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The pitch
When it comes to buying real estate marketing software, it’s hard to find something that favors compelling design over efficiency. The rather hectic, variable nature of real estate sales tends to ensure efficiency wins out.
From website design tools to brochure production, most tools also try to shoehorn sales integration and embed contacts. There’s value in that, but there’s more value in showcasing your listings, and yourself, in a package that’s artfully presented and uniquely creative. And also easy.
Have you heard of Studeo?
The sale
Studeo is a Toronto company that diligently walks the line between traditional graphic design and digital art. And the company has drawn that line right through the real estate industry.
The overall concept is simple: Studeo creates great-looking online presentations for property listings. A rudimentary comparison, but when you click on a Studeo listing, it presents in a browser like a PDF. However, this is much, much more.
The interface is simple and Apple-like. You just drag and drop files into predetermined panels on the pages. You can select an array of layout types, from two-page brochures to expansive catalog-like spreads.
Studeo limits user edits to just images and text. This way, no errant color combinations or absurd font choices end up in your presentation. But a lot of other very cool stuff can.
Multipage digital brochures from Studeo can embed an array of content types. You can drag and drop Vimeo or YouTube videos, panoramic home tours, high-end photography, cinemagraphs (still photos with instances of motion), and even Matterport footage.
If you subtly combine multiple media types, like a video introducing the property, followed by some instances of panoramas or short slideshows, a property can really tell a story. Because of its intrinsic page layouts and fetching graphics, just using Studeo makes you feel like an ad exec.
Final products can be shared just like any Web link, MLS (multiple listing service) accounts, emailed and favorited. Viewers can zoom in and out, navigate pages and share it socially, on any device.
The idea here is to paint a property with a proper face for the market. Studeo encourages viewer interaction with dynamic media, not iPhone captures in bad lighting.
To further the brand of the home, Studeo offers custom domains or subdomains on which to host your listing.
Studeo’s own reporting has shown that viewers are spending from four to 15 minutes viewing their agents’ productions. That’s impressive, even if it is their findings.
There’s a mechanism to measure, among other stats, time spent on a specific page, clicks on panoramic images, and general time engaged.
There’s a luxury property feel to this product. You can use it to create affordable, very well-done collateral for more typical listings, I feel that the luxury sales agent who leverages Studeo can really make their clients look good.
Studeo allows users to order print copies of digital brochures. They can turn around full-color bifolds, trifolds and booklets in two to three days.
For the high-dollar listings, you can order a multipage hard cover “Pitch Book” of your presentation. Essentially, a coffee table book of your listing. Costs get to around $1,299 for 25 of these showcase books. But they would look great on the dining room sideboard in your next million-dollar listing.
To ensure the print quality matches the online, Studeo partnered with service bureaus that house Indigo printers, absurdly high-end digital printers that can offer production quality on par with traditional offset presses.
Studeo Hub is an embedded listing page for your brokerage website. In addition to displaying your Studeo properties, you can embed videos, social media links and related marketing content.
The company offers an Enterprise edition that caters to larger, collaborative teams. A proprietary iteration of the software is locked in to a company’s brand identity to ensures agents are always looking their best.
Another great use of Studeo is to create personal brochures and listing presentations. Embed videos of yourself, images of properties sold, and showcase services in the very medium you’ll use to sell their home. Get creative.
The close
It’s no secret by now that I believe form should be equal to function when it comes to software. Why? Because it has to be used first, and visual bias emerges quickly and impacts adoption. Studeo tightly binds design house-quality imagery with contemporary, shareable Internet media.
Pricing varies greatly and uses a credit system, like a lot of stock photography services. The lowest digital-only plan is $119; the most expensive is $1,299, which provides all digital formats and 25 hardcover Pitch books. There’s an array of budget options.
If you’re serious about showcasing your listings and getting prospective buyers to engage before ever setting foot in the foyer, Studeo is definitely worth considering.
Do you use Studeo? What do you think? Leave a comment and let us know!
Do you have a product for our tech expert to review? Email Craig Rowe.