Marketing Luxury Real Estate in 2022
The luxury real estate market is rife with opportunity. But did you know that for many qualified buyers the path to purchasing these expensive homes comes in two parts?
Research reveals that the expanding list of remote work opportunities has allowed those with high incomes the flexibility they crave. They like to vacation in luxurious destinations and buy second homes at these locales.
Our experiences in marketing both luxury real estate and travel and tourism are the perfect blend to help you find the right buyer. We’d like to give you a brief taste of how we found success before offering some other important insight anyone marketing luxury real estate should know.
Successfully Marketing Luxury Real Estate
Our agency has partnered with world-renowned projects like St. Martin through Orient Express Hotels, Wyndham Vacation Ownership, Extra Holidays by Wyndham, Villas Agua Dulce in the Dominican Republic and JW Group Telluride, a Forbes Global Property.
We’d like to briefly share more about that last client, JW Group Telluride, as a single example to help arm you with more knowledge on marketing luxury real estate.
Allow us to give you a little background: JW Group knows the ins and outs of Telluride better than anyone. They led the way with a 2020 record-setting year of successful closings and happy homeowners.
We captured more than 500 media assets for them. That’s because those qualified buyers we’re targeting are “buying with their eyes.” We also dined at elegant restaurants in Telluride, spoke with local business owners and visited area non-profit organizations. Throughout this process, we partnered with influencer Molly Kuplen and delivered a successful, customized influencer program.
Kuplen was able to showcase their properties and the accompanying lifestyle to her relevant audience through photos and videos. We collaborate with digital content creators because it allows brands to build assets for their feeds and create ads that provide a strong creative aesthetic and voice for the company.
Influencer partnerships help you reach highly specific audiences directly, cut through the noise of other advertisers, boost engagement, build brand authenticity and experience a return on marketing investment.
JW Group Telluride also needed a strategy to reach potential buyers for a unique property situated on 67 coveted acres in one of the most scenic spots in Colorado — Snow Drift Ranch.
We developed a landing page, leading with a drone video showcasing the breathtaking views of the Sneffels Range and neighbor Ralph Lauren’s 20,000-acre Double RL ranch.
By creating a separate lander, we could showcase what makes this 10,300-square-foot log and stone residence one-of-a-kind.
And to drive further traffic to the site, we employed a Google ad campaign resulting in a CPC (cost per click) of $1.11, lower than the average benchmark in the travel and real estate industry of $1.40.
With regard to Snow Drift Ranch, we also interviewed the property owner. We developed a video sharing the story behind this fortress of solitude and the lifestyle it offers.
Next, let’s examine a target buyer: the year-round vacationer.
Who is the Year-Round Vacationer?
Data is always our friend at JSMM. And it’s your friend too. This research comes from the 2022 Engel & Völkers’ Luxury Homebuyer Report.
The report discusses “the year-round vacationer.” This who you want to target. These folks love living and working anywhere, and they are seeking second homes to enjoy a vacation lifestyle. They tend to seek out properties in coastal, mountain, ski, and surfing locales.
The report states these year-round vacationers want either a relaxing or active lifestyle in a suburban or rural location with potential opportunities for rental income. Because these year-round vacationers start off by vacationing, which then LEADS into the purchase of luxury real estate, let’s ask an important question:
What Does Luxury Travel Look Like for 2023?
Keep an eye on millennials in the luxury market. For example, at the private members’ hotel club Little Emperors, founded by Rebecca Masri, 93% of the members are under the age of 50. Masri said they seek authenticity and shareability when traveling.
And it’s all about visuals. They want to be surrounded by paradise. And when marketing to this market, visuals play a huge role. They are “buying with their eyes,” Masri said. They want to read less and see more. Show them photos, videos, and floor plans.
(Remember what we said above about “buying with their eyes”? It all comes together…)
You also see how this aligns with the other research we shared about coastal, mountain, ski, and surfing locales. It’s all about what surrounds them. And that also ties into social media.
For millennials, social media is very important. This market wants to spend time in locales where they can take breathtaking photos for their Instagram accounts.
Sharing their journeys has led to a “new wave of aspirational living,” Masri said. In fact, a recent survey of her members reveals something that should not surprise any of us: It turns out 85% of them check a hotel’s social media before booking. They want to see the sights.
