Estate Agents – Everyone is ignoring your advertising
Do you like to be sold to?
I bet you said No.
Nobody likes to be sold to .. so why do estate and letting agents do just that? Try and sell themselves … all of you do it. All your advertising material, your Free Valuation leaflets, Landlords Wanted flyers, half price fees deals, We are ‘effin brilliant leaflets, We are ace agents – the others suck A5 flyers .. you get the drift … all of it is trying to sell something .. you.
The problem though is this … nowadays, we all skip the ads on Sky+, we all ignore t’internet ad banners, in fact most people have become so proficient at online “surfing” that they can take in online information without a care for banners or buttons (making the ads neither here nor there), we ignore bill boards, we ignore ads in the newspaper and magazines, we ignore pizza and kebab leaflets … so what makes your agency leaflet or newspaper ad so different?
If it mentions anything about you, your company, your services … you are wasting your time and money .. sorry to be so blunt… but nobody cares about you or agency (apart from your Mum .. good old Mum!). It might have worked 10 years ago mentioning those things .. but you know.. in your heart of hearts, it doesn’t work anymore.( and if you don’t believe me, when was the last time you read an advert for a solicitor or accountants and cared ……………………… exactly!)
Smart estate agents
Smart estate and letting agents understand that traditional marketing is becoming less and less effective by the hour, and that there has to be a better way.
… and that way is content marketing.
But what exactly is content marketing?
Content marketing is a planned marketing approach focused on creating and distributing important, relevant, and steady content to attract and retain a clearly distinct set of people (ie local home owners and landlords)— and, eventually, to drive profitable customer action. (ie use your agency)
Basically, content marketing is the art of communicating with your existing landlords/vendors and prospective landlords and property sellers without selling.
Unlike other forms of advertising which are designed to interrupt you (ie stop what you are doing and watch this ad), content marketing doesn’t interrupt.
Content marketing doesn’t try and sell your agency services, content marketing doesn’t talk about your firm, your fees, your network, how wonderful your agency is… instead, it delivers interesting, relevant , entertaining or educational information that makes your potential landlord or vendor more informed.
The quintessential idea of this content marketing strategy is the principle that if we, as estate and letting agency businesses, deliver consistent, ongoing valuable information to potential clients, they ultimately reward us with their business and loyalty.
Here is the best bit .. it’s been proved to work for over 110 years.
Content marketing is being utilised by some of the biggest companies on the globe, including RedBull, Proctor and Gamble (the people behind Persil) IBM, Microsoft and Dell. But here is the best bit, a one man band agent on his kitchen table can do it as well.
Want to know why? Really want to know?
If you are genuinely interested in why your normal advertising doesnt work and why content marketing works … this is simple the best video of YouTube .. its 45 minutes long .. so if you get bored easily – jog on and get back to Candy Crush, whilst real agents, real agents who dont want to waste their time and money listen to the reason why you are wasting your time, your money on advertisng and marketing that doesnt work
So why haven’t agents adopted this 110 year old type of marketing?
It could be because content marketing doesn’t work (but it does)
…… or that it’s hard to write this content (but it isn’t)
…… or that it’s cheap to do (which may be true).
The real reason is obvious: letting agents and estate agents hate to change. (come to think about it … so do people, but that my blog reading friends ..is a different story).
Think about it, if you are faced with a situation where your competition is afraid to change but you can see what is happening in the real world, you have a huge opportunity. This is the biggest growth and market share opportunity in estate and letting agency since the internet met estate and letting agencies.
Short version: Estate and Letting Agents who overinvest in content marketing will see the same stunning upward bounce that companies saw from television advertising in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
Want to know what good content marketing looks like? These agents have seen significant uplift in their lettings and estate agency (more market appraisals, more properties under management, more turnover, more profit and those who do sales on top, have seen that part of their business grow) and if you are really interested in whether it works, why don’t you call them yourselves?
Or are you afraid of change? .. because if you are, there might be just another agent in your town who isn’t?
Chelmsford http://chelmsfordproperty.blogspot.co.uk/
South Ockendon (Essex) http://southockendonproperty.blogspot.co.uk/
Croydon http://croydonpropertynews.co.uk/
Sunderland http://www.sunderlandpropertyblog.co.uk/
Hampstead http://nw3property.blogspot.co.uk/
Derby http://www.derbypropertyblog.co.uk/
Canterbury http://canterburyproperty.blogspot.co.uk/
Uxbridge http://www.belvoir.co.uk/news/belvoir_uxbridge/
Bristol http://www.bristolpropertyblog.co.uk/
Want to chat about Content Marketing for your lettings and estate agency? Drop me a line to christopher@christopherwatkin.co.uk
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