</p> <p><br /><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> Is there something that you find really interesting about the real estate industry now that you’ve been in it for a couple of years? Is there something that really stands out?</strong></p> <p><strong><span style="color:#b41f23;">Amber:</span></strong> You know, I think the thing that really is interesting to me is the whole question of “Who owns real estate industry data?” Coming in as a relative outsider, it was not something I ever considered. And, if you had asked me before I started at Inman, then I probably would have said the homeowner is the person who owns the data. But after spending some time in the industry and understanding exactly what goes into a real estate listing, my opinions changed. So, it’s an interesting debate, though—definitely something that I’ve been keeping my eye on.</p> <p><br /><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> For people that don’t know you, what would they be surprised to learn about you?</strong></p> <p><span style="color:#b41f23;"><strong>Amber:</strong></span> Well, one thing that surprises people to learn is that I work remotely. I live in a very small town in the mountains of Colorado, called Bailey. And, although I follow real estate trends in big cities—including Denver, which is the closest city to me—I don’t get to see a lot of that manifesting in my own market. The pace here is a little bit slower. So, I keep in touch and apprised of everything via the Internet.</p> <p><br /><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> Is that the culture of Inman? The staff is able to work remotely like that, but yet stay connected with all the tools we have?</strong></p> <p><strong><span style="color:#b41f23;">Amber:</span></strong> Absolutely, and it varies. I probably have the most spread-out team out of all of the departments. We do have a home office—a central office in California, in the San Francisco Bay area. But, we have a philosophy that if you’re the right person for the job, then location shouldn’t really matter. </p> <p><br /><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> I know you oversee a large group of diverse people and you still do a lot of writing yourself. How do you continue to find time to write, as well as manage all the staff?</strong></p> <p><strong><span style="color:#b41f23;">Amber:</span></strong> Well, some of it is delegation—being smart about where I’m really needed with my time, and where I can ask my staff to sort of pinch hit for me while I spend some time writing. Some of it is just practice. You know, I’ve been in this job for a while. So as I’m going through my week, I’m always thinking about different topics to write about. That’s usually the most time-consuming thing, as I see it, is figuring out what you want to write about. Once you have a really good topic in mind, then it’s pretty quick.</p> <p><br /><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> How do you stay relevant and come up with new ways of... sort of spinning the same core stories that are out there? You know, being a writer myself—I don’t write a lot, but I find very tough sometimes to come up with fresh ideas. How do you push through that?</strong></p> <p><span style="color:#b41f23;"><strong>Amber:</strong></span> A lot of it has to do with personal experience. For example, I just bought my first house in February… at the end of February, and that was a huge driver of content for me because it was the first time I’d ever gone through that process. I was doing something that my readers do every day, and looking at the whole transaction from start to finish with fresh eyes—knowing what I do about the real estate industry—gave me a lot of fodder. So, that I think is part of it; paying attention to situations in your own life that could turn into a column, perhaps. And then, really just understanding what is happening in the industry. You know, we have different things that we cover, on a regular basis, that sort of refresh different stories. One example might be earnings calls… quarterly earnings calls for some of the nationally, publically-traded companies. We won’t be talking about Xome, which is a real estate marketplace—we don’t talk about Xome every week or every month, even. But, we will be talking about Xome every quarter, because we’ll be discussing the financials. So, that’s another way we keep refreshed—just by adding new news hooks to older stories.</p> <p><br /><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> You’re bugged by a lot of people like myself… how many pitches does your team actually see a day on average that you have to deal with?</strong></p> <p><span style="color:#b41f23;"><strong>Amber:</strong></span> Personally, I probably route and deal with about 20 to 30 pitches a day. Multiply that by 4 writers on my team, a couple of editors, and it mushrooms significantly.</p> <p><br /><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> How do you decide if something’s newsworthy, or if you want to have a member of your team cover it?</strong></p> <p><span style="color:#b41f23;"><strong>Amber:</strong></span> We actually have a pretty simple test at Inman—at least, I think it’s pretty simple. Our readers are primarily real estate agents and brokers, and with any pitch that I get, I want to be able to answer the question, “How will this help my readers’ business? And why should they care?” So, if it’s a consumer-focused story, then that’s probably not a fit for us… unless it has something to do with the real estate transaction. That’s really it. If you can tell me how your product or story is going to help my readers’ business and why they should care, then you’ll probably pass the test.</p> <p><br /><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> Ultimately, how does someone become a contributor?