There are a lot of real estate marketing rules that may not necessarily apply during the COVID-19 crisis. For one, a personal visit to your property may no longer be necessary, especially with intermittent lockdowns announced now and again. Now more than ever, real estate owners must be creative in their marketing tactics properties if they want to reach potential buyers and tenants. Here are some best practices you need to maximize when you were marketing and promoting your residential property.
Cleaning and designing
But first, make sure your residential property is spotless and well-designed. Here are some pointers to remember when it comes to preparing your home for photographs:
- Don’t just do a general dust-up; deep clean if you can. Deep clean your kitchen, bathrooms, and other areas that can easily look unappealing if stubborn dirt or leftover particles are present.
- De-personalize the spaces you will stage. One of the key elements of staging is helping your prospective tenants and buyers to visualize the space as their own. If the spaces are sprinkled with too much of your personality and tastes, it may be difficult for viewers to imaging how they could decorate the rooms.
- Related to the last point is the importance of getting rid of clutter. If there are items or pieces of furniture that show signs of wear and tear, remove them. Choose design elements that are clean and even minimalist.
- Choose neutral color palettes. Bright and loud colors may be expressive of your personality, but it may turn off people from considering your property. Choose colors like taupe, gray, white, beige, cream, and other earthy neutral shades to highlight the room’s assets.
Virtual staging
The best way to pique a potential buyer or tenant’s interest is by providing them a sneak peek at what the property looks like using virtual staging. Even before the pandemic, this has been a marketing strategy that has saved many real estate investors’ money and time, compared to traditional physical staging. Research on the best virtual home staging software in the market. Some examples include Virtual Staging Solutions, BoxBrownie, VHT Studios, VisualStager, VRX Staging, Real Tour Vision, and many others. These solutions vary in available features and prices, and you can choose based on your needs and which features will help make your property look best.
Photography
The first step to creating beautiful photographs is by making sure that you’re taking photos of beautiful and aesthetically-pleasing things. Here are some tips for photographing the property in the best light:
- Choose the right time of day. The ideal time is during the daytime when it’s sunny so you can get a lot of natural light and so that the colors in the photo will be bright and saturated. Make sure to open the drapes to let the light in. Another option is when it’s close to sunset, or what people in the photography circles call “golden hour.” It’s about an hour before sunset, so the sun produces a warm hue. Don’t forget that brightness is the key; a dreary photo can make your space look creepy and straight out of a suspense movie.
- Use a tripod under less bright conditions. It can help significantly with your image’s sharpness.
- Invest in wide-angle lenses. It will help make the room look larger and seem more inviting and comfortable.
Digital marketing
The COVID-19 crisis means businesses must amp up their digital marketing tactics, especially since it’s the best way to reach audiences right now. Here are some tools at your disposal that you can explore:
- Email marketing campaigns can be a great way to reach people. Send an email that includes details of your property listing, a video walkthrough of the residential property, and the virtual staging you prepared for.
- Social media platforms are also a tool that you cannot afford to neglect. Facebook has been an invaluable tool for real estate agents for many years, especially since the platform allows listing-related content and updates, communication between sellers and prospective buyers or tenants, and customer reviews and feedback. Instagram is also an excellent platform for real estate since it’s primarily a place for well-taken photos. Those always receive good engagement, especially when the right tags are used.
There is no shortage of digital tools and devices that you can use to reach countless people about your residential property listing. But if you don’t use the right tactics, you might not be able to engage people who will see your content. So the key is taking the right photos, using the right tags, and even investing in ads, and you might be well on your way to finally creating income out of your property.