Luxury real estate marketing has its own unique challenges. These tips will give you the tools to attract affluent clients and sell impressive high-end properties.
Seller Tactics
In luxury real estate marketing, you’re not only selling a physical property. Agent must also sell the lifestyle that comes with it. Marketing to the luxury real estate market is a field of its own, forcing many real estate agents to invest a high amount of money and time in widening their marketing knowledge.
Before you jump into the luxe market, you need to understand the basics of real estate marketing. But if you want to thrive in the high-end real estate market, you’ll have to take things a step further than you would with a 400k home.
These luxury real estate marketing ideas will get your listing in front of your target audience and build your local reputation as a luxury agent.
The 4 Ps
Have you heard of the 4 Ps of marketing? The same principles apply to real estate marketing and we’ll break them down here. The 4 Ps of selling luxury homes are Property (product), Place, Price, and Promotion.
- Property: Luxury properties are not about just finding a place to live or finding a simple starter home for a new family starting a new beginning. Luxury homes are as much about the feeling and status they create as they are about function. Consider what key features make your luxury listing desirable to affluent buyers. Is there a beautiful beach-front view? A wrap-around patio?
- Price: As far as home pricing your luxury listings go, we’ll leave that up to you. In regards to marketing ROI, you can expect to spend a pretty penny on marketing luxury real estate, especially in comparison to other types of properties.
- Place: Where will you find the right high-end homebuyers for your property listing? Where a luxury listing is advertised is just as important as how it is advertised. There’s no use placing a beautiful brochure in an area where the locals can’t afford luxury real estate. In the same vein, luxury buyers will be turned off if your listing is placed on questionable or highly public websites.
- Promotion: What offline and online marketing strategies will educate potential buyers and set the tone for a luxury buyer experience with you? With affluent clients, general expectations are higher and they look forward to a glamorous buyer experience from advertising to signing.
These four pillars are the foundation of every luxury real estate marketing plan. With this thorough understanding, we can take actionable steps to customize a marketing strategy for your unique high-end listing. Let’s dive into some of these implementable real estate marketing ideas.
1. Build Your High-End Consumer Profile
Each property listing has an ideal client profile: the person(s) whose lifestyle would fit the style, location, and price point of the listing. Client profiles for luxury listings are similar in many ways, but can differ depending on the real estate niche and location, amongst other variables.
Refining your client profile will make it easier to find and bond with the right clients for your luxury properties. Start by evaluating your client demographics, buying habits, age, interests, and economic standing.
Income targeting is more important than ever in regard to luxury properties. Most of the population can’t afford luxury properties, and you wouldn’t want to waste marketing money on gorups that don’t fit the bill.
Most luxury buyers are professionally well-connected, lead busy lives, and are looking for modern updates and features in their homes. Other more minute client profile details depend on the individual listing.
Use your client profile to frame your marketing materials. Imagine that you are speaking directly to this client and consider what messaging and style would resonate with them. Platforms that support PPC marketing, such as Google, allow you to reach a very specific set of potential customers based on highly detailed factors.
2. Write Luxury Real Estate Taglines
To compete in the luxury real estate market, your brand needs to communicate the same feeling of glamour and exclusivity. Your tagline is a straightforward way to convey this message.
You may have a tagline for your real estate business and a unique tagline for your property listing. These taglines can be creative, persuasive, or descriptive.
Next, ask yourself what is the most important outcome for your clients (buyers or sellers) including, but not limited to price. What are your client’s concerns? What are their common difficulties or challenges? Answering these questions will help you frame the essential points your slogan needs to address.
Click here for a detailed explanation of how to build a slogan with examples.
3. Track and Evaluate Competitors in the Luxury Real Estate Space
The luxury real estate niche is small and so is the pool of real estate agents. Luxury real estate agents face extra pressure to keep up with the latest trends and give themselves an edge with the latest luxurious offering.
Taking the time to plan a client meeting at a renowned restaurant or hiring an expert drone photographer are some of the details that put one luxury real estate agent above the next. Subscribe to your competitor’s newsletter and keep a close eye on what their clients and associates are raving about so that you can stay on par.
4. Create Customized Single Property Websites
In today’s visual age, it is expected to have a custom landing page or single property website for each of your expensive properties. Single property websites make any luxury listing feel more exclusive and engaging. Plus, there are usually no links to other properties, so your potential buyers are not tempted to glance at other listings.
Your custom property webpages should be carefully designed to suit the style of the property and showcase your brand. Professional photography and videography are a must. Always work with a professional web designer who can make sure that your website is optimized on the backend as well.