</strong></p> <p><span style="color:#b41f23;"><strong>Amber:</strong></span> There are many ways you can become a contributor. Usually what happens is they read something on Inman that they like, and realize that it was written by somebody not on staff. They reach out to either myself, or my contributor editor—her name is Dani Vanderboegh—and she manages all of the contributors for me. She’s the ultimate cat herder, in some ways. They reach out to myself or Dani, and we have guidelines for them to follow. We explain what the program is all about. We get them set up with a Wordpress account, a landing page, coach them through any story ideas if they’ve got any, and tell them what’s already been published. If it’s too similar to something we’ve already run, suggest alternates that they could explore, and then just get them writing.</p> <p><br /><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> What advice do you have for Realtors that want to include content—really hard, meaningful content in their marketing mix today?</strong></p> <p><span style="color:#b41f23;"><strong>Amber:</strong></span> The advice that I see given all the time, that I think is really solid, is “know your audience”—first and foremost. If you don’t know who you are talking to, and who you’re targeting, then you won't be able to write something that pulls them in. I find the really easy place for most agents and brokers to start, is think about some of the common questions that you get asked over and over again by your buyer and seller clients and answer them in article form. Then, you have a link you can send to people if they ask you that same question via email, or if somebody asks Google that question, you can show up (in the search results).</p> <p><br /><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> Now, it probably doesn’t change, but using social media—more and more Realtors are using social media—is there different content coaching for the use of social media today?</strong></p> <p><span style="color:#b41f23;"><strong>Amber:</strong></span> I have heard that the best use of social media is really a relationship builder, not so much necessarily a lead generator. So, in terms of that, I would say if you’re trying to build a relationship with people, it probably makes a lot of sense to handle your own social media, and really let your personality come through. Don’t use it as an obvious sales tool, would be my best advice.</p> <p><br /><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> I have to ask you: being Editor in Chief… how do you overcome writer’s block?</strong></p> <p><span style="color:#b41f23;"><strong>Amber:</strong></span> Well, writer’s block is the bane of any journalist’s existence. There are all kinds of workshops that I do with my own editors and writers to sort of overcome it. One really easy way to sort of generate content, if I’m really stuck, is I’ll go look at stories that are trending on Inman that are trending purely because of search results. How I would identify those is looking for trending stories that weren’t published in 2016. For example, one fantastic example of this would be a real estate tax deductions checklist we wrote in March. We wrote it in March because we saw that an article we published in 2012 was trending. People were looking for tax deduction information. So, if you’ve got a backlog of content, you can sort of find what people are looking for and cater to it. There are also tools like BuzzSumo and some other social media trending tools, and some other tools like that you can use to see what your competitors are writing about you. If they’re jumping on a boat that maybe you should be on.</p> <p><br /><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> How far would you work in advance in terms of a content calendar/media calendar? Is that well-populated, or does that come together fairly quickly through a quarter or a month?</strong></p> <p><span style="color:#b41f23;"><strong>Amber:</strong></span> You know, it’s a bit of a mix. When we know that something is coming, like an earnings call or a lawsuit’s been scheduled, something like that, then we can really plan our content calendar in advance. For me, as a columnist and a writer, I could probably do a much better job of planning a content calendar because my work is not so hooked to the news. But, in general at Inman, we are sort of a hybrid. There are some things we can count on that we know are always going to come; earnings reports, lists, our own special reports, things like that. But, in general, we also try to keep a level of flexibility, so that we can make sure we’re not going to miss anything, because we’re too focused on what we knew was coming.</p> <p><br /><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> Tell me more about Inman Select. It’s a program that you folks launched in the fall of 2014. For someone that doesn’t know about it, what’s the backstory? What is Inman Select? </strong></p> <p><span style="color:#b41f23;"><strong>Amber:</strong></span> Inman Select is a subscription membership program. When you join Inman Select, you get access to all the content on Inman. So, if you are not an Inman member, Inman Select member, and you visit the website, then some of the content will be open and available to you, but you will find that you can’t access all of it.</p> <p><br /><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> I’m a member of Inman Select. What type of content am I able to access that maybe non-members cannot?