Let’s talk about Rightmove banner adverts…
I’m a bit confused about the use of Rightmove banner adverts…
…The ones a BUYER see’s when after they enter their search location. The one’s that have a 1 in 4 chance of being seen in the few seconds just before the BUYER presses the “Find properties” button. The ones that when you click often just take you to some property listings or a page like this (I removed the name, map and contact info, everything else is as is):
Most of the banners I looked at seemed to be aimed at vendors looking for an estate agent or simply an advertising the agents name and contact info with a “catchy” slogan. Hardly any had and effective Call To Action, or if they did, when clicked the result did not match the CTA. I was greeted with the above picture after clicking a CTA which read “Find Out More About Us”.
I also clicked on a banner which read “Click here to view our properties” which when clicked showed me a list of…… 1 property??!!
Any serious marketer will tell you that if you are going to spend money on banner advertising it should contain a clear CTA. However the problem here is that your only option with these banners is to direct the user to another Rightmove page, which, let’s be honest, they would look at anyway if they were interested…
This renders any CTA, no matter how clever, effectively useless.
It’s a bit like going to a farm and paying them the feed the animals but without the fun. They will still get fed if you don’t pay to feed them.
So what is the point and how can you use them more effectively?
If you are of the opinion that they create some sort of name awareness about your brand that the BUYER will remember after viewing a list of dozens of properties for sale, then call you to book a valuation at some point in the future, fantastic! Please send £450 to my PayPal account and upon receipt I will send you a Micro Ram with a beautiful Golden Fleece. (not sure what’s going on with the farm references)
To make effective use of banner adverts you should always start with the end goal in mind, yes I pinched that from the great Stephen Covey. But it is also very important consider the client journey…
“Begin with the end in mind” – Stephen Covey
Ok, what do I mean by this?
Well, if your objective is to generate more valuation leads then the banner should reflect this clearly and follow through with appropriate information after the user takes action. It should also be shown to the appropriate user during their relevant client journey. Showing this example to a buyer during their property search is probably not going to be very effective.
Even if a potential vendor did stumble across it and click it, taking them to a page like the one shown above is not likely to generate any results either.
It seems to me that the only use of these banners, when considering the client journey, is to get potential BUYERS to view you list of properties before they view anyone else’s. If that’s the case then the banner should reflect this with a relevant call to action.
For example, If you have paid for the postcode banner you could say something like “Click here for the most up to date selection of properties in the [insert postcode] area”. Now whilst the benefit of this may not justify the cost of the banner at least you are making it relevant to the reader. It’s also a benefit you could sell as a feature on your market appraisals. For example:
“Mr/Mr’s Vendor, we increase the chance of BUYERS viewing our properties first with effective banner advertising on Rightmove” [Show them banner] “would you like them to see yours before any others?”.
“If you want your marketing to be effective make it relevant otherwise you are simply wasting the readers time and your money” – One of my own
If you are one of the many estate agents using this form of advertising, please take the time to re-visit your banner and ask yourself what the goal of it is. Then put yourself into the mind of your ideal client and follow their steps on the way to your goal. Does your banner help them take a step towards your goal or not?
If you would like to discuss your marketing budget and how to make effective use of it, book your free 15 minute phone consultation with me by Clicking Here!
See what I did there?
I gave you a clear call to action and although you will initially feel the urge to resist, you will click the link and book your free call because the message is relevant to you.
Thank for reading!
P.S. Please don’t send me any money, I do not have any Micro Ram’s. They have sold out…
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