Create a Local Presence as the New Estate Agency

Being the new kid on the block might sound like the perfect marketing subject, though this only lasts for a very short period of time before your new news becomes old news and you simply join the long list of local estate agents competing for valuations and sales. You can not have an endless launch party as eventually those opening day balloons in the office will deflate and the left over canopies and drinks will slowly get consumed… The local press, though willing to cover your opening, are now off concentrating on other meatier topics and even if you had the local mayor in to cut the ribbon they’ll have forgotten your name by next week.

What can estate agents do to grow their local presence in a new area? I write this article with vast experience of both creating and launching successful businesses that were either totally unique or from day one up against big rivals – My first words of advice goes towards you having the right mindset to succeed and plenty of it – 9 times out of 10, it will be perseverance that will deliver you success. I have also worked in the estate agency business creating franchises within areas where I had little to no connections with.

If you are looking to build your brand locally, here are some great hot tips to grow your market share:

Social Media – All my businesses were formed thanks to social media and continue to grow thanks to social media. Without question you need a strong presence:

  • Capture all your business usernames on all the social media platforms and look to focus your attentions on at least two (three if possible) platforms that should include either Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok.
  • Grow local community pages and groups that offer locals (ie your target audience) something of value. For example buy/sell/swap pages or property support groups that are for your local region – Building such communities will give you a local database to connect with and build brand awareness.
  • Live Video Interviews is another great way to connect with your local community. Think about contacting local businesses / people of influence and invite them to be interviewed on topics relating to their expertise and local subjects.
  • Connect with other local businesses and this should include you visiting them such as shops / events and sharing updates including them tagged in. For example if you visit a local restaurant then not only leave a positive review online for them, how about a selfie with a positive comment left on their account / page / group? Tagging in, especially when complimentary will likely get a positive reply.
  • Local community is another way in which to highlight you and your brand. How great are the local touristic attractions, the architecture, parks, wildlife and more? Share the positives about where you live and as and when you can, tag in local authorities and services so they can see you are a proud resident.

Local Community – We touch upon this via social media, but we can also engage with our local community by the likes of newspapers, websites and events. Take time to research what is happening locally to include anything charity related – Can you sponsor some, partner with, donate to or join? Comment on posts / blogs and look to attend local events.

The area that you cover with your estate agency should have plenty happening especially the likes of clubs, societies, voluntary groups and more. How about joining some of these so you get to know more people and importantly them knowing what you do. How about local business networking / breakfast meetings such as BNI?

Exceptional property marketing techniques can also set you apart from the competition – How do your rivals market their property online? Can you improve on things from quality of photography to usage of drones / audio tours / fully presented video tours?

Think more re content marketing is certainly an important trick up your sleeve especially if you can contribute to local news publications / websites. Investing time and / or money in to the creation of quality local content will be a great (SEO) tool for your online exposure – If you are able to create quality video content then this correctly tagged / hash tagged can provide great local traffic. Working with link-building services is useful at this point since they can help you create and better optimize your content to appear first in the local audience. Share your content via your estate agency website, social media pages and submit to local press.

Invest in branding is another way in which to attract the attention of your local community. Stand out branding / colours, trendy work clothing, branded vehicles, for sale signs can all be appraised and improved on.

Leafleting might sound a bit old fashioned, but it returns some of the best reaction to action ratios – If you are looking to target an area then hand deliver these yourself and every now and then you will be able to bump in to a home owner, some will admire your personal dedication to your business and you are thus putting your face to your brand.

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

Planning reform alone will not fix the UK’s housing crisis

Propertymark has published a new position paper, Meeting UK house demand, moving beyond the planning system, warning that focusing solely on reforming the planning system will not deliver the number of homes the UK urgently needs. While planning reform is frequently cited as the primary solution to the housing shortage, Propertymark’s analysis shows that changes…
Read More
Breaking News

One in three mortgage hunting FTBs has at least 25% deposit

While higher loan-to-value (LTV) mortgages dominate first-time buyer demand a significant minority are seeking higher deposit deals, fresh data from Moneyfactscompare.co.uk can reveal. Of those looking for fixed term deals on moneyfactscompare.co.uk: Almost one in three (30%) first-time buyers are opting for 90% LTV mortgages, and a further 12% are looking at 95% LTV options. This…
Read More
how to present your property for sale
Breaking News

Nationwide House Price Index for January 2026 – Industry Reaction

Nationwide House Price Index for January 2026. The latest index shows that: House prices increased by 0.3% between December 2025 and January 2026. This reversed the -0.4% monthly decline seen between November and December of last year. Annual growth sat at 1% in January 2026, with this annual rate of growth increasing from 0.6% in…
Read More
Breaking News

House price growth edges higher in January

Slight rise in annual house price growth to 1.0% House prices were up 0.3% month on month Continued improvement in affordability helped drive first-time buyer activity in 2025 Headlines Jan-26 Dec-25 Monthly Index* 544.9 543.4 Monthly Change* 0.3% -0.4% Annual Change 1.0% 0.6% Average Price (not seasonally adjusted) £270,873 £271,068 * Seasonally adjusted figure (note…
Read More
Breaking News

Housebuilding sector shows early signs of recovery

The latest Barclays Business Prosperity Index report1 reveals that despite affordability pressures, regulatory challenges and financial caution, four in five businesses (83 per cent) operating in housebuilding and its supply chains remain confident about their outlook for the year ahead. Barclays’ anonymised client data from around 70,000 UK businesses, combined with research from 500 industry…
Read More
Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Rightmove launches major updates to its agent qualification CELA

Rightmove’s Level 3 Certificate for Estate and Letting Agents (CELA) will include a new module on Renters’ Rights from April, helping agents to get Renters’ Rights ready before May The Level 3 Certificate for Estate and Letting Agents is included as standard within all Rightmove memberships, with only a fee to the exam board to…
Read More