</strong></p> <p><span style="color:#b41f23;"><strong>Amber:</strong></span> One of the biggest areas that we offer members, but non-members don’t have access to, are our special reports. Those are proprietary reports that we research in-house. They’re based on our own research that we do. And, we create downloadable PDFs. Not only do you get the full report and our own analysis of it, but you can also see the full results and how our readers responded to our questions—if you download the full PDF. That’s one extra that you get. We have a tech reviewer who reviews tech, and will explain to agents whether he likes it or not, and how it fits into their business plan. So, that’s something that Select members get that ordinary visitors wouldn’t be. There is also a whole slew of exclusive content. Our reporters really work their beats hard. And there are a lot of stories that we uncover that you just won’t see on RISMedia or anywhere else. If we’ve got an exclusive on something, it’s probably going to be member-only.</p> <p><br /><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> When you think about Inman Select, is there a target persona? Is it a certain broker who does something, or an agent that does something? Or is it more general, it would serve both those groups well?</strong></p> <p><span style="color:#b41f23;"><strong>Amber:</strong></span> It would serve both those groups well, I think. Really, the purpose of it is we’re trying to help agents and brokers elevate their business. Become smarter at their jobs. Become better at their jobs. And survive and thrive in an industry that’s changing all around them. So, if you are an agent or broker who’s concerned about the changes in the industry, or who really wants to make sure you’re staying abreast of what’s happening, then it’s a good fit for you.</p> <p><br /><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> As you look forward to 2016, what industry-wide news trends should brokers and agents make sure they stay abreast of?</strong></p> <p><span style="color:#b41f23;"><strong>Amber:</strong></span> You know, one thing I’m seeing a lot of, just from my standpoint, is mergers and acquisitions and consolidation across the industry. We’re seeing it happen with some of the multiple listing services—the MLS’s are consolidating. And we’re also seeing it happen with some of the bigger brokerages. Brad Inman ran a podcast not too long ago with the president of Real Trends, where he talked about mergers and acquisitions, and discussed this sort of phenomenon where a brokerage gets to a point where it just can’t scale any more, and it makes sense to sell at that point. I think really paying attention to what’s happening in the M&A and consolidations space is going to be important because it’s a money making tactic. And it's really hard to compete against a big entity that is consolidated and has a lot of different arms in different areas. If I were an agent, I'd be keeping an eye on that trend for sure.</p> </div> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="https://quantumdigital.com/blog/real-estate-dish-15-minutes-inman-amber-taufen" data-a2a-title="The Real Estate Dish: 15 Minutes with Inman's Amber Taufen"><span>Share to:</span><a class="a2a_button_facebook"><i class="fa fa-facebook icon-faceook"></i></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"><i class="fa fa-twitter"></i></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin"><i class="fa fa-linkedin"></i></a></span> </div> Tue, 07 Jun 2016 22:18:10 +0000 brianna_mckinney 403 at https://quantumdigital.com 4 Effective Techniques for Engaging Your Sphere of Influence https://quantumdigital.com/blog/4-effective-techniques-engaging-your-sphere-influence <div data-history-node-id="402" class="node node--type-blog-post node--view-mode-rss ds-1col clearfix"> <div class="field field--name-node-title field--type-ds field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Title</div> <div class="field--item"><h1> 4 Effective Techniques for Engaging Your Sphere of Influence </h1> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-preview-image field--type-image field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Preview Image</div> <div class="field--item"> <a href="https://quantumdigital.com/blog/4-effective-techniques-engaging-your-sphere-influence" hreflang="und"><img loading="eager" src="https://quantumdigital.com/sites/default/files/styles/header/public/Sphere%20of%20influence.jpg?itok=DUPCJWKu" width="1200" height="450" alt="how to Engage Your Sphere of Influence" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /></a> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-node-post-date field--type-ds field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Post date</div> <div class="field--item">May 27, 2016</div> </div> 1 <div class="field field--name-field-blog-category-new field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field--items"> <div class="field--item">Marketing Ideas</div> <div class="field--item">Real Estate</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p>In this article published on Inman, Eric Cosway, QuantumDigital's EVP and CMO, shares best practices when working to engage your sphere of influence through online and offline marketing channels. When communicated with properly, the connections formed from networking and personal and professional relationships can be key drivers of real estate leads. Understanding the balance of frequency and importance of relevant information is crucial to keeping interest without going overboard. Direct mail and social media are inexpensive, convenient ways of sharing timely and targeted information. Appropriately sharing your real estate success speaks to your skills and credibility, therefore equipping your sphere of influence to more accurately recommend you to their friends, family, and colleagues.