The purpose isn't awareness. It's momentum.
By the time a listing goes active on the MLS, the best outcome is that serious buyers already know it's coming, agents are already asking when it goes live, and the first open house weekend feels like a release, not a debut.
When other agents are reaching out before the list date — asking for early showings, asking about offer timing, passing along client interest — that's the signal the campaign is working. Agents talk to each other. Pre-market buzz in the agent community translates directly into day-one traffic and competitive offer situations.
An agent who is fielding three calls from buyers' agents before a listing goes active has done their job. The calls mean the market knows something good is coming. That anticipation is worth real money on offer day.
A buyer motivated enough to request a private showing before the property is even active is more serious than ten casual open house visitors. They've made an effort. They've identified this property as worth prioritizing. They're likely working with a buyer's agent who knows the market and has told them this one is worth seeing early.
Cultivating pre-market showings — through agent outreach, targeted email to buyer's agents with known active clients, and "coming soon" communication to the agent community — is one of the highest-leverage activities in a pre-launch window. The goal is to arrive at offer day with buyers who have already seen the home, not buyers who are seeing it for the first time at the open house.
Strong click-through rates on targeted email and social campaigns signal that the marketing is reaching the right people and the presentation is compelling enough to earn attention. In real estate, above 10% click-through on a targeted campaign is genuinely exceptional — most campaigns run well below that.
But digital engagement without real-world follow-through is just data. The question is always whether online interest is converting to scheduled showings, saved searches, and agent inquiries. A listing with 500 saves on Zillow and no pre-market showing requests has an audience problem, not a marketing success. Track the conversion, not just the top-of-funnel numbers.
A pre-market campaign that worked shows up as multiple offers, strong opening bids, and buyers who came in pre-informed about the property rather than discovering it cold at the open house. Buyers who have followed the listing, seen photos and video before the open house, and discussed it with their agent before offer day write better offers. They've had time to get comfortable with the home and confident in their number.
If offer day feels like a scramble — buyers rushing to pull comps, agents calling for information they should already have — the pre-market work didn't do its job. The best launches start long before "Active" status appears on the MLS.
Last updated: March 2026 · Patrick MacCartee, The Grubb Company, DRE #02142693
Pre-market campaigns succeed when they produce buyers who have had time to get comfortable, confident, and competitive — not buyers who are still evaluating whether they want the house. Measure agent engagement, private showing requests, and offer-day quality. Everything else is vanity.
A well-executed pre-market campaign is one of the highest-leverage things a seller can do. Let's talk through what that looks like for your specific property.
