Have you ever heard the phrase, “a picture is worth a thousand words?” This famous idiom is based on the idea that a complex idea can be conveyed with just a single still image – and marketers took note of this powerful idea. Visuals have long been a cornerstone to a successful marketing strategy, to the point where an estimated 84% of communications will be visual by 2018.
The Power of Visual Storytelling
Can you imagine trying to sell a home using only text? Difficult, right?
The challenge is that people form a first impression in a mere 50 milliseconds, so when they hear information, they’re likely to remember only 10% of that information three days later. However, if a relevant image is paired with that same information, people retained 65% of it three days later because of the unique story that was told.
Visuals are memorable, effective and help people retain more information quicker. Visual storytelling helps articulate your brand personality on everything from your colors, design and images to help exemplify what you stand for.
This goes back to the old actor’s adage: show – don’t tell. Visuals help show what this home, this neighbourhood or this potential means to a family. It allows them to experience the story through the visuals that touch on their senses – instead of being told how to feel.
The Next Evolution: How Drones are taking Over the Industry
“Drone technology offers a tremendous opportunity for the business of real estate and the broader economy.”
Real estate agents are taking visual storytelling to a whole new level (literally) by using aerial photography to offer a new way to show off sprawling properties to prospective buyers. This interactive approach is revolutionizing how larger properties are displayed to show buyers the potential that the land has to offer and what the entire space has the capacity to hold. It’s interesting to note that this is a new angle in the storytelling arsenal for real estate agents – but is still in its infant stages and doesn’t necessarily work for all listings and communities.
Image via Fast Company
Using Photography in Your Marketing Plan
While drones are the next level up, it does take quite a bit of planning, time and resources to successfully pull that off. And while it does add a unique element to photography in real estate staging and listing, there are quite a bit of FAA regulations standing in the way, not to mention a difficult approach to leverage in an urban environment.
So, you’ve been using photography as part of staging homes and have likely developed close relationships with professional grade photographers – now it’s time to leverage that artwork within your marketing mix.
Here are four areas to start.
- Let your e-Newsletter shine
Having a fully customizable monthly e-Newsletter allows you to visually enable your story, highlight the work you’ve done and the properties you’ve put your name on. A monthly newsletter is a great way to stay in touch with your booming clientele, with images of upcoming listings, previous ones you’ve closed, happy clients, photos from an event you’ve volunteered at – the list goes on!
- Memorable visuals in email
It’s no secret that email inboxes can be cluttered, and it can be tough to cut through the noise and competition. Having high-quality images is a sure fire way to be memorable and command their attention before their eyes drift away. Remember, visual content can be processed a lot faster by the human brain, so when you’re sending your “Just Listed” email templates, you can let the images take the forefront.
- Let your images in on the blog action
By its very definition, a blog is typically a literary discussion engineered by text – but what you don’t realize is how visuals can help add to the masterpiece as well. In fact, visual content generates up to 94% more views on your posts if you add in compelling visuals and graphics. Splash some excitement throughout the text and bring it to life with images that pair well with your story.
- What about the website?
You have on average, 7 seconds to capture someone’s attention and hold it when they come to your website, otherwise your bounce rate goes through the roof. This isn’t like the early days of the web where pages were built primarily around text. Now we see high-resolution imagery dominating the web space to attract and engage visitors. Use your real estate CRM to bring your community pages to life with great visual storytelling and to customize your website’s look and content to match your branding.
Having the right solution in place helps assist you in unveiling your story your way.
Start your FREE 5 week free trial of IXACT Contact now.
