Our guest on this episode of the Start with a Win podcast is James Schwartz, Marketing Director of RE/MAX corporate. With 19+ years in the marketing and real estate industries, James has learned how to connect with consumers during many new waves of technology and he is using his expertise to serve RE/MAX and also speak to agents across North America about their marketing efforts. 

Referring to the current technological environment, James says that there are lots of tools and platforms available to anyone who will take the time to learn them, but it takes a bit of finesse to use them effectively. It is crucial to remain focused on the consumer’s wants and needs and meet them where they are. Just because you have something to say doesn’t mean that you should blast that message to all of your communication channels. Whereas the number of touchpoints prior to action before the digital age was 3-5, companies and agents now have to achieve 20-30 touchpoints before an action is taken. This emphasizes the importance of keeping the message consistent, catchy, and – of course – consumer-focused.

The area of digital communications that really excites James right now is the capability of monitoring and remarketing to the consumer via their digital footprint. Consumers are skeptical of “data mining” until they encounter a company who uses their data ethically and anticipates their needs, which makes their lives easier in the end. For a real estate agent, a consumer’s data can be helpful because it would allow the agent to know when they have changed jobs, gotten married, had a baby, or may be considering downsizing their home. This provides the opportunity for the real estate agent to become part of the consumer’s “tribe” and a built-in lifelong relationship, rather than a one-and-done.

Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-schwartz-21798718 

https://martechtoday.com/library/what-is-martech 

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