Welcome to the latest episode of Behind the Print, where we bring you the creative stories of industry leaders shaping the world of professional printing. In this episode of Behind the Print, we’re joined by the Marketing and Brand Manager of Engel & Völkers, Kaitlin WeigeIt. Kaitlin is a passionate, creative designer in the world of luxury real estate marketing with Engel & Völkers Florida. With a degree in Digital Media Design from Florida Gulf Coast University and a genuine love for storytelling, Kaitlin walks us through the journey of marketing high-end, luxury estates to some of the most discerning clientele.

Below, you’ll find the transcript of our conversation, edited for clarity to ensure easy reading. If you want the full, authentic experience, make sure to check out the video attached below.

Connor Shields: Welcome back to Behind the Print Podcast, where we feature industry leaders and uncover the creative minds and their businesses within the world of professional printing. Our mission is to provide you with inspiring actionable resources that elevate your business projects and accelerate your journey to excellence in profit and in print.

Today’s episode is Crafting Luxury, One Page at a Time, and I’m here today Marketing and Brand Manager of Engel & Völkers, Kaitlin WeigeIt. How you doing today?

Kaitlin WeigeIt: I’m good. How are you?

Connor Shields : I’m good, thank you for joining us.

Kaitlin WeigeIt: Of Course, I’m excited.

Connor Shields: So what can you tell me about the people who buy property from Engel & Völkers?

Kaitlin WeigeIt: So Engel & Völkers’ clients are discerning buyers that are looking for more than just a property. They invest in lifestyles. Usually it’s people that are looking for waterfront estates, condos, and island retreats. We’ve got offices in Florida, at least from Naples to Key West, Jacksonville, Pensacola. We’re pretty much all over the map. Even in the equestrian cities in Ocala and Wellington, they’re drawn to luxury. Though our brand likes to offer personalized services, white glove, they typically are looking for clients that are in the higher price range. But every, Florida market is pretty different. So whether that’s the luxury of a waterfront, canal or a condo that’s kind of looking over a river, anything like that is usually what our clients are looking for.

“Engel & Völkers’ clients are discerning buyers that are looking for more than just a property. They invest in lifestyles.”

Connor Shields: What are some of the biggest challenges in selling a property in this market?

Kaitlin WeigeIt: I would say there’s a lot of noise going on social media. Anytime you open up Zillow and you search for a property, you’re going to constantly get those ads and it curates your algorithm to other people doing different marketing. So being an advisor that’s trying to sell a property, you have to fight with everybody because everybody’s doing digital ads and , selling their services online. It becomes a cluster, so trying to make sure that you stand out from your competitors is really what the biggest issue is. Same thing with email, there’s so much stuff that goes to spam. If you’re not recognized by these people, it’s just going to go straight to their spam box and they’re never going to see it. So, trying to figure out ways to get your stuff to the top of inboxes is also pretty difficult.

Connor Shields: So how do you stand out and get yourself to the top of those inboxes?

Kaitlin WeigeIt: We have a lot of different offers within the brand. We have different companies such as Lofty that are pretty robust with what they’re able to do and able to help these advisors get their stuff to the top of the inboxes. Sending out like weekly campaigns helps them a little bit more. Gmail recognizes their email a little bit easier so it’s not just going straight to their spam and they know that it’s a verified sender.

Connor Shields: Okay. I think that might have just answered my next question. What is the most influential marketing strategy in buying and selling properties?

Kaitlin WeigeIt: It really has to be the digital ads. People are getting physical mailing, but that also has the potential to be seen as junk mail. If you don’t have a nice pretty picture and it’s not nicely branded, it’s going to get tossed out most of the time if it’s not a bigger piece.

We do offer our GG magazines, which is out of Germany. It curates all the properties that get sent to it from locations like California. We’ve got 30 countries that we’re located in, so it’s got a whole bunch of different listings in there and it’s curated with a bunch of different luxury, and lifestyle information. One of our subscribers for GG is Kim Kardashian.

