Once again we join Nitten as he explores the benefits to an estate agency adopting a digital transformation. Episode 12 of the ‘Starberry Vlog’ series brings Steve Walker of Collinson Hall to discuss their most recent transformation.

Episode 12 of the ‘Starberry Vlog’ series reveals to you what a digital transformation can look like through the eyes of an estate agency.  Hosted by Nitten, we tackle the in’s and out’s of such a change and the consequential boost to lead conversion that can be experienced.

A digital transformation is one that takes estate agencies away from the traditional and pushes for more contemporary responses to consumers.

We are in a time where a majority of leads browse for agencies and consume content within the digital space.  Therefore those looking to maximise lead-conversion should look towards enhancing their entire digital operation. Today we dive into an agency that did exactly that - Collinson Hall. 

Collinson Hall began their journey in 1825, a time where the term “digital marketing” simply didn't exist - with this came a natural progression into becoming comfortable with traditional marketing. Steve Walker reveals a concern of public perception, and how they may be viewed as an agency “stuck in their ways”.

Not only with marketing but Collinson Hall suffered from a static website - one that didn't even allow video-media, which was becoming more of a trend and still is.

Wanting an operational overhaul, we worked alongside Collinson Hall to better help them undergo this digital transformation.  Starting with a website-build that was more dynamic in presenting properties to leads and taking them through a journey. Moving onto digital marketing that better represented the brand and was strategically designed to end up in front of the right eyes. Both website and digital marketing come together to “strike a balance between traditional professionalism and contemporary tools”.

Collinson Hall recognised the need for a feature-full website that better represented the brand. As Steve Walker mentions when it comes to websites “people get a lot of info and gain an impression very quickly”.  Highlighting the importance of a powerful digital platform that gracefully guides leads to the point of conversion.

With COVID-19 around the corner during initial launch, the Collinson Hall website would play a vital role in maintaining a strong connection between lead and agency.

Collinson Hall was dependent on traditional media - E.G: Newspapers - and with the pandemic in full effect, such strategies were becoming more obsolete. We created a website that closed the gap between agency and won instructions, whether it be the decision-making information under one roof - E.G: ‘Locrating Maps’ offering an extensive filter system or the more efficient communication functionality due to the likes of Zoom & Calendly integrations.

We believe an estate agencies strongest asset when it comes to lead-conversion is their website. Collinson Hall’s website at one point was static and did not reach the expectations of a dynamic platform that most user’s have come to expect. 

Due to this, the agency became reliant on portals such as ‘Zoopla’ and ‘RightMove’ to contribute to their valuations. However many leads have made important decisions by the time they reach these portals, and so a website in order to push for lead-conversion at an earlier stage was required.

We created a website that was better suited to do the “heavy lifting” when it came to capturing leads.  Portals still have their place with Collinson Hall,  however the fresh website build we implemented allowed Collinson Hall to start driving business just as much through their own activities.

One of the biggest perks to utilising digital marketing is the ability to accurately track success.  Every social platform collects and display’s metrics that allow estate agents to better gauge ROI (return on investment).  These metrics can then be used to make future marketing decisions that are more successful than the last, as you have a clearer understanding of what works and what doesn't with your audience.  

“Traditional media, you never had any feedback”,  Steve Walker recognised the importance of understanding human behaviour and how a consumer reacts.  With this came the idea to move away from traditional marketing and adopt strategies that would better reveal the behaviour of Collinson Hall’s leads.

Pushing Collinson Hall into the realm of digital marketing meant tracking became a whole lot easier.  The estate agency now having access to how many views, clicks or even how long people watched their videos, meant we at Starberry could identify whether the content they are putting together is being well received.

Video marketing is on its way to becoming the most consumed type of content across the digital space.  Social-media and Youtube have slowly taken over television, as the most efficient vehicles for pushing content and advertisement.

“It's a learning curve……the first time I was told I was boring”.  Just like many other estate agents, Steve Walker recognised that mastering the art of engaging videos was a task in itself. However, committing to the process of evolving content - with the help of analytics - led to more valuable video content that reflected the brand and boosted lead-conversion.

We supported Collinson Hall in their journey to fully embrace video marketing, helping to create content strategies that connected with leads.  Some videos averaging 5000 views and with around 15% watching until the end - even more impressive considering some of these videos are 6-minutes long!
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Would you say industry perspective has changed?

Steve Walker says “absolutely…. we have witnessed a video trend and their production values have gone up”. This highlights that estate agencies are discovering the value in digital marketing, as they move away from the traditional. 

The property industry is one that is highly reactive, estate agencies constantly seeking the best way to adapt and offer value, in order to stand out from their competitors.  The in-depth customisation of content that comes with digital marketing allows for agencies to differentiate themselves from the crowd.

With everyone taking big steps in digital marketing to try to stand out, we pushed Collinson Hall in the same direction.  Breaking down the importance of digital-marketing and the many benefits it could bring to their specific agency when it comes to winning instructions. 

During the process, what stood out the most?

Digital marketing essentially levelled the playing field, back in the day when traditional marketing was more prominent, those with buying power could overshadow their competitors by constantly churning out advertising. 

With still only a single office in St Albans, Collinson Hall could now “punch above their weight” utilising the competitive footing that digital marketing gave them,  accurately displaying their value to the same leads that larger estate agencies aim for.

Collinson Hall are experts in their field, and by undertaking a digital transformation with Starberry, they can now better display this to all their leads.

Those looking to begin their estate agencies digital marketing journey, should look no further than Starberry, book a meeting with us today!