Technology and Web Marketing: Bridging the Property Gap with YouVu

By Trevor Reid and Gary Bateman
Co Directors - YouVu

Melbourne median property prices over the last quarter have grown by 4.9 per cent to $451,000. Combined with recent interest rate hikes, for many home buyers - particularly first home buyers - it's a step further away from home affordability.

The above factors suggest that sustained growth in the market as a whole won't be guaranteed. Figures released from the Housing Institute of Australia in April this year showed a fall of 6 per cent in the sale of new homes and units. Vendors need buyers, and today more than ever real estate agents need to work harder to market properties that are increasingly harder to afford.

The good news is new tools have entered the market to assist agents in cutting through the clutter of properties for sale by ensuring their properties stand out. Fuelled by innovations in technology and the internet, these devices represent a growing area in property marketing, and are already being implemented by agents.

Technology has made an enormous impact on the real estate industry. Some agents are marketing their properties through the use of podcasting and sms technology, others are seeing the success of video portals in their shopfront windows, others still are producing blogs and e-newsletters on their own websites.

Arguably, the most significant technological 'movement' in recent years has been the internet property portal. It's widely reported that more than 75 per cent of buyers now use the internet to research properties. The nation's biggest portal - realestate.com.au - currently receives 3.7 million unique browsers per month, contains details of more than 400,000 properties, advertises 8000 paying agents, and delivers more than 650,000 email leads. And as testimony to Australia's love of internet property portals, a report by British online real estate consultants Globaledge and American internet marketing portal SEOmoz names realestate.com.au the fourth most powerful real estate portal in the world.

These figures are consistent with the statistics that conclude there are in excess of 7.5 million unique browsers per month viewing properties advertised on the web in Australia.

The findings have important implications for agents, who now need a strong online strategy for listings. The ability to differentiate one property over another, and create an emotional connection between buyer and product, is fast becoming a mission-critical objective. Up until now, this has been technically challenging and, for the most part, financially unviable - particularly when it comes to supporting technologies for property advertising.

A new swathe of internet and technological services are helping agents overcome these hurdles. Advertising devices that further enhance property listings on online portals have made their way into real estate marketing, and these include virtual tours, slideshows, videos and now Street View - all highly effective. Some of the newest devices bring them all together: one is YouVu, a service available on the internet that allows agents to package virtual tours, slideshows, videos, voiceovers, images, supporting text, and music - all on the equivalent of up to 25 web pages - in a single URL. A unique technology within YouVu is its Emotion Icons. Placed over key features of a property in a photo, video or slide show, Emotion Icons allow users to view details up close, see through walls, change perspectives, peep around corners, open closed doors, peer through windows, inspect other rooms and more, simply by moving the cursor over the Emotion Icon.

Once completed, agents can upload the YouVu URL onto any property portal, website or eNewsletter, can be emailed, or promoted in hard-copy advertising.

Internet marketing devices such as YouVu offer agents the ability to different their properties from the rest while creating an emotional connection for buyers. A well thought-out strategy from the outset, making use of the most effective online and technological tools, is crucial to achieving these goals.

Trevor Reid has eight year's marketing experience in the real estate, financial services and retail industries. GaryBateman is an e-commerce with 14 years' experience. Both are co-directors of YouVu. Visit www.YouVu.com.au for more information.
Source Property Victoria September 2008.