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27 04, 2017

Snapchat for Real Estate – Probably Not – But Ideas Abound

By |2018-05-03T21:22:51-07:00April 27th, 2017|Marketing, Product Management|Comments Off on Snapchat for Real Estate – Probably Not – But Ideas Abound

If you have a teenager, you know all about Snapchat. Since the earliest days of social media, WAV Group has experimented with a host of social media platforms to discover opportunities for our clients. In lock step, I have been snapping away. Haven’t tried Snapchat for real estate marketing? Don’t bother. Unless you are trying to keep up with your child or other Snapchat enthusiast, there is no place on Snanpchat for the real estate business. However, there are some marketing thoughts that may spark some creative strategic thinking. Scarcity and Urgency Snaps expire after 24 hours. This is an [...]

15 02, 2017

Join the WAVes of Change Today

By |2018-11-08T04:03:20-08:00February 15th, 2017|WAVes of Change|Comments Off on Join the WAVes of Change Today

When conducting strategic plans we hear from brokers and board members that their organization strives to stay current with industry best practices. There are many industry wide initiatives today, spanning areas like MLS Consolidation, New NAR Policy, Broker Public Portal, Upstream, Real Estate Standards Organization, Data Licensing, and more. It’s hard to keep track. WAVes of Change WAV Group has launched a Quarterly Webinar Series to update you and your leadership on all of these trends. The webinar spans one hour, and is delivered by WAV Group partners who are often involved, or close to these industry developments. You get [...]

11 01, 2017

Brokers Need To Fix Their YouTube Channel

By |2018-05-03T21:22:57-07:00January 11th, 2017|Broker-Agent Information|Comments Off on Brokers Need To Fix Their YouTube Channel

WAV Group has studied the effectiveness of video marketing for brokers over number of years. By and large, firms are not seeing the level of engagement on video marketing that justifies the trouble or expense. Having a video on YouTube with 2 or 3 views is not a conveyance of success. The promises of video marketing are pretty significant. By using video, a property is marketed more dynamically than photo and text marketing. Videos are processed by the brain 60,000 times faster than text. Simply stated, it’s a better consumer experience. Prima facie – people enjoy a video television experience [...]

4 01, 2017

Should Brokers Do REALTOR Background Checks

By |2018-05-03T21:22:58-07:00January 4th, 2017|Broker Technology Research, Main category|Comments Off on Should Brokers Do REALTOR Background Checks

Too often, brokers and managers get caught up in recruiting goals that they skip some basic best practices – Background Checks, Customer Satisfaction Checks, etc. Perhaps agents should be checking out the backgrounds of their broker too. Before the New Year, Todd Kohlhepp, a real estate broker was linked to 7 murders and a kidnapping. Todd was the broker in charge of TKA Real Estate. Inman news reported that the guy had spent 14 years in jail for kidnapping a 14-year-old girl. Of course – his agent ratings on popular listing syndication websites gave glowing reviews. (The agent has been [...]

1 12, 2016

Time For Brokers To Clean Up Online Profiles

By |2018-05-03T21:23:01-07:00December 1st, 2016|Broker Technology Research|Comments Off on Time For Brokers To Clean Up Online Profiles

Real Estate Agent and Brokerage Profiles Online are a mess. Specifically, agent and broker profiles on the broker website, Zillow, Realtor.com, and Homes.com are naturally in disarray at this time of year. With transaction volume low during December, it is a very good time to clean everything up. Most brokerages audited by WAV Group consulting average 10% inaccuracy, which reduces lead generation and undermines a firm’s online reputation. Start With Data Collection It is a relatively easy task to collect the data necessary to update profiles. Start with your offices. “Offices have identities,” says Marilyn Wilson, partner with WAV Group. “When [...]

30 08, 2016

NNRMLS Shares Best Practice for Data Management

By |2018-05-03T21:23:06-07:00August 30th, 2016|MLS Insights, Virtual Office Website Series|Comments Off on NNRMLS Shares Best Practice for Data Management

The Northern Nevada Regional MLS could be considered a middle tier MLS, ranking around the top 100 largest MLSs in the nation. There are approximately 728 MLSs today, down from 750 in the past 6 months. As consolidation runs rampant across America’s MLS, NNRMLS has become a shining light of MLS excellence. Shelley Specchio, CEO of NNRMLS credits a combination of strong broker relationships and the influence of the Council of MLS as keystones for keeping NNRMLS well positioned to serve their brokers, especially in areas of Data Management. Data Management for MLS has three themes. The first theme is [...]

