Marketing
News covering the marketing of residential property, lead generation, buying and selling and business development.
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OnTheMarket targets 7,500 members
OnTheMarket is now targeting 7,500 members as part of its efforts to replace Zoopla as the number two property portal after gaining the support of 6,000 UK estate and letting agent offices across the country. The level of support, which consists of contracted members and agents who have signed a ‘Letter of Intent’ to join OTM when total support reaches 7,500 offices, was achieved less than 10 months after the launch of the portal in January 2015. The growth in members, in addition to website traffic which OTM says reached a record high of 5.7 million visits in October, ensures that the portal will enter 2016 in good shape, according to Ian Springett (left), Chief Executive of OTM. He said, “We will be entering 2016 in a strong position – supported by another heavyweight national marketing campaign – and intent on overtaking ZPG in terms of available UK residential listings. “From that point, we believe that agent momentum will snowball and we will focus all our energy on continuing to build a sustainably low-cost alternative to Rightmove to serve both agents and consumers better.” Mr Springett pointed out that it was nine months ago that Alex Chesterman, the CEO of…
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OTM’s ‘one other portal’ rule stifling transactions
A well-respected figure in the estate agency sector has written an open letter in conjunction with his business partner to Ian Springett (left), CEO OnTheMarket (OTM), urging him to drop the portal’s “One Other Portal” rule. OTM is attempting to break the so-called duopoly held by Rightmove and Zoopla with its ‘one other portal’ rule preventing their member agents from advertising on both Rightmove and Zoopla, with a view to saving agents money. The duopoly of the current two biggest portals means that prices of listing on the two portals have increased significantly in recent years, but to prevent further growth, OTM launched earlier this year with a view to saving agents money overtime. But with traffic to OTM failing to attract anywhere near the level of website traffic being generated by Rightmove and Zoopla, the number of leads being generated for some agents is falling, contributing to the current decline in transaction volumes in the UK, according to estate agency Consultant and Trainer, Richard Rawlings (right) and his business partner Bradley Payne. In an open letter to OTM’s CEO, one behalf of “the approx. 1,000 agency branches we serve, as well as the wider industry”, Rawlings and his business…
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Portals remain ‘valuable lead generators’, says housebuilders
With more househunters than ever now searching for their next home typically looking online on one of the major property portals, it is not just crucial that estate agent maintain an online presence that goes beyond simply listing properties on their own website. Senior housebuilders have concluded that they should be listing homes on the portals too. A recent gathering of senior professionals from the UK new home building industry raised a healthy debate about the future of portals and online content accessibility for new homes available to consumers. Thirteen senior figures, representing 80 per cent of new homes currently being developed or in the pipeline in the UK and with an estimated portfolio value of £1 billion, concluded that portals are still valuable lead generators. It was agreed that portals serve as a critical central resource of whole market offerings in one place for consumers who are not necessarily brand loyal when it comes to a new home purchase. The London Lunch was hosted at The Ivy by New Home Finder and facilitated by Dave Bexon (left), Group Sales and Marketing Director of Redrow Homes. It was attended by Redrow Homes, Bovis, Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon, Linden, Kier Living, Miller…
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OTM continues steady growth
OnTheMarket.com (OTM) has claimed another rise in traffic levels last month. OTM said that based on its own internal data from Google Analytics, the website achieved 5.6million visits in September, including 2.7million unique visitors, up from 5.4million in August. “We believe it is only a matter of time before we overtake Zoopla as the number two portal in terms of available UK property listings and provide agents and consumers alike with a credible alternative to the current duopoly of Rightmove and Zoopla,” said CEO Ian Springett (left). However, despite OTM’s growth, their level of website traffic and brand awareness at this early stage of their existence remains low compared to what Zoopla and Rightmove are achieving, and a significant number of agents are now thinking of quitting the portal as a consequence, according to a report by Barclays. The report states that nine of the 100 OTM member agents that it apparently interviewed expressed an interest in leaving the site, while a further 35 said that they will review their membership. According to its last trading update, Zoopla said that it had attracted a net rise of 213 branches in the four months to 31 July, after winning back 100…
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Do you measure up?
