The UK’s leading provider of instant online valuations is warning agents that just having a valuation widget on their website is no longer enough to generate the best results.
The ValPal Network, which consists of over 800 agency brands with more than 4,000 offices, advises agents to take a holistic approach to marketing their valuation tools.
A proactive approach to instant online valuations
According to The ValPal Network, agents need to foster a proactive attitude to promoting their online valuation tools in order to generate more leads which can be converted into market appraisals.
A valuation tool should have a prominent presence on an agent’s website, but to really maximise its potential, agents need to actively encourage prospects to use it.
This can be done by targeting consumers who don’t complete the valuation process with canvassing material. Meanwhile, discouraging people from leaving the process while they are still on the valuation page can also be effective.
Moreover, agents can benefit from actively promoting their valuation tools to prospective clients through tracked social media marketing, pay per click advertising and more traditional marketing campaigns.
Craig Vile, director of The ValPal Network said, “We’re now past the point where agents just ‘need’ an online valuation tool on their website. To really get the best results, they need to be thinking about how to incorporate instant valuations into their overall marketing strategy.
“Instant online valuations are the best way to capture contact details of interested vendors and landlords and while the credibility of the valuation is important, it is more an exercise in generating leads and then offering the prospect an expert market appraisal.”
Vile says that The ValPal Network is committed to providing its members with the tools and training that can help them promote their valuation tools effectively and subsequently generate more leads and an unbeatable return on investment.
A whole lot more than lead generation
Lead generation will always be hugely important, so much so that The ValPal Network has recently released a chatbot for agents’ websites, specifically designed to capture the details of vendors and landlords.
It’s also becoming increasingly valuable for agents to look at ways to generate additional revenue and build long-term opportunities and relationships.
Vile added, “We’ve created PortalPal to help agents qualify their portal leads and generate additional revenue through referrals to home moving services. It’s a hugely competitive marketplace with a lower average fee than before and there is also the ongoing impact of the tenant fees ban to consider.
“Therefore, it’s important that agencies have the processes in place to maximise their income and create new revenue opportunities from existing marketing streams.”
Vile says that nurturing is also an important activity that is not prioritised effectively by some agents.
“An agent’s database is one of their richest resources for opportunities. Nurturing relationships by speaking to contacts regularly and offering them marketing advice is so beneficial. Our tool NurturePal helps our agents touch base with their database more efficiently and effectively, although this should not stop agents from also picking up the phone.”
Vile adds that when it comes to being successful in all angles of an agency operation, the power of collaboration has never been stronger.
“We have therefore partnered with some of the industry’s best suppliers – such as Loop Software, Olivia, Virgin Media and Feefo – to help agents thrive in all parts of their business,” he says.
Overall marketing strategy is crucial
Due to competition for market share intensifying in 2020 and a crowded online marketplace, agents must make sure their overall marketing strategy revolves around generating vendor and landlord leads, says The ValPal Network.
Vile said, “One of the key aspects of this approach is through trackable social media marketing and pay per click advertising which has become so valuable to forward-thinking agents.
“We also partner with established agent and Facebook ads expert Paul Long to help agents achieve amazing results in their campaigns.”
Other marketing options savvy agents are benefitting from include content marketing and PR, with the aim of raising their brand’s profile, providing expert advice and cementing their position as industry thought leaders.
Vile added, “Successful agency will always be about maintaining meaningful relationships but having a comprehensive marketing strategy in place provides agents with more opportunities to build long-lasting connections and impress consumers with outstanding customer service.”
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