Thursday, February 17, 2011

Pump Up Your Digital Marketing

Part II of a IV part series

                                         Think Big and Play BIGGER!
   

Blissfield, MI, February 17, 2011 – Hal Holubik, owner of Tours D’ Force, a Southern Michigan Virtual Tour provider says; “What good is getting a virtual tour from anyone if it is not seen by the largest audience possible?  The bottom line with real estate as with many other kinds of sales, it’s a numbers game, the more people that see it the higher the ability of it being sold quickly.” Business Professionals in every field are in need of more exposure and a better way to capture and maintain the interest of online shoppers especially on the web; they must be aware and possess the flexibility to market their virtual tours in many places.


In part I of this IV part series (see part I here:  http://halholubik.blogspot.com/2011/02/pump-up-your-digital-marketing.html) the first thing we talked about was analyzing the market.  How as a realtor, you have to realize that the market is evolving and changing. How the marketing techniques that you used last year, the ones that you used five years ago, ten years ago they are different than the ones that you will have to utilize for your marketing approach today. 

The second think that we talked about was covering the market.  How you spread out your dollars, your marketing dollars, to reach the maximum number of prospects?

We then spend some time talking about that framework its self.  How the digital marketing is a multi faceted marketing approach. 

We concluded by talking about print media, YES, I said print media.  How here are still folks out there that read things in print, and how you better use it as part of your digital marketing approach.

Now let’s talk about your actual digital marketing efforts. 


What you’re seeing in front of you is a virtual tour window.  It is very important that whatever virtual tour solution you choose has all the attributes that we’re talking about in this window.  First of all, you should look at this as a single property website.  Everything that you could want to know about this property should be available in this snap shoot, if it not, you’re barking up the wrong tree and you need to look at another type of virtual tour.  But this is a typical virtual tour and some of the attributes that you need to be looking for. 

First of all, upon top, it should talk about who you are, how to contact you, all of the information right up top so that way, any prospect comes across this virtual tour has an opportunity to give you a phone call.  So you’ll notice at the top it not only says who this realtor is, it has their logo, but even has buttons so they can easily click on one button and send an e-mail message, easily clicked to go to the website or to view the tour gallery and see other properties that the realtor has to offer.  Really important thou that right top up you have this information available.  Now I know that some of you are saying to yourselves, now wait a second Hal, my MLS burial says that I can’t show that information. My MLS burial says that I can’t do any branding on my virtual tours.  But that ok because virtual tour companies like this one have branded and non-branded versions.  You want to have the branded one out there on your website and places like realtor.com where you’re allowed to have branded, and then you can have an unbranded version for your local MLS burial.  But anyway, so we’re talking about the branded version here but rest assured you can have both from the same source.  Now let’s talk about the little box, the MLS summary on the right hand side.  That tells the prospect everything in a nut shell that they may want to know about that property.  They can do a deeper dive but the button line is how much does it cost, how many sq. ft., how many bedrooms, what’s the school district, summed up, that information is right there for them to see, perfectly right in front of them.  You’ll want to make sure that the photography that the first picture there and all the ones behind are good, crisp, clear, and really show off the house and that’s what we’re trying to do.  So the photography needs to be spot on as well, there’s actually a button in this virtual tour that allows you to  have full screen and fill up your entire screen with seeing the rooms as walking through that house. Now, one of the things that realtors have said to me over the years, they said, Hal, my customer wants to participate.  We’ll one of the things that you can do as a realtor to help your customers to participate is by utilizing the buttons at the bottom of this virtual tour.  What those are is there single click social networking buttons. 

So if your client has a Facebook account, a MySpace account, a linkedIn account, a Twitter account, etc., they can upload this virtual tour to their own personal account.  So, think about this for a second, you the realtor may have a hundred friends that are on your Facebook account, so you can click on the Facebook button and go ahead and upload that onto your Facebook profile page. But your customer may have another hundred people that they know, and maybe their kid has another two hundred people, so, bottom line is don’t be afraid of involving your customers, draw attention to the bottom line buttons in the virtual tour so that way you can get the word out there. Put it in the different social networking sites, let this thing really take off and be seen by a lot of people.  Bottom line with real estate as with many other kinds of sales, it’s a numbers game, the more people that see it the higher the ability of it being sold quickly.  Having a high quality virtual tour helps once again establish you, the realtor as being tech savvy as well as now involving your client in the process as much as they want to be involved.
This is another type of virtual tour.  This is a High Definition V-Slide. Same property, same high quality photos just another mechanism for getting the word out there.  But hey, take a look at the bottom; you also have on the bottom those social networking buttons.  So if you’re not seeing those from your virtual tour provider today you’re missing a huge opportunity of being able to go ahead and further market the property.  Make sure folks that your virtual tours have those social networking buttons.  In this particular case, this virtual tour has pull downs, once again has all the information about the realtor, the information about the property, as well as being able to map and being able to download brochures and so forth, so a burst of technology gets the word out there.

