In case you aren’t familiar with Zillow Showcase Ads, they are ZIP-code targeted ads that can be updated at any time. Showcase Ads are very effective for agent advertising.
Zillow makes money by selling ads on the site. But, to be a successful media company, they need to make sure their customers are realizing success with their ads.
It is important to look at what the best-performing ads look like, and the lowest performing, because ad content is crucial to performance.
Actually, these findings can apply broadly to any advertising campaign, not just those on Zillow!
LISTING ADS PERFORM A LOT BETTER (in terms of “click-throughs”) THAN AGENT HEAD SHOT ADS.
Observations from the Top 50 ads on Zillow:
- 100% were ads for listings
- 45 of 50 ads were an exterior home shot, 3 were interior, 2 were aerials
- 42 of the ads mentioned a specific area (neighborhood, city or addres)
- 8 central messages revolved around Short Sale, Foreclosure or price reduction
- 2 were Open House ads
- 0 photos were renderings (illustrations), all were actual photos
- 0 ads promoted a specific person, business or brand
- 22 of the ads had a specific price visible
- 7 had a phone number visible
- 50 had photos that were taken on a sunny day
Observations from the Bottom 20 ads on Zillow:
- 18 of the ads promoted an agent/broker/brand
- 1 did not have a photo (and no clicks)
- 1 had some type of call-to-action on the ad
To protect the innocent, here are the most-used tag lines from these ads:
Buying or Selling?
Let’s Make It Happen!
Greater [City] Expert
[State] Specialist (you specialize in the whole state?)
Call For Results
Buyer Rebate
Luxury Living
I’ll Get You Moving
Need Perspective?
Local [Large City] Expert (would be more effective if neighborhood name was used)
31 Yrs Selling Experience
Certified Mtg Planner (does Joe Public know what Mtg is?)
… and the most common: No tag line - Just company name
Sara Bonert, Director of Broker Relations at Zillow and the original poster of these ideas and statistics, SHOWS YOU what the best performing ads LOOK like here.
For more information, please contact the friendly sales staff at Zillow to learn about pricing in your area. Sara is ready and willing to help. You can also contact her on Twitter: @sbonert.
Okay so now we've told you more about Zillow Showcase ads... If you're short on time, have your Real Estate Virtual Assistant setup, tweak and manage your showcase ads! "Do what you do best and hire out the rest!"
Best wishes!
Erica Parpan
Operations Manager
