MARKETING
Net profitability
Danielle Simpson looks at the second
generation property portals and reminds
us that online marketing is no longer an
alternative, it’s a necessity
s digital media advertising own websites and is favoured for this
A
has come into its own, reason by my clients and many others.
agents are faced with a Whichever portal the home-finders use
plethora of ways to reach they will find a wealth of properties to view
consumers: property so agents must consider whether a lack of
portals, flash animation online leads reflects their poor quality
banners, html advertising and blogging to property visuals, leaving listings to be lost
name but a few. So how can companies get in a sea of superb-looking alternatives.
the best return on their marketing spend Although it’s not always economically
and most efficiently reach their target viable for agents to invest in professional
audience via the internet? photography across the board, digital
cameras, wide angle lenses and illuminated
GETTING A HIGHER RETURN rooms enable any would-be photographer
ON YOUR INVESTMENT to take a decent shot these days and basic
Rightmove and Primelocation continue to training is crucial to agents’ core HR
top the property portal popularity stakes strategy. Logging on is the best form of
but general consensus puts portals in the market research possible and regular test
firing line for being too costly, lacking runs will highlight any issues – both with
opportunity for corporate branding and the site and your own presence on it.
providing diluted coverage with limited
scope to show multiple images and PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE
resources. That said, the new generation of Primelocation.com and FindaProperty.com YOUR MOUSE IS
property search engines are giving the big – how did we ever do without them? According to Rawnet, a web design agency,
four a run for their money and all this around 75 per cent of British consumers
competition brings with it innovation – business will be rewarded with a substantial have been put off a company by its website
and plenty of choice. share of the industry’s marketing spend as yet we all recognise that powerful online
According to Hitwise, 75 per cent of the housing market recovers – and even presence is fundamental to business
prospective buyers start their property with the recession their half year revenue growth. So what’s going wrong? Property
search online. Although backing the major to 30 June 09 was still £33.6m – companies marketing professionals understand every
portals remains a must for many agents, now have plenty of choice. element of web development and recognise
companies can create significant online Agents can easily feel overwhelmed by that results are not solely about
brand awareness and property marketing the volume of this choice; reviewing your optimisation – pushing your site up the
by linking to property search engines that online advertising strategy frequently is Google search rankings – but also
use ‘vertical search’ to directly match a key. Next generation portals Propertyindex functionality and delivering covert
user’s search criteria, bringing them and Zoopla have challenged the marketing messages embedded in the site.
directly into the agent’s own site, rather subscription fee portal model by accepting Brand leaders use this marketing
than their property being ‘hosted’ on the a pay-per-lead model, believing this is key knowledge to combine compelling content
portal site. They need to run high profile to its success in making the most of clients’ with fast bandwidth, intelligent
advertising campaigns to ensure home- marketing spend. programming and design to ensure they
searchers log on in the first place. Globrix “Our model based on £1 per buyer lead provide rapid information and
took the market by storm by providing and £5 per vendor lead is a fraction of what communicate their USP from the outset.
clear product differentiation and heavy estate agents are spending on other portals Flash animation banners play a key role in
promotion in the Sunday Times – both are to get these leads,” says founder and CEO, this strategy and are a low cost method of
owned by News International. Alex Chesterman. Similarly Globrix advertising multiple products, services and
Although Rightmove believes their own enables users to hop straight onto clients’ sales messages as the user navigates a site.
20 OCTOBER 2009 PROPERTYdrum
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