A “HyperLocal Movement” in real estate is presenting real estate agents and brokerages with a massive opportunity to build robust businesses that can thrive regardless of “digital disrupters” or even market conditions, and it’s being fueled by social media, mobile technology and marketing automation. That’s the conclusion of a new White Paper — HyperLocal Movement in Real Estate – issued today by the WAV Group and sponsored by hot Colorado real estate tech startup zavvie.
The 40+ page document, authored by WAV Group’s founding partner Victor Lund and Kevin Hawkins, who runs the firm’s communications division, includes new results from real estate’s first HyperLocal Survey, in partnership with broker technology provider zavvie. The HyperLocal Survey of 340 leading brokers, agents, team leaders, and industry executives shows that the gap between the neighborhood expertise consumers are demanding, and the industry’s current activities to deliver that local expertise, is astonishingly wide.
“This new White Paper provides context to the survey and casts new light on why HyperLocal is flourishing now, driven by the confluence of social media, mobile tech, and marketing automation,” said Stefan Peterson, COO and Co-founder of zavvie, real estate’s first HyperLocal marketing platform for brokerages and agents, and the sponsor of the WAV Group study.
“All the research points to one major finding,” said Lane Hornung, CEO and Co-founder of zavvie. “Becoming a neighborhood expert is the most valued way agents can differentiate themselves.”
The full-color HyperLocal Movement in Real Estate White Paper, in addition to the HyperLocal survey results, presents HyperLocal research findings from dozens of studies conducted by top marketing, real estate and research firms in the U.S. and abroad. Complete with detailed graphs, charts, and analysis, the document contains hundreds of data points and is the most comprehensive look at Hyperlocalism in real estate today.
Also featured in the White Paper is a detailed Case Study by Victor Lund of a brokerage based in Boulder, Colorado, 8z Real Estate, that was built upon a philosophy of HyperLocal marketing. In eight years and with just 150 agents, it did $1 billion in transactions last year and has become one of the Top 10 brokerages in Colorado. “By taking a look under the hood a the firm that spawned the technology that became zavvie,” Lund said, “brokers will be able to see how a HyperLocal approach not only works, but works incredibly well and the unique benefits it brings.”
Among the other Highlights from HyperLocal Movement in Real Estate:
- HyperLocalism is entrenched in virtually every business sector, from manufacturing to media, finance to health care, retail to real estate, reaching every major consumer segment as it continues to build momentum. It’s not a stretch to say that today, anything that can be produced or provided locally, will be.
- In real estate, HyperLocal is much closer to home. A city or county is not HyperLocal, and neither is a metropolitan area — and certainly not a zip code or a region. Consumers define “local” in real estate as their neighborhood.
- Many businesses are failing to take advantage of the HyperLocal movement. Research attributes this to their overall failure to leverage the three factors driving this movement. They’re missing out on opportunities in mobile device adoption, social media use and marketing technology advances, as HyperLocal communications channels and opportunities are spawning and multiplying at ever-lower costs while accelerating business-building cycles.
- Internet research guru Mary Meeker of Kleiner Perkins in her 2017 Internet Trend study wrote: “HyperLocal targeting is more effective than any other kinds of advertising in driving engagement.”
- Josh Team, Chief Innovation Officer at Keller Williams Real Estate at Inman Connect SF 2017, describing the “Keller Williams Playbook for Surviving Real Estate Disruption,” talked about the value of Hyperlocalism, saying,“Technology can’t compete with the agent as a local expert,” Team said. “This is something that technology has a really hard time doing. Be the local expert, and you can defend yourself. And brokers like us should be investing back into the agent to make it easier for them to be that expert.”
- Real estate author Bruce Gardner is even more emphatic, saying,“No technology can replace the HyperLocal expertise or the network and relationships of a local real estate expert. Tom Ferry said, ‘Farming is the most powerful way to grow and maintain a successful real estate business,'” Gardner added. “Now it is HyperLocal marketing.”
The White Paper features additional observations about Hyperlocalism from many other top real estate and marketing professionals including, Noelle Bortfeld, CMO of Windermere Real Estate; Eric Stegemann, CEO, TRIBUS; expert blogger and real estate marketing consultant Heather Elias; Neil Cohen, a nationally renowned brand marketing expert; Abbie Tse Higashi, General Counsel and Manager at McGuire Real Estate in the San Francisco area; Jimmy Mackin of Curaytor; and Daniel James Lesniak real estate agent and author of The HyperLocal, HyperFast Real Estate Agent.
The new zavvie sponsored White Paper HyperLocal Movement in Real Estate is available at no cost – completely free with registration here (http://www.zavvie.com/hyperlocalwp).
SOURCE: WAV Group
