May 14, 2009
A picture is worth a thousand what?
So my sister is moving to Los Angeles after two years at Harvard Business School. She sends me an email today:
Subject: False advertisement
Body:
1st picture is what we signed up for – 2nd picture is what we got…
Do you think the advertisement/picture helped or hurt the property’s end goal?
I think beautiful photos help any property, but never at the expense of promising something you can’t deliver.
Was it emptied for repairs, or they do not fill it anymore? If that is how they leave it all year, then they should consider highlighting a feature that they do have. This happens more than we think, and property owners fail to realize how badly this reflects on them.
Oops! But I must say they look happy in the photo!
Dave Dugdale
@Frank, not sure. I think beautiful pictures do a great job of driving additional leads.
Pictures are so deceiving in many instances. Notice they have pushed all the pool furniture for the entire pool to that area. They didn’t show what looks like a leaning perimeter fence & industrial building next door, who would want to see that? By the way, what do they live next too?
Definitely need 360 tours would have shown everything and can zoom in.
But I have to tell you image starts at your doorstep!
I design exterior color schemes nationwide and a couple weeks ago I visited one of my designs to take pictures. This is a very well known owner nationwide and I took a friend and was showing the new model which is conveniently located inside the office/clubroom area. I was shocked to see the amount of trash under the kitchen sink and to see how much debris was on the floors of the Pantry and cabinet areas. I was totally shocked, as the Staff sat blowing gum bubbles and popping them while reading a magazine at the front lobby!
While they say pictures may tell a 1000 words, do they really? Or do they coverup?
Beyond the great comments above, I think what this screams to me is the need to augment photos with authentic video content. Allowing communities to put their best foot forward with beautifully rendered photos is a great way to merchandise and highlight each community’s attributes, but Eric’s sister expresses a sentiment we’ve heard loud and clear from renters – use media (images, 360 tours, video) to give me a sense of what it’s really like to live at your property.
The more we can do as an industry to recognize and address that insight, the easier it will be to spend time on quality leads who are ready to rent.
Great post, Eric.
@Tim, Thanks for stopping by and I agree. More content = better qualified lead.
It helped, it got your sister onsite viewing the property. Its definitely not ethical.