Are printed property brochures a fantastic marketing tool or just expensive recycling_

Once upon a time, searching for a property would involve a Saturday afternoon spent walking up and down the street known as 'Estate Agents' Row'. A particular street that's a feature of every town - where you will find the estate agents.

You would check the newspaper listings for the new properties that came to the market that week. Then you'd take a trip into town and spend the afternoon in the various agents' offices.

Sitting in each office, you ask the agent what properties they have available. And they'll give you a printed brochure for each property they think might suit you.

Then, you'll be registered on their system. This is an index card with your contact details handwritten on it. This is then stored in a little plastic box on the desk.

This way, when a new property comes onto the market, they'll work through the little box, posting the printed brochures of new properties out to anyone that could be interested.

So, armed with your big stack of printed brochures and perhaps even a property magazine or newspaper, you go home or to a coffee shop and read through them all. Selecting the properties of interest, you discard the rest of the pile and make appointments to view them the following weekend.

But not anymore.

For starters, the data protection rules would not allow a little card with your details on it to be kept on the desk! All agency databases are digital and protected appropriately. But what is most surprising is the continued heavy reliance on printed items. Estate agents have not gotten out of this habit. They're still having paper brochures printed for every property they advertise. And the agents that specialise in the higher end of the market usually have a glossy magazine printed each month. So much wasted paper.

It is estimated that more than 90% of that printing finds its way into recycling pretty quickly.

And generally speaking, members of the public don't buy anything from a brochure or magazine. Especially not something as substantial as a high-value home. 99% of property searches take place online, and estate agent's row is a thing of the past, so who are these glossy brochures really for? They just seem expensive but pointless tools to impress you, the homeowner.

And it's fair enough, really. Who wouldn't like to see their wonderful home staged and photographed perfectly in a flawlessly printed brochure or a glossy coffee table magazine? Of course, everyone would.

But ask yourself this - will it sell your home?

Probably not. It's more likely that your buyer will come from a web search, and this buyer may never even see a hard copy brochure for the property.

So what should you, or your estate agent, be doing instead?

With technology innovation, it's unforgivable not to harness this to the absolute maximum. Using AI, software can pinpoint the exact person looking to buy and looking for a home like yours - why wouldn't you use that? It's a no-brainer. Publishing an advert in the paper, hoping someone sees it is not good enough. In the modern day, we need to be using modern methods.

Glossy brochures look nice but will likely end up in the recycling. Buyer psychology has changed - most products are now researched and purchased online. Buyers of premium property are likely to be tech-savvy and comfortable searching online. They're also geographically free to move around the country, so locally distributed leaflets or newspaper adverts would not be relevant to this buyer.

Don't be drawn in by the promise of glossy print materials - they look nice but won't get the job done. Glossy brochures and magazines will only be shown to people who attend the agents' offices in person, which is highly unlikely, considering that studies show almost all property searches are conducted online.

To find out more about the only way that you can harness revolutionary technology and artificial intelligence to sell your home for the highest possible price, get in touch with your By Design agent today.

(Photo by Robbie Noble on Unsplash)