Understanding the concept of a target buyer demographic is crucial for marketing real estate successfully. Home staging embraces this idea using effective, tangible strategies which appeal to the particular type of buyer that is most likely to purchase the property.
Real estate marketing is a true science that is best left to actual experts. While hundreds of thousands of people sell real estate worldwide, only a small percentage actually understand and apply the proven laws of property marketing that can maximize the value of any property, while minimizing the time it takes to find and wow that ideal buyer.
This is why we always recommend hiring a true professional with a proven track record when selling any home or commercial property. You might pay a bit more in commission, but you will likely save yourself lots of time, stress and costly mistakes that may occur when using the services of a less experienced or less knowledgeable agent.
This guide helps property sellers, real estate agents and home stagers to better understand the concept of a target buyer and how this knowledge can be used to successfully market properties easily and profitably.
Target Buyer Demographic Defined
No one knows for sure who will eventually buy a given parcel of saleable property. However, a good real estate agent certainly knows who is likely to purchase the home, given the property characteristics, price, neighborhood, size and other attributes. Therefore, in order to best market the property, it is vital to identify this target buyer and then do everything possible to make the home seem more appealing to them and their needs, without excluding or ignoring the needs of other secondary target buyer types.
In essence, the process of identifying the target buyer is an educated guess based on available demographic data and practical experience. Target buyer analysis is used to determine how to stage and market the home to achieve universal appeal. Some of the demographics that can be actively marketed to include any or all of the following:
- First time home buyers
- Trade-up home buyers
- Retirees and empty nesters
- Family buyers
- Professional single buyers
- Urban buyers
- Suburban buyers
- Rural buyers
- Property investors
If a likely buyer demographic can be identified, then all marketing efforts will be exponentially more successful, since they can be custom-tailored to reflect the needs of the type of buyer who are most likely to purchase the residence. This is a classic example of knowing your customer and selling directly to them.
Marketing to the Target Buyer Demographic
Once the real estate sales team knows who they are trying to sell to, they can strategize the most effective ways to accomplish this goal, using the least amount of money and time to get the deal done. Real estate is an industry that benefits greatly from statistical records and these sales data collections are extremely useful when trying to figure out who will buy a home and how to market to these people effectively.
It is vital to understand what a given type of buyer will want in a new home and then simply to give it to them. If a property does not naturally fit the ideal criteria embraced by the likely target buyer, then it should be altered, using minimal financial expenditure to fulfill the target buyer’s wish-list criteria to the best of its ability.
Many attributes are not easy to change in a home, such as the overall design, lot size, location or neighborhood. However, other property characteristics are easily altered and manipulated and this is exactly where home staging fits into the equation.
Home staging provides cost-effective ways of changing virtually any piece of real estate into the ideal fit for the respective target buyer group. In essence, stagers understand exactly what buyers want and seek to provide it all under one perfect roof.
Home staging matches buyers to properties that they want to buy. Why try so hard to sell a home to just anyone if staging can make particular buyers want it and actually fight for it? It is no wonder that staged houses sell much quicker and for more money than unstaged competitors.
Target Buyer Demographic Psychology
In order to determine the actual target buyer for a given parcel of real estate, the seller needs to enlist the help of true experts in real estate marketing. For best results, they will actually bring in a team of experts, including a dedicated listing agent, a professional home stager and a real estate lawyer who are all specially trained to successfully sell houses and apartments.
The listing agent and home stager will often work together to determine the marketing strategy and evaluate the changes that should be made to the property to appeal to the target buyer. Once a marketing plan is devised, and a budget set, the stager will take control of making the property look perfect, while the agent will promote and market the property to prospective buyers. When everything is done correctly, the home will sell in no time at all. The home will also sell for maximum profit. The home might even start a bidding war, driving the price upwards, often far beyond even the most lofty seller expectations.
All this success can only be achieved if the real estate team takes the time to develop their strategy from the beginning and this always means identifying the target buyer before any actual money is spent on marketing.
For questions about how identifying and marketing to a target buyer demographic can benefit your chances of selling a home, or increase the productivity and profitability of your real estate or staging business, please accept our invitation to write to us for more information.