How to market an estate agency business
Estate agency has a long history of stereotyped presumptions. From the money-grabbing agents who will try and sell you any property that gives them a large chunk of commission, to the offices cluttered with paperwork, deafening phone calls and irate workers. We imagine an office-scene similar to that of Wolf of Wall Street when thinking of estate agency. All these stereotypes paint a dark picture of what potential buyers/sellers will encounter when coming face to face with an agent. Will they meet with a slimy agent who’s a posed pick-pocketer? or will they be bombarded with key phrases like “This property is extremely popular, so if you want it you need to sign the papers now” or “This home is perfect for your young family” as you and the agent stand in what can only be defined as a dilapidated barn.
Like most stereotypes, however, this vision we have been given time and time again is quite far from the truth and, as a marketer, it’s your job to destroy these stereotypes for the benefit of your company. A quick Google search reveals very little about the type of marketing company marketers perform that go beyond the basics when working in estate agency. Instead, there are hundreds of marketing branded talks, tool kits and courses that look at marketing from the agent’s profile-building perspective. This doesn’t help company marketers at all.
Aside from the general marketing basics of getting on social media, posting reviews and be consistently active, company estate agency marketing is a marketing type that hasn’t been truly explored yet. Estate agency marketers are starving for the in-depth knowledge we all crave about our specific industry. We want to know best practices, tips on how to increase engagement and what new trends are taking over. This process of weaving through the maze is made even more complex when adding on top the stereotypes that follow estate agency.
Who does it best?
Zoopla is one of the best (in my opinion) marketers for this industry, why? Because they don’t focus on the people in suits. Like many top-of-their-league marketing teams, Zoopla’s produces content that platforms the end result, i.e a happy home. They do this through max 30 second long clips which are beautifully shot and featuring up to two people enjoying their new home. Zoopla gives us the fairy tale result we dream of when buying or selling a home. We are fed home-ownership hope and we, the audience, eat it up.
This isn’t a new concept of course. Since selling and buying began, companies have been giving us a dream of how our lives will change after purchasing/selling a product and we believe it wholeheartedly.
Unfortunately, though not all companies have the time or money to spend on ultra high-quality video-focused campaigns, and instead we make do with what we have. This is in no way means our marketing is not as effective. After all, in everyone’s pocket, we hold a camera, a microphone and any editing tool compacted into one little mobile phone. As a marketer, your phone is your greatest tool.
All marketers know of the power of social media and video. Trending data is bombarding us the power of these two superheroes every day, but how can we as estate agency marketers make use of them?
The problems
Firstly, we need to know our audience and their pain points. Unluckily for estate agent marketers, our audience is pretty big and so the option to specify and focus is almost impossible. We have first-time-buyers, growing families, buy-to-let owners, landlords and those looking to move to a smaller home in their old age to name a few. With all these people you have a lot of choices, almost too many choices on how to market to your audience. So, we go onto our next basic marketing step, understanding our audience’s pain points. These pain points can include buying/selling novices who feel overwhelmed, agency stereotypes, bias and other factors that we aren’t even aware of yet. Perhaps one of the biggest set backs is the weight of stress. Moving is one of the most stressful processes we go through during our lives and this is our greatest enemy as marketers. We don’t want our audience to feel stressed. We want them to trust us and think of our business first when wishing to move.
As all these different issues swirl above our heads, it can be overwhelming and some marketers may choose to take the safe route, posting property pictures on Facebook, setting up reviewing tools and generally sticking to a safe and easy way of gaining traction. Marketing basics are important but they won’t be winning you any industry awards or potential clients anytime soon. Your marketing needs to stand out and meet your audience halfway.
Best practices
Here they are, the best practices we all have been waiting for. Let’s start off with something very obvious. Use video. My god use video. Use you phone and start recording. Though estate agency has a wide audience to cater to, most people would prefer video and picture together compared to just pictures.
Record a property viewing, walk through the property and feed into the dream of living at this property. Mention how the property would be great for growing families and add your personal touch as a marketer, not as an estate agent. You want to garner attention for your brand, not necessarily sell the property so do what you do best and market.
Next, remember it’s not all about the properties, it’s about the people. The perception of estate agency isn’t great so break the stereotype. Ask your staff to post about themselves outside of the office. What are they interested in? What are their hidden talents? Essentially, who are they?
Obviously, keep it professional but a bit of fun here and there adds some humanity to your company and this is what your audience will remember.
Finally, dare to be different. Be that bridge that not only helps potential clients resonate with your brand but also b the bridge that finds new, creative ways of overcoming audience pain points. For example, buying a house is full of terminology that we don’t encounter outside of the estate agency world so overcome this linguistic issue through guides, slideshows, whatever you want. This type of content is ever-green and so the option to redesign is always there. The benefit of ever-green content is it is continuously helpful to your audience and can cater to many audience types.
Mic drop
Estate agency company marketing is difficult but it’s also an open book. There isn’t a big book outlining how to market to this type of industry so stick to your basics but explore. Try out new trends, lead the industry.