Stay tuned for part III of this IV part blog series.

Related Posts:
Building a Bigger Tomorrow!
Pump Up Your Digital Marketing Part I

Hal Holubik
Owner/Organizer
Tours D’ Force
Order a Virtual Tour: 517-486-4209
mailto:hal@toursdforce.com

http://www.toursdforce.com

Virtual Tours are here!! More people choose http://www.realtourvision.com/virtual tour company than any other virtual tour provider on the market. We encourage you to research the 360 virtual tour industry before making a decision. We are by far the most established virtual tour company in the industry. Our virtual tour customers and their clients get only the best and most experienced advice and help from our staff. Thank you and enjoy our virtual tours.

Powered by http://www.ToursDForce.com. Your Southern Michigan Property Marketing Experts! Bookmark and Share

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Pump Up Your Digital Marketing

Part I of a IV part series



Thing Big and Play BIGGER!
 
Blissfield, MI, February 10, 2011 – Hal Holubik, owner of Tours D’ Force, a Southern Michigan Virtual Tour provider says; “What good is getting a virtual tour from anyone if it is not seen by the largest audience possible?  The bottom line with real estate as with many other kinds of sales, it’s a numbers game, the more people that see it the higher the ability of it being sold quickly.” Business Professionals in every field are in need of more exposure and a better way to capture and maintain the interest of online shoppers especially on the web; they must be aware and possess the flexibility to market their virtual tours in many places.

The first thing I would like to talk about is analyzing the market.  So as a realtor and a business person, you have to realize that the market is evolving and changing. The marketing techniques that you used last year, the ones that you used five years ago, ten years ago they are different from the ones that you will have to utilize today.  

Today market is composed of three very different generations, the Old school, new school, and the X and Y generation.  You have old school people that are out there that are going to be looking at newspapers, the real estate book and things like that, and the new school and X and Y generation. Now, old school and new school represents your second home buyers. Here in Lenawee County we have a lot of folks that live here part-time, they have their full time residence in Toledo, Wauseon, Ann Arbor, where ever Sylvania, but they choose to have their second homes here at one of our many inland lakes, so it’s a hot spot for our clients, that old school / new school the second home buyer.  X and Y generation, we have a lot of first time people moving into Lenawee County to get away from the metro areas and the hectic life.  X and Y generation represents those first time buyers, not to mention those first time and second time buyer within our communities, so we want to be able to touch all three.

How do they learn, how do they market, and how do they buy.  Most of the buyers use newspapers; you want to have ads in newspaper, you want to have ads in real estate book, and I’m not telling you to stop, but what I will tell you in a few minutes are how to use those ads more effectively.

New School buyers, they will use the internet.  I don’t know about you but I know if I’m interested in buying a new widget, the first place I go is out to Google, and I Google widgets just to see what’s out there.  Now I may not always buy off the internet but it’s always the first place I go.  So new school buyers absolutely are going to use the internet. Old school buyers, newspaper ads, new school they use the internet, the X and Y buyers, they are the immediate generation.  I want to see it NOW, I don’t want to wait for Pepsi commercials, I just want my information NOW, right NOW, and that’s were mobile websites QR Codes, and SMS technology comes in.  So, absolutely an area that you want to make sure that you reach out and touch.

OK, Successful marketing, successful agents and successful business people have a successful marketing plan they will appear and appeal to all three types of buyers.  Connect your buyers with your listings and your business that’s the bottom line. 

So how do we do that? How do we connect?  Well here’s how we connect, first of all let’s talk about what is digital marketing? Digital marketing is the usage of various technologies to capture additional market exposure. Digital marketing is digital photos; digital marketing is the internet, web site presents, virtual tours, QR codes and SMS technology through smart phones.  All of that is considered a part of digital marketing.  Why is it important to you the realtor and business person?  Very simple, it helps establish your professionalism; it differentiates yourself from the pack and show that you are technology savvy. 

Let’s talk about Newspaper.  Newspaper ads are something that have been out there for years. The local real estate company has been out there for years.  But here’s, I’d almost call this my pet peeve was, so as a realtor, first of all, just about everyone takes pictures of the front of the home that they’re going to market, that’s a requirement that they have it in all of your newspaper ads.  If you don’t hire a professional, that’s Ok, but pay attention to the time of day that you’re taking those photographs.  Don’t have this, you know, big sun blob in the middle of your photograph or don’t take it when all you see is this really dark image. 

