Tag Archives: marketing

David Clare / July 21 / Marketing

Wikipedia: the rules for property marketers

Wikipedia is a top 10 website on the internet. It means that when people search for a brand or property development, they will look on Google first, and Wikipedia next.

As a marketer, it may be tempting to set up or edit pages yourself. But this can have drastic consequences, tarnishing brands, being banned from Wikipedia and doing far more harm than good, with the bad publicity that follows.

So, with help from the CIPR Wikipedia best practice guide, here are our top tips for approaching the site in marketing.

Avoid writing about yourself

Wikipedia pride themselves on their neutral point of view policy. An article should not promote you (or the brand), it should take into account both the good, the bad and the ugly.

Even if you were to create or edit a page, the chances are it will be deleted within minutes of creation. It will be super obvious and flagged to the editors.

This doesn’t mean you can’t create a page or edit within the site itself. You just have to make sure all editing is carried out honestly and in an open manner.

Avoid editing the competition too

There is a fierce rivalry between competitors in business. You might be thinking editing their Wikipedia page will make you look better, but you’d likely come worse off.

Wikipedia is not there for marketers to influence their client’s image – if you have something you want to say about a brand then send your request to Wikipedia themselves who will edit it accordingly.

How do you go about that? Simply go to the ‘Talk page‘ and it’ll alert the editors to your request.

Reference everything

Wikipedia makes it clear that they require inline citations for all and any material as well as all quotations. They want each point or fact made through Wikipedia to be seen as a reliable source of information so all references, therefore, have to be reliable too.

This is a good thing and means that if you do want to edit a page, and will actually be truthful in what you write, you shouldn’t have any problem at all in backing it up.

Dealing with disputes

If edit wars are taking place and a dispute is ongoing you can ask for a page to be protected. According to CIPR there are various stages in this process, from full protection, where only a Wikipedia administrator can make an edit, to semi-protection, where only Wiki editors who have been registered on the site for more than four days and have made at least ten edits are allowed to make changes.

Again, as with edit requests, you can ask to protect a page on the ‘Talk page’, but as always, you must present your case for why it should be so.

To find out more, download Best Practice Guidance for free.

David Clare / July 14 / Marketing, Property

Serviced offices market to dramatically increase

According to the latest issue of Estates Gazette, the serviced office market is to see a sixfold increase in value over the next 10 years. This follows from strong levels of growth over the past decade, which saw a 67% increase from 2005 – 2015.

With a current value of £16 billion, and a projected value of £126 billion by 2025, the services offices market is certainly a good opportunity to be looking at right now. But why the rise?

Of course, growth in business is behind the expected increase, especially so in people-powered workplaces. Small firms and start-ups, for example, have grown massively in the past decade, thanks to numerous accelerator programmes, both private and government funded.

The growth in professional services and the communications sector has also seen a need for serviced offices, as has more flexible and accommodating work habits, with internationalism playing a big part.

If you’re a UK based firm, then this next bit of information may help in choosing where to direct your efforts beyond London. Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds, respectively, are hotspots for people-powered business, and should be key targets for setting up serviced offices.

But don’t forget, internationalism is behind this trend, so make sure to set your sights further than the UK alone. Brexit or no Brexit, we’re a global economy.

David Clare / July 14 / Marketing, Property, Websites

Why traditional realtors still reign

Realtors, or estate agents as we call them in the UK, have experienced a shake up in recent years, due to the increase in online property portals and online versions of the service they offer. The likes of Rightmove are essential for selling a property, but is an online estate agent, or realtor, really the best way to go?

The draw towards online estate agents are clear. Lower prices. With either lower selling fees, or set fees (as opposed to percentages of the sale figure), are left with more cash in your pocket at the end of selling your home. Add to this that most people start their property hunt online, then why on earth would you need a physical, store fronted estate agent?

Well, I’m going to argue there are more benefits to the ‘old-fashioned’ approach. Here’s why.

1. Higher stock

A high street realtor is likely to have much more local stock than an online agent. In my experience of selling a property, this is most certainly the case. But why is more competition a good thing?

Whether you like it or not, there will be competition – just look at RightMove. The best tactic for selling your home is to be with the agent with the most stock. This way, when people do enquire about another property, they can lead the prospective buyer to your home.

More people coming through the door means more opportunities for your home to be put in front of them. Sure, they’ll be shown others too, but with an online agent, it is likely they’ll never be shown your property as an alternative anyway.

2. Human interaction

Try booking a viewing through Purple Bricks. It is an awful experience. You request a time, and then wait. You receive text messages to say they’re checking with the vendor, but they do this too through text or email.

Picking up the phone is much easier, and your traditional estate agent will do this – speaking to a person just takes less time.

