Godzilla and ZMOT – They’ve Got a Lot in Common
Look
Out!
ZMOT
Casts a Long Shadow Over Area Real
Estate Market
The
“ZMOT” in question isn’t some 3-D cinematic monster that boils
up from the sea to trample downtown Tokyo (though ZMOT and Godzilla
do have a few similarities). “ZMOT” is what Google has decided is
now happening to the real estate market —our own local
real estate market definitely included!
The
concept headlines this year’s joint Google-National Association of
RealtorsÒ
study of the current real estate market. It’s focused on how
digital media usage is affecting home shoppers.
They
find that ZMOT is trampling everything in sight.
ZMOT
stands for “Zero Moment of Truth” — the long-anticipated point
in time when traditional modes of shopping and purchasing become
eclipsed by the digital universe: web sites, search engines, social
channels, online video, etc. etc.
Nuggets
from the publication:
- 9
out of 10 homebuyers today rely on the web as a primary research
source (forget about asking around at the PTA meeting)…
- 52%
turn to the Internet first (instead of the back page of Section 2
of the local newspaper)…
- One-fifth
of real estate-related searches take place on mobile devices (that
doesn’t mean driving around the neighbourhood, either)…
ZMOT is here, all right, and
those of us whose profession is to spend full time in the local
real estate market are not at all surprised. It’s unlike Raymond
Burr’s famed opening line in Godzilla:
What has happened here was
caused by a force which up until a few days ago was entirely beyond
the scope of Man’s imagination.
What
has now “happened here” is that homebuyers are performing an
average 11 online searches before settling down to take action (‘take
action’ is key — it’s a good way to separate out looky-loos).
Does
this mean you’re on your own in this digital age, wrestling with
your iPad, smartphone and web search engine to figure out your next
foray into our town’s real estate
market? Fortunately, not at all. Of those 9 out of 10 who use the
Internet, fully 89% also turn to someone like me — your local
real estate agent — to help buy or sell. Please,
give me a call!