ConversionWax Playbook
Open House Proximity Alerts
Detect visitor location and show 'Open house this weekend 2 miles from you' for nearby properties with scheduled showings.
Tactic Overview
Drive open house traffic by automatically alerting visitors to nearby scheduled showings. When someone in the area visits your site, prominently display 'Open house Saturday 1-4 PM, 2.3 miles from you' for properties close to their location.
Primary goal
Increase open house attendance
Mechanism
Location detection + open house calendar
Where it shows
Homepage banners, property cards, alert modules
Why This Works
The friction
A prospective buyer browses real estate listings from their home in Fremont. Three properties within walking distance have open houses this weekend, but they're buried in search results without any proximity indication. The buyer misses all three events.
The unlock
When visitors see 'Open House Tomorrow: 0.8 miles from you' with a map preview showing it's around the corner, they're likely to stop by. One brokerage increased open house attendance by 73% with proximity-based promotion.
Implementation Steps
10 steps
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1Medium Effort
Centralize open house scheduling
Build a calendar of all upcoming open houses with property address, date, time, and agent details.
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2Quick Win
Geocode all properties
Ensure every listing has accurate lat/long coordinates for distance calculations.
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3Quick Win
Set up visitor location detection
Use ConversionWax to capture visitor's city and approximate location via geolocation.
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4Quick Win
Calculate proximity radius
Define 'nearby': within 5 miles for suburban, 2 miles for urban, 10+ miles for rural areas.
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5Medium Effort
Create proximity-triggered alerts
Design banner: 'Open House This Weekend: [Address], [Distance] from you, [Day] [Time]'.
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6Quick Win
Add urgency indicators
Show 'Tomorrow at 2 PM' or 'Today 1-4 PM' for immediate open houses.
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7Quick Win
Include one-click directions
Add 'Get Directions' button that opens Google/Apple Maps with the property address.
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8Medium Effort
Enable calendar add
Let visitors add open house to their phone calendar with one click.
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9Quick Win
Highlight multiple nearby events
If 3+ open houses are nearby, show 'Plan your weekend: 3 open houses near you'.
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10Quick Win
Track attendance attribution
Ask open house visitors 'How did you hear about this?' to measure alert effectiveness.
Real-World Example
Scenario
A brokerage hosted 40 open houses monthly across their metro area but averaged only 8 visitors per event. Website traffic was high (50K monthly), but open house promotion was limited to property detail pages.
Outcome
After implementing proximity-based open house alerts showing nearby events to local visitors, average attendance increased to 19 visitors per open house, with 61% citing the 'nearby open house' alert as discovery method.
Key Metrics to Track
Open House Attendance
Track average visitors per event. Target: 50%+ increase with proximity alerts.
Alert Click-Through Rate
Measure how many visitors click 'Get Directions' or 'Add to Calendar'.
Repeat Attendee Rate
Monitor if visitors who attend one open house return for others.
Listing Interest Post-Event
Track if open house attendees submit inquiries or schedule private showings.
Common Pitfalls
Showing expired open houses
Don't display 'Open house today' at 5 PM if it ended at 3 PM. Strictly filter by current time.
Distance calculation errors
2 miles 'as the crow flies' might be 5 miles by road. Consider using driving distance APIs.
Over-alerting visitors
Don't show open house banners on every page visit. Limit to once per session or with dismiss option.
Quick Reference
Best for
Real estate brokerages, agent websites
Effort level
Medium
Time to results
2-3 weeks
Difficulty
Intermediate