Most of us would agree that if the property for sale is first class, the marketing should be also.  In practice, more often than not, this is not the case.

All too often we see organisations attempting to move high-end properties with marketing that is decidedly downmarket.  Why?

Considering retail for a second, have a wander around Bond Street or Sloane Street and enter some of the better boutiques such as Gucci or Bulgari. They’re designed to make us feel special. Everything is high quality, from the shop fixtures to the shop assistants.  Nothing is out of place and even the lighting has been considered for how it will affect our mood. The result is that we’re seduced; we want to be part of this world. Suddenly everything seems hugely desirable.

I’m sure we’ve all bought something expensive on impulse and never been sure why after the event.

Well it’s no accident.  Even the advertising that draws us into coveting the goods has been styled to the nth degree. The photographer won’t have been chosen for her cheap day rate, it will be because she is at the top of her game.

All of the luxury brands have planned all their marketing meticulously and quite often executed it perfectly.  The sustained good fortune of the luxury market is testament to the formula consistently paying off.

Yet when we turn our attention to luxury property, we often see that the opposite can be true. Clearly the sale prices are huge multiples of goods on the high street, but this isn’t equating to big budgets being spent on the marketing.   True, some agencies will use the services of an experienced and good property photographer, but then they’ll watch the production costs of the brochure like a hawk, and all of a sudden the quality and high-end appeal goes out of the window.  Or they’ll publish the decent shots on an aesthetically-challenged website that is difficult to navigate and is based on a template created in the last century.

We as consumers have put up with it over the years, possibly because of the nature of the market.  Sellers ruled so we put with poor details, poor images, awful websites, bad communication and total lack of pro-active customer service.

Yes, many get away with it because the property sometimes shifts.   But often they won’t. Or the price will go down before they do.

So why do it? Why don’t we seduce the buyer?  Why not envelope them in great design, usable and attractive websites, tactile brochures?  Make the customer want to be part of it all? Create the emotional pull.

The promotion needs to match the property.  Property marketing for high-end properties is not about presenting the goods, it’s about how you’re presenting the goods.