New Imprev Study Also Shows Surprises: Lukewarm Ratings for Portals and "Hot" Technologies
SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Aug 8, 2017) - Real estate industry leaders anticipate big opportunities coming from newer technology like Predictive Analytics, Big Data, and Marketing Automation over the next five years, but show lukewarm confidence in Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Realty, and Virtual Realty 3D Tours. These findings emerged from a new Imprev Thought Leadership Survey asking participants to predict the future of real estate marketing and anticipate the effect on their businesses. The study was released today at Inman Connect, the nation's largest real estate technology conference being held August 7-11 at the San Francisco Hilton.
Two-out-of-three top real estate executives surveyed say they are more likely to invest in Predictive Analytics (65%), Marketing Automation (65%) and Big Data (64%), while less than half are likely to invest in Augmented Realty and Virtual Realty 3D Tours (46%). Only one-third are likely to invest in Artificial Intelligence (30%) by 2022.
This newest study from Imprev also uncovers some surprises. Perhaps the biggest one: Real estate execs appear to agree that the future is dimming for the power of the portals. A mere 20% of respondents rate real estate portals, such as Zillow or realtor.com®, as one of their "most important real estate marketing channels and technologies" five years from now. They predict Mobile Apps (48%), Social Media (45%) and Video (44%) -- the technology trifecta -- will be more important in 2022 than portals.
"Real estate leaders looked into the future and became very pragmatic," said Renwick Congdon, CEO of Imprev and architect of the twice-annual study that began in 2012. "They clearly anticipate investing only in tech that can provide a hard ROI, which means avoiding the latest fads. They're under more pressure to deliver results and need proven marketing infrastructure to make that happen," he added.
What's the one innovation that more real estate leaders would like to see for real estate marketing in the next five years than any other? The study found the most common answer was "system integration," mentioned by one-in-five participants (20%), followed by "automation" (17%), and a "Centralized MLS" (15%). Several top executives specifically mentioned Upstream, with a Pennsylvania RE/MAX broker-owner explaining "it puts the control of listing data in the brokerage/brokers hands."
Among the other key findings:
This latest Thought Leader study was conducted from June 1 to June 30, 2017, polling nearly 200 real estate leaders who represent brokerages responsible for more than half of all U.S. residential real estate transactions last year. 26% of participants represent firms with 100 agents or fewer, 42% represent firms with 101 to 500 agents, 11% represent firms with 501 to 1,000 agents, and 21% of the respondents represented firms with more than 1,000 agents.
The annual Imprev Thought Leader study is one of the most comprehensive in real estate and was created by Imprev to provide insight on key business challenges top executives and broker owners face, encouraging an exchange of ideas and solutions among industry thought leaders.
A copy of a summary of the study findings is available online here (or http://www.imprev.com/future-of-marketing-study).
About Imprev
Many of the most respected brands in real estate leverage Imprev's Automated Marketing Services to set themselves apart from their competition. With Imprev, brokerages can automatically create and continually update fully-branded print, digital, and social media marketing packages for all their agents' listings, giving them a recruiting edge and driving unprecedented brand consistency. Launched in 2001 and updated every three weeks, the Imprev platform powers the marketing centers for hundreds of brokerages and franchises -- representing over 20% of real estate agents in North America -- including RE/MAX, Coldwell Banker, Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, Corcoran Group, NextHome and Realty World. Discover more at www.imprev.com.
Contact Information:
News media contact:
Kevin Hawkins, for Imprev, Inc.
206-866-1220
kevin@wavgroup.com