Many industries and sectors hit a roadblock due to the coronavirus pandemic. The real estate industry was one such industry that bore a massive impact, with most of its operations ceasing during the pandemic. It changed the way real estate agents and realtors worked and interacted with their customers.
According to this research, 50% of buyers find their homes online and 79% of buyers find detailed information about properties on sale online.
Real estate agents and realtors are investing more and more in digital marketing and real estate technology. QR Codes for real estate have been a powerful catalyst in combining technology and various marketing efforts. To drive quality customer engagement, realtors are extensively using QR Codes in their marketing strategies.
Table of contents
- #01 Property advertisements
- #02 Real estate signs
- #03 Property flyers
- #04 Business cards
- #05 AR QR Codes
- #06 Print ads
- #07 Acquiring data
- #08 Real-time information
- #09 Proximity marketing
- #10 Social media promotion
- QR Code real estate marketing ideas
- Future of real estate
- FAQs
Top 10 real estate agents and realtors using QR Codes
QR codes are a decade-old technology, but the inclusion of QR Codes in real estate has enhanced the way realtors use the technology. Now, It’s not just another way of delivering instant information from a real estate sign.
QR Codes for real estate is now a marketing channel to drive app downloads, and capture leads from social media, business cards, flyers, and print ads. It’s a way of retargeting potential leads to online platforms like Facebook and Google.
In this blog, we will see such vivid use cases of QR Codes by the top real estate agents and realtors in the US.
#01 Real Estate Maximums uses QR Codes in real estate property advertisements
Real Estate Maximums, is an American international real estate company that operates through a franchise system. The company has held the number one market share in the United States.
RE/MAX launched dynamic QR Codes on business cards, property signs, billboards, and print ads. When customers scan their QR Codes, it redirects them to a mobile-optimized landing page, which includes the agent’s contact information, agent listings, events, and more.
QR Codes help them acquire insights on buyers’ location, date, and time of the scan.
#02 QR Codes on real estate signs of Century 21
In recent years it was found that psychology-backed lead generation strategies helped real estate agents attract millennials.
Century 21 realized that they were lagging in engaging young homebuyers even though they had an informative website.
They decided to place QR codes on real estate signs. When mobile users scan the QR Code, it gives them quick and easy access to CENTURY 21 New Millennium’s website.
Thirteen new Millennium Branches in the DC Metro area had QR codes on their real estate signs. They widened their real estate QR code marketing through numerous prints and mail campaigns.
#03 Keller Williams Realty, Inc. tracks property flyers using QR Codes
Keller Williams Realty, Inc. is the world’s largest real estate franchise by agent count, with approximately 800 offices and more than 150,000 associates worldwide.
Real estate agents here still rely upon property flyers to promote real estate properties. With the rise in the digitization of advertising, they connected their offline marketing channels to their online ones using QR Codes.
They placed QR Codes on their property flyers. Customers could scan the QR Code and directly get in touch with the realtors regarding questions related to properties.
Unlike regular print material, adding QR codes to flyers helped their agency measure the efficiency of their printed material campaigns.
#04 Coldwell Banker places QR Codes on business cards
One of the real estate agents at Coldwell Banker explains how tedious it was for her to write down the website links of real estate agencies that are prone to error. She explains, “Each QR code equals millions of pieces of paper that don’t have to be printed for marketing; less paper, less ink, less trash.”
Coldwell Banker agents customized their real estate business cards with QR Codes on it. When customers scan these business cards, it redirects customers to the Coldwell Banker’s website. A mobile notification guides homebuyers to the site.
#05 AR QR Codes on ERA Real Estate properties
In the search for emerging technologies, the real estate industry has struck a chord with augmented reality. ERA Real Estate, a New Jersey-based real estate agency, launched a new mobile application to give prospective homebuyers a way to see a property without setting foot inside it.
QR Codes redirect to a mobile app of ERA Real estate. Customers can take virtual tours through the property, change the walls’ colors, and even rearrange some of the furniture within the house.
QR code marketing with augmented QR codes has helped realtors create an interactive experience and connect to a wide range of customers on different platforms.
#06 Sotheby’s International Realty’s real estate print ads with QR Codes
Newspaper ads are one of the favorite sources of information about real estate properties for home buyers. Sotheby’s International Realty believes that even with the digital era, where everything is going mobile, newspaper ads still have the potential.
Sotheby’s displayed its ads in the New York Times as they were experimenting with their advertising strategies. Readers scanned the QR code to take their search from the newspaper right into their phones through their app.
Not only did readers get details about the best real estate properties of Sotheby’s International Realty, but they were also able to see homes listed by other brokers.
#07 The Corcoran Group uses open house QR Codes to acquire customer data
The Corcoran Group is New York’s premier real estate firm with over 2000 agents, specializing in luxury homes. Their brokers and agents with their broad base were finding it difficult to follow up with their clients and customers.
Corcoran Group then identified QR codes as a solution to acquire data of potential home buyers.
The Corcoran group used QR tags on print ads for open houses. “We were very encouraged by the amount of use those QR Codes got,” said Matthew Shadbolt, Corcoran’s director of Internet marketing. They were able to track the time, location, and date of each scan. With the acquired data, they implemented proximity marketing to prospects commuting near their properties.
#08 Dynamic QR Codes help BHS real estate provide real-time information
Inspired by the Corcoran Group and other real estate agencies, Brown Harris Stevens(BHS) started using dynamic QR codes on its window displays of street-level offices and marketing materials.
