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REB Awards 2022 winner Andrew Bloom has shared how creating a “moving-in experience” for prospective buyers on social media saw him beat out his competitors.
The Sanders Property Agents licensed real estate agent and Sutherland Shire property specialist was named Marketing Professional of the Year at the REB Awards 2022, which recognises an individual who has undertaken the best marketing and digital campaign throughout the assessment period.
Submissions for the 2023 REB Awards recently opened, with all professionals and businesses operating in real estate urged to submit an entry or nominate a worthy colleague across 35 individual, group, or corporate categories highlighting their achievements in the 2021–2022 financial year.
Nominations and submissions close on Friday, 10 February 2023.
Mr Bloom told REB that in his submission, he outlined how he used social media as a “genuine tool” to solve problems for prospective property buyers, particularly during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
“We used social media to allow people to digest the features of a property digitally from their phones over a period of time during the day after they’d already seen the property once but not for very long,” he explained.
Once a prospective buyer viewed a property, Mr Bloom said he invited them to follow Sanders Property Agents’ social media pages, where they could experience “the day in the life of the future home owner”.
“For example, the day after people viewed the property, they would wake up to a story on Facebook or Instagram about what they could do in the morning if they lived there,” Mr Bloom said.
“We showed people how the property would support you. If you wanted to make breakfast, we would show how the kitchen would support you or where you could sit to enjoy your breakfast in the sun.
“We would tag in a local café that you’d love to walk up to because it’s just around the corner. For someone looking for a property with a pool, we would show how you could use the pizza oven next to the pool and entertain guests.
“In this way, we would teach people about the area and the property all on the hour, relevant to what you would be doing at that time. And they could see the benefits of living there.”
The strategy received positive feedback from vendors as it demonstrated that the agent was willing to go above and beyond for them, Mr Bloom said.
Some vendors participated by taking photos and videos to capture the unique characteristics of their homes known only to them, he added.
“We were able to send that message to people straight from the owner to the buyer, which buyers absolutely loved because it was real,” he said.
“It wasn’t fake, it wasn’t made up, and it wasn’t salesy. It was seller-to-buyer information. What better translator of a great place to live than the person who lives there.”
The strategy saw Sanders Property Agents sell a couple of properties 48 hours after the buyer had been “immersed in the digital experience”, Mr Bloom said.
Addressing agents considering entering in the Marketing Professional of the Year award category at the 2023 REB Awards, Mr Bloom said the key to creating a cutting-edge real estate campaign is to make it about everyone but themselves.
Before compiling submissions, entrants must articulate their value and key message and how that differentiates them from their competitors, Mr Bloom advised.
“The question you need to answer in your submission is ‘why do you think your strategy was the right thing to do?’,” he said.
“I think you need to put more time into your submission than you think so that you know other people can understand it. If it’s just a simple email, it probably won’t cut it. We tried to explain it in detail by including photos and information to demonstrate what we were doing.”
Mr Bloom concluded by encouraging agents to enter the REB Awards to gain recognition on a national stage.
Submit an entry or nominate a worthy colleague by Friday, 10 February 2023, for the REB Awards 2023.
For more information about the awards, including categories, click here.
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