What Letting Agents Can Learn About Marketing to Landlords

The lettings market is becoming increasingly competitive, making it even more important for letting agents to finetune their marketing to landlords. Data showed a drop of 12% in the number of landlord purchases in 2018, and the situation has been fairly gloomy since then. With little help for landlords who have lost revenue from cash-strapped tenants during the coronavirus pandemic, the fear is that many may drop out of the sector. But what does that mean for letting agents?

Essentially, agents could find themselves fighting each other for a decreasing pool of landlords. This means that they need to make themselves as attractive as possible to the property owners still in the market. Letting agents need to proactively seek out new business rather than wait for it to come to them.

Thankfully, a letting agent comparison website, Rentround, has looked into its user stats from landlords and produced some insights that could prove very handy for landlord marketing.

Marketing to Landlord - Helpful Stats

More Than Half of Landlords are Over 45

Knowing the age of the landlords you are targeting helps you better populate your website and inform your social media strategy. More than half of the 35,000 landlords included in the study are over 45, so you might not see much traction with a TikTok campaign, for example.

If you are looking to narrow your targeting, then the 35-44 age bracket was the most populous decade in the study. Nearly a quarter of all landlords fit into that category. As you might expect, there were relatively few young landlords. Just over 5% fit into the 18-24 slot.

Think about the images on your website. Do they resemble these findings? What sort of language do you use in marketing? Does it fit with this available audience? These are key questions to ask before launching into landlord marketing.

Landlords Are Most Likely to Conduct Business on a Smartphone

The research found that 58% of landlords used a mobile phone to conduct their business with the website. An additional 9% used a tablet, with a third accessing it on a desktop.

You should already be conscious of making your website mobile-optimised anyway, but this is a stark reminder of why. Not only does Google seem to favour sites that cater to mobile first, but your potential clients will not stick around if it isn’t. There is a real impatience with mobile users who want to access information quickly and clearly.

Make sure there are no large unnecessary images to slow the site down, highlight the key information ‘above the fold’ (meaning that it appears on the screen without the user having to scroll) and break up text with headings to make it easier on the eye.

When small businesses put together their own websites, they tend to do so on desktops and it is easy to forget that the majority of traffic will never see the site as it appears on a computer.

Full Management is the Most Popular Service

It is useful to know what landlords are looking for before they reach your website. This means you can order your services with the most popular front and centre. The research showed that a full management service was the most popular service, with 42% searching for that. Tenant-find only was second on 24%, with guaranteed rent options coming in with 19%. 15% did not know what they wanted.

This information also helps you work out what to add into your blogs, social media content, landlord marketing mailouts and more. In addition, the 15% who don’t know what services they want offer a real opportunity. If you can create great content explaining the difference between the services (including any other schemes you offer, such as the advanced rent option for example), you can position yourself as a trusted expert. If you give them the value they need, they are likely to be loyal to you and want to work with you in the future.

Marketing to Landlords - Other Ways to Entice Clients

Another string to your bow when marketing to landlords is to wow them with the added value you can bring to their business. If you outsource your property management duties to us, we ensure you receive a top class, efficient and cost-effective service for all of your clients. It also leaves you with more time to hone your landlord marketing skills and bring in more business. Talk to us today about how we can make your agency an even more attractive prospect.