Small can be mighty when it comes to estate agencies. In a previous blog, we talked about how smaller agents can compete with industry giants by becoming a local property expert. In this blog, we’ll take a look at how smart marketing tools can also level out the playing field and propel your brand into the spotlight alongside industry titans.
Your rivals include well-established brands with vast resources and extensive networks. You don’t have the budget or the manpower to compete. This is where good tools coupled with the best market data can be your saviour! TwentyEA has designed a package of tools called Boost, specifically for the self-employed agent or those 1-2 branch businesses. It encompasses everything you need to boost your leads, boost your market knowledge and boost your brand awareness. Let’s take a look at what Boost can do for your business…
Perfecting your prospecting
Prospecting has always very much been the bread and butter for estate agents. It lays the foundation for all subsequent interactions with vendors. Larger agencies typically have specialised team members handling specific aspects of estate agency operations, such as viewings or negotiations. As a small business, you lack that luxury and find yourself wearing multiple hats and handling every aspect of the business alone. So strapped for time with the demands of clients and property showings, it leaves you little room to carry out prospecting activities. You need tools that can take repetitive tasks like prospecting off your hands and free up your valuable time.
Our Boost package includes a pay-as-you-go Prospect tool. A key USP of our tool is that we track 99.6% of the residential property market (the highest on the market) so we know exactly what stage of the home-moving journey each homeowner is at. The tool allows you to set up campaigns that target specific audiences depending on where they are with their house sale. You can try to win vendors from other agents by targeting properties that have been on the market for several weeks for instance, or properties that have been withdrawn, fallen through or experienced a price change.
As well as knowing exactly what stage each property is at in the home-moving journey, we also have whole-of-market coverage. So, if you have a buyer interested in a particular neighbourhood, you can target specific postcodes with direct mailers. You can also carry out effective 20/20 campaigns following successful sales.
Our estate agent prospecting platform allows you to either upload a design or use one of our templates to send direct mail letters or postcards straight from the tool. You can set up automated campaigns and we’ll take care of the printing and posting, leaving you free to focus on what you do best: liaising with vendors and selling properties!
The second powerful USP of Prospect is that it encompasses our expert AI tool, Forecast, which predicts which homes are most likely to go up for sale in the next two months. Be the first to target these potential vendors and get your brand in front of them before your competitors do. One of our largest clients, Forecast generates over 60% of their valuations! And it can do the same for you!
Mobile marketing with a twist
Prospecting is effective, no doubt, but to encourage vendors to choose you as their preferred agent, you need to amplify your brand presence. Expand your marketing horizons and try something different to help you stand out from the crowd. That’s why Boost includes our innovative mobile marketing. The ads appear similar to a news ticker – a discrete banner that scrolls across the bottom of someone’s mobile screen when they visit popular websites. The ads don’t interfere with the user’s activities online, but they do grab attention. Your logo sits alongside a marketing message that scrolls in a loop. People will naturally pay attention just as they do on news channels. The message appears on the mobiles of those most likely to move in the next two months so you can make sure potential vendors are familiar with your brand before they instruct. We can also set them up to appear on the devices of vendors who may be frustrated with their current agent and looking to switch. Take a read here to find out more about our mobile ads.
With Boost, we can get eyes on your business and attract new vendors. This type of marketing makes it as easy as possible for vendors to find you over your competitors. It works on the premise of frequency illusion, where after learning about something for the first time, such as a concept or business, you'll start to see it everywhere. More awareness means more familiarity and a higher chance of being chosen as the agent for a homeowner’s next move!
Combining prospecting with mobile marketing generates curiosity about your business, increases trust and legitimacy in your brand, and achieves a broader reach. With our mobile marketing and Prospect tool, you can include your logo and business colours to maintain a consistent brand image.
Marketing eats away at an agent’s time and financial resources, especially for smaller agencies. That's why Boost is so great. It’s cost-effective, quick and easy to set up marketing campaigns. At just 75p per mailer, even those with limited budgets can prospect effectively. We do all the leg work, and you get results!
The weight behind market knowledge and expertise
Market knowledge carries significant influence. Clients rely on their agents to provide accurate, up-to-date information about market trends, property values, and neighbourhood insights. Successful estate agents invest time in continuous learning and staying informed about the market. By equipping yourself with market stats, you can offer valuable advice to clients, positioning yourself as a trusted and credible advisor rather than just a salesperson.
Boost includes our Insight tool, which provides detailed data on what your competitive landscape looks like. You’ll have access to the data of up to three postcode districts. Track market share, the number of Fall Throughs, Exchanged, Price Changed, Relisted, SSTC and Withdrawn properties for the top 10 agents on your patch. It also allows you to compare how much you and your competitors under or over-value properties and how long it takes each agent to complete a sale. If you find that you’re more accurate at valuations than other agents or that you’re completing sales faster than rivals, you can use these messages as a hook to convince vendors to instruct you. Armed with this data, you can showcase your knowledge of the local area and position yourself as a local property expert.
The Boost package also includes the Search tool which gives you a detailed breakdown of over 32 million UK residential properties. Find out the market status of the property, property type, council tax band and much more. With this knowledge at your fingertips, you can show a potential client that you’re an agent who knows their stuff. Reel off facts about their property and build trust with them, encouraging them to pick you over a rival.
In addition to having the full DNA of each property, Search also includes our highly accurate AVM to estimate the value of the property. This allows you to position yourself as the expert who provides reliable valuations. It's an additional asset in your arsenal to establish yourself as a reputable agent.
Final thoughts
Being a smaller agent, you need to do everything in your reach to compete against the top brands. Boost will help you to do so. It provides you with effective marketing tools and in-depth market knowledge. Larger agents may have greater resources and brand recognition but Boost can get your name out there and help you thrive alongside these larger competitors. With Boost you can not only generate more leads but convert these leads into paying vendors! Just as David triumphed over Goliath, smaller agents can harness the power of estate agency marketing tools to gain an advantage over larger counterparts in the industry.
TwentyEA can help you improve your estate agent market share with its real estate prospecting tools, property market data and mobile marketing. Find out more about our Boost package here.
