Your latest marketing campaign is a success. Those valuation requests are rolling in, and it’s all hands on deck to win those instructions. You’re so busy listing new properties and making sales that your marketing comes to a halt. Before long, that flurry of leads slows, worry sets in and you turn your attention to your next marketing fix. Sound familiar?
This scenario is often referred to as the feast or famine cycle and is a common marketing challenge many businesses face. When your pipeline is looking thin, and there’s no long-term marketing plan in place, you look for a short-term fix. And so the cycle continues.
No matter how busy you get, you need to maintain a level of consistent marketing activity to avoid those peaks and troughs. A steady feed of quality new leads is the goal. And a realistic marketing plan you can stick to is the solution.
If times are tough with more famine than feast right now, it’s even more important to remain consistent and focus on building your future pipeline.
Your window display is there for all to see, and it provides the perfect opportunity to instigate some action from passers-by.
Quick Response (QR) codes have made a big comeback during the pandemic, and they’re proving a successful tool for estate agents.
Anyone can now use their smartphone camera to scan a QR code (no third-party app needed) and trigger a digital experience. So adding a QR code to your window cards means house hunters can flick through a digital property brochure or book a viewing right on the spot with just one quick scan.
To optimise your branch window display, speak to us about QR codes.
Many businesses increased their digital marketing in response to the pandemic, meaning competition for attention online has never been higher.
If you want to inspire action and increase your property stock, you need to get noticed. And right now, engagement with mail is higher than ever before at 96%.
Traditional marketing methods, like direct mail, are more trusted and believable, and direct mail can actually drive the website traffic and online engagement you’re after. Especially now as we continue to recover from the effects of this pandemic and people start to consider their next move. Direct mail is the perfect way to hit the heart of the home and inspire action.
To future-proof your pipeline in 2022, find out more about Directmailr™ – the easy way to create, print and deliver targeted prospecting campaigns from just 57p per mailer.
Everyone is interested in their local property market. In fact, sharing insights and statistics in an informed and professional manner gives you a better chance of winning instructions. This was evidenced in 2020’s Home Moving Trends Survey, which revealed that 81% of home movers place market knowledge in their top five reasons for choosing an estate agent.
So another way to increase quality leads for your estate agency in 2022 is to become known as the local property market expert in your area. Educating, motivating, and building trust and credibility.
Our partnership with Dataloft Inform means our mutual customers can add statistics and compelling content to their print marketing directly within Marketing Toolkit. Choose an area to target, and data will automatically pull through from Dataloft, helping you demonstrate your expertise while helping vendors and landlords understand their local market.
If you want to become the local property market expert in your area, speak to us about Marketing Toolkit and our Dataloft partnership.
“We recently sent a targeted direct mail campaign to circa 4,000 addresses using Marketing Toolkit, and it was a great success. So far, it’s generated five market appraisals, three of them coming to market with fees totalling £11.5k. I would highly recommend this service from Ravensworth.”
Local discoverability and search engine optimisation (SEO) should be an important marketing goal for an estate agent. And a complete and well-optimised Google My Business (GMB) listing is a good place to start. Here’s why…
46% of all Google searches are looking for local information. Type “estate agents near me”, and if it’s not your GMB listing showing up, it’s your competitors. To increase your chances of being found in local Google searches, you need to create and regularly update your GMB listing.
Remember that vendors often look for reviews and social reassurance before choosing an estate agent. So the ability to collect reviews via your GMB and display them directly on the search engine results page is a significant benefit that could boost your property stock.
Take a step back and assess your use of social media. Are you spreading yourself too thin by trying to maintain a presence on every platform?
As new social media platforms continue to spring up, it can be tempting to jump on the latest trend for fear of competitors pipping you to the post.
But really, not all of them will be the right fit for your property business, and trying to be in too many places at once can harm the success of your social media efforts.
For better results and higher quality leads, cut the number of social media channels you’re using. Instead, focus your attention on the two or three where you’re getting the most engagement.
To ensure you represent your brand well, our in-house design team can create social media skins that professionally frame your pages. And they can also design graphics and animations that will drive those all-important clicks.
The best bit? Prices start from just £50.
Narrow down your target market and think about the type of homeowners you want to attract this year.
If you want to focus on families looking to upsize after the challenge of multiple lockdowns, drop the generic content and address their needs and frustrations head-on.
The more targeted your content is, the more likely you are to appeal to the type of clients you’re looking to win. Answer their burning questions in your social media posts and offer your expert advice in blog articles. Spend time creating content that speaks specifically to their situation.
Put in the time and effort and show up consistently with content that tackles their challenges and requirements. You’ll build brand awareness and trust with your specific audience before you’ve even had your first conversation.
And when those conversations happen, consider how much stronger those leads and enquiries are thanks to your laser-focused content marketing.
The appeal of a property largely comes down to how good it looks in the photos. So the quality of your photographs is crucial if you want to increase your property stock and sell your listings quickly. Why?
1. Because today’s vendors understand the importance of quality photos. Looking at your existing listings is a telltale sign of whether you’ll do their property justice. They could mean the difference between winning or losing a new instruction.
2. Photographs take up to 70% of the advert space on portal apps, meaning they’re the first thing potential buyers see when browsing. But will they stop or keep scrolling? The quality of your photos could be the deciding factor.
To make your property photos better than the competition, transform them using Photofixr™ – our online photo editing service for estate agents.
The fact that 77% of customers are likely to share positive experiences with others demonstrates the importance of providing an exceptional customer experience.
Buying and selling property involves high-value transactions, and the service you provide to your customers must reflect that.
If you deliver an exceptional customer experience, referrals will become a powerful marketing tool for your estate agency. And adding a few personal touches at the completion stage can really make a difference.
1. Round off every sale with a new home greeting card
2. Give buyers a set of ‘we’ve moved’ postcards to send to friends and family
3. Send 20-20 door drops and include a testimonial from your customer
4. Attach a branded keyring when you hand over the keys
Outsourcing tasks that detract from the day-to-day running of your business gives you the time to focus on what matters most: generating listings and marketing properties. Printing and posting your marketing materials in-house is a time consuming (and costly) task. And it can also significantly limit the volume you’re able to print, reducing the reach and impact of your campaigns.
Our online platform, MyRavensworth, provides a faster, simpler and smarter way to order your print marketing. It’s one handy central marketing hub, home to our Instant Print application, our new campaign builder, Directmailr™ and our image editing service, Photofixr™.
Developed with your estate agency in mind, it’s self-service at its finest with support when you need it, taking the hassle out of outsourcing your print marketing.
• Send files directly to our presses using the Instant Print application
• Get prices for over 200 print products to help plan and manage your spend
• Receive next-day delivery with 60% of jobs hitting the press within 15 minutes
• Create, print and deliver targeted prospecting campaigns using Directmailr™
• Edit and enhance your property photos using Photofixr™
• Access your account area to track deliveries and download invoices
It’s free to use with no subscriptions or lengthy contracts. And the simple click-of-a-button processes will help you save time, money and resources.
We’re here to help you future-proof your pipeline with instruction-winning design and print marketing.
Contact us today or fill in the short form below to request a call.
