Secrets for making great real estate flyers.
Here are some considerations for improving your real estate flyers whether you design them yourselves or hire someone to do it.
The purpose of a flyer—A real estate flyer's primary function is to intrigue people enough to request to visit the home in person. The flyer can be obtained from a box at the house. It may also be a document that is given, snail mailed, or emailed to potential buyers. A flyer's secondary function is to summarize the home's features and benefits, jogging the memory of those who've toured the home. Potential buyers often tour dozens of homes and therefore have dozens of flyers. A flyer's third function is to "pre-qualify" potential buyers in the sense that they can see if they're financially able to make this purchase. A flyer's fourth function is to promote the Realtor's business and increase name recognition in the community.
Taken as a whole—As a piece of advertising, a flyer should highlight a home's chief selling points in a quick-to-grasp style. The photography should provide a quick and compelling glimpse of the essence of a home and simultaneously act as a reminder of the property's appeal. The flyer's design should enhance and not distract from the message. Unattractive flyer designs with odd colors and strange layouts unconsciously convey the message that the home, the transaction, or the selling agent's real estate company is substandard.
Copywriting—The words you choose to describe homes for sale set the stage for how those homes will be received. It's important to think how you want to market the property—as a family home, vacation home, investment property, whatever. Take care in the words you select. You're not just selling a house; you're selling someone's future home, and a little feel-good emotional verbiage is entirely appropriate.
Benefits—Sales is all about presenting benefits to potential buyers. Your job is to identify and highlight those benefits. Some of them will be about the physical structure of the home. Some will be about the location, surroundings, and possibly the community itself. Some benefits will appeal to the emotions—that this is a must-have property that fulfills certain empotional needs.
The Nitty Gritty Details of Creating Flyers
Design sense—Never do anything in the context of design that compromises the clarity of the message. Psychologically, the flyer is an extension of the house that it is selling. A junky flyer will subliminally communicate the message that the home is junky, too.
Left brainers and right brainers—Among flyer readers, there are those who are more analytical. They like details. Then there are those who are more visually oriented. They like photos. A good flyer addresses both needs.
The obvious so often overlooked—Some real estate flyers overlook the most obvious details. For example, I see flyers sent by a regional email forwarding service where the Realtor forgot to include the town where the home for sale is located. Some omit details such as the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and square footage. Check your flyers to make sure that the basic facts are covered. Price, MLS number, and contact information, including email address and web site, are important details to include.
Clean, crisp verbiage—A professional presenting a home for sale should be concerned about good grammar and correct spelling on a flyer (or in an MLS listing.) Sloppy spelling and bad grammar suggest that the Realtor may also be sloppy at contracts and lazy about details. Also avoid USING ALL CAPS and excessive punctuation (MUST VISIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) It's just not cool.
Abbreviation overkill—When composing a flyer, there's no reason to go wild with abbreviations as you would when writing an expensive, pay-by-the-space newspaper classified ad. Change bdrm back to bedroom. Abbreviations should come into play only when you have severe space or letter limits. Also remember that ordinary people don't necessarily know Realtor lingo.
Font overkill—Don't go crazy with font choices, using a dozen different fonts on a page. This usually looks amateurish, especially when the fonts themselves look unpolished. The most important design function is readability. Some young Realtors forget that older people often have vision challenges. Don't make type so small it cannot be easily read. Never set body type in italics or in a hard-to-read scrolly font.
Photocopied MLS listings—One of the laziest approaches to flyer production is to print out an MLS listing. It serves the purpose of publishing the facts, but it's ugly, especially when you reproduce it in black and white.
Photos in flyers—Some people design flyers using lots of small photos, like an inch by an inch. Time to get out your magnifying glasses. I believe in the pulling power of a few great photos (4 or 5) that create a hunger in the viewer to see the property in person. If your heart is set on showing dozens of photos, print 5 on the flyer and provide a web link to a photo gallery.
Fair housing—Make sure that your flyer complies with fair housing advertising guidelines. There are many surprises here, and some that aren't even on the list. The cliche "must see," for example, is thought by some to discriminate against visually impaired people. I use the term "must visit."
Link to websites—Use your flyer to note any online resources such as the website where a home's photo gallery is located. Naturally, you should include your business website.
The final test—Have someone besides yourself look the flyer over before you print it. One common proofreading technique is to read it aloud to someone who is reading along using a second copy. The eyes play tricks when you, the writer, think you know what something is supposed to say. You'll often overlook errors. It's also good to go over the document and ask yourself, "If I didn't know anything about this property, does my flyer tell the story?"
Paper and printing—Color printing looks best on a high quality laser paper. A 28-pound paper takes the ink, looks sharper, and feels good to the touch. But this can cost 35 cents a copy or more. And it's hugely irritating to drive up to a flyer box and see that 50 copies are stuck together, having been rained on. Lower quality photocopy paper is more porous. The ink saturates it more, leaving a muddy quality. Not as good. Worse still is the black-and-white photocopy of a flyer. It may work for the wallet but it does nothing positive for your professional image.
Summary—A good flyer is composed of good design, good photography, and writing that highlights the benefits of the home. An important aspect of your marketing plan, a high quality flyer reflects well on the home, you as the Realtor, and your company.