This SMART 100 profile and the information it contains is a duplication of content submitted by the applicant during the entry process. As a function of entry, applicants were required to declare that all details are factually correct, do not infringe on another’s intellectual property and are not unlawful, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, obscene, or otherwise objectionable. Some profiles have been edited for reasons of space and clarity.
Learn more about the SMART 100 >>
1. THE BEGINNING
This innovation initially came to life when…
The founders wanted to create a live platform that brought transparency and honesty to dealings between real estate agents and the public. The public typically complained that agents “never got back” to them, or had they known a property sold or rented for a certain price they would have been more interested to know about its progress. The public basically wanted a better way of being first to know what was happening with properties they were interested in and what was happening in their market generally so they could make better informed decisions when it came to buying and renting.
2. WHAT & HOW
The purpose of this innovation is to…
followit is a live communication platform that delivers real-time information to the public by real estate agents direct, like the stock exchange does for shares. It saves the public time and money as they can make better more informed decisions.
It does this by…
followit allows the public to follow what they want, whether a specific property, street, suburb, region or price range, and then enables real estate agents to push relevant breaking updates for each of their properties in simple template based notifications directly to the various public pools following, similar to which they would receive for Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.
3. PURPOSE & BENEFITS
This innovation improves on what came before because…
followit is a ‘follow engine’, not ‘search engine’. Previously you had to search for properties online, filtering down the results to what you wanted. The problem with this; you get too many irrelevant properties in your feed, including properties you’ve already seen and didn’t like. followit knows what you like, and will only deliver this content to your feed.
Its various benefits to the customer/end-user include…
With live, accurate information instantly at your fingertips, you can make better informed real estate decisions for free. Previously, there was a lot of guesswork and limited informational transparency, which involved lots of researching the market, which was time consuming.
4. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
In the past, this problem was solved by…
The problem had been unsolved. Wading through lots of irrelevant search results online to find the gems you wanted to buy or rent, or updates on the homes you had previously seen, and relying on agents to keep you updated, was cumbersome and unreliable. The public were making less informed and poorer decisions and agents had a resulting bad image.
Its predecessors/competitors include…
followit is the first mover in this real time communication space as the traditional major real estate search players have traditionally focused on delivery of static property search classified advertising rather than live information push to the public.
5. TARGET MARKET
It is made for…
CONSUMERS: Everyone who is time poor and in the market for property to buy or rent. People who are users of social media – such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – are conditioned to follow information, rather than search for information. followit is a natural progression for these people to use, rather than the current static online search models, for property research, communication and transacting. INDUSTRY: Agents who want to communicate information about updates and developments in their market place and listings with the greatest number of people possible will find followit invaluable as a low cost lead generation tool.
It is available for sale through…
For the public, followit is free to use and is available for use on smartphones through downloadable apps (IOS and Andriod), tablets, and desktop at www.followit.com.au. For agents, it is also available on a freemium basis through similar means.
Our marketing strategy is to…
followit’s public marketing strategy is primarily via digital and social marketing channels in staged launched areas similar to disruptive technologies such as Uber, and supplemented through engagement by real estate agents direct with the public following their properties with point of sale collateral and various strategic non-traditional campaigns designed to entice consumer, and therefore increased agent, interest and market penetration.
FINE PRINT: This SMART 100 profile and the information it contains is a duplication of content submitted by the applicant during the entry process. As a function of entry, applicants were required to declare that all details are factually correct, do not infringe on another’s intellectual property and are not unlawful, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, obscene, or otherwise objectionable. Some profiles have been edited for reasons of space and clarity.
