We ask Rightmove some questions:

The way consumers engage with brands online is changing rapidly, sometimes catching people whilst they are on the sofa with their mobile phone watching the weekly soaps (ie two screens) or on the bus to and from work can be the key moments. How is Rightmove looking to reach out to these audiences, especially now as more millennials, who are totally social media savvy, are hitting the property searching scene.

Social Media has turned from being a tool to complement a business, to a communication channel in its own right. At Rightmove, our Social Media aims, tone of voice and purposes are aligned with the rest of our business and we have been using it long enough to experiment and understand where our online audiences are and what they need from us. We work closely with teams, such as Customer Care and Data Quality to ensure we’re on hand for Rightmove users’ everyday needs. We also wish to help to educate and entertain our users with blog content, thought-sharing and visual content which is property-related, to help keep home-hunting as happy, easy and exciting as possible.

Staying up-to-date with Social Media and understanding the ever-changing consumer activity is a task of its own! We have to completely understand the channels, understand who is using it, then get creative with how we can use it differently to other businesses to really put our stamp on it. With every channel, we have to keep experimenting with different types of content over time and look at which pieces best achieved their objectives. It’s a fun challenge – and very satisfying – to see which content our users like – especially on a new channel!

For millennials, who understand the world of Social Media but may be stepping into the world of property for the first time, we are here to bridge the gap. We understand the channels, we understand the needs of the audiences, and we understand property – so our job is to bring these subjects together and make the task of finding a home seem less daunting, and more the next, exciting chapter of your life.

Social Media is predicted to be huge in 2017 for businesses with once again online videos leading the majority of consumer engagement online. How is Rightmove making sure that both consumers and agencies using their portal are wow’d when viewing property. For example, 360 live broadcasting via Periscope (thus Twitter also) will enable live viewings and give a new meaning to being ‘virtually there – Is this/will this be accommodated on Rightmove?

Using video in Social Media is something we have been doing more and more. On Facebook, people are spending just 1.7 seconds on each piece of content, so you need to catch their attention quickly – which a video does. The danger is to share video content from across the rest of your brand, which isn’t social-ready, so it’s important and way more effective to spend a bit of time making videos that are purposely for Social Media.

In 2016 we dabbled in the world of Virtual Reality viewings, which were well-received. We would have to, of course, do plenty of user testing to ensure that the mass market want it, but our Head of Innovation, Hannes Buhrmann, currently has his investigative hat on across a number of new technologies!

Rightmove is coming up to 100,000 followers on Twitter – Just how important is this social media platform to you?

Twitter is a great channel and one we find most useful in communicating with, and being communicated with, by our users and customers. We have two channels (@Rightmove and @RightmovePro specifically for estate agents) and we are able to use them to communicate relevant content, news, advice and fun content (such as the most interesting properties on the site) to our followers. But, it is most important for real-time conversations, when people need our help or when relevant topics are trending around the UK.

Twitter is regularly the face to our brand for some site users so it’s great that we have a dedicated Customer Care Team on hand to answer user and customer queries day-in, day-out – or even just here for a chat about what home we’d buy with our lottery win!

Thank you to Anna Duggal of Rightmove for helping to answer these questions.

Interview by Christopher Walkey, Founder of Estate Agent Networking.

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

Breaking News

Popping the Asking Price Bubble

Where in the Uk Can Buyers Snap Up Property Bargains and Where Properties Go for a Premium Above Asking Price   New research from fast selling property company, Upstix has uncovered the UK’s most surprising postcodes for snapping up a property at bargain prices this year, highlighting a widening gap between sellers’ expectations and the…
Read More
Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Highest demand to lease office space since pre-pandemic

The latest insights from the UK’s number one commercial property website Rightmove, reveals that the number of unique enquiries to lease office space is at its highest point since pre-pandemic, as businesses look for spaces that meet modern requirements. Demand to lease office space is 19% higher than the same period a year ago and…
Read More
Planning disputes on new build land
Estate Agent Talk

Planning consultations for major infrastructure to be streamlined

Robert Bruce, a planning and infrastructure partner at law firm Freeths LLP, said he: “Welcomed the change as a significant step to speeding up the DCO process and the focus on the quality and effectiveness of the consultation, rather than box ticking and a risk averse approach to pre-application consultation due to the current legal…
Read More
Breaking News

‘The property ladder pulls further away’ warns Open Property Group

For many first-time buyers across England, the dream of homeownership continues to slip further out of reach. Despite rising wages, soaring house prices are making it harder than ever to get on the property ladder. A leading UK professional house buying company ‘Open Property Group’ based in Buckinghamshire UK, has raised concerns over the ongoing…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

How Long It Takes to Buy a House in the UK: 5 Common Delays That Can Slow Down Your Home Purchase

Wondering how long it takes to buy a house in the UK? The average timeline ranges from 8 to 22 weeks, but even that can stretch significantly due to unexpected delays, especially if you’re a first-time buyer or caught in a chain. That’s why working with experienced professionals like Belvoir — one of the UK’s…
Read More
Love or Hate Rightmove
Breaking News

Rightmove to host Renters’ Rights Bill webinar with Guild of Lettings

Rightmove is hosting a live and interactive webinar session with the Guild of Lettings to help agents get Renters’ Rights Ready. The webinar will take place from 10:00am – 11:00am on Wednesday 23rd April. Susie Crolla, Managing Director for the Guild of Lettings, will be joining Rightmove to help agents with questions they may have about…
Read More