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Early in his career, Jonathan Spears had to figure out how to market his stretch of Florida.

Spears works on the Florida panhandle and said on stage Monday during Inman Luxury Connect that eastern Florida, in a totally different time zone, has historically received much of the attention and traffic from higher-end buyers. His task as an agent, then, was to put his part of the state on the radar of people looking for second or third or fourth homes.

Then he hit on an idea: He started describing his region as the “Hamptons of Florida.”

“I knew that my luxury client base would gravitate to that,” he told the Connect audience.

The name stuck and soon began appearing in various media outlets. Today, the first result in a Google search for “Hamptons of Florida” is an AI-generated blurb pinpointing the exact area Spears covers. And Spears — who is with Compass — has since managed to grow his business into a thriving team that is effectively self-sufficient, in no small part because he has managed to effectively market his region.

Spears’ point, and his advice to the packed ballroom Monday, was that succeeding in luxury real estate involves “really understanding how to articulate the market’s story” in a way that connects with a desired audience.

From left to right, moderator Holly Meyer Lucas, Nancy Almodovar, Georgina Jacobson and Jonathan Spears at Inman Luxury Connect Monday. Credit: AJ Canaria

Spears’ fellow panelists Monday made similar points. Georgina Jacobson of Coldwell Banker works in Newport Beach, California, and told the audience that she recently redesigned her website. And her goal in the project was, essentially, storytelling.

“We focused on telling people about Newport Beach,” she said.

Later during the session, Houston-based Nancy Almodovar of Nan and Company Properties described how she uses social media in marketing and storytelling.

“We all use social media; it’s all about how you use it,” she said. “It’s very important that what you put out is what you want others to see.”

Almodovar said that her social media profiles are filled with images of real luxury properties in her market. But she cautioned that some agents are apparently tempted to present a false image, posting shots of luxury cars for example,  when they don’t own or sell those cars. She advised against such posts and indicated that authenticity matters when it comes to storytelling.

As the session concluded, Spears shared tips for winning media coverage, noting that he spends a lot of time meeting with journalists, and advised building relationships with the people who cover real estate. Having a great property can help facilitate those relationships.

“Having a marketable moment allows you to create relationships with a journalist,” Spears concluded. “The press loves to devour the biggest deals in the market.”

Email Jim Dalrymple II

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The real estate industry must pivot away from tech “frankenstacks” and lean into the power of artificial intelligence-based all-in-one solutions, according to a new analysis by Delta Media Group released Monday.

The 28-page white paper, “Future-Proofing Your Real Estate Brokerage,” cites costly third-party vendors and “disjointed” tech stacks as top reasons why many all-in-one solutions fail for brokerages and agents.

Michael Minard | Credit: LinkedIn

“Agents are burdened by the weight of standalone tools meant to simplify their lives,” Delta Media Group CEO Michael Minard said in the report. “Unfortunately, this jumbled chaos of disjointed applications, dubbed ‘frankenstacks,’ has become a monstrous obstacle to growth and productivity. These patched-together systems fail to deliver the streamlined experience that modern real estate professionals crave.”

“As the industry pivots to the reality of fewer transactions,” he added, “this outdated marketing approach is quickly losing ground to a sleeker, more efficient,and highly affordable contender: the all-in-one marketing platform.”

Delta Media Group is an all-in-one solutions provider that counts Berkshire Hathaway Home Services and Coldwell Banker franchises as well as several leading independent brokerages among its client base.

The paper said all-in-one solutions offer brokerages enhanced data flow and accessibility, improved operational efficiency, an enhanced customer experience, and a holistic view of business processes that enable brokers to quickly shift their financial and growth strategies.

The healthcare, retail, finance and travel industries are already reaping the benefits of all-in-one solutions, as evidenced by health records platform MyChart’s 15 percent increase in patient use, Walmart’s 40 percent online sales boost, banks’ and consumers’ rapid adoption of Plaid to easily connect their financial accounts, and Marriott’s 5 percent increase in mobile bookings.

“A consistent theme across these industries is the move towards streamlined processes,” the report read. “Time and resources are precious commodities, and any technology that can help reduce waste, simplify tasks, and enhance operational efficiency is worth consideration.”

The number one factor that’s stopped real estate from fully embracing the all-in-one trend is the fallacy that using multiple best-in-class solutions will automatically yield a best-in-class experience for agents, Delta said. The chase for the latest and greatest tool causes brokerages to waste time and money and heightens frustrations among agents who attempt to adopt new systems.

“This approach can prove to be a costly and time-consuming endeavor for any brokerage,” the report read. “That’s because real estate firms invest significant resources in acquiring, maintaining, and updating these separate technologies, only to find that they quickly become outdated as new innovations emerge.”

“Agents, like most professionals, value stability and familiarity in their work processes,” it added. “They are more likely to stick with the tech they know, even if it may not be the most cutting-edge, to avoid the disruption and time investment required to start anew.”

The report said the emergence of artificial intelligence makes adopting all-in-one solutions the best approach, as AI can manage mundane tasks on the backend and create a more engaging experience for consumers on the front end.

“By centralizing data from various sources, such as property listings, client interactions, and market trends, an all-in-one platform can create a rich tapestry of information and insights,” the report said. “Leveraging AI and machine learning, brokerages can analyze this data to identify patterns, predict trends, and generate actionable recommendations.”

“The future of residential real estate, enhanced by AI, promises a landscape where precision, efficiency, and insight drive success and sustainability in the ever-evolving real estate industry,” it added.

Email Marian McPherson