Before reading the following tips for effective open house advertising, there are a few things you should consider.
Some real estate agents believe open houses are unnecessary because they don’t necessarily sell houses and take up a lot of valuable time. You may also feel that open houses aren’t necessary because detailed home listings are readily available online.
However, while experienced agents know that most sales do not result from open houses, they are a good source of buyer leads. To succeed as a real estate agent, you need many good listings and/or many qualified buyers. This is one reason some brokerages require their rookie agents to conduct open houses on all new listings.
Related: 8 Tips for a Successful Open House
Here are several tips to make your open house advertising efforts more successful.
Tips to Promote Your Open House
If you go through the work of planning an open house, you want to make sure potential buyers show. Here are some proven strategies for advertising an open house.
1. Open house web page
When buyers attend open houses, they tend to take mobile phone photos to remember the house. Instead (if your brokerage website can build separate web pages for every listing), give attendees a flyer with the web page URL so they can see better photos of the entire house online. Make sure you include pictures of every room in the house, the front and backyards, and any special features.
Pro Tip: If the URL for the open house or listing is too long, create shortened URLs at bitly.com or ow.ly.
2. Online open house advertising
Advertise open houses on popular real estate sites like Trulia, Zillow, local MLS, Yahoo, and Google portals. Realtor.com also lists them, and viewers can search for open houses within a specific price range.
You can also advertise in real estate forums, blogs, and your business social media accounts.
3. Signs, signs, and more signs
Some real estate agents put up at least 20 signs a few hours before the open house on all nearby main streets and all street corners leading to the house. The more signs, the better.
Pro Tip: Besides the standard company “For Sale” signs, you should also have “Open House” signs. In addition, you can purchase sign riders, which are available at home improvement stores. They attach on top of the “For Sale” signs with pre-printed “Open House Sunday” (or Saturday).
4. Balloons, sky puppets, and drones (oh my!)
Yes, colorful balloons next to the signs attract attention. Securely attach them so they don’t fly away.
Consider drawing attention to a listing by using air-filled sky puppets in front of the house.
If balloons and sky puppets seem too “old school” for you, consider hiring a drone company to hover a drone over the house holding an “Open House” banner. This can really draw a crowd!
5. Neighbors
Some of the best referrals for buyers are the neighbors, who may know a friend or relative they would like as their new neighbor. They provide the best word-of-mouth marketing for open houses.
Consider holding a special open house an hour before the public one just for the neighbors. Print flyers inviting them to the “Neighbors Only Special Event” and offer them refreshments. Knock on doors to introduce yourself and hand out the invitations a few days before the event.
6. Social media advertising
Advertise all your listings and open houses on your social media accounts. Include a few photos of the home in a boosted Facebook post that links to a landing page where visitors can learn more about the home and fill out a contact sheet for notification when the open house occurs. This is a great way to generate real estate leads for you and draw attention to the open house.
Use all your social media accounts to advertise an open house. Tweet everyone you know with a special hashtag (#) unique to the house. Instagram your best photos showing all the distinctive features of your open house. (Instagram also allows you to post images directly to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr, and Foursquare.) You can even use Pinterest to advertise listings and open houses.
7. Open house for brokers
Hold a brokers’ open house (for real estate agents only). Make a list of every agent who sold a home in the neighborhood in the past year and invite them. Also, include all the agents’ offices closest to the house. Serve refreshments and use this opportunity to make a positive impression with your peers.
8. Newspaper ads (print and online)
Don’t forget about old-fashioned advertising. Some communities still have active local newspapers – both printed and online. Advertise in the local newspaper classifieds.
9. Virtual tour
Pique buyers’ interest by creating a partial virtual tour of the home. Don’t show every corner of every room. Use sales techniques to give buyers just enough information to make them curious enough to attend the event.
10. Email marketing
Use your CRM tool to email potential buyers advertising your open house. Email marketing can be a highly effective and affordable way to spread the word.
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Key Takeaways for Advertising Open Houses
- Create a webpage for the open house and distribute flyers directing traffic to it.
- Advertise the open house on real estate websites.
- Put up signs in the neighborhood.
- Use attention-getting techniques to draw people to the event.
- Invite the neighbors to attend the open house.
- Use your social media accounts to advertise the event.
- Host an open house specifically for other agents and brokers.
- Place ads in the local newspaper.
- Create a “partial” virtual tour.
- Use targeted email to spread the word about an open house.
