What are steath sites and why are they effective?
You may have heard the term “Stealth Website”, but you may not be sure as to what it is exactly and how you would use stealth marketing or stealth websites in your business.
A stealth site is simply a site that offers a service or information that a buyer or seller is searching for. If you ask yourself, “why do buyers and sellers go online?” The answer is surprisingly simple; to start the information gathering process.
Seth Godin, author of the book “Permission Marketing”, explains the marketing concept of giving valuable information and asking in exchange for contact information. The concept of stealth marketing follows that ideology. When a buyer goes online, they are looking for listings or conversely if a seller goes online, they are seeking the value of their home. If you are going to have any chance of getting the buyers/sellers contact information, you need to first offer them what they are looking for and in exchange, they may be willing to give you what you are looking for, i.e., their contact information. Once you have their contact information give you both a means, either an email address or a phone number and a legitimate reason to follow up.
Most agents attempt advertise these offerings on a website that not only offers these services, but is also filled with other information such as buyer and seller tips/reports, area information, links to schools and usually highlights the agents/teams many qualifications. What is wrong with that approach? Well, nothing if the buyer or seller knows the agent or is ready to talk with an agent. In the mind of the buyer or seller just looking for area listings or a home valuation, this type of website can deter them from leaving contact information and making a request because they are simply not ready to engage with an agent. They are thinking, “if I register on this website, I’m sure that agent will call me.” So they leave the site and you’ve lost the valuable opportunity to capture and cultivate that lead.
Stealth marketing or using stealth sites helps agents to lower the barriers of entry so that agents can make a connection with a prospect at the beginning stages of the transaction process when they are seeking information. Real Pro Systems provides a unique web strategy by creating consumer centric websites that allow you (the agent) to target a buyer or seller by advertising for the services the agents has to offer. If you would like to see an example of a buyers’ stealth site visit www.rpshomesearch.com.
Benefit 1. Buyers and sellers can easily identify “what’s in it for them”
Benefit 2. There is not a lot of information required. The buyers or sellers fear of being contacted is all but alleviated.
Benefit 3. The buyers and sellers get what they want, information and the agent gets an opportunity to turn an internet lead into a client!
I love the way top producing agent, Mike Parker of Huff Realty in Northern Kentucky, explains the concept of stealth sites. He talks about with marketing you have a front door, side door, and back door. He uses this analogy to explain that the front door is your agent branded website, buyers and sellers looking for Mike Parker. The side door is a website used to capture clients looking for homes and not an agent (the stealth site approach). The back door would be a buyer or seller looking for general information could be community info, schools, parks, etc. This content could be on your branded site as well as in your Blog. Ah yes, blogging… very important, but we will save that topic for anther time.