RISMEDIA, May 25, 2011—I recently had the chance to attend the Leading RE annual conference in Las Vegas and stay at the beautiful new Cosmopolitan Hotel and Casino. The conference was great and the hotel was absolutely amazing. Spending a whole week out in Vegas really puts into perspective the need to have it all in one place.
The Cosmopolitan is a testament to the fact that gone are the days when having a nice, clean comfortable hotel was enough to have a successful business. I checked into the hotel on Monday morning and didn’t leave the premises until Thursday! I didn’t want to or need to. My room was there, the conference was there, there were bars and restaurants, shopping, nightlife…you name it, they had it.
The Cosmopolitan did a phenomenal job satisfying every need a guest could possibly have while staying there. When I finally realized I hadn’t been outside in almost four days, I left and went off site for that reason only.
I think the same holds true for the technology tools we employ in our marketing these days. It’s no longer good enough to implement a standalone initiative. With consumers having more access than ever before to information through their mobile devices, it means our marketing reach as businesses must now extend to even more channels, while at the same time, be more integrated in everything we do. A print ad can drive us online in seconds because we undoubtedly have our cell right next to us at all times. How am I getting online? Take your pick—I could text in, scan a QR Code, download an app or, rarest of all, actually type the URL into the browser on my phone.
With all these different delivery methods available, you need to be able to give consumers the option. If you are implementing a text program with no mobile web or QR component, you are alienating a huge segment of the consumer market that is only growing. In addition, you are not providing the full experience that consumers are looking for without those additional features. In essence, by doing one and not the other, you are taking one step forward and two steps backwards.
Today’s consumer, as well as today’s home seller, wants the Cosmopolitan experience. They want to know they have everything all in one and can get to the information from anywhere. Everything and everyone is connected all the time. So, too, should be your marketing.
Seth Kaplan is president of Mobile Real Estate ID. For more information, please visit www.mobilerealestateid.com.
