Property Portals.
With so much talk of property portals currently and the monopoly of the ‘big 2. Or as I like to call them Thing One and Thing Two.
We could take advice from that Master of Rhyme Dr Seuss when he says why stop at just Thing one and Thing two when you can have thing Three and Thing four if not more. And especially as those of you who have joined Agent’s Mutual will be thinking about your decision of who to drop, what about thinking outside of the box.
There is more to life than Listings
Portal’s aren’t just about property listing although we could be forgiven for thinking they are.
They are also about:
Link building
This is having sites with authority, or clout basically linking to our own site, making google happy we are relavant by association. The more links we can get from this giant the better. So making sure that your listing links directly to that property page on your own website is better.
Brand awareness
Seeing your logo next to lots of lovely looking properties when I flick through a search engine, subliminally reminds me that you sell / let great houses when I’m tired of listings and just want an estate agents help. Or when I think its really time to put my property on the market.
Data Aggregation & Analytics
The ability for you to get anonymous data from your competitors to see how well you are doing, where you could improve, or where your next opportunity is.
There is no doubt that listing where ‘everyone is looking’ is what you want to do, but if you take time to look at your target market, or ideal target market there may be niche portals that suit you and return good enquiries. Measuring the success of a portal is easy. How many enquiries, how many conversions, what return on investment.
Such as:
- Local area
- Lets with Pets
- Age centric – Retired or Student
- Unique properties or positions
- Short lets
- Corporate occupancy
- Investment opportunities
- And the one I want to talk about Foreign interest…
So whilst you are having to ‘drop one’ it may be time to reassess your applicant marketing and see if you can do better. And, don’t forget online is still only one of the methods of marketing at your fingertips.
Advertising Overseas
International Property Shows and pop-up Marketing Suits in five star hotels are becoming a lucrative method of selling or attracting investors from abroad however these need substantial planning, research, contacts and capital to get them off the ground. Advertising on portals is more dipping your toe in the water but to good effect.
Overseas Portals
With the ‘international’ arm of many agents now attracting overseas buyers, tenants and investors and the lust for UK properties on the up from power houses such as Russia, China and Dubai why not advertise on their own portals?
Why, well same as any other portal as I listed above but also….
Reaching a wider audience
As we know listing on property portals works, we are reaching a much wider audience than we could before the web.
Sowing the Seed
Brand awareness is not necessarily a measurable marketing option but is very valuable none the less especially when looking to start new relationships.
Seeing your logo on property search engines sows a seed of recognition.
Starting a Relationship
Seeing your logo across an overseas portal a user may be looking at gives them greater affinity with you If they then search on UK portals. Or it helps when starting a conversation via LinkedIn or other means or if you do decide to go on to do a show.
Encourage Loyalty and build Trust
Similarly, if I am serious about investing in the UK and start searching UK portals I will have an affinity to your properties and be guided to your business because it is familiar. If you look after that investor well and gain trust, some cultures are plenty more loyal than we are when it comes to business once finding a good agent I am more likely to stay with you coming direct and recommending other business associates.
The rest is down to your, all cultures differ from ours and it is of course important to understand the market you are dealing with however a strong theme that runs through most cultures, is the importance of reciprocal referral, relationship and respect .
A couple of overseas Portals worth talking a look at:
European – www.prian.ru
Worldwide – www.propertini.com
Russia – www.idinaidi.ru/foreign
China – www.juwai.com
Asia – www.propertyguru.com
So what’s next?
There are plenty of portals out there and if you think with the ‘OnTheMarket’ shake up its worth taking stock and would like us to carry out a report on where to maximise your reach and return on investment then do give me a shout, otherwise just have an explore!
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