Real Estate Marketing – 5 technologies to look for

The Property market is often quite traditional and yet there are some very innovate strategies & technologies, that could change the face of Real Estate marketing Forever. I have tried to put together 5 strategies and technologies that I feel will be important in coming years. But these need to be looked at Right Now, as the time when they will be really useful is just around the corner.  Smart companies are already looking at these and are early adopters of what will be common in Real Estate in coming years.

Let me mention them briefly here :

Helicopter Drone Flying for Real Estate

Helicopter Drones have really taken off in the past few years (even Amazon, UPS and DHL are talking about they using these within 5yrs.).

This is especially the case given the control you get from using them – you can control them by GPS co-ordinates including longitude, latitude not to mention height from the ground. This opens the potential for repeat visits in the same area. Imagine the progress videos over long construction time, or being able to show 360 degree panoramic views to people from an apartments not built yet.

The potential is endless.

It will be wonderful to film the location which is often difficult otherwise due to heavy and many a times congested development around. This way you will be able to give the potential buyer an idea of how well located the property is. This will also be the case for international developments.

Having worked in the overseas property industry for a long time I am very aware of just how good some aerial footage are. Imagine flying down the coast to show off the beaches, then to cut inland to show off the beautiful development looking over the beach as the sun goes down. It is very hard to show that off except from air.

Google+ Marketing in Real Estate

I had long felt Google+ will be a useful marketing tool and hence included it here. Though less of technology and more a social platform (or a Social Layer as some people are calling it, seeing its power). Google+ is growing at a tremendous rate.

The graphic below only goes to support the fact that it is now the world’s 2nd largest social network – ahead of both Twitter and LinkedIn. It is also said to be overtaking Facebook in terms of the number of likes and shares (read this very interesting report put together by Marketing Land recently)

However, it isn’t just the footfall that is attractive here. There is also the relationship between Google and…….Google. Two great articles I have read recently include  Eric Enge’s post about  How Google+ is affecting SEO and a recent article looking at the recent Hummingbird update to the algorithm. Eric has done some immense studies on Google+ and its influence and I highly recommend reading the two articles which are both put far more eloquently than I could put here in this more general article.

Then you come to Hangouts. Google+ has become well known for its ability to segment people’s followers – something almost unique to the platform – but also the ability to have video conferences – both private and public (streamed live through your own website, YouTube or even Facebook).

Hangouts can be on mobile and there are examples of Realtors in the States using Hangouts to show Open Houses – a buyer could be in a different country and still on Hangout see what the Realtor is showing them. Registration of buyers could be done using Hangouts. When registering applicants, an old boss of mine used to insist on going around to the applicants current house to see what they meant by “a larger living room” – by getting an idea of where they were, he knew better what they wanted then. Hangouts could give you a better idea for any applicant and let you get to know them.

Ronnie– The Hangout Helper – puts it brilliantly with relation to Hangouts:

“Google Hangouts and Hangouts on Air (HOA) are a wonderful gift for all of us to use freely. They are a tool that encourages global meetings at the touch of a button and also give any person or business instant access to a Public or Private Broadcasting Network.

The ability to develop real relationships at light speed and clarify your communication efforts is unmatched. Learn to use this magical communication tool so that the technology disappears and soon you’ll wonder how you survived without it. Phone calls and Webinars where you are not seeing the person you are listening to will quickly seem like ‘olde’ technology.”

Google Glass and other wearable Devices

There is so much buzz out there at the moment about Google Glass. It is incredible. For those of you who are not aware about Google Glass there is a good introduction here but they are basically wearable “glasses” that allow you to take them along.

We will be talking to realtor Lucas Lechuga who already uses Glass in his Real Estate offerings for: pictures, videos, search, translate, diaries. All hands free. The concept for all wearable eyewear, and I Totally Agree with this, that we are all driven to distraction by our phones and tablets and are losing sight of the world around us.

“I primarily use Glass to shoot video.  The best thing about Glass is that it is a hands-free device.  This is perfect for showing property because it allows one to open doors and drawers, point out details and features, and provides a first-person perspective that cannot be achieved with other modes for shooting video.  It also allows one to shoot video while driving, which is a great way to provide non-local buyers with a tour of various neighborhoods and points of interest.”

However, Google Glass aren’t the only wearable eye-wear on the market.  And  if you read this post , I wasn’t that impressed when looking at them through a Real Estate perspective when I tried them back in 2013. There are other devices available including one from a new start up (this field is so new and changing so fast that it is right at the cutting edge) in Silicon Valley called Meta and their “Space Googles”! Sounds bonkers and they are.

Worth checking out this post about them from Robert Scoble.

When I tried Glass I also tried a pair from firm Vuzix – who are winning all the industry awards currently. I have to say I was really impressed from an industry perspective. I feel Glass is going for the consumer and perhaps the commercial markets should lead the way here.

Anyway, Dan Cui, their Vice President of Business Development states the following:

“Many possibilities exist for implementing Augmented Reality. Like immediate access to property data while dealing with potential clients is just one area to be exploited in a way that improves the Real Estate agent’s image in front of the customer.  A customer who believes you’re acting efficiently and in their best interest is a satisfied customer.  In the end, you’ll win their business over and over again”

Augmented Reality and Real Estate

 

AR is already being used by some of the Real Estate Agents & developers out there. It is already being used to enhance sales and communicate a story to house buyers. AR can be used in almost all stages of a property’s construction and that is why it is so exciting in its applied use for industry.

Let me split this up a little bit. Simple Augmented Reality in my mind is all about Interactive Print. Add value to your printed material e.g. brochures and leaflets. Put in videos of the properties – we have had some developers put their development updates in the augmented space e.g. have one page to videos that will change every 2 months with a new video of the development as it gets built – put slideshows of images onto printed material so that when you hold over a tablet or phone they can see additional imagery.

Put interactive elements into the print e.g. surveys or twitter streams. Basically you are adding value to your literature.

Take it another step further and look at Geolocation AR. As all tablets and phones have GPS sensors inside they can pinpoint your location. Some app developers are using this to great effect by overlaying information about landmarks nearby to offer the user a greater level of knowledge.

Funda, a Dutch property portal decided to use Geo Location and overlay their available properties into the viewfinder. You can see this in the video below which is a great example of using this sort of technology for Real Estate.

In our discussions on using AR in Real Estate we will be talking to Howard who originally built this app using Layar software (we are a preferred partner of Layar).

You can then look at more complex forms of Augmented Reality. We will be talking this through with Stuart Cupit of Inition and how they are working with property developers on some very exciting AR applications. Some of the really exciting AR applications they are building involve combining AR with other innovative technologies. 3D Printing is one such example – here is the article I wrote about it – and another great fit for property development.

Virtual Reality and Real Estate

We finally come to the use of Virtual Reality and perhaps the most innovative of all ideas discussed here. I was first exposed to the power of
      

jumping out of a plane in VR. I was immersed in another world by the use of a headset. I was given headphones to give me an excellent audio experience too.

Then, just as I “jumped” out of the plane I realized there was a giant fan in front of my face. I was hooked. Not only was this the scariest thing I had ever done (but to everyone else I was just sitting on a chair!) but it was also the most eye opening of all the technologies I had played with.

Yes, there were issues (resolution was an issue at the time) but the potential of concept is huge. Imagine putting potential buyers actually “in” the apartment they may be buying. Allowing them to have a complete look and walk around. Imagine, allowing them to open wardrobes, open windows, turn the shower on and off – all the things you would do in reality. This is all possible. Technology exists now.