As a real estate developer, you want your customers to look at your investment and see their dream home. The place where they will settle down and grow old. Their own space where they will find peace after a hard day at work. A safe haven where their kids will gain the best memories. You want your prospects to associate your property with a home and not a house after just one look.
Let’s be honest; you need something more than merely marketing with traditional media to attract the attention of your potential customers. Traditional media may catch your prospect’s eye, even get them to your sales office. However, these means of communication won’t be enough to win the homebuyers over. Your business will be one of many whose investment fits their requirements. It may be because of the lovely pictures, the neighbourhood, the price or even the square footage. How many of these customers came from traditional marketing? How many of these prospects did happen upon your investment on their own? Either way, these developments are just the places to consider. Maybe one of them will become their home. Perhaps it will be your property that they will choose. But, will it be their dream home or a house that is the closest thing to perfect?
A DREAM COME TRUE
Let’s step into your prospect’s shoes for a moment. Imagine looking for a place that fits all your requirements – your dream home. Going from one real estate developer to another, searching for that one perfect property. Hours wasted on endless meetings, tons of materials, hundreds of pictures with similar interior designs that just aren’t your type. You end up tired of looking, confused about which investment is from which developer. You have enough of all of that and just want to buy a property and be done with it.
Now, picture going to that one real estate developer, putting VR goggles on and stepping into your dream home right there. Does it have flagstone floors? Click, and the floors are now bamboo. Are there marble countertops in the kitchen? Click, and let’s see how quartz changes the look of the kitchen. Is the interior simple Scandinavian style? Click, now it’s utilitarian industrial decor. Don’t like the beige colour in your bedroom? Click, there’s the lovely shade of soft yellow.Change flooring, colour on the walls, the kitchen countertops, furniture, whatever you like, just to see this home becoming your home.
Envision walking through an off-plan property, sitting within the space, and experiencing life like scenarios. Watching a game of your favourite team with your best friends or enjoying a free afternoon with your family in the living room. Building a Lego castle with your kids in their bedroom. Coming home from work and being welcomed by your dog. Reading that new book of your most-liked writer in the comfort of your bed.
This may sound like the contents of a sci-fi novel, but we have the technology to accomplish these immersive experiences for buyers today.
FIRST IMPRESSION IS THE LAST IMPRESSION
In fact, in 2016, Domar Development invested in such immersive experience for their prospects. Implementing VR in the marketing strategy of their investments paid off for Domar. It reduced Domar’s digital marketing costs by 74% and increased the leads conversion rate by 61%. Also, the VR campaign generated a return on investment 20 times higher than the one from native advertising. Such high ROI proves that smart use of Virtual Reality to give buyers authentic experience in early stages of sales is the right move.
These numbers show that going against the tried-and-tested methods don’t always end up in failure. Seeing that real estate marketing focuses heavily on the traditional media, adding Virtual Reality to the strategy was a courageous decision on Domar’s side. Domar noticed the flaws of standard brochures, folders, flyers and other means of traditional media. Those marketing methods only inform people. But what about engaging the prospects in fresh and new ways? What about providing memorable experiences? Most importantly, what about making the right impression?
Seeing as standard marketing materials don’t involve much interaction with the audience, Domar went for Virtual Reality. It’s just the opposite of the traditional media. Whereas banners, flyers, billboards, press and folders flood customers with fancy slogans and overloaded descriptions, Virtual Reality delivers the experience.
That’s why Domar implemented Virtual Reality into their strategy – to enable their prospects to step into their future homes, and not just read another brochure about some off-plan investment they won’t be able to visit for another few months.
MAKING IT A HOME
We all go with the logical notion that if it works for others, it will work for me as well. Yes, it will. But why limit yourself to tried-and-tested methods to generate mediocre results? Why not make the prospect fall in love with your investment and make it a home at first sight? Implementing Virtual Reality in your process can be the first step to achieve that.
Domar’s case is from when Virtual Reality was a real novelty not only in the Real Estate industry but all around the world. However, Virtual Reality became a part of their process and not just an independent tool to do all the work. Implementing VR in their sales and marketing strategy gave such brilliant results because of how well it worked with all the other actions taken by Domar. Because of that, Domar could smoothly use this technology at trade fairs and in their sales offices, and it led to selling the whole investment within 6 months rather than forecasted 16. Why?
Immersive experiences such as the one delivered by Virtual Reality allows homebuyers to engage emotionally already at the early stages of the buying process. They can walk through the investment, get the feel of the space, imagine themselves as the owners of that cosy house. Domar provided a simple, though engaging experience that made the investment tangible, proving all the information from the brochures and flyers true. What’s more, it was completely different from what the other developers offered. Domar gave their prospects the pleasurable experience of the property, and nowadays people seek just that.
Make VR a part of your processes
