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The company that calls itself an interactive storytelling platform for real estate has upped its services once again.
Studeo’s OpenBlvd is a new tool that creates and shares stories about specific communities within an agent’s market. And, like other Studeo products, its creation is largely automated, outside of basic manual input to launch a story.
Specific regions of a town or zip code are splayed across a destination page, Pinterest-like, with location cards able to be tapped, scrolled and shared. The intent is for agents to offer clients vibrant, fun looks into areas in which they may end up moving. It’s ideal for listing presentations, relocation experts and brokerage marketing.
The experience of each city can be categorized according to retail service or form of entertainment. In the company’s example of Toronto, they use Indulge (bakeries, ice cream shops, etc.); Savour (restaurants, coffee shops, etc.); Let Loose (nightclubs, bars, etc.); and Unwind (salons, spas, etc.).
OpenBlvd is about more than lifestyle content, however. Using multiple listing service integrations, the tool can create property stories, too, with stand-alone landing pages. Relevant community stories are then integrated into the property’s site through scrollable pop-up menus and slide-outs.
Property stories can have video embeds, image carousels and narrative descriptions.
In an email to Inman, Studeo Chief Strategy Officer, Nir Betan, said the company has been working on this new product for about a year.
“Something I’ve wanted to share with you since we last spoke in November of last year,” he said. “The goal here is to nurture conversations with prospects many moons before they decide to embark on a home purchase and find other ways of connecting with them and adding value to their lives in the day-to-day.”
This form of neighborhood-specific content marketing sprouted from the greater trend of lifestyle marketing, now an essential tactic for agents who need to root themselves as local experts.
Localization can be powerful lead drivers, as well. Ylopo, a digital marketing company for real estate agents that is heavily focused on dynamic Facebook advertising, recently launched new pay-per-click services that can target real estate consumers in recognized neighborhoods, even in specific phases of home developments. The ongoing price wars over direct, paid-for leads have pushed more agents to seek new ways to uncover business.
As Betan noted, the earlier in the sales process an agent can resonate with a future buyer or seller, the less apt they are to need to compete with others’ budgets to win them over.
OpenBlvd is looking to expand into U.S. markets in 2021.
Craig C. Rowe started in commercial real estate at the dawn of the dot-com boom, helping an array of commercial real estate companies fortify their online presence and analyze internal software decisions. He now helps agents with technology decisions and marketing through reviewing software and tech for Inman.
