CPPREP4004- Establish marketing and communication profiles in real estate (Release 1)

Student Learner Guide

RTO 40998

CPPREP4004- Establish marketing and communication profiles in real estate (Release 1)

Table of Contents
Marketing and Communication Channels ............................................................................ 3
Marketing and Communication Strategies ................................................................................... 4
Choosing the best Marketing and Communication Channels ........................................................ 4
Marketing and Communication Strategies for Community Engagement. ...................................... 5
Ethical Practice Considerations in Marketing and Communication........................................ 5
O e icing f e B ing he li ing ............................................................................. 6
O he Agen Li ing Sign J m ing .......................................................................................... 6
Under-pricing of properties......................................................................................................... 7
Misrepresentation of Property .................................................................................................... 8
Your Target Market – Market Property for Sale ................................................................... 8
Who will this property appeal to? ............................................................................................... 8
How will you reach them?........................................................................................................... 9
Where to Promote and Advertise to reach your Target Market? .................................................. 9
Where will your target market come from? ................................................................................. 9
Demographic Considerations ...................................................................................................... 9
Psychographic Considerations ....................................................................................................10
Create a Marketing Plan ............................................................................................................10
Geographic Considerations ........................................................................................................11
Methods of Sale or Lease................................................................................................... 12
Private Treaty ............................................................................................................................12
Auction .....................................................................................................................................12
Tender ......................................................................................................................................13
Executive Leasing.......................................................................................................................13
Holiday Leasing..........................................................................................................................13
Where is best to place the advertising? ......................................................................................13

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Marketing and Communication Channels

This is the way that the company messages or an offer is delivered to the client or customer.
Combined with the message and the right creative for the channel, it can resonate with ideal
customers and encourage them to do business with the agent or agency.
All media channels have the potential to yield favourable results, however all have potential
for failure as well. This is dependent on how well you integrate and deliver the important
pieces of the marketing campaign.
Traditional marketing channels include;

Print publications
Radio
Television
Billboards
Signage
Telephones
Postal Service
Events
Digital marketing channels include;

Websites
Blogs
Podcasts
Social media
Email
Video
Mobile
Webinars

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Marketing and Communication Strategies

These are the types of communication conducted to get a message in from of a target market
or target audience using the most appropriate channel.

Paid advertising e.g. Vendor Paid Advertising (VPA)

Direct marketing
Word of mouth
Events
Public relations
Partnerships and joint ventures

For digital marketing, these are example strategies you could invest in:

Inbound marketing
Content marketing
Email marketing
Search engine optimization
Local search
Social media
Paid advertising
Mobile marketing
Affiliate marketing

Choosing a combination of strategies across both online and offline channels (aka multi-
channel marketing), can help to build brand awareness and reach more potential clients in
turn building a database of clients that need to sell or lease their properties and customers
looking to buy or rent a property.

Choosing the best Marketing and Communication Channels

The selection of marketing and communication channels available will likely come down to
the budget available. This applies to the agency marketing the brand, the agent building their
own personal profile and of course the vendor or landlord budget associated with marketing
dollars available to promote their property either for the purpose of attracting their
prospective buyer or tenant.
Pre-internet times, many agencies had to invest thousands of dollars in local newspapers on a
weekly basis to ensure brand awareness. Just 1 centrefold advertisement in the weekend
bulletin could cost as must as $8000.00. Therefore, these costs had to be passed on to the
consumer where average recommended marketing budgets were 1% of the property asking
price.
With the introduction of the internet, marketing and communication channels have become a
lot more accessible, - even from smaller boutique style real estate businesses.

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All businesses benefit from multi-channel marketing and communication to increase visibility
to their target audience. There are a wide array of viable options and some will be more
suited to certain type of businesses than others.

Marketing and Communication Strategies for Community Engagement.

