Mind games – traditional marketing with a twist

 

Traditional marketing is permanent marketing. It can’t be scrolled past or deleted as easily as an email or Facebook post, therefore its psychological impact and persuasive powers linger.

Whether it’s a postcard stuck to a fridge, a signboard spotted while driving or a branded umbrella unfurled in the rain, traditional marketing is a visual feast full of subliminal clues and queues. The choice of font, colour and wording allows an agent to shape itself and its client base, aligning with a target market, appealing to a set demographic and telling a story through creativity.

The psychology of traditional marketing is not to be underestimated. Get the narrative wrong and you risk alienating an audience. Present an inconsistent image and you’ll be viewed as a disjointed agency. Opt for the wrong colour and you may be viewed as a comedy outfit. With so much at stake, it’s worth consulting with the professionals to avoid costly mistakes that can be hard to erase.

Not your type

Unlike other sectors, where brand recognition can be based on a logo alone – take Apple or Starbucks, for example – the property industry trades on a collection of names, which makes an agent’s choice of font even more important. There are conventions, of course, but there are also rules to be broken.

 

For those tuned in to the difference between Times New Roman and Trebuchet, you’ll know serif fonts – which have decorative strokes added each letter – are unconsciously attached to more traditional perceptions. Serif fonts are often adopted by agents wanting to purvey a distinguished, heritage image but PropertyStream is proving it’s possible to marry serif with super cool.

“Serif typefaces are back in fashion,” says the branding specialist’s Robin Arnold. “Don’t rule them out because you think they are old hat. Some modern serifs look professional and classical yet characterful and contemporary. It sounds contradictory but it is possible! They can work well in estate agency as property is a people focused business that strives to convey professionalism and personality.”

Serif typefaces are back in fashion. They can work well in estate agency as property is a people focused business that strives to convey personality and professionalism. Robin Arnold, PropertyStream.

Robin highlights how many of the world’s largest brands, such as Spotify, AirBnB, Pinterest and Google, have changed their logo’s font from something very unique to a uniform serif style. “Swiss serif typefaces – the fancy cousins of Helvetica – have been the epitome of cool for the last decade. If your prime objective is to appear ultra-modern, sharp, slick and tech focused, then you should consider a serif font,” adds Robin.

A serif font look can be kept fresh by pairing it with vibrant, luminous colours as with PropertyStream’s brand work for agent Charles David Cason, where a crisp white serif font has been laid over a hot salmon pink background for one piece of collateral.

Convincing with colour

As illustrated above, typography and colour are powerful marketing tools. Careful choices were also made when planning the first ever branch of Rolstons – a new estate agent in Watford. The aim was to express the image of an established, upscale estate agent, with a traditional look that instantly positioned the brand among respected luminaries.

The starting point was the new Rolstons logo and font – a serif style with distinctive cut-out R in deep blue. This colour, together with a soft grey for a muted contrast, now appears across the agent’s print, digital and ambient marketing – the latter recently applied to the first branch by MPL Interiors.

Rolstons’s classic combination plays to the common rule of darker colours suiting traditional agencies as they impart a sense of distinguished gravitas. Lighter, zesty colours partner well with urban or tech-led agencies who want to be perceived as fresh and modern.

 

Whatever colour combinations are used, consistency and clarity is vital, as Richard Combellack from Brief Your Market explains, “Matching colours and fonts is key. Using too many typefaces and colours is a no-no as it comes across as too busy and is likely to result in no engagement from an agent’s audience.”

To make a campaign compelling, it’s wise to identify a pain point that your prospects might be experiencing, then state how your agency can overcome that. Richard Combellack, BriefYourMarket.

Get on board

Sign boards remain an agent’s traditional marketing vehicle of choice and their visibility – or lack of it – is behind entire rebranding exercises where colours have been completely revised, comments Tom Cummuskey at Kremer Signs. “

A great example of this is Kent-based agent, Miles & Barr. The driving factor behind its wholesale identity redesign was to improve the presence of its brand in the local area through sign boards. The new mix of bright tones – oranges, purples and blues – gave its boards the vibrancy they deserved,” says Tom.

If sign boards are the basis of your marketing, their visibility should be a major consideration when creating a new brand or refreshing an existing identity. There are colour combinations that work in the digital sphere but should be avoided when it comes to ambient settings. Tom says light green text on a light grey background, light green text on a red background, and shades of green, yellow or purple on a green background can be hard to read when on a sign board – even if the visuals are crystal clear on a computer screen.

Care in the community

Naomi Eaton at Agency Express is increasingly seeing sign boards as a way for agents to subliminally ground themselves within a community and soften their image. “To really connect with an audience of home movers, a board should be more than an advertising tool,” says Naomi. “It should become an extension of an agent’s character or a reflection of the brand’s tone of voice, which is why more agents are opting for creative images and diverse designs.”

A board should become an extension of an agent’s character or a reflection of the brand’s tone of voice, which is why more agents are opting for creative images. Naomi Eaton, AgencyExpress.