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.inman.com/2016/04/07/4-effective-techniques-for-engaging-your-sphere-of-influence/" target="_blank">Read the Full Inman Article</a></p> </div> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="https://quantumdigital.com/blog/4-effective-techniques-engaging-your-sphere-influence" data-a2a-title="4 Effective Techniques for Engaging Your Sphere of Influence"><span>Share to:</span><a class="a2a_button_facebook"><i class="fa fa-facebook icon-faceook"></i></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"><i class="fa fa-twitter"></i></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin"><i class="fa fa-linkedin"></i></a></span> </div> Fri, 27 May 2016 20:43:00 +0000 brianna_mckinney 402 at https://quantumdigital.com 3 Ways You Could Be Putting Your Real Estate Brand at Risk During the Busy Season https://quantumdigital.com/blog/3-ways-you-could-be-putting-your-real-estate-brand-risk-during-busy-season <div data-history-node-id="393" class="node node--type-blog-post node--view-mode-rss ds-1col clearfix"> <div class="field field--name-node-title field--type-ds field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Title</div> <div class="field--item"><h1> 3 Ways You Could Be Putting Your Real Estate Brand at Risk During the Busy Season </h1> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-preview-image field--type-image field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Preview Image</div> <div class="field--item"> <a href="https://quantumdigital.com/blog/3-ways-you-could-be-putting-your-real-estate-brand-risk-during-busy-season" hreflang="und"><img loading="eager" src="https://quantumdigital.com/sites/default/files/styles/header/public/Brand%20Consistency%20is%20Essential%20in%20Generating%20Seller%20Listing%20Leads.jpg?itok=7zzxghvw" width="1200" height="450" alt="busy real estate agent neglecting her Real Estate Brand" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /></a> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-node-post-date field--type-ds field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Post date</div> <div class="field--item">Apr 19, 2016</div> </div> 7 <div class="field field--name-field-blog-category-new field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field--items"> <div class="field--item">Marketing Ideas</div> <div class="field--item">Real Estate</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p>As the real estate market gets busier in the coming months and the demands of the day are building, there are a few areas that are critical to not neglect. There’s a good chance that you’re making first impressions with future clients every day. Maintaining your brand quality standard is not a seasonal investment; that’s why it’s called the standard. Consistently displaying top notch service throughout your brand experience aids in preserving your position as a top producer throughout the year. Since we know you're already feeling the pressure of the busy season, we've found a few sources to help you avoid three common ways you may be putting your real estate brand at risk as you become increasingly busy. Pay some extra attention to each category and help ensure your reputation remains intact. <br />  </p> <p><strong>Your Brand Starts to Look Sloppy</strong></p> <p>Presenting your brand the same way across every platform is important. This includes everything from the flyers in the box in front of every home you’re selling to your social media profile and header images. There are many opportunities to show uniformity and allow you to build on the momentum of being a recognizable brand. Aside from the essential practice of including your logo, some other areas you may not consider are color, tone of language, and quality of your collateral. When you're producing more materials as the market heats up such as <a href="https://triggermarketing.com">just listed and just sold postcards</a>, flyers, and others, the increase in marketing material volume also means an increase in spend, which can make it tempting to start scaling back on quality. Here are three things you don't want to let slide.<br /><br /><em>Color</em></p> <p><a href="http://rismedia.com/2013-03-19/branding-consistency-color-is-key/">RIS Media: Branding Consistency: Color is Key</a><br /> “In the real estate business, color is key when creating customer communications across all platform. Consistent color branding imparts a professional and memorable brand impression that resonates with your prospects. Xerox research reveals that color improves brand recognition by up to 80% and increases comprehension by as much as 73%.”<br /><br /><em>Tone</em></p> <p>The language you use as a company is important - both to minimize confusion and to set the standard for your professional tone. Consider the culture of your brokerage and reflect it in the tone of your messages. Then, think about the type of clients you’d like to attract, and communicate with using language that would both attract and make them feel comfortable. Tone should be established early on, and can be essential for social media channels where people are interacting with your brand in casual setting. <br /><br /><em>Print Quality</em><br /><br /> Your farming area may receive multiple direct mail pieces if their neighborhood is a hot market. When the time comes for them to select their realtor, there’s a good chance they’ll want their home represented in an impressive way on printed pieces. Some aspects to consider when choosing a printer are image quality, color consistency, paper weight, and possibly size. These details communicate almost as much as the overall message. Since direct mail and flyers are an in-hand peice, look and feel can help the response rate by attracting and standing out among the rest. Your printed materials need to represent the quality of service you bring to the table regardless of the price of the listing - and how busy you are.