Various other terms are used in marketing when discussing community engagement including
customer engagement, consumer engagement, and brand community engagement. The focus
is generally on building a loyal customer base who identify with the brand your brand.
For a business, engaging your community is the primary way to build a bigger business and
gain new customers. Keeping their attention, as well as being attractive to new potential
customers, is the focus of most marketing and communication strategies. This methodology is
known as a community engagement strategy.
The big question for many is how to keep a community member (or customer) engaged so
that when they have a need for your services you are the first place they go. The goal is to be
engaging, attractive, fun and thought-provoking.
As a real estate agent, it is important therefore, to be an active member in the community so
that the community knowns who the agent is, what they do, where they are located and how
to contact them whenever they have a need for the provision of real estate services be they
sales, property management, commercial, industrial and anything else in between.

Ethical Practice Considerations in Marketing and Communication

Ethical communication about your services is not only a legal matter, but it can also determine
community engagement and in turn company's sales. Most people prefer to engage with
companies whose values align with their own. Improving marketing communication can help
you avoid spreading confusing or offensive messages that could steer your target market
away from your products or services.

Marketing can sometimes make properties look more stylish or more impressive, with the use
of wide camera angles and photoshop edits. These misleading marketing techniques often
catch the eye of the Australia Competition and Consumer Commission which seeks to
promote competition and fair trade in markets to benefit consumers, businesses, and the
community. Sometimes, however, misleading marketing can be legal. With more websites,
phone apps and advocacy groups raising awareness of false company claims, misleading
marketing is bad business even when the message does not strictly violate a law.

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Examples

O e icing f e B ing he li ing

When it comes to dealing with a prospective vendor it is natural that they want to achieve the
highest price for their property. However, the agent must ensure that they don t over inflate
the appraisal price knows in the industry as buying the listing ) and tell the client simply
what they want to hear as opposed to the true state of the market. This unethical behaviour
may secure the initial business of the unassuming client, but very quickly will expose the
agent s mistruth. The lack of enquiry and inspections will require the agent to inform the
client that a price reduction is necessary to change the activity. This of course will not sit
favourably with the client given that only weeks before the agent was promising a higher sale
price and now reneging on his/her opinion.

Transparency by the agent from the outset plays a major factor in the earning of trust and in
turn having the client acting on their recommendation of required price reductions. This is
done by providing an agent s opinion of listing price that is justified by research. Should the
client insist on marketing the property at the higher price based on their own needs, they are
of course in their rights to do so. However, the agent has done their job to outline the true
state of the market and the risks associated with listing at a price that is not in line with the
expectation of potential customers.

O he Agen Li ing Sign J m ing

Having an effective personal profile in the agent s core business area is probably one of the
most important elements to ensure high percentage of market share (listings). However, how
these listing is obtained can be with associated with unethical conduct known as sign
jumping.
The term sign jumping is used in real estate when an agent makes unsolicited approaches
the client of a property listed by another agent directly by way of marketing and
communication strategies with the intent of taking the listing on themselves without the
knowledge of the other agent.
This approach is very similar to stealing and just as stealing goods is unethical practice, so too
is the stealing of listings of another agent that has likely worked hard to obtain the business
for themselves.

If the agent is doing the right thing (listing their own properties, conducting open homes etc)
the clients are likely to attend and engage with the agent and in this case because the contact
is solicited, the agent is not in the position of acting unethically.

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Under-pricing of properties

An agent that provides an option of selling price that is lower than that indicated by sales
results with the view of getting quick sale or sale to a family member for a higher return at a
later time is known as a beneficial interest and is unethical practice.

There are a couple of issues which arise in relation to this topic, the first is providing an
opinion of listing price that is not justified by research and secondly disclosure requirements
relevant to the beneficial interest associated with selling a property to an associate, family
member or friend.

Legislation about the representation of price can be found by following the hyperlinks below
and are dependant on the state in which the real estate agency operates.

