Members of the nation’s largest multiple listing service will now be able to connect to their clients’ social networks and contacts through tools from real estate social marketing company AnnounceMyMove LLC.
San Dimas, Calif.-based California Regional MLS (CRMLS) has rolled out AnnounceMyListing and AnnounceMyNews to its more than 70,000 subscribers from 33 Realtor associations across the Golden State.
AnnounceMyListing allows agents and their seller clients to send personalized, branded Web-based announcements of a new listing, open house, or move to each of their contacts, through email; by posting on social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and GooglePlus; or by embedding the announcement in blogs, content management systems, and websites, including Craigslist.
The tool is a free member benefit to CRMLS subscribers.
AnnounceMyListing introduces agents to their clients’ contacts and helps them reconnect with past clients and prospects, according to Ladera Ranch, Calif.-based AnnounceMyMove, which powers the tools.
"When a friend gets an email from a friend, they open it," the company said on its website. Because the announcement can pass from friend to friend, AnnounceMyListing has the potential to become a viral marketing tool.
Screen shot of an AnnounceMyListing sample announcement
Similarly, AnnounceMyNews is a custom platform for creating branded marketing announcements about hyperlocal news, public relations announcements, housing market reports, events and more that agents can share with their past clients and prospects in the same ways as AnnounceMyListing.
Agents will also have access to precreated "Click & Go" announcements on topics such as holiday greetings, gardening tips, recipes, and ideas for entertaining. Agents can also use a "Custom Create" feature that allows them to create any marketing message, including announcements for local events, listings that have just sold or are in escrow, or buyer and seller moves.
AnnounceMyMove complies reports that track the number of hits an announcement receives, visits to agent or company websites from the announcements, the number of people that email an agent from an announcement, and how often it’s shared on social media.
"So even if an agent doesn’t have a social media strategy, they can leverage social media," Janelle Odishoo, co-founder of AnnounceMyMove, told Inman News.
The announcements dynamically update, syncing with the MLS every three hours, she added. So if there’s a change with a listing — a price change, for example — the announcement will automatically note the new price wherever the announcement exists and whether or not an email has been opened.
"We’re not a flyer, we’re actually a Web page," Odishoo said. Therefore, agents can also embed images, video, Google maps, and other features into their announcements, she said.
"AnnounceMyListing and AnnounceMyNews provide real estate professionals with a unique opportunity to grow their business through the power of their clients’ social network," said Art Carter, CEO of CRMLS, in a statement.
Carter added that CRMLS is the first MLS in the country to offer AnnounceMyNews to its members. At no cost, the MLS and its member associations can create hyperlocal news announcements for agents to share using the tool.
Prices for the Click & Go announcements vary from free to up to $2 per use. For the Custom Create announcements, the price is $2 per use. AnnounceMyMove also offers agents the option for unlimited service at $20 per month.
All of AnnounceMyListing’s current MLS customers — 17 in all — will have access to AnnounceMyNews on Oct. 15, Odishoo said.
In April, AnnounceMyMove partnered with customer satisfaction surveying and reputation marketing service ReachFactor to allow agents to display a ReachFactor Badge in announcements that they build for their clients.
