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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.”
