The key to selling out your development project is finding buyers who are looking for what you are offering. Finding the right buyers' involves marketing activities designed to attract interested people. Generating and nurturing those leads is key to the sales success of your project.

So today I am talking marketing off the plan properties with Tim Fleming. Tim is currently working on a couple of publishing platforms that help developers market their stock, and Tim was also involved very early on with realestate.com.au so he has enjoyed a front row seat over the past 10 years as the digital wave crashed over the property market.

We talk about what impact digital marketing has had in off the plan sales, how you respond to a changing market and a couple of great ways you can generate and nurture leads. If you want some ideas on how you can generate more leads for your next project then we share some gems that won't break the bank.

Lessons for real estate developers

It was a good chat on how digital marketing is helping to reshape off the plan selling. I found it amusing when Tim recalled how in 2007 an email address was considered worthless as a lead to a developer, how things have changed! Here are a couple of lessons I took from our conversation:

1. Product and pricing is still very important for property developers

Despite all the advances in digital marketing and the various platforms that have sprung up, getting your product and pricing right is still critical to the sale of an off the plan property. And this is amplified in a softening market, so pay close attention to what you are proposing and how much it is going to cost the buyer.

2. Producing helpful content is a great way for property developers to assist buyers

I am a strong believer in producing content and marketing materials that helps people make a buying decision. If you can help educate people on what they need to consider before they buy a property that can be helpful and build trust. There is a mountain of content that you could produce to help people, from the type of furniture they may need in their new apartment, or how an owners corporation works, or the story about how you chose the site for your project. You can also produce content about the people on your project team - the designers, builders, interior designers etc - and sketch out the details of what you are trying to do. Just keep in mind that focusing on the needs of your potential buyers will produce more relevant content, rather than just publishing stuff that is all about you.

3. Nurture and measure your leads

Tim mentioned that lead nurturing is very important and that paying attention to people is key to converting the lead into a sale. Tim highlighted the importance of measuring your efforts to understand where your audience is coming from and what they are interested in. And don't forget if you have past buyers or an existing database you can leverage your relationship with them. Maybe they have family or friends who may be interested in what you are doing... in fact I am going to do that on my next project with people who purchased in my last project, I am going to let them know early on that we have something coming to market so if there is any interest we can get the conversation going, as they already have some experience dealing with me, they may feel more comfortable dealing with me again.

If you enjoyed that marketing chat with Tim then check out my previous discussion with project marketer extraordinaire Ben Buxton about