</p> <p><br /><strong>You Let Your Marketing Campaigns Fall Apart</strong></p> <p>Experienced marketers know that it takes time to see results from any campaign. Building awareness and getting an audience to engage takes time. The most effective way to invest in marketing is to do so on a regular basis using multiple channels. If your pipeline is not constantly being built, you could look up after a busy season and find yourself with an unfortunate lull in sales. <br /><br /><em>Frequency</em></p> <p><a href="http://leadingagent.net/blog/consistenty-should-be-the-first-concern-with-any-real-estate-marketing/">Leading Agent: CONSISTENCY Should Be The First Concern With Any Real Estate Marketing</a><br /> “Every successful business in the universe plans ahead. They may be involved in a certain marketing activity at this particular moment, but I guarantee somebody at that company is already working on the next thing. Our firm for instance is generally working 3-6 months into the future, at any given time. As Realtors®, you wear many hats. Because of this, we suggest that Realtors® always have their marketing plans set up and planned out for a minimum of six (6) months and hopefully twelve (12) months. The reality is that you are very busy and there are only so many hours in the day. Because of this, the most effective use of your time is to work with your marketing team/outside marketing partner and get all this stuff done at once.”<br /><br /><em>Tactics</em></p> <p>Multi-channel marketing garners results because it reaches an audience in multiple settings, unifying the experience and minimizing the chance they could miss you all together. It also helps to keep your brand top of mind because your audience may see it multiple times in one week. Once the homeowner you’ve been farming is ready to list or buy a home, you will have a better chance of being remembered when they think about realtors they know in the area. Being present on and offline also helps increase your word of mouth referrals. A postcard on a kitchen counter can spark a conversation and a Facebook post could be viewed by a client just before catching up with a friend looking to sell his or her home. Consistently maintaining these channels helps your brand get noticed and utimately remembered. </p> <p><br /><strong>Your Relationships Suffer</strong></p> <p>Top agents know that so much of this business is about who you know. As with many sales positions, building strong relationships with a large network of people can source leads as well as bring more opportunities to your attention. Aside from always being professional and respectful, there are additional things to remember when times get busy that help maintain your position in a community. <br /><br /><em>Community Involvement</em><br /><br /><a href="http://www.marketleader.com/blog/2013/03/07/how-community-involvement-can-help-your-real-estate-business/">Market Leader: How Community Involvement Can Help Your Real Estate Business</a><br /> “There are two types of community involvement that real estate agents typically gravitate toward. First, there are the agencies and individual agents that give money to a cause and consider it “community involvement.” Their websites typically boast that they’ll give “$100 from every home sale to the Breast Cancer Foundation!” or “Fifteen percent of my commission to the local humane society!” That sort of giving is admirable, and a boon to the charity recipient...The type of community involvement that other agents gravitate toward is hands-on volunteerism: the boots-on-the-ground, belly-to-belly, nitty-gritty of community involvement. While neither of these types of giving back to the community is necessarily “better’ in the main, the latter is hands down better for your real estate business. Quite frankly, the type of giving back that puts you face-to-face with groups of people who may turn into clients is good for business...It may start out as a selfless desire to give to others, but side benefits of community involvement include the fact that it’s an awesome way to generate leads, get your name linked to the community, and increase your brand and public persona."<br /><br /><em>Customer Service</em></p> <p><a href="https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2016/02/13/customer-service-real-estate/">BiggerPockets: Yes, Customer Service DOES Matter in Real Estate: Here’s How to Make Yours Top-Notch</a><br /> “It can be difficult to see the potential benefits of practicing strong, consistent customer service. But it’s also impossible to ignore the obvious: It’s only a matter of time before the real estate industry gets caught up to similar retail industries. We are living in a world where the customer is more informed than ever before. This access to information is not only growing, it’s accelerating. Make a commitment to running a proactive real estate business that acknowledges the importance of your customers. It’s the responsibility of all of us to lead by example and work to uphold the reputation of our industry.”</p> <p><br /><strong>So, Set the Standard and Maintain Consistency</strong></p> <p><a href="http://www.inman.com/2015/03/05/4-ways-to-brand-yourself-to-attract-more-real-estate-business/">Inman: 4 ways to brand yourself to attract more real estate business</a><br /> “Whether you’re online or offline, the most important thing to keep in mind when building a brand is consistency. You have to be the same across all mediums— be relevant, be true and be genuine to who you are. People can spot a phony from a mile away, which doesn’t bode well when you’re dealing with most people’s largest investment. So, be consistent in who you are, and also in the experience clients can expect. The client experience should be seamless and consistent from search to post-close follow-up. Part of creating and maintaining that consistency is developing a team of people whom you work with regularly, and who are part of your trusted brand. People who are loyal to a brand (you) are more likely to try out other services from that brand (your colleagues). Those colleagues might include mortgage brokers, attorneys or moving companies who can also participate in the seamlessness of the transaction. Developing your brand to include these service providers ensures not only that your client is well taken care of today, but also will be in the future when they decide to return for round two.”