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SMS and Real Estate, a Natural Fit
Real estate has a long-standing tradition of being a driver of technology, though usually as a late adopter. Many real estate agents are only now getting around to setting up websites and communicating with clients by e-mail, and even then many of these real estate agents are not taking full advantage of the technology available to them. SEO forums such as www.realestateforum.com and www.realestatewebmasters.com exist to help these real estate agents embrace technology further, lowering their marketing costs, all while improving profits. What about those early adopting real estate agents that took to SEO and proper web design before it was industry standard? They cleaned up.
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What’s next though? What else should real estate agents be doing in order to differentiate themselves now? SMS appears to be one clear example, providing a wonderful compliment to traditional marketing and search engine marketing.
What is SMS? In laymen’s terms, SMS, or short message service, allows for individuals to send a text message to a “short code” number, typical 5 digits long. If you’ve watched late night TV, you may have seen advertisements advocating this technology, such as “send AAAAA to 12345 for new ring tones.” Fortunately, such a powerful technology has more ambitious applications, as I believe we shall see in real estate.
How could real estate agents use a SMS service? So far, a few services have popped up offering to market to prospects’ cell phones via text message, and while I can only really speak for one of them, I believe that the industry will be growing by leaps in bounds as people realize it’s potential.
The company I represent, Cellit Mobile Marketing, created a product named House4Cell, and is aiming to make life a lot easier for real estate agents, their clients, and their prospects. Here’s how it works:
1. A real estate agent signs up for the service and places a hanger on a client’s for sale sign, saying something to the effect of “send JOE123 to 12345 for information on this property.”
2. A prospective buyer, nosey neighbor, or anyone just passing by sends that short text-message to 12345 and receives a reply text message including whatever information the real estate agent wants to include (pre-set per code).
3. This is the fun part…the real estate agent is notified by e-mail, web stats, or text message of every prospect that inquired information on that code – you get their number!
The simplicity of using SMS in that manner is the beauty. Prospective buyers get instant information (whether or not that information tube is empty or dry) and the agent gets contact information on the prospective buyer…following up whenever he/she feels it is best.
What about the nosey neighbor and passersby; don’t they cost money?
Not really...text messages are relatively inexpensive, especially when considering that they amount to a growing database of prospects. That nosey neighbor or passerby may have a need, now or in the future. Establishing contact and demonstrating technical competence on real estate marketing goes a long way. We all know that the purpose of an open house isn’t really to sell that house; it is to build a contact list of possible buyers…selling the house is icing on the cake. This is like a 24/7 open house, for every hose you list.
The final effect is what I call the “why isn’t my real estate agent doing that.” My neighborhood is less than 5 years old, and tends to have a few houses on the market at any given time. If one agent places an interesting, inviting sign for text message marketing, how do you think the client of the agent that isn’t doing that will feel? You could soon come to dominate that neighborhood.
In short, SMS seems to be the best fit for real estate marketing since SEM. As a natural marketing extension, it can help real estate agents capture more of the off-line market, enabling the early adopter and late adopters alike to better meet the needs of their clients while meeting the needs of their wallets.
Joe Sinkwitz
Cellit Mobile Marketing
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