Keller Williams Mobilizes Real Estate Marketing Efforts

Keller Williams has caught the wave.

The Alexandra, VA.-based realty firm is working with Proteus to launch a mobile marketing campaign that combines SMS messaging and mobile Web sites to automatically respond to a potential home buyer's text message query with additional details about the home and a link to a mobile Web site created specifically for the available property.

According to Keller Williams, when an individual sees a property in print, online or on-site, he or she is prompted to send a property-specific keyword to a mobile short code for more information.

The potential home buyer instantly receives property data via Proteus' auto-responder technology, available 24 hours a day/7 days a week.

The text message not only contains key property information, but also a link to a customized WAP site that provides additional details, property photos, realtor information and lead capture tools.

The opt-in program provides Keller Williams realtors with contact information so that they can follow up with the interested party.

"This program is not only beneficial to the home buyer, but also the home seller," says Shane McCullar, Managing Broker of Keller Williams Realty, in a statement.

"It provides immediate information at the exact time a property piques the interest of a buyer. For the seller, the application represents an innovative tool to market his or her home in the digital age. At Keller Williams, the new standard in real estate is anything but standard."

Proteus is far from the first to launch such initiatives, of course. Gumiyo and CellAHouse have been helping realtors do this for years. And RISMedia has been telling realtors how to do it on their own for months. 

Still, Proteus' solution is likely first rate. In BRANDING UNBOUND the book, I interview
Craig Shapiro, former vice president of wireless services for Proteus on several of the groundbreaking initiatives the company has launched.

In short: They know what they're doing.

For more on the Keller Williams project, click here.

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