Real Estate Marketing: 5 Tech Trend Predictions for 2015

 
Silicon Valley, Silicon Beach and other tech hubs around the world are rushing to meet the demands of an increasingly sophisticated real estate industry. A recent report from consulting firm RE: Tech states that globally, investors pumped $743.7 million into commercial real estate tech startups between the second quarter of 2012 and the second quarter of 2014.
 
This explosion of hi-tech realtor marketing tools is largely attributable to a growing realization (among developers and investors alike) that the industry has been sluggish to move with the times. There are huge opportunities to pull processing and marketing strategies for real estate firms into line with other big industries. The market is wide open, and it’s anyone’s guess which realtor marketing tools – if any - will sweep the board, but we think the following trends will be major players by next year. Whatever happens, they should give you a few commercial real estate marketing ideas that you might not have previously considered…
 
Beacon Sensors
Apple’s iBeacon and other beacon-based sensors integrate Bluetooth technology to enable notifications to be sent to devices in close proximity. According to TechCrunch, Apple could be rolling out as many as 250 million units by the year’s end, and Microsoft and Google are both expressing serious interest. Watch out for beacon sensors becoming a standard part of marketing strategies for real estate by 2015.
 
BYOD/Wearable
Smartphones have forever changed the way we do business. All sorts of industries are switching – at least in part – to a ‘bring your own device’ model for employees, allowing companies to stay constantly connected. BYOD is proving a great fit for businesses and workers alike, offering greater flexibility and connectivity. With many staff members out in the field, it’s going to be even more prevalent in real estate than other industries. Concomitant to personal cell phone use is the wearable tech boom, which began tentatively with Google Glass and is taking off big time, with firms like Fitbit and Galaxy Gear enjoying a momentum that looks set to continue. Though similar devices are yet to be incorporated into real estate marketing strategies, it’s not difficult to imagine wearable tech becoming one of the key realtor marketing tools in future.
 
Call Tracking
One of the most exciting commercial real estate marketing ideas to have emerged recently, call tracking technology allows companies to build a database of contacts – and then engage with them - far more quickly than the old live caller method. Instead of wasting resources providing optimistic customer service to people who will never convert to a sale, call tracking lets agents focus only on the most responsive leads. No realtor marketing plan should be without it.

Mobile Video
Could 2015 be the year that video begins to make headway in realtor marketing? There’s no reason why the same rules shouldn’t apply in this industry as any other: mobile video allows prospects to lean back and consume content with a minimum of effort.
 
Only time will tell which of these potential realtor marketing tools will truly take off by this time next year. Watch this space…