Words: Ashley Rigg
Published: 13th January 2011
*Rightmove gets friendly with Facebook
Rightmove, the UK’s market-leading property portal, has introduced the facility for visitors to “like”
overseas properties on Facebook.
At Global edge we have
not always been supportive of social media like Twitter as a means of generating leads but this move is as simple as it is clever.
Property buyers and renters love to share information about their new homes. My friends have frequently sent me links to their new properties. This move makes it easier for them to do so.
The clever commercial aspect to Rightmove’s execution is they promote the agent’s name in every post. Most friendship networks are extremely localised (except if you live in a large capital like London or New York) so the facility will promote local word of mouth and instructions for local agents.
How will people use it?
If you use Facebook regularly you will know that there are always a few idiots who bombard your news feed with almost anything. Many of the 651 people who liked
this property are likely to fall into this category.
However, the majority of use should come from people who have made offers on a property and want to show it off to their network.
In this market, overseas agents may only get one offer per property (if you’re lucky) and perhaps only one in three people will post. An average Facebook user has an
average of 281 friends so the numbers are small, but could be highly significant.
Personal recommendation is the most powerful tool in a world with too much noise. Referral marketing is the
most effective and most underused marketing channel by overseas agents.
Rightmove has just made utilising your most effective marketing channel easier. Expect other portals and the more innovative agents in the market to follow its lead.
Source: Global edge
User Comments
It is a useful tool, We've using it since 2008 and we had not noticed any interference from the competitors. To keep in touch with our clients we also use twitter, picasa, youtube, friendfeed, linkedin, skype, blogspot and blogspot.
Luigi Spano,
SIS Property and Tourism
Knight Frank have have been using the share on Facebook facility for over 6 months, it's also an important tool in our property app for iPhone.
I agree with Tenerife Property with regards the competition and giving away secrets with the 'like' function.
Gareth McConnell,
Knight Frank
Already on it, just got to make sure users dont give away too much info as other agents will then have total access to your potential buyers. Especially important in a small area like Tenerife where they are all desperate enough to do pretty much anything to steal a lead.
I originally had a facebook plugin on my site where users could automatically leave comments and were "signed in" but realised it was too risky and they would simply start receiving messages from other agents offering something similar.
It´s a fantastic tool for portals though and encourages feedback and participation,
Tenerife property,
http://tenerifeestateagents.net