The Paperless Agent Launches New Digital Marketing Certification

Too many agents are guilty of breaking an unspoken promise to their sellers, according to The Paperless Agent. The company, which is owned by the leaders of GoodLife Realty, is "declaring war" on an antiquated industry practice at the root of this breach of trust.

"When sellers list their home with an agent, they're expecting that the agent will market their home in a competent manner," says Garry Wise, co-founder of The Paperless Agent. "This implies that the agent is knowledgeable about what they're supposed to do, including how to market the home online. However, far too many agents just do the absolute minimum that everyone does--put the listing in the MLS and hope for the best. That's not an adequate amount of action."

Relying on listing syndication doesn't gets you off the hook, either. While it may be enough to sell a home in some markets, it's still a passive method that does nothing to actively market your seller's property.

"If sellers knew that's all agents did, they wouldn't be willing to pay those commissions," says Chris Scott, President of The Paperless Agent. "Ask the owner of an expired listing why their home didn't sell, and what do they say? 'My agent didn't do anything.'"

The Fight for Higher Standards

According to The Paperless Agent, this poor customer service causes a breach in trust that spreads across the industry and creates a negative reputation for agents everywhere--and that's why they're declaring war on the practice.

The company is leading the fight through education, and recently introduced the Real Estate Digital Marketer (REDM) certification course to teach agents how to leverage digital marketing to promote and sell their clients' properties.

"In an age where 92% of buyers use the internet during their home search process, agents need competence in online marketing," says Scott. "We propose that when sellers engage us, we understand how to market online and offline so they can get as many potential buyers as possible."

Scott says the course will "take an aggressive approach" to rapidly give agents the new skills and knowledge they need to properly care for their customers. This includes training on building identities online, property landing pages, SEO, YouTube videos, geotargeted Facebook ads, and more.

The course itself is fully online and consists of 12 hours of detailed video instruction. Once agents complete the course, they're listed on the REDM website where they can be found by consumers in their area looking for a certified agent.

Want a preview of the course content? Head over to thepaperlessagent.com/redm to watch short video snippets of each of the course "chapters." Be sure to sign up for the waiting list while you're there, too. The first open registration period sold out with more than 450 agents joining during the initial launch! For a longer, 15-minute preview, click here.