Marketing Extraordinary Properties Needs the Extraordinary

Special, stately properties need a unique sales plan that is complemented by creative and engaging storytellers and visual artists who leverage an extraordinary marketing plan. 

Whether a property is a ranch with acres of rolling hills, trees, ponds and abundant wildlife, or a neighborhood estate in an urban setting with finish-outs sourced from around the globe, an agent must be visionary, entrepreneurial and creative in order to attract the right buyer. That means understanding the land or property, determining the right price, staging the home, creating the sales and marketing plan and pulling together the right team of professionals to tell the story.

When Susan Baldwin, vice president at Allie Beth Allman and Associates, received the Shady Oaks Ranch near Flower Mound, she knew that like many of her properties this one had a special story. So, she hired experts to help her existing marketing and social team create that story. 

A Texas writer who knows the importance of land coaxed the sellers into expanding on how the ranch not only provided a setting for their family’s education and recreation, but how it also became the iconic backdrop for not one but two Cattle Baron Ball fundraisers. An award-winning photographer turned the ranch’s sun-splashed vistas dotted with Black Angus cattle grazing near a pond and dozens of centuries-old trees into a breathtaking canvas of color and imagery of a long-ago Texas ranch that now sits just a few miles from the city center. A drone pilot’s quick and steady hands and superb aerial skills provided sweeping and close-up views from a unique perspective that elevated the print, social and digital platforms. 

“Every home takes a very special plan, strategy, and expertise to get the deal done,” Susan says. “No two homes are the same and I always tailor my approach to the client and the home to ensure that I have the best of the best in place every time.”

After the team created the story of lifestyle with historical perspective and context and the future viability of both the ranch and Flower Mound, Susan quickly got the word out. She placed the property in Lands of Texas, The Wall Street Journal-California, The Dallas Morning News, the Dallas Business Journal, Southlake Style, D Magazine, D Home, CandysDirt.com, and digital second-home initiatives. After posting the beautiful photography and drone footage to the Lands of Texas website, she received calls from around the world. Shortly thereafter, the sellers received the right price for the property.

“For the Shady Oaks Ranch, putting the right mix of professionals together to do what they do best brought the entire place alive,” Susan says. “It showed the buyer’s family how it could see itself living, working and playing on a ranch and adding their own legacy to a great piece of Texas.”