Many years ago Michael (BrightDoor Co-Founder) and me used the term “Digital Bread” when we talked about content and media for our dot com clients. The metaphor is obviously based on how quickly the relevance of material can go “stale”.

The same rules apply for our real estate customers today. Most everyone sees the value in churning their text copy on a frequent cycle - just look at this Blog. But in the world of club house renderings or model home interiors, sales executives need visual media that accurately reflects the current state of the project. This applies to the analog outlets (that’s brochures and collateral) but even more critically are the real time digital media devices (that’s the stuff of BrightDoor).

The visual content of a community’s website or interactive presentation tools has to be relevant ALL the time. If its outdated everyone loses – especially the sales team because they will abandon the medium all together. I’ve seen this happen every time. Consider a community I toured this week; the images on their website displayed nice colored renderings but the view outside of the sales center showed a finished product. Wouldn’t the buyers be more impressed with the real thing? Some marketers remain favorable to virtual views because they look “nicer” but lets save that topic for another post.

I believe the solution to this problem is more about process and commitment than anything creative or technical. Here’s some tips we share with our customers:

1. First you must commit to refreshing visual media on regular calendar intervals
2. Get the right tools (i.e. good digital camera) and relationships with your content partners (i.e. architect)
3. Establish a documented workflow
4. Assign a dedicated person who owns this task
5. Communicate updates to the sales team and your audience immediately

With a little more effort and commitment, you’ll be amazed at the results!

- Deven Spear