16 08, 2016

Zillow Group Buys Bridge to Go Upstream

By |2018-05-03T21:23:08-07:00August 16th, 2016|MLS Insights, Press Releases|Comments Off on Zillow Group Buys Bridge to Go Upstream

Zillow Group announced the purchase of Bridge Interactive, making them the provider of listing input in a number of MLSs, and the data distribution manager in many others. In some ways, Bridge Interactive is like Upstream, but not a competitor. Bridge is about helping brokers solve data problems and may become a conduit that more easily permits Upstream to allow brokers to deliver listing content to MLSs. Throughout the process of developing the Request for Proposal for Project Upstream, the technology workgroup evaluated many technology offerings. At the end of the day, there were three pieces to the Upstream puzzle that [...]

14 06, 2016

How MLSs Stand To Benefit From Upstream

By |2018-05-03T21:23:13-07:00June 14th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, MLS Insights|Comments Off on How MLSs Stand To Benefit From Upstream

The pessimist MLSs among you will look upon the title of this article with raised hairs. The lens that we have adopted here is for a single focus. Namely, to search for specific context within the databases of Upstream that may be of value to MLSs. Remember, Upstream does more than manage listings, but it does  start with the MLS destination in mind. The MLS does not need to change their business rules, or modify their data schema. They need only disclose to their brokers what their rules and schema are and accept a broker load as is common among nearly [...]

14 06, 2016

Broker with 357 Listings Gets No Leads From Trulia Last Week

By |2018-05-03T21:23:13-07:00June 14th, 2016|Main category, Marketing|Comments Off on Broker with 357 Listings Gets No Leads From Trulia Last Week

WAV Group provides brokers with consulting on online marketing. One of our services includes benchmarking the effectiveness of listing syndication strategies. We have been tracking the performance of a real estate broker’s listings dating back to 2006 by publishing channel. As these reports show, Trulia effectiveness has decreased to a remarkable volume of no leads per week on 367 listings. The same report in 2013 showed between 12 and 25 leads per month. It begs the question “If a third party consumer website is not delivering value, should a broker continue to syndicate?” One thing is for sure, we can [...]

26 05, 2016

What’s Your Loyalty Program?

By |2018-05-03T21:23:14-07:00May 26th, 2016|Marketing|Comments Off on What’s Your Loyalty Program?

A loyalty program is such a simple thing to construct, and they work. I buy from Amazon because I get Amazon Prime – free shipping – a loyalty program. I fly with American or United because they give me priority boarding, upgrades, and other perks – a loyalty program. In the latter example, I continue to use American and United even though I am not delighted with their service or price. But the perks have more meaning to me than other options. It is really hard to break free of loyalty programs. For years, we consolidated our hotel preference to [...]

18 05, 2016

Real Estate in Crisis – Is Nothing Better Than Something?

By |2018-05-03T21:23:15-07:00May 18th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Real Estate in Crisis – Is Nothing Better Than Something?

Real estate is a fascinating industry when it comes to making choices about something vs. nothing. Again and again, we see individual agents, brokers, Associations, MLSs, and Franchises make choices to set something when getting nothing may be the better strategy. I doubt that this article will have any change on the bearing of the industry, but in some small way it may influence one or more decisions today or this week by a few people. Why Do We Sacrifice Long Term Success for Short Term Gain? In our industry, people too often say “yes” to a bad deal. An [...]

16 03, 2016

Protect Your Content Now

By |2018-05-03T21:23:21-07:00March 16th, 2016|Main category, Our Services, Strategic Planning, Twitter for Real Estate|Comments Off on Protect Your Content Now

My 13-year-old daughter provided me with a raw lesson in digital rights management yesterday. It is a pretty simple lesson really – do not let others build their business using your content, at your expense. Background Like every 13 year old, Social Media is a thing. 13 is the minimum age to open an account on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, Kik, and SnapChat. You need to be 18 for YouTube, but a 13-year-old can sign up with a parent’s permission. For those of you who know me well, you know that my daughter already has a social media following [...]