Now spend a little forethought in when can you take good pictures of that home that you’re marketing and go ahead and take those pictures then rather than having ugly boring pictures on your web site or in your newspaper marketing ad, or, hire a professional to do it.  Show your web address, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen real estate ads that don’t have the realty company address. So, tie it in, make sure your web address appears in your newspaper ads.  If you have a mobile web site address, put that in there as well.  Or even change it up, some weeks run your regular web address other weeks run mobile address, but the bottom line is show that internet presents. E-mail, e-mail address for you the realtor, should be in all print advertising.  That, often times is the primary way for people to communicate with you, so make sure that you have your e-mail address in there.  If you have a virtual tour, or better still if you have virtual tours on ALL of your property listings, SAY IT!  Come to my website and see the virtual tour of this property, or come to my website and see a virtual tour of ALL of my properties.  Emphasize that in your newspaper ads, tie it in.  And by the way if you have Text Connect, if you have texting services on your properties make sure that you put that in your print ads was well, say Text .bla..bla…bla @43766 to see up-to-the-minute property updates.  And that’s one thing that people are always looking for, is that there up-to-the-minute property updates, so make sure you are putting those things in your newspaper ads.

Stay tuned for part II of this IV part blog series.

Related Posts:
Building a Bigger Tomorrow!

Hal Holubik
Owner/Organizer
Tours D’ Force
Order a Virtual Tour: 517-486-4209
hal@toursdforce.com

http://www.toursdforce.com

Virtual Tours are here!! More people choose http://www.realtourvision.com/virtual tour company than any other virtual tour provider on the market. We encourage you to research the 360 virtual tour industry before making a decision. We are by far the most established virtual tour company in the industry. Our virtual tour customers and their clients get only the best and most experienced advice and help from our staff. Thank you and enjoy our virtual tours.

Powered by http://www.ToursDForce.com. Your Southern Michigan Property Marketing Experts! Bookmark and Share

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Tours D’ Force Brings Innovative Approach to Blissfield Businesses

Tours D’ Force, a Lenawee County virtual tour provider announces a new advertising solution to help local businesses connect with potential customers.  The participating Blissfield Connector merchants can now advertise their business right off the Blissfield Business Virtual Tour, that’s right, “Internet Marketing Done…Simple.”  With this value added service, Blissfield businesses have the ability to offer money saving deals online that will drive more traffic into their stores.

Tours D’ Force has created a powerful new marketing vehicle for local merchants which gives their businesses the upper hand needed to help them grow.   This innovative approach to e-commerce will bring extra dollars in new revenue to local businesses while saving more for the consumers in and around Lenawee County.  The deals are activated only when the tour viewer clicks on the ‘Blissful Deal’ banner, which then encourages viewers to share the Blissfield Connector and promotions with family and friends.  Here’s how it works:

Tours D’ Force makes it simple for Local business to get their name and their companies name out in the public eye. And the best part is their information is made available right off the Blissfield Business Cannel Tour! This ensures that they generate the most qualified leads of online shoppers and buyers for their businesses.

By clicking on the ‘Blissful Deal banner, the tour viewer will be redirected to the ‘Social Living in Blissfield’ page which features all the local participating businesses.  From this page the viewer can click on the businesses Facebook page, their website, and the shopping cart that will take them to the Blissful Deal.


Blissful Deals features special saving values on the best stuff to do, eat, see and buy in the historic village of Blissfield.  Blissful Deals offers unbeatable prices and provide a win-win for the businesses and consumer, delivering super saving deals to the surrounding communities.

But wait, we didn’t stop there, Social Living in Blissfield also features business Events plus new Give-a-ways (contests).  To find out more the viewer can click on the calendar for special events and/or on the WIN button to enter a business contest.  Social Living in Blissfield, a place to strike deals!

Toursdforce is so excited to be able to help their community that they are offering ‘Blissful Deals’ to participants of The Blissfield Connector as FREE value added service, that’s their money $avings deal to them.  Are we crazy???  No… We are just excited to show off our uniquely powerful online marketing tools for 2011… and what better way to do that than to help our community grow.

In addition Tours D’ Force extends their reach through non-participating Blissfield Business tour members and to other Toursdforce virtual tours.  For a nominal fee for the life of the tour prospects will be able to connect directly with their business, allowing them to receive the most qualified leads, from all over the world.

Hal Holubik of Toursdforce states, “It’s very important for small businesses to support each other all the time. I mean, small businesses are what made this country.  So we have to always support them.  Any activity we can create here brings in additional business for all of the small businesses in town, not just for our community, but Downtown as well.”

Stay tuned as we are in the process of posting ads and plan to go live very soon. Visit TourBlissfield.com for $ savings deal’s.

Toursdforce will continue to work hard to shape the way local merchants and real estate agents market themselves and bring their businesses and websites to a whole new level.





Virtual Tours are here!! More people choose www.realtourvision.com virtual tour company than any other virtual tour provider on the market. We encourage you to research the 360 virtual tour industry before making a decision. We are by far the most established virtual tour company in the industry. Our virtual tour customers, and their clients get only the best and most experienced advice and help from our staff. Thank you and enjoy our virtual tours.

Powered by http://www.ToursDForce.com. Your Southern Michigan Property Marketing Experts! Bookmark and Share