2018 Auction Deal of the Year

By Cary Estes
When Peoples Company auctioneer Jared Chambers was presented with the task of publicizing an impending auction of two ranches totaling more than 8,000 acres across two counties in Western South Dakota, he developed a marketing campaign that extended far beyond the state lines.
Over the next two months, Peoples Company direct mailed 4,000 postcards to landowners nationwide; created two news releases, three promotional videos, a 16-page brochure, and a 75-page information booklet; and advertised the auction in national magazines, on radio, and via every imaginable social media platform.
“We didn’t just hang a sign and put a small ad in the local newspaper and hope for the best,” Chambers recalls. “We covered every aspect in detail. We really dove into every angle of the sorts of buyers who would be interested in this type of property, and how to reach them. We targeted prospects at a national level.”
As a result of this massive effort, a noisy crowd of more than 200 jam-packed the Faith Community Center for the June 7th auction. Months of toil and worry paid off when all five tracts of land – which included ample water sources, working cattle facilities, mineral rights, and a total of four homes – sold at projected prices.
Chambers’s marketing effort was so successful that the auction was honored as the Auction Marketing Campaign of the Year by the National Auctioneers Association (NAA). The selection marks the second consecutive year that Peoples Company has won the award, but it was a first for Chambers.
“In our industry, winning this award is what you desire to do. It’s the granddaddy of them all,” Chambers says. “It’s been my goal for several years.”

Land Report 2018 Auction Deal of the Year: Western South Dakota Auction in Perkins & Meade Counties

SELLERS
– Triple R Ranch
– Lyle & Rhonda Rowen
– Faith, South Dakota
AUCTIONEERS
– Jared Chambers, CAI
– Adam Curran, REALTOR ®