'Seeing' the product and 'trusting' those who rent it are significant success factors in the industry. Internet marketing standards are of precise importance to real estate because many of the obstacles reflected in these principles are particularly high for this industry. A first principle is that Internet marketing must be calculated to reach the target market. It is not sufficient to set up a nice home page and hope that the right audience will find it, and appreciate the product.

Create Credibility

The bigger the need for credibility, the greater the need to follow the unwritten principles of Internet marketing when presenting your product. Effectively promoting real estate requires the instantaneous formation of trust and comfort: To miss doing this on the Internet will end customer relationships before they can start forming, and creates a bad precedent for future transactions.

Always remember not use intrusive or pushy messages that invite an immediate sale. Let the web visitor be interested in your real estate product by properly, and slowly guiding him or herself through the pertinent information provided, to fully answer their queries and concerns. Patiently, and concretely dealing with an online real estate client 'invites' interest.

Be Transparent With Customers

It is imperative to provide full information, and clearly explain how the details can be obtained. Do not hide or conceal significant information about your real estate product, even if it tilts towards the negative. The importance of straight talk, honest and factual information will develop the confidence required.

For example, by clearly stating early in your message whether or not you ban pets or if your building is adult-only will narrow your market to authentic potential clients. Respecting the Internet customer by providing 'filtering' information is polite and makes plain good marketing sense. Busy consumers would be delighted to be able to get useful information faster and more concise.

When dealing with real estate on the Internet, Ensure that you provide some extra information that would be of real use to your guest. Offer an 'apartment or house assessment' feature that provides a form to enable clients to make comparisons, or an article on the community that would provide relevant useful information and links for new buyers or sellers.

Offer immediate choices, which show the guest that he/she is in charge and is not being tricked or enticed into something flawed, or suspicious. You must explain the choices clearly and provide check boxes if a guest confirmation is needed to 'proceed' with something that involves a commitment. Do not overwhelm your guest with bright lights and colored animation when your page pops up: You would want to create enough credibility to build some trust as your guest uses your page, and not see a carnival or a fireworks display of flashing lights and colors.

Posted by Ted Payne on December 13, 2008 at 12:00 AM

About Ted Payne
Ted Payne is affliated with RE/MAX Associates, which is located in Draper, UT. For further assistance please use the contact information located on the right.




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