Marketing
News covering the marketing of residential property, lead generation, buying and selling and business development.
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OTM is here to stay, says Ian Springett
OnTheMarket.com (OTM) has hit back at claims that its portal is struggling to establish any meaningful audience levels. Just over three months since the launch of OTM, competitor portal, Zoopla, has claimed that OTM is failing to have a significant impact on the market by citing data from independent web monitoring firm Hitwise which shows that website traffic to OTM fell by 13.5 per cent in April. But Ian Springett (left), Chief Executive of OTM, has described Zoopla Property Group’s (ZPG) claims as “inaccurate and speculative.” He said, “It is a fact that less than 10 per cent of the agent members of OnTheMarket.com have chosen Zoopla as their other portal. And it is a fact that the Hitwise figure showing a reduction in traffic of 13.5 per cent in April is wrong.” OTM reports that it has attracted more than 10 million visits since launching over three months ago, and that traffic levels have remained buoyant in May to the extent that OTM has just experienced its highest ever number of weekly visits. To date, OTM says that its users have viewed an average of 9.3 pages and spent an average of 6.5 minutes per visit. What’s more, with…
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Zoopla acquires price-comparison website uSwitch
Zoopla Property Group (ZPG) has announced that it is to buy online price comparison site uSwitch in a deal worth up to £190 million. ZPG, which also owns a number of other websites such as Prime Location and Smart New Homes, said the agreed deal, at £160 million plus a performance-based earn out of up to £30 million, believe that the deal will help it deliver a wider property service to people seeking the best deals online. uSwitch, owned by Ulysses Enterprises Limited, enables consumers to find the best deals from utilities such as electricity and phone bills. It had revenues of £62.9 million and earnings of £16.2 million last year with 50.3 million online visits. It claims to have saved customers £112 million last year on energy bills alone. ZPG said that the deal to acquire uSwitch will allow its members to benefit from increased engagement with home movers and greater insight into their property requirements along with enhanced exposure to the further differentiated ZPG audience. ZPG is also developing new products that will create revenue opportunities for its members around home services switching. Alex Chesterman (left), Founder & CEO of Zoopla Property Group said, “This is a transformational…
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Agents happy with OTM
Three months on from the launch of OnTheMarket (OTM) it has been claimed that the property portal is struggling to prove a hit with consumers, but estate agents listing properties on the website insist that they remain happy with OTM. Citing the latest data from Hitwise, the Zoopla Property Group (ZPG) claim that OTM’s website traffic has been in decline for the last few weeks, after peaking in mid-March, and that those agents that list their properties on the website are not receiving good value for money. Lawrence Hall (left) of ZPG commented, “At the end of the day, OTM is simply a marketing channel like any other and will need to ensure that its audience levels justify its fees. This is even more the case for OTM given that it has required its members to give up a huge audience. It is hard to see how agents can justify paying anything meaningful for marketing on OTM at these current traffic levels.” Ian Springett (right), Chief Executive of OnTheMarket.com, insisted that claims by ZPG that traffic to OTM is falling are “simply inaccurate both in terms of absolute numbers and trends”. “As flattering as it is to receive so much…
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Zoopla launches new radio advert featuring Phil Spencer
Zoopla is launching a brand new radio advert featuring a mini hip-hop track by British rap artist, Ty, and, err, property expert Phil Spencer, who together rap about the property portal. The new adverts will air across 40 radio stations nationally, including Capital FM and Heart FM, with a view to building on the success of the existing ‘Smart’ radio campaign, as well as Zoopla Property Group’s (ZPG) national print and outdoor advertising campaign. Spencer learnt to rap in less than three hours, taught by Ty, and he executed the ad in just one take. You can now listen to the new ads online and vote for your favourite version and find out how the ad was made at zoopla.co.uk/smartsounds. Alex Chesterman (left) Founder & CEO of Zoopla Property Group said: “Radio is a great medium for us which is why we’re extending our campaign and have launched a new stand-out ad using Phil Spencer. We’re committed to driving property consumers to our websites on behalf of our members and this addition to our comprehensive national radio campaign ensures that consumers understand the benefits of using Zoopla which ultimately benefits our members.” ZPG last week confirmed that traffic to its…
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ZPG add RICS to agents’ professional affiliations