NSW
Division 3 Representations as to selling price
https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/#/view/act/2002/66/whole#/part5/div3

VIC
S47AC Determination of estimated selling price
http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/vic/consol_act/eaa1980145/s47ac.html
QLD
S215 Representation of price of property real estate agent
https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/pdf/asmade/act-2014-022

Furthermore, there are restrictions within the legislation about the sales of property to an
associated, friend or family member and once again dependant on the state of operation.
They can be found as follows;

NSW
S49 Restrictions on licensee obtaining beneficial interest in property
https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/#/view/act/2002/66/whole#/part3/div4/sec49
VIC
S55 Restriction on agent purchasing property
https://lplc.com.au/wp-
content/uploads/2013/06/Bulletin_Sections_55_and_55A_of_the_Estate_Agents_Act_1980.p
df
QLD
S49 Restrictions on licensee obtaining beneficial interest in property
https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/#/view/act/2002/66/whole#/part3/div4/sec49

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Misrepresentation of Property

An action of giving false or misleading information about the property to execute the sale is
called misrepresentation. The consumer wants to know the facts pertaining to the
purchase/sale or rent of the property so that they can make an informed decision about going
ahead with the transaction.
Whether a person is renting, buying or selling a home, real estate agents must not mislead
and must use fair contract terms in line with federal, state and territory laws.
The ACCC promotes competition and fair trade in markets to benefit consumers, businesses,
and the community. Their primary responsibility is to ensure that individuals and businesses
comply with Australian competition, fair trading, and consumer protection laws - in particular
the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.
More information on the topic of misrepresentation can be found by going directly to the
ACCC website.
https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/health-home-travel/real-estate

Your Target Market Market Property for Sale

Marketing a property involves much more than just placing an ad in the local paper and/or on
a website.
When a property is appraised for sale or rent the first question that should be asked and
answered is

Who will this property appeal to?

You have to ascertain the target market the audience who will see and respond to
advertisements about this property. The target market has a major bearing on the pricing of
a property.

Your target market could be:

Empty nesters
Families
High income
Low income
Blue collar workers
White collar workers
Retirees and so on
Once you have answered this question you have to consider where to market the property to
best attract the target market.
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How will you reach them?

As many people are area or location buyers, a standard marketing program through local
media may suffice, but, in some cases, you may need to go further afield.

A marketing plan should be discussed and authorised at the point of obtaining the listing for
the property. This is done because most agencies obtain a contribution to the cost of
marketing the property or have the client pay the total cost of marketing the property.

Where to Promote and Advertise to reach your Target Market?

The marketing plan you choose to promote and advertise the property will depend on what is
in the best interests of the client. However, concerns such as the type and presentation of the
property and the following also apply:

Type of property Presentation of property

Target market Budget
Features of the property Demand for this type of property
Client s urgency Methods available
Client s requirements Competition

All of these factors will need to be taken into account in deciding and recommending the
best mix for that client. For example, a prestige property may require extensive marketing
through television, radio and major metropolitan newspapers and even promotion outside
of Australia.

Where will your target market come from?

It is recognised that about 75% of homeowners buy within 10 km of their existing home.
However, that leaves another 25% that are coming from outside the immediate area.

Demographic Considerations

These consider the type of person that is likely to purchase/rent the property.

Are the buyers: /tenants;

Empty nesters
Families
High income
Low income
Blue collar workers

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 White collar workers
Retirees
Young couples and so on?
Where is the purchaser of this property likely to come from?
The local area?
Particular suburbs or districts?
The greater city area?
Another city, state or country?

Psychographic Considerations

What do the buyers like to do? What are their expectations and aspirations? Think about their
hobbies, habits, preferences, likes and dislikes.
Could they be people who love entertaining, gardening, golfing, relaxing, peace, activity, etc?
Are they likely to be investors or developers?
By focusing on each of these 3 areas, makes it much easier to determine who your advertising
campaign should be directed at in order to generate the greatest (qualified) response.

Create a Marketing Plan

When you have successfully secured a listing and are negotiating all the details, you will
formulate a marketing plan with the vendor. This allows you to work out the best way to
maximise the sales opportunities available for the property.

It is the role of the real estate agent to discuss and explain to the client the best way to
achieve maximum exposure and maximum price for their property. Marketing is expensive
and you will need to be able to justify that cost to your client. They will want to know what
method works best and they will expect value for money.

You will need to discuss and confirm the type of campaign they prefer considering the
following points:
Media chosen (TV, radio, newspaper advertising, Internet, etc)
Budget
Method of sale
Marketing and promotional material (brochures, flyers etc.)
Time frame

To demonstrate to your client the types of promotional campaigns available, you should have
a kit to show them a variety of campaigns that you offer.

