Marketing Trends for Estate Agency in 2017:

360 Drone Attack: I am sure that most readers will have at least seen one drone video online, be it via an agency listing or an update on social media. These videos are growing in popularity and becoming more and more an economical option for showcasing products and I would say one of the best they can show is property / land.

I would suggest that most property with over an acre of land to sell really must look at a drone video for an option in it’s marketing (for estate agents who offer this service it will increase their chances of gaining a listing over their competitor). A fine location can really be captured in a way no other form of marketing can achieve when using drones and it is not limited to showing just the property, if you have a wonderful surrounding location then capture it via drones.

Broadcasting live videos is now even quoted as old hat and taking over will be live 360 broadcasting enabling viewers to not only watch the subject the camera is focused on, but also their surroundings too – Imagine 360 broadcasting within properties where each room visited the watching audiences can look around the room or out in the gardens where they can study each corner as if they were virtually there themselves.

Mark Boyt of Drone Safe Register: “Drone photography is growing each year and now huge in the USA. We are normally 2 years behind the US so 2017 will be busier than ever! A few problems exists currently in that estate agents are using drones without correct insurance, training and CAA permission which is illegal. In 2017 the CAA are looking to prosecute for the very first time. As well as this, agents do not really offer the service as they won’t earn this money back until the home is sold.

Larger properties with land benefit massively from aerial photography being added to the listing. A simple fly over added to a listing will add the wow factor. Please see fly over link https://vimeo.com/195663426 – Aerial photography stands out without any doubt! All agents should considering using drone photography in 2017″.
Live Broadcasting: This is a big potential option here for estate / letting agents. We have come along way with video online where now Youtube sits as one of the Internets most popular search engines and near or enough every type of business uses videos to showcase their products and services. Not only have we videos we can watch online, we also can watch live broadcasting which have been adopted by many of the social media platforms to enable businesses to have their very own direct media channels to get in front of their target audiences – As basic as it may sound, you can now quite literally showcase a property live so next time you have an open house then why not make it an open house online too via video – Let us importantly not forget that we can live broadcast 360 style as mentioned above, so prepared to be wow’d with video in 2017 and beyond.

There will of course be certain security to be taken in to consideration, but for estate agents across the UK and internationally (especially those selling holiday homes), the chance to get a strong market share online is to provide their clients with the service of having their homes showcased online live to wider audiences.

Mobile phones now allow you to live broadcast and just using your business page on Twitter / Facebook then you have your very own ‘estate agency TV channel’ to air out to.

Shaun Esden of Aztec Films: “Over the last six years filming property for sale we have seen demand increase year on year, people lead very busy lives nowadays and to sift through the amount of homes for sale in their chosen area and price bracket can be tedious and time consuming. Sitting in the comfort of your own home watching films of properties available is a far easier way to pinpoint the ones you want to view. We find it’s a three point advantage to the vendor too, increased viewings, no time wasters (as they’ve seen a full film beforehand) and a memento to keep for the future.

We are certainly looking forward to a busy 2017 filming properties, and as we have already filmed in Portugal, France and Spain as well as the UK we are excited about the future of video marketing for Estate Agents and property developers alike”.

High Quality Content: 2017 will all be about content, content, content and also the quality of that content too. Quite simply by putting up / sharing any kind of content will now not be enough as content writers become cheaper and cheaper to source internationally and we also have technology to provide companies with auto generated content. Being smart with your content will be what achieves you success, your own written and researched content relevant to the current trending news and to your target audiences will be what strikes gold for you – Original images to accompany your updates and if you can adopt video footage too then you are certainly on the right road.

Social Media Savvy: Many in the estate agency industry will know that I have been raving on about social media for years, though less so recently as it has been speaking for itself as such. Just how important tweets, updates, shares, posts, groups, members, channels etc will become is now a highly trending topic across all industries and will show throughout the property industry also.

Those agencies who recognise the value of a target audience following on social media and have adopted current marketing trends that these social platforms offer such as the pre mentioned live video broadcasting and live 360 tours, will have the potential to grab larger market shares.

 

To read up on more key marketing tips for the Estate / Letting Agency Industry then join the UK’s largest property group on LinkedIn here: Estate Agency on LinkedIn

Christopher Walkey

Founder of Estate Agent Networking. Internationally invited speaker on how to build online target audiences using Social Media. Writes about UK property prices, housing, politics and affordable homes.

You May Also Enjoy

how to present your property for sale
Breaking News

Six in 10 tenants say Renters’ Rights Act improves their housing protections and conditions

Awareness of the Renter’s Rights Act 2025 has increased amongst tenants from 19 per cent in October after the bill passed, to 60 per cent when it came into effect 19 per cent of renters are now more likely to remain in their current property but 45 per cent are concerned about the legislation’s long-term…
Read More
Rightmove logo
Breaking News

West Oxfordshire tops list of first-time hotspots defying national trend

New analysis by the UK’s largest property platform Rightmove reveals the first-time buyer hotspots where buyer demand is increasing, bucking the national trend over the last month West Oxfordshire leads the way, with demand for typical first-time buyer properties up by 45% year-on-year: A 37% increase in available first-time buyer type homes for sale and…
Read More
Breaking News

ONS Private Rent and House Prices Index- May 2026

The latest ONS house price figures show that the sales market that is broadly flat. Average UK house prices were unchanged year-on-year at £268,000 in March 2026, with annual house price inflation slowing from 1.7% in February to 0.0% in March. Main points Average UK monthly private rents increased by 3.5%, to £1,381, in the…
Read More
Overseas Property

Cyprus in demand as international property inquiries spike

Interest in Cyprus has more than tripled since the start of March, while sales to non-EU buyers have spiked by more than a fifth Cyprus is the best option for residency by investment in a major EU Mediterranean country, after Spain closed its Golden Visa in April 2025 and Portugal closed the property route in…
Read More
Breaking News

Inflation falls to 2.8%

Industry response to the latest inflation figures and their impact on the housing market.   Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark “It is very welcome news to see inflation dip this month; however, today’s figures still sit some distance away from the Bank of England’s target rate of 2%. It remains important to consider continued overall…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

London gardens can add more than £205,000 in value

Ahead of this year’s Chelsea Flower Show, research by Enness Global has revealed that a garden can add more than £205,000 to the value of a London home, whilst Chelsea fittingly boasts the highest degree of garden availability for high-net-worth homebuyers in the current market. Enness Global has also revealed the top five trends currently…
Read More