Why Are Most UK Property Ads So Badly Written?

Ever since the 19th century, advertisers have known what makes a good advert.  

I’m not talking about the costly & un-trackable brand building ads. You know, the Big Brand ‘Getting Our Name Out There’ ads in the middle of Coronation Street.

A good ad should always seek to change behaviour.

Strangely, the tried & tested principles that have worked in every industry worldwide for over 100 years have never taken hold in UK property market.

Whether you’re in Durham or Dartmouth, scan your local newspaper and you’ll see identical ads from Estate & Letting Agents.  

They’ll all have a list of bullet points. Showing "The Things That They Do" - which, let’s face it, is 99% the same as everyone else in their town.

They’ll list how long they’ve been going. They'll boast about their local knowledge. 

They'll reference their “Passion”, how much they “Care” and for them it’s “Personal”.  

They’ll tell you it’s great that they’ve got an office in town. Or they’ll tell you it’s great they’ve NOT got an office in town.  

This creates zero emotional connection with the reader. So it has little chance of getting them to change how they behave.

Why does it creates zero emotional connection with the reader?  

Because it's all about the agent.  

Face Facts. Very few people give two hoots about their Estate Agent or Letting Agent.

They care about themselves.

I know this because I enjoyed a successful 10 year career in direct response marketing. That’s the branch of marketing that is 100% focused on changing behaviour & getting people to act in a certain way.

I worked for a couple of big International agencies. I helped create successful, award winning campaigns for brands like Rolls Royce, Energizer, McCain Foods, Nissan & RBS. I learned and applied the best battle-tested direct marketing principles. They worked.

In 2007 I quit marketing and bounded into the world of Lettings as the proud owner of a start-up agency. 

It shocked me to see that all those years of direct response research & testing were being completely ignored.

And no more so that when it came to property listings…

Let’s face it, whether it’s your own home or a Buy To Let investment, a property is a pretty big asset. The highest value single item that most people are ever going to buy or sell.

If that’s the case should property not be promoted in the best possible way? Using the very best advertising techniques available? To give the very best chance of success?

It would appear not.

The typical UK property listing is BORING. It's full of facts and room dimensions. It speaks to the head and not the heart.

Consumer behaviourists know that people make decisions based on emotions. They then justify the choice with logical & facts.

You'd have thought that it would be a piece of cake for Estate & Letting Agents to capitalise on this with emotionally engaging prose - after all their 'product' is pretty much a national obsession for most Brits (second to bitching about the weather, of course)

So why do 99% of property listings completely ignore this insight?

It would be easy to knock the agents themselves but I don't think that's really beneficial or constructive.

Quite simply, no one has shown them there is another way.

Until now.

I'll look to address this problem over coming months with a series of posts taken from my soon to be released book "The Ultimate Property Listing".

In the meantime, if you want to know more please email [email protected] or drop me a reply in the comments