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Most agencies have a range of marketing programs with costs attached. These can be used to
form the basis of the marketing plan for an individual client. The marketing plan will include
specific advertising with dates attached in specific media such as local or daily newspapers.

Agencies may provide three or four different programs aimed at different budgets (and/or
methods of sale), all of which should have easily interchangeable components or options to
allow them to be adapted to specific clients and properties.

The documentation would need to be up to date and relevant to their type of property. For
example, a commercial property that you sold three (3) years ago is not relevant to a
residential property owner (and it does not present an accurate picture of the current
marketing strategies and costs of the present).

Geographic Considerations

Marketing contributions from the client are a common part of agency practice. Many clients
will need to be shown the value in spending the amount of money required.
Typically, an amount between 0.3% to 1.0% of the expected price may be required to achieve
the widest promotion and the best result for the client selling a property.
With rentals there are no set guidelines but the vacancy rate (supply and demand) and the
rental asked will determine how far and wide marketing is preferable or required.

Like anything, marketing should not be a hit and miss affair. Without a plan and a set budget
it is difficult, if not impossible, to do the best thing by the client.
Through making recommendations based on your knowledge of the market, the potential of
the property and taking the Vendor's needs and budget into account, you will then be able to
draft a campaign that is suited to them and their needs.
This is generally projected over the period of the listing authority, but it can be done for any
length of time required.

Even where the property is being submitted to Auction, it is wise to project the marketing
plan for the whole length of the agency agreement, irrespective of whether there is a
scheduled Auction after the first 4 6 weeks. This will allow for marketing of the property in
the event that the property is passed in at Auction.
Once you have a draft plan worked out, you can work out the cost and decide whether you
want to add or remove some marketing activities to fit the budget of the Vendors.
When looking at the marketing budget your client should be given a range of options to
choose from. Associated costs and your recommendation to suit their personal circumstances,
should also be provided as marketing a property is expensive.

It is often at this stage you will be required to call on your negotiation skills to encourage your
client to choose the best option for them. The plan is then ready to be finalised.

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It is advisable to have the vendor sign off on the marketing plan when they sign the listing
documentation. This will make the vendor accountable and maintain their involvement in the
marketing and advertising process.

Where the vendor is making an investment in their marketing, it is essential (and in some
states a legal requirement) that they formally agree to the marketing plan. The client must be
given copies of the marketing plan (advertising and marketing schedule), and agree to all
expenses. Any unexpended funds are not for the agent to keep those funds belong to the
client.

Methods of Sale or Lease

The logical first step is to ascertain the appropriate method of sale/lease as this will affect the
subsequent structure of the marketing plan.
Why is this important?
Consider the impact of a prolonged marketing strategy, where exposure is low but constant
versus a concentrated high impact advertising campaign.

Private Treaty

Motivation and budget will be the main deciding factors in the amount of money and the
length of time you would spend on the advertising.

Also, the style of advertising you may do letter box drops and small ads in the local paper.

Novelty advertising that slowly gains momentum may be suitable.

You may decide to have a pre-marketing campaign where only invited guests may attend the
open for inspection.

Auction

Obviously because of the shortened lead time for the marketing, a high concentrated
marketing plan with glossy brochures may be more in line with achieving the desired effects.
Again, the motivation and budget will vary your options, but an advertising campaign that
slowly builds momentum is not what you need here.

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Tender

Time frames and the target market will be the vital point when deciding on a marketing
campaign for Sale by Tender. This uncommon method of sale is used more when selling to
developers, for larger projects and predominantly commercial. Your advertising will need to
appear in suitable trade papers along with national and international business style media.

Executive Leasing

Marketing for this niche market is more like the private treaty advertising and needs to be of a
higher quality, perhaps one-page flyers as well as media advertising.

Holiday Leasing

This specialised area of real estate has its own marketing challenges.

Where is best to place the advertising?

Commonly used internet sites and/or perhaps small permanent signage on the property
may be considered effective.

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