“A lot of times we print out material and the price for property changes or the time for an open house changes,” said James Cahill, chief information technology officer for Terra Holdings, the parent company for Halstead and Brown Harris. “Now, people can find out information for a property in real-time.”
By creating simple dynamic QR codes, they became much more effective and informative to their homebuyers.
#09 Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate combines QR Codes and beacon technology
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate is by far the best example of using QR Codes for real estate. They saw the potential of QR codes beyond just linking to websites. To create a meaningful experience, they built customized pages for various target audiences.
By combining the data acquired from QR codes with Customer Relationship Management(CRM) software, they were able to create campaigns using beacon technology. Customers received notifications of houses that were on sale when they were in its vicinity. It helped deepen their level of service to their buyers.
#10 Social media QR Codes for real estate agents at Zillow.com
Zillow is the leading real estate and rental marketplace dedicated to empowering consumers with data and connecting them with the best local professionals who can help.
Real estate agents of Zillow decided to take up the mobile marketing approach to promote their property listings. Homeowners who wish to promote their properties on Zillow could also create customized QR codes to share amongst the buyers.
Agents at Zillow and their homeowners were able to establish their social media presence by converting these real estate QR codes into social media QR codes.
5 QR Code real estate marketing ideas for realtors
#01 Offer virtual tours of the property with video QR Codes
As per this research, 73% of home buyers said they are more likely to list with a real estate agent who uses video to sell properties.
To abide by COVID-19 restrictions and avoid overcrowding, real estate agents can use video QR Codes to offer virtual tours of the property to multiple prospects at the same time.
If you have a YouTube video tour of a ‘For Sale’ property, you can create and use a QR Code for that YouTube video to boost your likelihood of making a sale to interested buyers.
#02 Display properties to potential customers using image gallery QR Codes
Realtors can use image gallery QR Codes on a real estate sign to display multiple images of the property on sale and entice prospects. Whenever potential buyers cross the real estate site, they can quickly scan the QR Code to view high-resolution images of the property.
Not only does this allow prospects to save the images of the property on their smartphones for future reference, but it also lets real estate agents showcase available properties outside their working hours. This ultimately results in increased chances of making a sale to home buyers.
#03 Instantly share your details and expand your network using vCard QR Codes
Real estate agents can instantly share their contact/business details with potential customers using vCard QR Codes. All prospects need to do is scan the QR Code and save realtors’ details on their smartphones without having to save the information manually.
This also allows real estate agents to avoid sharing physical business cards and maintain social distancing.
#04 Retarget potential buyers using dynamic QR Codes
According to this study, typical home buyers search for at least 10 weeks and visit 10 properties before finally purchasing a home.
What does this mean for real estate agents?
Realtors need to meaningfully nurture potential buyers after they have engaged with the agents for the first time. This is because prospective buyers will most likely not make a purchase after the first meeting itself.
Dynamic QR Codes can help realtors retarget potential customers on Facebook and Google with relevant ads. This allows real estate agents to provide meaningful touchpoints to prospects who have engaged with them and scanned their QR Codes but haven’t converted yet.
#05 Provide information and virtual documentation through PDF QR Codes
Real estate agents can use PDF QR Codes in their bi-weekly/monthly newsletters to showcase all available properties during that period. With dynamic QR Codes, realtors can update the content subject to the availability of properties without reprinting the QR Code.
Additionally, PDF QR Codes can be used to implement virtual documentation to minimize time spent on the necessary paperwork during in-person visits.
Future of real estate QR Code technology
The realtors in the US can achieve multitudinous success in QR Code marketing is evident from the examples mentioned above. The onus is now on the real estate agents to keep looking for new innovative methods to stay ahead of the curve and beat the fierce competition.
Real estate agents and realtors will be defined by how they approach and manage their marketing strategies post-pandemic.
QR Codes can be a one-stop contactless solution to protect the well-being of customers and tenants. Realtors and tenants can continue to engage customers by showcasing their properties using a variety of QR Codes. Customers can access real-time information completely touch-free.
Top real estate agencies can function actively in remote conditions. They can acquire data of customers through QR Codes and retarget customers to various offline and online marketing campaigns.
It is all about how real estate agents and realtors respond and recover with the help of digital marketing tools and retain their position in the real estate market.
FAQs
Q. How are QR Codes used in real estate marketing?
QR Codes have various uses in real estate marketing:
- Property information
- Property listings
- Print ads
- Location of properties
- Collect feedback and reviews
Q. How can real estate agents use vCard QR Codes?
By scanning the vCard QR Code of real estate agents, customers can store the contact details of agents such as email addresses, mobile numbers, websites, and the company’s location into their mobile phones.
Q. What are text QR Codes in real estate?
With the help of text QR Codes, potential buyers and sellers can send a predefined message from their smartphones when a QR Code is scanned.
Q. How much does a real estate QR Code cost?
You can create either static or dynamic real estate QR Codes. Dynamic QR Codes start at just $5/month. There is also a 14-day free starter trial.
Q. What are the uses of QR Codes on real estate signs?
QR Codes on real estate signs have many uses:
- Redirect customers to realtors’ contact information
- Show an augmented view of the property
- Connect to social media channels
- Provide property listings
Q. Can I track real estate QR Codes?
By using dynamic real estate QR Codes, you can track the performance of your marketing campaigns. Depending on the data acquired, you can also edit them in real-time.
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