Real estate mobile opportunities beckon

An interesting industry embracing mobile marketing has emerged in the US and I couldn’t help but wonder how effective these campaigns would be in South Africa. With the international economic climate stringent to say the least, it is the homebuilders that seem to have been taking a pro-active step in leveraging off this prominent channel to try and sustain a dwindling market.
A very common concern among the young professionals today is the exorbitant costs involved in purchasing property, with many of them simply incapable of producing the sort of capital that is required to purchase property these days. With a required combined household income of in excess of R 35 000 per month as bare minimum and inflated costs of every imaginable commodity, more and more people simply have to resort to renting, an option hardly worth the paper that it’s written on if you add sentiment to the word “home”.
A common mistake in real estate, evidently placed under enormous economic pressure, is to employ desperation marketing tactics. Buying property is as much an emotional decision as it is a financial one and employing mobile marketing methods to communicate brand and opportunity to the digitally advanced professional market is a good idea, provided it is done intelligently.
Real Estate companies should guard against force feeding properties for sale down the throats of potential buyers. It’s critical to realise that in this economic turmoil, the upcoming market is doing an extraordinary amount of homework before committing to a purchase decision that could potentially destroy them financially.
The focus of realtors should evolve from sales driven campaigns to a more educational form of branding. A mobile marketing campaign that informs potential buyers on best practices, tips on how to get into first time buying, which banks offer the best rates or the legal implications and stumbling blocks of multiple owner purchases would serve as a revolutionary marketing tactic already.
And even if the potential market is not ready to convert into purchasing decision, the brand impression from real estate agents that truly care to educate and that are not only hell bent on commissions, would certainly go a long way in establishing a relationship with their potential buyers that could reap uncharted benefits in the long run.
It is just too bad that many companies are blinded by short term profits over long term sustainable turnover.

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