Digital marketing has bought with it a raft of ways to communicate with potential estate agency customers. First came the platforms such as Rightmove and Zoopla. They provided potential buyers with a single marketplace to browse new properties for sale in their chosen location.
A few years later, social media exploded into our lives. This provided agents with another online space to promote their business.
Now there are seemingly endless choices of platforms on which an estate agent can market their business. From Tiktok to Gumtree and everything in between, there has never been more options when it comes to promoting your services online.
But there is one thing that all these online spaces have in common. Namely – you don’t control them.
Relying too heavily on other people’s platforms can mean that, should the goalposts move, you could find yourself without a reliable source of business.
Therefore, it’s vital to build your own business database, one which you own and manage. We discuss why you should never rely on other people’s platform, and how to build your own robust “little black book”.
Platform changes
Some reading this may remember the heady days when you could simply post on Facebook and get hundreds if not thousands of views of your content. The truth is that’s no longer the case. Most social media platforms limit the reach of organic posts, generally driving businesses to rely instead on their advertising services.
And even where you do get great organic reach, there is nothing to say that the terms won’t change again. Instagram could introduce a fee for business posting if they so desired, for example.
And additionally, user behaviour changes too; Facebook’s daily user numbers have gone down for the first time since it’s inception in 2004.
Relying on a single third-party platform can put your business at risk if either the platform, or the audience changes.
What can you do instead?
The key to ensure that you are not stuck with one platform is to build your own list. While you may use third party sites such as Rightmove, social media, or other listings to promote your business, be sure that it is with the intention to build your own email list.
Most consumers are data savvy and will not always give away their email addresses for little return, so it’s important to offer value in exchange for their details. This could be in the form of a “lead magnet” – giving them something they want in exchange for their email – such as a guide, access to a webinar or similar. Or you could ask them to sign up for up to date news in their area. This is where local market newsletters can prove incredibly popular – even amongst those who are not thinking of moving right now.
Building and nurturing an email list means that you are “top of mind” when it comes to the time that someone on your list wants to sell their property, or are looking for a new home.
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