Property brochures still play an important role in property marketing.
For one, professional property brochures impress vendors and could be the difference between someone instructing you over another agency. Secondly, giving a potential buyer a property brochure gives them the opportunity to “revisit” the property and, if effective, can increase the chance of them pushing forward with a purchase.
Blogs You Should Read: The Complete Property Marketing Guide To Winning More Instructions in 2020.
That being said, an effective property brochure today isn’t necessarily what it was a few years ago.
An effective brochure should do the obvious – entice someone into wanting a property. It therefore has to include all the critical information and be eye-catching. But in 2020, there are a few other things you need to ensure you get right so that you maximise the chances of results with today’s customer!
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1. Unbelievably Good Visual Content
There is no question that the most important part of a property brochure design is the photos. There’s not a buyer or vendor on the earth who’s going to be drawn to a property brochure full of text and unattractive photos.
As is the case with your portal listings, people spend the majority of their time looking at the property photos.
A good professional property photographer will be expert in producing the best, most flattering photos of any space. They understand how to stage the property, how to compose a great shot that makes the most of the space and how to professionally edit the photos for maximum impact.
Frankly, if you are going to the trouble of producing a property brochure or even one pager, it’s not worth scrimping.
In addition to professionally taken photos, you should also consider virtual staging for unfurnished or poorly furnished properties. The most effective property brochures will make it easy for the potential buyer to see themselves in the property – this is much easier when the property is presented furnished & properly staged.
On top of great photography, consider inserting video into your brochure. As we’ll explore at tip #3, estate agents shouldn’t just think of real estate brochures as being in hard copy form in 2020.
People generally prefer to watch videos over reading text. By incorporating video into your brochures, you increase the chance of the viewer seeing more of the information you’re trying to get across. Property trailers are a particularly good real estate video type because they showcase the property alongside key selling features such as proximity to transport and local green spaces.
Like professional photography, video impresses vendors with 78% of them being more likely to instruct an agent who uses it.
2. Floor Plans Are A Must
Floor plans convert. The majority of vendors and buyers consider them essential (90% and 80% respectively).
The purpose of your property brochure is to make it easy for the potential buyer to visualise themselves in the property you’re selling. Floor plans are a critical component in making this possible.
At Focal, we’ve seen our clients so positively impacted by floor plans that we include them (as standard) with each property we photograph. Estate agents who want to boost their results should consider doing the same!
3. Optimise For Mobile
It’s 2020. Everyone is on mobile. Even if you provide hard copy brochures you should also provide vendors and buyers with a mobile version of any brochures.
Why? Because that’s where they spend all their time.
Providing a mobile version means more than just a PDF copy. A good, mobile optimised property brochure will be properly formatted to be easily readable on mobile. It should also be interactive – incorporating video, links, call to action buttons and even gifs.
Optimising for mobile means the viewer can look at it any time over and over again; anywhere. It also makes it more easy to share.
4. Location, Location, Location
It’s widely accepted that a property brochure should include a map and details about the property’s surrounding area.
But given the importance of location, today’s best agents can go a step further.
Again, using the highly converting tactic of video, incorporating a Point of Interest trailer showcasing the property’s local area, it’s proximity to transport, to important leisure amenities or whatever else can entice the buyer.
It’s the addition of things like this that enable you to stand out from your competitors. To learn more about Point of Interest trailers and how they can boost your property marketing, click here.
5. Gate It
Gating something like an ebook, checklist or property download is when you require an exchange of contact details for access to it.
You’ll have seen this a million times before. Enter your email address to get instant access to a downloadable content.
Remember, leads are gold in the real estate sector. If you go the extra mile with a great property brochure, you want to ensure you get a lead with every exchange.
An important point about gating your brochure though, don’t make it too hard to exchange. The more details you ask for, the less likely someone is to follow through. Consider asking for only 1-2 pieces of information. An email address is useful as you can easily use this in future property marketing campaigns and efforts.
Summary
Estate agents producing property brochures that achieve maximum results and crush the competition in 2020 should:
- Use unbelievably good visuals including professional property photography and video.
- Incorporate a floor plan every time.
- Be mobile optimised.
- Do more to sell the property’s location with point of interest trailers.
- Be accessible in exchange for contact details.
