Marketing has changed massively over the past 20 years, with the introduction and rise in usage of the internet meaning that most businesses in most industries have had to adapt how they spend their marketing budget, as some of the traditional and relied upon methods have started to become less effective as time has moved on.
Although we are looking at the way marketing has changed from an estate agent or letting agent point of view, no matter what industry your business operates in, things have changed, as the WWW has transformed how they now reach customers, and whilst traditional methods still exist, most businesses rely on them less now and spread their marketing across many platforms trying to make sure their reach is as wide as possible.
When looking for properties, more people now go online than use local newspapers or visit their local agency branch, as within just a few clicks of a mouse and a Google search, you can have available properties in front of you ready to browse. Online marketing and online property advertising has given agents the chance to display multiple images, more information, downloadable brochures and in some cases even virtual tours of the property, something that you just cannot do in newspapers or handouts.
Online marketing is now far more important to pretty much any business with a website, as customers now search and find in a much different way than when we compare to many years ago, as if you want something, you now initially search online. Of course, this is now across laptops, PC’s, tablets and smart phones, which means your website has to work across all of them and the information has to be perfectly presented on all of them if you want to land the customer. Years ago you waited until the local paper had the property section released or you had time to go into town and work through the window display, but these days, you just turn on your tablet and you can have 20 properties that meet your criteria within minutes.
It is important for any estate agent or letting agent to make sure they have maximum visibility online, so this means that they usually do not just have their properties on their own site, but they generally make use of property portals like Rightmove, On The Market, TheMoveChannel and many more, as these are the big market players that many property hunters head to first due to their massive marketing campaigns, so it is important to be there. When searching for a property, more and more people now use portals as it gives them an all in one access place, saving them time when compared to having to search 10 individual agent websites to find the dream property.
Email marketing is now a massive part of the estate agent and letting agent marketing plan, as you can keep your customers informed when new properties arrive or prices are reduced, allowing full and regular communication, as many agents power is in their marketing list, which helps to shift properties as soon as they come in, which is a confidence factor for any property seller or landlord that wants a quick result. PPC and social media advertising has allowed agents to get in front of people looking to sell or rent their home out and at the same time get in front of people looking to buy or live in these properties, so it really is a win win when it comes to both markets for an agent.
Quite simply, online marketing has allowed for a quicker turnaround of properties and has given agents the ability to take on more stock, as online marketing is so effective if you get it right.