 

Douglas Allen opted to distinguish its Agency Express boards with dogs – hitting a universal soft spot – with its logo jutting out to break the conventional rectangle shape and provide an additional memorable point. Hammond & Stratford’s boards featured illustrations of local landmarks produced by a local artist. As well as updating people on the status of the property, the boards also say ‘we love this area and are proud to support the people we serve.’

PropertyStream also took its cues from the local landscape when completing a total rebrand for Portsmouth agent Chinneck Shaw. Graphic devices – seen as icons in print and online – were heavily influenced by nautical flags but the aesthetic avoids anything clichéd by using the freshness of lime green as one of the branding colours.

Lead with persuasive language

There’s a whole world of techniques and persuasive language that lend themselves to traditional marketing. The most successful campaigns are the ones that are succinct and attractive but still contain enough information to set the scene, explain what’s on offer and have very clear calls to action.

“To make a campaign compelling, it’s wise to identify a pain point that your prospects might be experiencing, then state how your agency can overcome that,” says Richard. “Lead with benefits, rather than feature statements (a trap many agents fall into) and focus on what your prospects currently care about.”

Richard also has advice for agents going straight for the kill in today’s market, as instructions are precious and you won’t want to scare off new business: “Don’t burn your bridges by pressuring for a valuation when the person might just be starting to think about moving.”

 

Identifying today’s pain points hits a nerve with Gary Howard at Precision Connect. “Agents can get more of an emotional response from postcards and leaflets but for the messaging to really hit home, it needs to be persuasive and ultra-relevant,” says Gary.

He’s a fan of ‘nudge marketing’, which uses messages to alter then direct behaviour via subtle persuasion. Agents already have all the tools required for nudge marketing but sometimes need professional help when it comes to composition and targeting.

“The message ‘not only are we very good at what we do, we do it very quickly, in your local area and we have proof’ is easy for all agents to understand,” adds Gary, “but the most compelling of campaigns are carefully structured and substantiated.” Gary is referring to the psychological principles that encourage desired behaviour. These include scarcity, which agents could convey as ‘only one of three homes built on this desirable private road’; social proof, which could be stat-based, such as ‘98% of the homes we marketed in August sold for over the asking price’, or price anchoring – showing a home’s original asking price, which has been struck through and the new, lower price printed beside it.

Target with traditional marketing

Nudge marketing comes into its own in tightening property markets when homes simply don’t sell themselves. Gary identifies that securing new instructions may be a challenge moving forward so marketing messages need to appeal to a homeowner’s current state of mind.

“We know people will be struggling to pay fuel bills and run large houses, and it’s these people who could be persuaded to move home,” comments Gary. “A nudge marketing flyer could be distributed to older properties that may have soaring energy bills, with details of more energy efficient properties for sale, promoting relevant highlights such as a good EPC, a new boiler or an EV charging point. Or a downsizing message could be sent to homeowners with large houses who may be struggling with maintenance costs. In terms of messaging, agents need to respond to what’s topical and offer a solution that makes emotional sense.”

Social proof is something incorporated into a leaflet produced by Mr Flyer for Waterhouse estate agents. The overall proposition is a collection of persuasive marketing elements designed to win new instructions. As well as a leading question crafted to get people questioning their property position (thinking of selling?), aspirational images and positive, personal language (such as delighted, fantastic, you, your and exceptional), there are aware-win logos too – impartial endorsements that may nudge vendors to choose one company over another.

“Agents often make the mistake of talking about themselves when the receiver only cares about the benefits to them,” says Andrew. “Here, the images are the main focus as that’s what compels action – not a logo or an irrelevant picture of an estate agent’s office. Extra social proof can be added by including a five-star star review,” adds Andrew.

Avoid me, myself and I

Sam Hunter at Homesearch agrees about making the recipient the star. “Think about tone of voice. A high-performing direct mail in estate agency is written to a person, often about a person and always from a person. Your logo should feature but it shouldn’t be everywhere and make your headline about the reader, and not about your agency. The tone should be professional, yet casual, and offer the reader a compelling, genuine reason to respond.”

Think about tone of voice. A high-performing direct mail in estate agency is written to a person, often about a person and always from a person. Sam Hunter, Homesearch.

Even how you present a flyer or postcard and what it’s printed on can give agents a psychological edge, says Sam. “Always use an envelope as your read rate will increase – when you get read, you get responses. In addition, paper stock matters. We wouldn’t recommend sending letters on less than 120GSM or postcards less than 350GSM (Homesearch’s postcards are 400GSM).”

Sam adds that a perception of quality comes with paper weight and a premium feel, which can help embody a sense of trust and investment. Add an addressed envelope – especially one that’s handwritten – and you’ll instantly attract attention and subliminally send signals that the contents are important and specific to that person.

Traditional mind games

Clearly, the idea of gaining an instruction from popping a leaflet in a letterbox, suggesting a householder may be interested in a valuation has evolved. The increasing sophistication of messaging is only matched by the level of cynicism of those picking it up from the mat on their way to the kitchen bin. You have those few steps to make your point. So when you’re planning your next leaflet drop, remember the advice herein, and make it count!