</p> </div> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="https://quantumdigital.com/blog/3-ways-you-could-be-putting-your-real-estate-brand-risk-during-busy-season" data-a2a-title="3 Ways You Could Be Putting Your Real Estate Brand at Risk During the Busy Season"><span>Share to:</span><a class="a2a_button_facebook"><i class="fa fa-facebook icon-faceook"></i></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"><i class="fa fa-twitter"></i></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin"><i class="fa fa-linkedin"></i></a></span> </div> Tue, 19 Apr 2016 22:13:48 +0000 brianna_mckinney 393 at https://quantumdigital.com The Real Estate Dish: 15 Minutes with Inman's Morgan Brown https://quantumdigital.com/blog/real-estate-dish-15-minutes-inmans-morgan-brown <div data-history-node-id="380" class="node node--type-blog-post node--view-mode-rss ds-1col clearfix"> <div class="field field--name-node-title field--type-ds field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Title</div> <div class="field--item"><h1> The Real Estate Dish: 15 Minutes with Inman's Morgan Brown </h1> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-preview-image field--type-image field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Preview Image</div> <div class="field--item"> <a href="https://quantumdigital.com/blog/real-estate-dish-15-minutes-inmans-morgan-brown" hreflang="und"><img loading="eager" src="https://quantumdigital.com/sites/default/files/styles/header/public/Morgan%20Brown%20-%20RealEstateDish_1.jpg?itok=OrrG15MU" width="1200" height="450" alt="banner image The Real Estate Dish: 15 Minutes with Inman's Morgan Brown" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /></a> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-node-post-date field--type-ds field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Post date</div> <div class="field--item">Mar 7, 2016</div> </div> 11 <div class="field field--name-field-blog-category-new field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field--items"> <div class="field--item">Podcast</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Join QuantumDigital’s EVP and CMO Eric Cosway as he spends 15 minutes getting the latest dish on real estate technology with Morgan Brown, COO of Inman and co-author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Startup-Growth-Engines-Successful-Extraordinary-ebook/dp/B00LA95B68">Startup Growth Engines</a>. Morgan really has a passion for helping companies out, especially when it comes to thinking about and implementing growth. He has been involved with Inman for some time now and has used his passion to help drive the success of the new <a href="https://www.inman.com/select/">Inman Select</a> subscription services, that are designed to help people in the real estate industry get smarter about real estate with information they can't really get anywhere else.</p> <h3>Listen to the Interview [Audio]:</h3> <p><iframe frameborder="no" height="200" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/250233118&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%"></iframe></p> <p> </p> <p><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> Can you tell us a little bit about your past and current role with Inman? And how your passion is now helping the real estate industry as a whole?</strong></p> <p><span style="color:#b41f23;"><strong>Morgan</strong>:</span> Sure, absolutely. It's great to be here, Eric. Thanks for having me. As you mentioned, I'm the COO of Inman and we are the news service of record for the real estate professional out there. We really cover the industry and try to hit on the issues and trends that impact real estate professionals and their success. I've known Brad Inman, the guy with the name on the door, for quite a long time. I was his head of marketing at one of his previous ventures called TurnHere which was an online video platform. After reconnecting with him a few years ago to help revive Inman web traffic and events and that type of thing, I joined as a consultant back in 2013 to help Inman with those initiatives. And then we built Select, the subscription product that you mentioned, in 2014 and then joined as COO about 8 months ago. My background since college has been with startups in the marketing and growth roles. And so, it's not only my career but also my passion, sometimes to my wife's dismay. I love helping companies grow; I love marketing and how technology enables that. So, that's me in a nutshell.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> Yes, neither of us is a Realtor, agent, or broker. But you actually spent some time with a mortgage company back in 2005, I believe.</strong></p> <p><span style="color:#b41f23;"><strong>Morgan</strong>:</span> Yes, absolutely. A couple of my good friends started a mortgage company and needed help launching that brand and that business from the marketing perspective. So I joined that company—one of the three kind of cofounders and I was responsible for the marketing functions—driving leads and growing that business from a brokerage to a mortgage bank. And a successful one, until the housing market kind of imploded there in 2007. But that's actually where I met Brad, through a consumer finance blog that I had about how not to be taken advantage of in the mortgage industry. And that really got me my start on the social media side of things. So this is my second stint with the industry, but definitely from a different angle than before.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> What would people in the real estate industry be most surprised to learn about you? Is there something specific that you're holding back that you've never told us before?