The best part – your high street agent may have keys and be available to take you there and then, plus, they are more likely to accompany viewings, so you can get expert advice.

Sorry internet, but human interaction still works in 2016.

3. Internet isn’t exclusive

This is obvious, but often overlooked. The listings and advertising techniques used by online estate agents are in no way exclusive to them.

That’s right, your traditional, store fronted realtor can also use the internet too! And, they will (mind blown!)

So, there you have it. Unless your going to save thousands and thousands by using online only, I’d suggest you take a walk down the high street.

Do you run an estate agents and want to see how online marketing can help grow your business? Get in touch and we’ll show you how.

David Clare / May 27 / Marketing, Property, SEO, Websites

How do online real estate agents work?

Those who have sold a residential property recently may have noticed an alternative to their regular realtor when searching for the best companies to go with. This alternative is the online real estate agency – and that means no physical location or window shopping. Queue mass uncertainty.

We are split in the Elevation office about which is better, online or traditional. And mostly, when working out the pros and cons, it is a little of column A, a little of column B. They both have their benefits. But today, we’ll focus on why online real estate agencies can be beneficial.

Firstly, let’s take their nature into account. For someone to visit a property on an online portal (in the UK this would usually be Rightmove or Zoopla) then they must have some sort of intent already. Whether they are just seeing what is available, or looking to buy, they are one step further than the opportunist at the shop window of a traditional estate agency.

But since traditional agencies can also place a property on these portals, the benefit of using an online agent is lost. So why are people turning to these online companies in droves?

In a word. Fees. Yes, it comes down to money, as always. An online business can break the mould. Not only do they have fewer overheads, but an online business can be set up for very little, experiment with new business models, and pivot at a moment’s notice. This reduces their costs – by improving profit margins and reducing overheads, they can help customers by charging less. See a full list of what they charge on Which?.

Take Purple Bricks, the industry leader in the UK, for example. They charge a flat fee of £798 or £1,158 in central London. Seriously – just £1,158 in central London, for any size property! This is a hell of a saving, and can mean £10,000s in savings for customers. Of course, you are relying solely on online traffic, and forgoing the local knowledge and the customer base of traditional agents, so we’re betting the sales may take longer in less demand driven areas.

In addition, you do not have the benefit of an experienced valuer who visits your home and can give an accurate assessment of market value. Traditional agencies will also take care of the photography and the required EPC ratings. They are also on hand for qualified advice and help with the subsequent negotiation process. In all, that’s a lot to lose.

But there are companies that merge the two practices. EweMove, for example, is an online agency that uses the traditional percentage fee model, but with a lower fee than most traditional agents charge. For this, you get premium listings in major online portals, as well as local advertising in the area for which the property is sold in.

So, while the benefits are debatable – lower fees, but perhaps less local knowledge, help and qualified advice, we fully expect this industry to continue disrupting the property selling industry. What do you think? Let us know on Twitter @ElevationComms.

David Clare / April 29 / Marketing

Email is not dead: why email still matters

Email is dead is stated far too often. The fact that people keep saying it means that the message hasn’t stuck. And why? Because email is about as dead as Jon Snow. I mean, come on, he’s absolutely coming back!

I digress. Email is alive and kicking. Honestly, ask yourself how often you use email each day and you’ll see how much impact it has in the modern world. Alternatives such as Basecamp or Slack (a favourite of ours) have not replaced email. In fact, emails are sent through Basecamp and Slack will send a summary email of the week on progress. Why? Because people check email!

So for marketers, especially in B2B sectors, email is a great way to reach your audience. It is a one on one conversation – you speak to the audience direct. It is device agnostic – you can connect with an audience 24/7, whether on the phone, desktop or other. And it most certainly isn’t going – people use email to sign up to services. Without email, we’re practically off the grid.

Here’s the kicker, though. Emails don’t change. You keep your email for years. There are only two real exceptions:

For the graduates among you, it is likely you’re switching from fuzzybunny99 to something a little more formal
When you switch jobs (but only your work email changes)

So, for the most part, and especially when gathering personal emails, the contact list you create will outlast any influencer or media list. And the average person changes their job only every 4.4 years, so use this number as a guide for how many years should go by before a database refresh.

Email is long-term. It was around at the very beginning of the emergence of the internet, pre-web (and yes, there is a difference), and will easily be around for years to come. In marketing, it offers multi-channel real estate to have your messaging appear on. With click through rates in the region of 30% here at Elevation, it is even more effective than organic social media marketing.

We could, of course, go on. But how about we let the results speak for themselves? Get in touch if you need help with your email marketing and we’ll show you just how powerful email can be – yes, even in 2016!