An agent from Victoria, British Columbia, has built a new listing and social media marketing solution for the busy agents everywhere — and it’s called CoVault.
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CoVault is a marketing software for creating listing brochures and social media content.
Platforms: Browser
Ideal for: Brokerages and agents
Top selling points:
- Very fast brochure creation
- Connects from MLS ID
- White-labeled interface
- Created by an agent
Top concerns:
The roadmap appears to be heading toward a more comprehensive marketing platform, which would pit CoVault against many of the industry’s most powerful CRMs.
What you should know
CoVault makes creating listing brochures and social media content exceptionally easy.
There are plenty of options out there (FlyerCo, Zip Your Flyer, PropertySimple and ListReports, to name a few) that use MLS ID numbers to rapidly assemble print and online marketing collateral, but only a few I’ve seen do it this quickly.
Most of OnVault’s options can be created in under a minute, then shared or printed. They offer an array of templates for listing flyers and social media posts for Facebook and even Instagram Stories.
What I also find impressive is that the software was built by Amber Simpson, a Victoria, British Columbia-based real estate agent, and launched in the spring of 2020.
The visuals look good, lacking dated themes or tired design clichés. You’ll look like you hired someone to create it for you. Of course, you can employ your admin to build them for you because the software has a “submit for approval” command to sending to brokers or team members who need verify if a marketing piece is ready for prime time.
The back-and-forth on edits is handled within the system to avoid the exhausting effort of trying to communicate changes via email.
Pictures, copy and other uploaded assets can be altered from templates, but brokers can lock in logos and other branded content, similar to LucidPress, but not quite to the same degree.
Brokerages can brand CoVault so it looks like their own, which could be a nice recruiting touch and offers agents something to point to in listing presentations. Logos, contact information, colors and other required elements can be established upon setup.
There’s also a digital version available, which has live links and the option for QR codes, which seem to be coming back as a result of the latest Apple and Samsung phones having built-in scanners. These codes could be linked to an online form for open house registration (if that’s what the flyer is promoting), a branding video or virtual property tour.
There’s a lot of potential here, which tends to scare me a little.
Founder Amber Simpson referenced Canva in our demo as something to emulate. But as versatile as Canva can be, it’s still much more than most agents need. The strength of her software is in its simplicity. Enter an MLS ID, hit print.
Agents need to save time and look good doing it. As of now, that’s what this software does well — and I think it would suffer under the burden of too many design options or feature bloat.
There is a calendar-based scheduling feature (under development at the time of our demo) that will add some value, but Facebook and Instagram already have content planners. Plus, CoVault uses Facebook’s API to open a window for designating a page and offers a preview of what the post will look like when published.
Is the scheduler feature based on user feedback or assumed need? I’m guessing the latter given the company’s short tenure.
CoVault is definitely worth looking into for your marketing efforts, specifically in its early stages so you can be a part of directing its growth through case studies and user feedback.
I’m hoping Simpson’s team stays laser-focused on perfecting what’s in their code already, aiming at additional forms of collateral, ongoing designs and team-based functionality.
Have a technology product you would like to discuss? Email Craig Rowe
Craig C. Rowe started in commercial real estate at the dawn of the dot-com boom, helping an array of commercial real estate companies fortify their online presence and analyze internal software decisions. He now helps agents with technology decisions and marketing through reviewing software and tech for Inman.
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