Because, as Masri says, affluence is not just limited to what people own. They want high-end real estate and fancy cars, yes. But they also crave high-end experiences. And that’s what you need to sell to them.
As we said, this demo doesn’t want to just visit a gorgeous locale for a week or so and then leave. They are seeking somewhere to vacation and then buy a second home.
So now we’re going to dive into a little more information about the second step: purchasing real estate…
What Are the Current Luxury Real Estate Market Trends?
As we said before, we love data. This information is courtesy of Da Alohas.
- They want to upgrade their lifestyle
The pandemic has caused this demographic to seek out a closer space to nature and resort-type experiences. In fact, a survey reveals 46% of respondents believe that luxury residences are necessary.
- Hybrid and Work-From-Home Models
As stated above, the cutting of tethers to office spaces has made an impact in light of the pandemic. The target demo wants large homes in which to complete their professional duties. If they have the means to surround themselves in a luxurious environment, they are going to do so.
- A Higher Demand for Digital Jobs
As the open spots for digital professionals grow, so do the number of tech professionals. This increased demand has led to more promotions and higher wage offers. This means these professionals, especially millennials, have more discretionary income. And that, in turn, leads to good news for the luxury real estate market. If they can afford the lavish lifestyle, they will pursue it.
- Sizzling Startups
More people are making money in the startup world. Have you heard of ESOP monetization? The acronym stands for Employee Stock Ownership Plan. This type of program has led to people buying more real estate because it gives them a nice tax advantage.
If you are in a Tier I city, this demo favors high-rise flats. If you’re in a Tier II city, this marker will gravitate toward low-rise apartments and independent villas.
Not sure what a Tier I city is? We can explain:
- Tier I cities have an established real estate market. They are highly developed with strong schools, businesses, and facilities.
- Tier II cities are developing their real estate markets. They tend to be “up-and-coming” but have yet to reach their summit. Expect prices to rise with growth here.
- There are also Tier III cities. As you might expect, they have underdeveloped or no real estate markets.
Now, we want to share…
More Successful Marketing of Luxury Real Estate
One of the agency’s first jobs included promoting boutique hotels for mixed-use development projects in lower Manhattan.
The subsequent success allowed JSMM to serve on more world-renowned projects, like we mentioned above: St. Maatren through Orient Express Hotels, Wyndham Vacation Ownership, Extra Holidays by Wyndham, Villas Agua Dulce in the Dominican Republic and JW Group Telluride.
Right now, we’d love to share more about Villas Agua Dulce in the Dominican Republic. Like the previous example, we hope this section arms you with even more insight into the world of marketing luxury real estate.
This client wanted to generate leads in the form of prospective buyers and investors of villas.
Villas Agua Dulce leaders sent two JSMM representatives to the Dominican Republic. They wanted to leverage our experiences with horseback riding, waterfall jumping, monkey jungle interactions, music and culture, beach excursions and private chefs.
Our digital marketing and advertising teams created a comprehensive lead generation program. This included paid media, sweepstakes, email drip campaigns, influencer marketing and surveys.
Four months later, these were the results:
- 26,000-plus sessions on the sales landing page
- 14,000 new email subscribers
- 274 messaging conversations started on FB messenger
- 27 survey responses
- 41 contact requests
Let’s take a closer look at just some of our tactics:
Content Creation: The team returned with more than 1,000 assets in the form of photos, videos, written blog posts, and 360-degree video tours.
(Again, remember our target customers are “buying with their eyes.”)
Facebook Messenger Ad: We created and installed a chatbot to automate conversations and streamline workflow. This led to 260 messenger conversations that were started in a single month, at an average cost of $2.00 per conversation started.
Brand Collaboration Campaign: We partnered with like-minded brands to create a sweepstakes that resulted in more than a million impressions, 26,000+ visits to the landing page, and 14,000 new emails.
Where Can I Find More Information on Marketing Luxury Real Estate and Luxury Travel?
At JSMM, we are always on the cutting edge of how to effectively market for both luxury travel along with high-end real estate.
Take a look at our portfolio to see how we have driven business growth and results through digital and social media marketing. Read more about our social strategy, view our package options or contact us directly to see how JSMM can take your business to the next level through digital and social media marketing!
We hope to speak with you soon. Please share this blog with others who may find it helpful!