The give and take away in real estate websites- how much freedom should there be?
In real estate the first and still present concern of the industry is how much "FREE" information should consumers be given online without capturing their personal information first? If consumers have access to "FREE" information without a capture the concern is they have now become a lost opportunity.
The "free" information that real estate professionals have is listing information, home sale information, and home evaluation information.
Should this information be kept under lock and key with a form or should consumers have free access to dine and dash?
Enter the Value Equation: X= Utility+Remarkable Service+Stickiness.
Let's do some math and solve for X shall we?
Internet Value of Real Estate Agent Website: X= IDX/Listing Function +Should I Buy A House Articles+Housing Value Information= BASIC
Internet Value of a Real Estate Franchise Website: X= IDX/Listing Function + Search For A Real Estate Agent + Buying/Selling Advice= BASIC
Internet Value of a Lead Generation Website: X= IDX/Listing Function +Discussions+Current Surveys/Report= WOW
These are very GENERAL equations and ONLY take into consideration the majority of real estate agents and franchise websites. GENERALLY speaking the variablespresented in the solution of the third equation are the MOST ATTRACTIVE to me.
It gives me what I want first which is information (Utility).
It engages me further by being interactive. There's a WOW factor (Remarkable Service).
It gives me a reason to return (Stickiness).
I get a taste of each factor before I have to commit to the website by giving my PERSONAL information.
The popularity of social networking is a great lesson in the new internet order of engagement and relationship building. People want to connect with other people AND they want to connect with the people behind the website they visit.
It's just that simple.
You will have to come to an acceptance that some consumers won't use your services. They will take your information and give it to another real estate agent. Some consumers will be hardcore D.I.Y. They will take your information and try to FSBO or buy a house on their own.
Then there are the consumers who you are working to attract. These consumers see a value equation in your website and they willlingly give their personal information. Now you can engage and create a meaningful relationship with them.
These are the consumers who will transact business with you. These are the ONLY CONSUMERS you should want to do business with.
The give and take away in real estate websites- how much freedom should there be?
Ask yourself:
Do you have a unique utility?
Do you have a remarkable service?
Is your website sticky?
Solve these variables of the value equation and you will have the inner peace you need to allow consumers the freedom to get a taste of your internet goods....before you ask for their personal information.
Here's some crush the box ideas to spur the thought process behind the value equation. This information is given freely without required registration, courtesy of Rebecca D. Levinson, dba Real Skillz Real Estate Marketing Consulting. Crush the Box Posts
DIY Real Estate Professionals have fun. Real Estate Professionals already using a marketing consultant feel free to share these ideas with your advisor.
Real Estate Professionals in general- Here's an open invitation to get to know me.
18 Comments
on The Give and Take Away in Real Estate Websites....How Much Freedom Should There Be?
DEC
05
2008
I think it is very important to give information, but in trade for something else such as information. I don't require a phone number, but I do require at least an e-mail address, but I do find about 70% of the time the do leave their phone number. (20-4)
At this point, we don't collect information on our website - except for a virtual assistant to send reminders on changes on homes, new listings, etc. Everything else is 100% free. We want to be a portal site that our customers and prospects use for their search. We are looking first and foremost to drive traffic to our website and lead info capture is secondary at this point. Thanks for post.
Rebecca, great points and a good question that is asked. We love to get leads and propsects from our site, many of which have turned into clients. The others we are just happy that they increase the traffic and help with google rankings. Is a very interesting way to look at it and am learning more about it by reading your posts and learning more from a marketing standpoint.
Good points Rebecca. I know there are two very strong viewpoints on this issue. For me I need the contact info. I do follow Michael Russers approach when it comes to the internet and how to respond to a contact but I think having their info is fair trade.
Todd, Ryan, Christopher and Stephanie, Missy, Perrin, and Bill-
I DO think there needs to be a registration after the give...BUT with the FREE information- listing, house evaluations, etc., so readily available are consumers being asked to register on real estate websites is the registration form being used in the wrong places.
In other words, can there be something UNIQUE offered to real estate consumers that requires registration to use? Aside from registration for updates on listings and for newsletters- which I DO understand.
Also, blogs, forums, reports from surveying real estate website consumers, new cool tools, these seem to run rampant on third party sites but not on local real estate agent websites.....
AND the real estate agents are the marketers, that's the thing. There is already a buyer and a seller in a real estate transaction.
If you put a local real estate agent's name on say a site like Zillow or Trulia, if those types of sites were created by the agent- WOW, can you imagine the number of customers the agent would get.....especially because that site would be a local version.
Great post. After much soul searching I finally decided to add registration, but only after visitors have looked at quite a few detailed listings. I'm going to play with just how many until I find a happy medium. I have seen some detailed reporting on this, but I always like to do my own experiments.
Thank you. I think there needs to be some form of registration. It is a foundation of marketing and sales.
I also think it's important to be look ahead, and what I see are a large number of template websites, company sites, etc. with all of the same information and it just continues to grow.
Meanwhile, 3rd party sites are very successful at integrating interactive tools for participants, new forum ideas, reports, etc.
SEO dollars aside, the only reason why you get return visitors to a site or blog is they like the content. I think listing information, house value information, and home sale (market reports) information are the basics now.
SO what's next? That is what I like to see, the what's next, and I do see it, but would be nice to see it on broker and agent websites.:-)
Okay, I have to agree, this is a very good post, I want to learn more from you so will find you on Twitter and expect lots of info. my cyber-friend:) @Ozarksagent will be following you, cyberly only tho!
Register? A major bugaboo. Many RE sites have the Contact tab linked to a fill-in form which is nothingmore that a data mine for the frachise or brokerage.
This is something I struggle with constantly. Do I make it mandatory for people to fill out a form and run the risk of "turning them off" or do I make my site a source of valuable info, and hope that consumers will appreciate it as a compelling enough reason to reach out to me. Tough choice indeed. Great post!
Hi Rebecca, I like to give some information without demanding anything from visitors, but offer some more detailed information that they will have to sign up to get. Some agents won't let visitors have ANY info (some won't even let people past the home page) without filling out all their information, and most folks feel uncomfortable with that before they have any idea if the site has anything of interest to them.
This is a toughy! Any of the national real estate web sites give the information away free. For that reason I don't think you CAN ask for registration. Now, if you have a website that is a niche, they can only find ALL THAT INFORMATION in one place on everything, then you MUST require registration.
Susan- Agreed.....Gotta give a little, a little more than a little, to get in kind.
Evelyn- I agree here again:-) So many websites are exactly the same. So the consumer can hop from site to site without a real differentiator. If this is the case, why require a registration right away without release of information. Not a great strategy.
I agree that basic information should be open and wiith free access - at some point in time, for more in depth information, you have the right -- your paying for it -- to ask for name, phone or email address to provide further assistance
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
much "FREE" information should consumers be given online without capturing their personal information first? If consumers have access to "FREE" information without a capture the concern is they have now become a lost opportunity.
;)
;)
;)
I think it is very important to give information, but in trade for something else such as information. I don't require a phone number, but I do require at least an e-mail address, but I do find about 70% of the time the do leave their phone number. (20-4)