The Marketing League

One of my favourite aspects of running a business is marketing. I like the challenge of building a brand and the buzz of watching an idea come to life.. However, I do have a problem. That being I have no formal training in the subject whatsoever and as such am taking decisions on how much to invest and where to place that investment very much on gut instinct and experience.

I do have some guidance on marketing from a highly experienced, 'critical friend' who knows she can crucify anything I come up with she thinks is ridiculous, without me taking offence. Her advice has been invaluable.

I find that the start of the year is always the most difficult time to make judgements. My heart is always telling me to push on and be bold, while my head is wary of further slowing in the market and tying myself into commitments I may then struggle to keep financing. I'm sure all businesses struggle with this dilemma but for smaller set ups, the gamble can be much greater as your livelihood and those of your staff depends on you getting it right.

For an estate agency, the primary decisions are to choose which level you commit to for local newspapers and which level for national property websites. If there were only one of each, it would be easier but of course there are dozens of websites and two local papers all wanting your business and all with figures to argue they are the best. Should I do a little of everything? Focus on just a couple? Or do I everything? Then there are the options to take additional advertising. Property websites like Rightmove all offer a multitude of additional advertising spaces over and above purely listing the properties.

Not forgetting local magazines, local billboards, school and sport sponsorships, and radio stations like Mercury Radio to name but a few. Crucially the more you do, assuming that helps you get busier, it also means the more staff you need to manage the workload. There would be little point investing in getting more customers for those customers then to receive a poor experience and not return.

What makes the decisions so difficult are that almost all of these forms of advertising cannot give you a direct statistical value. How do I know how many of you actually called because you saw or heard a specific advert, or was it a mixture of adverts or was it from our shop front or maybe word of mouth etc. It's very hard to quantify the value of each media and hence to direct the budget accordingly. Or decide on the level of the budget. My ‘critical friend’ disagrees but I think it’s just her way of looking to take a little bit of the marketing budget in return for some more invaluable advice!

My philosophy is to be as adventurous and brave as possible. If our clients can see we’re actively investing in selling their homes by ensuring the Imagine brand is suitably promoted and recognised, they'll appreciate we're increasing their chance of successfully finding them buyers and tenants. To this end we are the only agent with a double page advert in BOTH local papers. We are the only agent locally on ALL 6 of the leading property websites. I try to sponsor as many local school events as is practical and we're currently in the process of deciding on the style of a radio campaign.

The strategy we've adopted has worked so far and was particularly productive when the market died and most agents cut back massively on their marketing spend. I held mine and looked to be much more prolific as a result.

Marketing spend from agents will vary between £1,000 and £5,000 per branch, per month. Running a branch in its entirety will cost between £10,000 per month and £50,000. You the consumer have the choice as to whether to associate with those who run on a shoestring, those who invest to the maximum to market your home or someone in between. No different to the Premier League really; the teams / businesses who spend the most, once established, are highly likely to produce the best results and finish top of the table.

You pays your money and takes your pick….