“Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication.”

— Stephen M.R. Covey

The oracle

As a local estate agent, you are in the best position to give advice on the market. There is nobody else who knows the market as well as you, or who can so expertly balance the expectations and emotions of buyers, landlords and vendors. You can advise on the offers that are really going to cut the mustard in today’s frenetic market. Or advise developers trying to get a feel for the potential of a market new to them.

As someone considering a relocation, I appreciate the local expertise of agents. Indeed, in this scenario, an agent is an oracle of local knowledge, a pillar for people to lean on as they make potentially life-changing decisions about moving their families from the known to the unknown.

Yet what about the times when you can’t chat or meet in person? In our 24/7 digital environment, many will look to the next best thing when they can’t talk to you: your website.

Over half of vendors visit an agent’s website before instructing

The importance of agent websites continues to grow. In the 2021 Property Academy Home Moving Trends Survey, 18% of respondents said they had used agent websites more than ever before. More than half of vendors visited their agent’s website before instructing them. The survey found that this is especially the case with home movers who are looking for a change of scenery or lifestyle.

When asked which features were important on an agent’s website, 44% selected ‘Local housing market information’. As providers of up-to-date local market trends, this was particularly significant to us at Dataloft.

400,000 hits a month

We have seen incredible traction with our automated local market insight website pages that many Dataloft Inform estate agent subscribers feature on their websites. These pages receive around 400,000 hits per month. Demonstrating a depth of local expertise and fuel for social media activity and lead generation, many agents also offer a Dataloft Inform monthly market report to keep the conversation going.

Following this success we have just launched a new range of ‘Smart Pages’, providing automated, branded and designed local market insights for the sales, lettings, new build and prime markets.

Gatekeepers

You are the gatekeeper for information on the biggest investment most people make in their lives. If you can share the type of content on your website and throughout your marketing that will inform and impress clients and create trust in your brand, you will stand out from the competition.