</strong></p> <p><span style="color:#b41f23;"><strong>Morgan</strong>:</span> I think you've kind of hit on it that my background, you know, that I’m not an agent. I've never been an agent or broker. My background is mostly from technology and startups in the marketing side of things. So, I’m still very much learning every day about the industry, about the issues, and about the opportunities that are ahead of professionals, agents, and brokers alike. I think some people are surprised by that.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> You recently had a very successful Inman Connect 2016 in New York. What were some things you learned or found really inspiring as you came out of that event?</strong></p> <p><span style="color:#b41f23;"><strong>Morgan</strong>:</span> Absolutely, now that you mention it… it was the biggest Inman conference that we’ve had. There was a lot of optimism, a lot of positive energy, which was exciting to see—brokers, agents, technologists all together. I think one of the main things that I came away with, and it's not maybe the newest thing, but there’s been a notion that technology is out to replace the professional in our industry. And the people at the Inman conference looked instead at what opportunities technology created for them to grow their business and differentiate. So, some of the things that people told me are that, rather than looking at technology from maybe something to be wary of or concerned about, these people are really looking at it through the lens of ‘How do we take this, make it our own and create an advantage for us? How do we get smarter, better, faster, and provide a better service to our clients through the adoption of the technology that we're seeing here?’ And that discussion and that kind of marriage between the analog, the personal, the high touch responsibilities and role of agents and brokers with their customers, and the new technology that's coming down the pipeline… it's always at the heart of Connect, but it was very evident this year for sure.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> So, technology's a big piece of it. What would be the most important area for real estate and brokers to invest in this year as they look forward from what they’ve learned from Inman?</strong></p> <p><span style="color:#b41f23;"><strong>Morgan</strong>:</span> I think there were a couple of key areas. And I think the two biggest ones are investing in team and in data. And those go hand in hand, but on the team side. In a lot of brokerages there’s a lot of talk about using technology to improve training, to improve the delivery of the consumer experience. Both elevating the individual agent and raising the bar for the people working for brokerages and transacting real estate to the infrastructure that they use and the tools that they use to do that successfully. Whether it's improving CRMs or improving follow-up or improving transaction management… those types of things. And then on the data side, big data has been a buzzword for so long, but I think what’s interesting now is that there is really a focus on ‘Okay, we have all of this data coming at us from all these different directions. How do I take that and apply it to making my business better?’ Right? So, using data to evaluate customer experience. Using data to understand what works to grow my business and what consumers want. And so there's so much data out there and so many services delivering data now that it can't be avoided, and now business leaders really need to figure out how to make that a competitive advantage. Again, numbers aren't always the most sexy thing. But it's certainly foundational today.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> Was there one question that stood out this year from the audience that led to an aha moment for you?</strong></p> <p><span style="color:#b41f23;"><strong>Morgan</strong>:</span> I don't know if it was a question so much as a statement, and it kind of goes back to what I was saying before. You can either be disrupted by technology or you can grab technology that is potentially disruptive and make it your own and make it your advantage. And I think we see a lot of that from very large corporations buying interesting startups and companies that are kind of approaching things differently… down to the individual agent who is adding new technology to stand out in their market or build out a team around them… that type of thing. So, that was really the key takeaway for me.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> Knowing you guys are a neutral body, did you see any game changing technology for Realtors and brokers? What technologies will change the playing field?</strong></p> <p><span style="color:#b41f23;"><strong>Morgan</strong>:</span> As Brad likes to say, ‘We're right about half the time and we're wrong half the time.’ But, some of the companies that were really interesting to me focused on some of the trends that we see and the broader technology landscape, and the consumer interest in these things. So for example, one of the things that I'm very interested in and intrigued by is this notion of machine learning and using computer algorithms over very large sets of data to deliver insights, and uncover new opportunities. So I think companies like SmartZip, who are using that kind of algorithmic data crunching to understand signals about ‘Which buyers are getting ready to sell?’ and ‘Which home buyers may prefer which homes?’ are very interesting and I think we’ll see a lot more of that in the coming years. Companies like RealScout are using data signals, and the home search to assist agents in recommending the right homes for their buyers, and OpenDoor… very interesting new model, driven off of a whole new type of machine learning valuation process. So that whole field has wide ranging implications I think for real estate, and I’m really interested to see where that goes next. I think another emerging part of the business or technology is this idea of invisible apps. Invisible apps are called “bots” or applications that run through things like email or through text message. So for example, Eric, you and I set up a call earlier using a bot called “x.ai”, and there's no app you install on your phone, but it's all automated and it works through your email. There’s a very early-stage company called “Vyooit” in real estate that works through text message but lets you set up viewing appointments, view properties, and that type of thing through there. So I think this idea of messaging as a platform is really kind of fascinating. And then lastly, on the complete 180 from the invisible apps is the highly visible stuff. And I think some of the things that companies are doing to democratize really high-quality video—like the 3D walkthroughs at Matterport, HouseLens, do-it-yourself aerial photography with DroneBase, and that type of thing—are really impressive of course, too.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> Yes. To help a real estate broker/agent, what two or three factors should an agent or broker be thinking about or keep in mind?</strong></p> <p><span style="color:#b41f23;"><strong>Morgan</strong>:</span> That’s a great question and it's really important because there are so many shiny objects out there and it's really easy to get allured by something that isn't super critical to your business. So, I think the lens that I use for technology adoption, I would say consumer and client first. So, look at the technology and the benefits of that technology from the end customer perspective and say, ‘Is this something my customers want or could really benefit from?’ And starting there, always first and evaluating it from there. And then second is, utility. So, beyond kind of the shiny and the oohs and aahs… really figuring out how this piece of technology is going to help grow my business or improve my business. And then finally, as a broker, adoption is really important. A piece of technology isn't any good if your team isn't using it. Are your agents really going to use it? How easy and intuitive is it to pick up? And can it be widely adopted so that it's deployed out to your team and to the ultimate end customer? So those were the three ways that I would look at it.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> With top brokers and agents we talk about the top 10%. Are they doing something unique or different that others aren't doing in terms of a technology advantage?</strong></p> <p><span style="color:#b41f23;"><strong>Morgan</strong>:</span> Yeah, I definitely think so. I think it's really simple. They have chosen technology and then implemented it in a way that helps them scale what they do best. So, the top agents and brokerages have always been known for great service or delivering great value to their customers. And I think what they've been able to do is choose technology that really helps them scale that. And grow that so they can grow their business based off those core principles. Whether it's marketing or customer service, or data, or transaction management—they've adopted tools to help them do what they're already great at. On a broader scale and a bigger scale. I think they do that through choosing the right tools and not just choosing shiny objects, but looking at their business and what they need through training their team. And by ensuring that the people that they do work with “get it” and know how to make technology a differentiator while delivering that best-in-class service.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong><span style="color:#007d85;">Eric:</span> To close us off, as you look forward in 2016, what industry-wide technology should brokers and agents absolutely stay abreast of in the next 12 to 24 months?</strong></p> <p><span style="color:#b41f23;"><strong>Morgan</strong>: </span>Yeah, that's a great question. I think it comes down, as it does in real estate, to the people. To the professional delivering service and to the consumer, the homebuyer, and home seller who needs that service. And so I think paying attention to consumer trends and their engagement around different platforms, different technologies, different channels… is really interesting. So, whether people are doing more through text message, or are losing interest in a particular social platform—keeping on trend with what's happening there. I would pay attention to machine learning and data. If data is scary to you, I would go out and try to learn more about it and how it can become an advantage. I think I would also look at how other industries are connecting different people together. Whether it's through platforms or networks or apps, or whatnot,  how people get and give service in different industries can be interesting, leading indicators to the types of technology that might make its way into real estate and can create a competitive edge for people who can adopt it and make it part of their business model and use it to differentiate. So, those are kind of broad, but I think if you stay on trend, if you understand what the consumer is doing, if you understand how people are transacting with one another in general through technology, and you understand how all of these very large networks of people and the information that's created from them, the data that's created from them, work… then you have a very good insight into where the ball's going in the next 12 to 24 months.</p> </div> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="https://quantumdigital.com/blog/real-estate-dish-15-minutes-inmans-morgan-brown" data-a2a-title="The Real Estate Dish: 15 Minutes with Inman's Morgan Brown"><span>Share to:</span><a class="a2a_button_facebook"><i class="fa fa-facebook icon-faceook"></i></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"><i class="fa fa-twitter"></i></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin"><i class="fa fa-linkedin"></i></a></span> </div> Mon, 07 Mar 2016 06:00:00 +0000 brianna_mckinney 380 at https://quantumdigital.com