Curiosity definitely did not kill the estate agent! Maybe you’ve just invested a fortune in a stunningly designed website and you’re convinced it’s generating valuations for you. Great! Or maybe you suspect it’s not so good and you’re about to upgrade in order to win some instructions. Or maybe you’re just curious to know the truth. You’ve looked at your Google Analytics, so you know how much traffic you have. 6,500 visitors last month, viewing an average 5.5 pages each. Fab, you think. And you know that 35 per cent of your traffic visits on a phone. Great? Well, maybe. It’s certainly better than last year; you had 28 per cent last year. But the truth is you have no idea if these numbers are good or bad, and if they’re helping build your agency, relative to the agent down the road. Do they have more traffic? Do they get more customers from Google than you or engage potential vendors more deeply? Are you missing a trick, or performing really well? Frankly, anyone who cares about winning more instructions in their local market, needs to understand how their principal marketing vehicle is performing, so you can work on improving it…
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Blow for Zoopla as Chestertons leaves the portal
Zoopla was dealt a blow last week as Chestertons, one of London’s largest estate agencies with 30 offices across the city, announced that it would be leaving the site in to list its properties with Rightmove. The firm, a founding member of Agents’ Mutual, continues to list properties on OnTheMarket (OTM) and is therefore not permitted to list homes on more than one other rival website, under OTM’s ‘one other portal’ rule requiring, in effect, their member agents to stop advertising on either Rightmove or Zoopla. The typical scenario has an agent sticking with Rightmove and choosing between OTM and Zoopla, so Chestertons is unusual. “We had more and more of our clients telling us that they expected to see us on Rightmove and you have to listen to your clients,” said Chestertons Chief Executive Robert Bartlett. The launch of OTM earlier this year had an adverse impact on Zoopla’s business. A number of agents have cancelled their subscriptions with the online property giant in order to list homes with OTM. OTM is now claiming to be on course to replace Zoopla as the number two property portal by the end of 2016 on its way to achieving their medium-term…
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Zoopla returns to growth
Zoopla ended last week as the one of the highest risers on the FTSE 350, as it returned to growth, the portal announced last week. According to its latest trading update, the property website has attracted a net rise of 213 branches in the four months to 31st July. The news triggered a ratings upgrade for Zoopla from ‘sell’ to ‘buy’, with Broker Panmure Gordon suggesting that shares in the portal look undervalued. Zooplalost a significant number of agency subscribers due largely to the launch of OnTheMarket (OTM) earlier this year and its restrictive ‘only one other’ portal rule. However, the group said that it had won back 100 agents in recent months – many from OTM – with market churn also nearing historic levels, according to Zoopla. The group also announced that the volume of people visiting its website remained flat at 45.6 million, which is significantly below Righmove, but towers above OTM’s 5.2 million visitors. Panmure Gordon analyst Jonathan Helliwell told the press that “near-term, OTM’s growth appears to have stalled.” He added, “Zoopla’s inventory and traffic are holding up pretty well, and the housing market looks to be picking up. We think the stock could continue to…
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OnTheMarket posts record traffic
OnTheMarket (OTM) reports that the level of traffic and unique visitors to the portal hit a record high in June. Based on Google Analytics data, the property website claims it recorded 4.4 million visits, with more than 2 million unique visitors. Ian Springett (left), Chief Executive of OTM, said, “We are continuing to see strong engagement from consumers in terms of pages viewed per visit and time on site and a high percentage of repeat visitors. “This reflects both the quality and range of agents and properties listed with us and the usability of the portal. “Our ongoing multi-million pound national TV, press and online advertising campaigns continue to work really hard at driving active property seekers to OTM.” With membership now at more than 5,000 offices and growing, and with around a quarter of member offices uploading their properties to OTM ahead of any other portal, Springett insists that OTM “is already a must-view website for the key audience of serious property-seekers”. Springett remains confident that OTM will replace Zoopla to become the number two portal by the end of January 2016 on their way to achieving their medium term objective of challenging the market leader, Rightmove. But for…
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Online marketing strategy vital for estate agency success
A new survey of over 4,000 homeowners by Zoopla Property Group (ZPG) reveals that 94.2 percent expect their agent to automatically maximise the marketing exposure of their property, which includes listing the property on the major property websites.
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