Michael LaFido directly addresses camera:  Stories sell. Just think about it. Go to any social gathering and the most popular people are the ones telling the best stories. When marketing a home, each one has a story. Whether it's the amenities of the house, the surrounding area or local attractions, we're selling more than bricks and mortar.

I'm Michael LaFido, founder and CEO of Marketing Luxury Group. I teach real estate professionals like you the importance of marketing luxury properties using storytelling techniques. Let's take five minutes to talk about how you can find a property's story and make it sing with creative marketing.

We're selling a lifestyle. We're selling protection. We're selling safety and we're selling laughs and fun. We're in a dating app world where people are swiping left, swiping right on homes just like they do on other apps. So, how we market homes with photos, video and more will position that home for a quick and successful sale.

How do you create the marketing story? First, you have to know what buyers in that market and price range are looking for. Then, you need to highlight the areas of the home, neighborhood or area that would trigger those desires. The first thing I do when taking a listing is a SWOT analysis. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Remember, people buy on emotion. 

As far as strengths, is it the curb appeal? An updated kitchen? Spacious home office? Once you identify the strengths, you know what to highlight. Same with weaknesses, does the property back up to power lines? Does it have an outdated kitchen? This helps you identify what not to highlight.

Opportunities are anything the seller can do to make the house stand out better, such as painting, neutralizing smells and landscaping. Finally, you have threats. One threat may be the neighbor with a larger house listed for less than your listing. 

Once you identify these elements, the story becomes clearer. If the home has a fantastic backyard with a firepit and lots of privacy, these pictures should be front and center in your marketing, and your message should include the opportunity to entertain, have long chats surrounding the firepit, talk about the outdoor living and more. Lifestyle marketing is about the potential of the home and its special amenities.

So, if the home has an open floorplan, but you know that a large percentage of potential buyers are looking for more compartmentalized rooms, you could get feedback from a contractor about the potential to reconfigure the space. For everything from an average-priced to high-end home, it may even pay to have renderings drawn and get an estimate of what it would cost. If I get a lot of feedback from buyers that they want a less open floorplan, I may show them the potential of having the home remodeled. Sometimes, buyers just need to see the possibilities and that turns a potential weakness into an opportunity.

I caution you to be cognizant of fair housing laws in your marketing. Maybe the house has a game room and you want to say it would be perfect for a growing family — that would potentially be a violation. Instead, you might want to talk about the fun of hosting a game night party or how they might turn that room into a movie room.

The key to telling a property's story is to identify it first. Once you do that, highlight the strengths and opportunities, then you'll help buyers visually move into the home.