The AgentFire team knows how to make more than just a beautiful real estate website. Quick load speeds and great performance on every smart device are essential. Speak with our support team about building your luxury property pages.
5. Invest in Luxury Staging
Luxury home staging is a particular type of property staging that many stagers are not familiar with. Serious buyers in the luxury space will notice the decor details and whether or not they highlight the best features of the house. Low-budget staging in an expensive home can put a bad taste in their mouth.
Luxury stagers know which details paint the life of luxury that is possible for buyers. Think, renting a Ferrari to make the garage glow or one-of-a-kind decorative wall art that wows.
6. Post Ads in Newspapers and Magazines
Many luxury clients start their day by reading the news first thing in the morning. And with the overwhelming digital space, newspaper or magazine ads feel refreshingly traditional and classy. The key is placing your ads in the newspapers and publications that you know affluent clients in your hyperlocal area will read.
Local real estate magazines are regularly looking for impressive properties to feature. Sellers also love to see their property in a print publication and are likely to share it with friends. If you are featured as the listing agent on a page-turning property, other potential clients will recognize you and associate you with luxury real estate in your area.
Each publication has a unique contact for pitching property features. Make an effort to develop close professional relationships with these journalists.
7. Perfect Digital Storytelling
With normal property listings, many agents focus on the features and location of a home. Luxury real estate agents have to take it a step further if they want to get the best deal for their clients.
Create a story that will capture the imagination of your ideal buyer and emphasize the exclusivity and rarity that often motivates them to take action. Affluent consumers spend more on products that have an interesting story and are relatable for people of their socioeconomic status. High-end homes are no exception.
For example, mention if there are any influential neighbors and what your property listing represents in the larger neighborhood. You can also focus on the expertise and unique cultural history of the architect who designed the home. Dig deep into research to give the story of your property listing as much depth and personality as possible (within reason).
8. Offer Virtual Video and 3D Tours
Luxury property buyers are often short on time, leaving them with few opportunities to view properties in person. Some clients will only come to view a house if they are impressed with the virtual tour posted online. For national and international buyers curently outside of your local market, a digital viewing is the closest they can get to seeing your listing in person.
These prospects want high-resolution imagery the replicates the feeling of actually being in the home. That’s why 3D tours have become so important. Plus, clients can see if their beloved furniture will fit well in the home. Due to a recent survey by matterport.com, 89% of potential homebuyers consider 3D tours an integral part of the buying process.
Offering 3D or virtual video tours also starts the sale process with a professional and positive impression.
9. Plan Private Property Showings
Open houses are not a great method of showing your luxury property. Public showings attract curious onlookers who only want to see the interior of a fancy home and have no serious interest in purchasing.
Curated events and private showings by invite-only are more common in the luxury sphere. These types of exclusive events allow you to limit the amount and type of people coming to view the property. Build the perfect guest list by getting in contact with high-profile buyers agents and your luxury clients.
Your invites should give guests an idea of what to expect from the property and from you as an agent. This is communicated not only through great images and copywriting, but through the quality of the paper you choose to print on or the appeal of your email signature. Whether you decide on printed or digital invites, remember that the quality of the medium also sends a message.
10. Build a Referral Cycle
Luxury clients love to share referrals for professionals who are able to meet their unusually high expectations. Going the extra mile with your current clients not only improves your connection with them, but also increases the likeliness of connecting with more prospects.
To celebrate the sale of their property, you could offer your clients a complimentary upgrade or gift of some sort. Get creative and make sure that it seems customized and well thought-out. If your clients feel cared for, they are likely to share that experience with their friends and family.
Consistently remind clients about the ethos of your brand using your marketing materials with clear messaging and your style of handing business. This will make it easy for them to describe you to their friends.
11. Promote Internationally
One of the most defining factors in luxury real estate marketing is that your pool of luxury clients often spans the international market. That means you need to understand what prospective buyers from overseas value in international real estate (that may vary depending on where they are from).
Get a full grasp of the cultural values and expectations of the major international clientele you work with or hope to work with. Then, apply this knowledge to implement marketing techniques that connect with them.
Get Started…
The real estate industry is demanding in any niche, however, the luxury market is especially fussy. It’s best for agents to get used to exorbitant requests and build a standard for luxury-level real estate service.
After mastering traditional marketing, arm yourself with tips that will help you stand out in the high-end market. Once you get used to the world your affluent clients are living in, it’s easy to market luxury real estate.