Ben Auchettl understands the key to a successful marketing campaign is being armed with the right knowledge.
The realestate.com.au National Sales Director knows agencies and agents need to watch the market to get a handle on what branding and advertising strategies are working right now.
Ben, who is also responsible for products such as Premiere, Audience Maximiser, Property Showcase and Front Page, says realestate.com.au is now providing agents and agency leaders with enhanced reporting and tools to do just that.
ENTER IGNITE
Launched earlier this year, the Ignite App allows sales agents to track how their listing campaigns are performing on realestate. com.au anywhere, anytime.
Ben says the team are proud to make realestate.com.au’s data available to customers, helping them to grow their businesses, while making it accessible on mobile.
“Ignite is designed to put the power of our campaign reports – and data – into the hands of agents,” Ben says.
“Previously some of this was only available on a desktop.
“Now agents can see how a campaign is performing from any mobile device.”
VENDOR REPORTING MADE SIMPLE
Ignite is also about timeliness.
Once upon a time, you could only view weekly data from a desktop.
With Ignite, this data is now updated daily and includes information on the number of people the campaign has reached, how many people have viewed a property, how many inquiries have been received, and more.
Using the App, agents can also receive and respond to buyer inquiries, with all listings for sale able to be viewed in one place. Ben points out the advantages of this.
“We’re aware that some of the inquiries that come from buyers can get accidentally missed or end up in spam folders,” he says. “Now that agents can respond on the go, this gives the opportunity for processes to be tightened up if they need to be.”
In addition, there is an option to download campaign reports that can be shared with vendors.
This is the piece that Ben feels is going to be the most powerful.
“If the number of views and or inquiries for a property is not translating into people attending open for inspections, or auctions, then there may be some sort of disconnect there,” he says.
“With the right information delivered on a timely basis, adjustments can be made.”
In this first release, insights are available for all sales listings and includes Audience Maximiser, eBrochure and Front Page campaigns, along with the Statement of Information (VIC only).
There is also the functionality for market comparison, which compares your listings to others in the local market.
“It really gives transparency to campaigns that the agent can easily present to the vendor at any time, depending on how much information the vendor wants,” Ben says.
He says this is the first time that views on Victorian Statements of Information requests have been accessible to agents.
“We’ve been collecting the data, but previously we’ve had no way of serving it to agents,” Ben says.
“But now, you can see how many people have requested the Statement of Information.
“Obviously they are trying to get a price, which is a really good statement of intent.”
A MORE HOLISTIC VIEW
For Agency leaders, an Agency Reporting tool, updated monthly, is available in the Agent Marketing Centre.
This provides a helicopter view of how the agency’s listings and agents are performing on realestate.com.au without the need to collate several different reports.
This includes valuable market data such as:
• Where the business is positioned in the market vs the competition
• How agents’ listings are performing, along with how agents individual profiles are performing
• Other agency profile metrics
Ben says agency leaders should use this to help validate any assumptions.
“Being able to view up-to-date data provides another validation point for making decisions,” he says.
SUPPLY AND DEMAND
Launching early August and available to Premiere All customers on the Agent Marketing Centre, will be Market Insights – which talks to supply and demand as well as overall market health and turnover.
This reporting provides some of the information found in the realestate.com.au Demand Index Report, but on a more localised level.
“If we see a lot of consumer searches for three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartments in Richmond, but not a lot of supply of these types of properties then this is really good information to have on hand when you’re making those just listed/just sold calls,” Ben says.
The tool also offers insight into gross rental yield to support agents in helping vendors to understand market conditions.
“It’s a great way to show vendors how they are competing with other properties that may be on the market,” Ben says.
FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS
While the Ignite App is pretty new, around 4000 agents have downloaded the App and started using it.
Feedback shows it’s been a welcome addition to their marketing arsenal.
“Agents love being able to access reporting on mobile,” Ben says.
“Some are using it to stand out from the competition and work with vendors daily throughout their marketing campaigns. They love the daily updates too.”
Ben says the App will continue to change and grow over the next six to twelve months, with new features being made available to help support agents, agencies and their property marketing campaigns.
Reporting on sold listings is the next area planned for inclusion in the App.
“Ignite will continue to evolve,” Ben says. “This is the first time we’ve been able to supply this much of our data to our customers.
“We are excited to see where it goes to help agents, principals and consumers.”