“If you don’t have a nice pretty picture and it’s not nicely branded, it’s going to get tossed out most of the time if it’s not a bigger piece.“

Connor Shields: Wow.

Kaitlin WeigeIt: So it’s kind of a big deal out there. She posted one time on her Instagram story with a picture of it on her coffee table. It’s a nice magazine, it’s something that stands out. Another thing that we like to do with our physical mail is putting a red wax seal onto the back of letters, so it’s a little bit more personalized when somebody opens it up. It’s a bit of a different experience instead of just using the normal glue strip on the back of it. That’s another nice little touch that we like to do to stand out in physical mail.

Connor Shields: Very interesting. Do you have any major milestones or projects that have defined your career at Engel and vs.

Kaitlin WeigeIt: Yeah, my favorite project is a luxury market report that we do for the state of Florida. We highlight all the markets that we’re currently in, which is over 50, so it’s quite a bit, but we take the data from FloridaRealtors.com and I put it into a spreadsheet, analyze it, and put it into this market report that gets published. We do it at the end of the year and we do it mid-year. It started off when I was an intern and we’ve been doing it for about two, three years now. I’ve got a little system down for it, it’s a lot of work, but it’s my favorite thing to do and we use you guys for printing every time we do it, and it comes out beautifully.

Connor Shields: We appreciate that. So what are some of the largest challenges that Eng and Volckers as a company faces, and how do you address that?

Kaitlin WeigeIt: I would say we’ve got a lot of luxury competitors. Sotheby’s, Coldwell Banker, they’re,  bigger names, but they don’t offer the same services that we do. We really like to stick with white gloves offering where we’re doing everything for you behind the scenes, making sure that everything is getting done efficiently and that you don’t have to worry about anything.

We’ve got a lot of different companies that we work with like title partners and lawyers. So we want to make sure from start to finish, each person that’s buying or selling a home feels comfortable and they know what’s going on, but they don’t have to do anything.

“So we want to make sure from start to finish, each person that’s buying or selling a home feels comfortable and they know what’s going on, but they don’t have to do anything.”

Connor Shields: Can you tell me more about your white glove offerings?

Kaitlin WeigeIt: Yeah. It kind of goes from the marketing perspective. The advisors do everything they can to make sure that they’re sending out postcards to their different clients in areas that might be off or might be interested in moving to these areas or might be interested in selling. One of the big things is the farming campaigns that we do. We send them out postcards and email campaigns to these specific markets to make sure that the demographics understand that they have a realtor, that they have somebody there that can buy or sell their home for them. But in Florida we work with a title partner that works with pretty much all of our brokerages, but it helps them get to the finish line pretty fast and each one of our brokerages make sure that their licensed partner is really keen on the market and they really understand what’s going to be the best process for trying to get this home out or when it should be going online.

Connor Shields: So kind of a different question. If you had a day completely free to spend however you’d like, how would you spend it?

Kaitlin WeigeIt: It would have to be going to the pool. I’m sure every graphic designer knows that the sunlight does not hit your face pretty much all week. You are stuck behind the computer. So the only light you’re getting is that blue light coming from your computer.

Connor Shields: Believe me, I know the struggle. One last question for you: How can our listeners get in touch with you to buy a property or learn more about Engle and Volkers?

Kaitlin WeigeIt: We’ve got a couple different options for that. The general website for Engel & Völkers for all of Americas is going to be https://www.evrealestate.com/en. You can also email us at, florida@evrealestate.com. If anyone’s interested in opening a brokerage or learning more about opening a brokerage with Florida Engel and Volker, you can contact us at florida@bbrealestate.com.

Connor Shields: Well, I think that’s a wrap on another episode of Behind the Print. Thank you for joining us as we explore the artistry and innovation of the printing world. Remember, having a strong vision, building the right strategy, and using tools like Print to amplify your message will make your brand stand out from the crowd. If you enjoyed today’s episode, be sure to get a sample pack today from printingcenterusa.com and share it with your fellow business enthusiast. Until next time, keep those creative sparks flying and remember there’s always more behind the print.

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