Agents that list their properties on Zoopla and its sister portals, including PrimeLocation, can now showcase their professional associations and redress schemes that they are signed up to across the Zoopla Property Group (ZPG) platform of websites, including the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), which has been addedto ZPGs recently launched feature in the past few days. Zoopla members wishing to activate this new feature can do so under their profile in ZooplaPro and activate the display of logos of their affiliations on all relevant agent directory pages, property details pages and professional reports across the ZPG platform. In an attempt to distance themselves from rogue agents and promote professionalism and better standards of service, many agents sign up to various industry bodies that offer professional guidance and self-regulation, in order to offer consumers greater confidence and protection, as well as sharpen up their own industry knowledge and specialist skills. Rob Clifford, Chief Executive of Century 21 UK, said: “Our membership [to RICS and ARLA] delivers greater confidence to clients that we are working to industry best-practice guidelines in what is still a non-regulated industry. Clients can also take a great deal of comfort from the fact they are…
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Digital Marketing
Social Media Over the last couple of years I have seen many more estate agents embrace social media; every day I see a newly launched account releasing its first Tweet after venturing in to the world of Twitter or posting their first ‘hello’ message on Facebook. Once again, figures obtained from simple searches on Google show us that around 80 per cent of Twitter users are active on mobile devices, with the majority of these likely to be Smartphone users. Whichever social media platform you share content on, it is likely to be viewed on various devices, including a mobile. But will they be able to access your website? Mobile Websites The desktop computer is no longer the only way we look at websites. When looking for a new home, you need the property details to hand, along with routes – and even, now, information on travelling times to your place of work. All of this is available to access on mobile devices, so if your website doesn’t work well on them, your potential clients will go elsewhere. A mobile device these days will generally be touch screen and of palm size so accessing a standard website layout will be…
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Floorplans
CLASSIC FLOORPLANS 2D floorplans have been around for a number of years but were only commercially viable for use on properties at the upper end of the market due to the costs. However, with floorplans about £1 each to produce, they are much more feasible for use on properties of all shapes, sizes and price ranges. Brian Farrell, Managing Director of Metropix, said, “We find that often agents are keen to include floorplans that stand out from the crowd, so we over a range of personalisation options free as part of a standard subscription. This includes adapting the colours of the plan to match corporate colours, plus the ability to add a logo as a ‘watermark’ on every plan.” But while 2D plans continue to be the best-selling, Farrell reports that more agents are looking for additional ways to di fferentiate themselves from their main competitors. INTERACTIVE FLOORPLANS Traditionally, many agents opted for a clear 2D floorplan accompanied by a selection of high quality photographs. Times are changing and the technology is improving, with many software packages now allowing agents to incorporate photos within a floorplan, enabling a house-hunter to click on the icon in the plan to see the view from within the room allowing people to immediately see the room decoration with layout and scale. This service is often available free as part of a…
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The Negotiator Conference and Expo 2012
For the first time The Negotiator held a Conference & Expo on the same day – and at the same venue, The Hilton on Park Lane – as the ever popular Negotiator Awards. The Conference was sponsored by GMG Property Services Group, Homelet, Reapit and Fully Furnished and supported by ARLA, NAEA and NAVA. More than 30 service providers had stands on the day – with all possible needs catered for, from software to corporate magazines and window displays to furniture providers. Whilst the conference was packed with interesting speakers such as Jones Lang LaSalle’s Head of Research John Neale, presenter Kate Faulkner, ARLA President Jane Ingram, and Guy Charrison, President, NAVA; the programme allowed for plenty of time to visit the exhibitors. We were delighted with the response to our stand and have several new partners as a direct result of the day!” Toby Limbrick Network Auctions The Expo gave delegates the opportunity to meet new and old faces and see people they may have only ever have chatted to on the phone. As Harry Simons, Partner, MPL Interiors said of his company’s experience of the Expo, “It was a productive day and provided a great chance for MPL to meet new clients and catch up with many existing ones. Many thanks to the Negotiator team for organising a very well-run and successful Conference.”…
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