THE REVOLUTION IN REAL ESTATE MARKETING: PERSONALIZATION AND CAPITALIZATION THROUGH TECHNOLOGY

There is a revolution afoot in residential real estate marketing, particularly in cities like New York and Miami (with exposure in London, too), where technology enables executives to personalize their services, enhance their visibility and transcend the conventional cut-and-paste brand of web design that undermines the very purpose of helping buyers and sellers.

Customizing these services for real estate professionals -- matching an individual's real-world identity with their online persona, the distinctive way they greet prospective clients with an interactive introduction to international real estate -- performing this mission with clarity and success is the foundation of effective communications.

To readers, my recommendation is simple and direct: Create a marketing storm by positioning the elements (design, development, search engine optimization, virtual staging, and interactive walkthroughs of featured residences) in their respective places for a whirlwind of activity, promotion and success.

I write these words from experience, as the Founder of Storm RE, which enables real estate executives to brand their services in a profound way. Which is to say, branding -- and the authorship of messaging geared towards a specific audience -- is not a rote exercise, where a web manager, so-called, manipulates a handful of images and applies a select amount of generic text for a site few will visit, and even fewer will read.

It is time, in short, for real estate executives to abandon "analog advertising" in favor of dynamic marketing -- it is time to move beyond empty catchphrases and vacuous promotional campaigns, so the voice of the Internet can be your medium to amplify a message of significance and necessity.

Delivered across a variety of mediums, thanks to a diversity of tools (web, mobile, social and other outlets), a real estate professional can become a global communicator -- that voice will be a sound, announced in a multitude of languages, transmitted at the speed of light.

In English, Mandarin, Spanish, Italian and so many accents and dialects, the message is nonetheless universal in enthusiasm and unanimous by acclamation: That this real estate executive is a champion marketer, who has the expertise and wisdom to find you the right property, in the right place, for the right price.

Agent Branding and a Voice of Distinction: Expressing Your Values and Insight
The overriding theme to this discussion, amidst all these advanced forms of technology and the urgency of creating a singular online personality, is an essential fact about real estate brokers in general: That these individuals, by their words and deeds, are brands unto themselves; they operate as independent contractors, and must distinguish themselves from their competitors in high-end markets like Manhattan and Miami.

Luis D. Ortiz, who is a premier broker in New York City, and featured on our Agent Marketing section of our site and a star on Million Dollar Listing New York, is an excellent example of the power of personalized branding. This effort begets increased media attention, which begets more clients, which begets sustained success. Luis is proof of the union between effective digital marketing and personal branding, reinforced through his own proactive networking and visibility (on a hit TV show). He creates a storm of conversation, interest and support (from fans of Million Dollar Listing New York) by broadcasting a voice of wisdom and sound advice.

It is this acknowledgment of the power of branding, and the specialized way to deliver a message across a variety of channels (from a broker's own website to their use of Facebook or Twitter), that defines a critical moment in the world of residential real estate. Among top brokers, and here I cite New York City and Miami as trendsetting locales that will influence similar forms of marketing in other cities at home and abroad, there is a common bond: Intelligent communications, married with state-of-the-art technology and the interpretation of valuable data, to enhance sales and commissions -- and elevate individual professionals to new levels of recognition and credibility.

Marketing of this caliber is available and necessary, perhaps even urgent, because of the impact of technology. Having a guide -- a digital sage, so to speak -- is a smart investment for long-term productivity and professional legitimacy.
It is an investment with impressive returns.