by Grant Wakelin
Nigel Jeffries is the head of Trade Me property. He joined Trade Me earlier this year from real estate data company PropertyIQ (now Core Logic) where he was CEO. So, it is a great opportunity to chat to Nigel and explore how TradeMe users interact with the website and particularly what we as property advertisers on the website can do to make our listings attractive.
200SQ: Nigel, thanks for your time and it’s great to catch up with you in your new role. How’s it all going?
Nigel: I started in April as you know with a bit of a hospital pass (laughs), but all good. I have been focused on building the team and that has been important. We changed the offer to Real Estate Agents in August and whole team has been out with customers. The response has been 98% positive because we addressed the key concerns the industry had. The most important thing I think was we recognised the difference between metropolitan and provincial areas with tiered pricing, understanding the value we provide and the over all spend.
We are also pumping new stuff out on the product side, for example, the new monthly sales index has just come out. We are working hard in the product area.
200SQ: When you talk to your site users - property buyers, what is it they tell you they want from property advertising/listings on Trade Me?
Nigel: Our users want rich and accurate property information, presented in a manner that allows them to form a view as quickly as possible. Pictures of course come up very early - the first three pictures matter most. Pictures paint a 1,000 words and you want high resolution pictures of the key aspects of the property.
Buyers want a price guide. They want to know a property is in their budget.
They also want helpful information about the suburb - users will come in with 2-3 suburbs in mind and they may not always live there. They want to understand the closeness to amenities and the special features of where they want to live.
200SQ: If the first three pictures are the most important what shots should they be?
Nigel: A frontage shot, the kitchen and master bedroom. Anecdotally, we know that is what works. Males and females have different needs and wants from a property so that covers it.
200SQ: Interesting, no living areas?
Nigel: The living room and family rooms are after that.
The amount of floor plans loaded is limited today, but it is one of the most sort after pieces of information. The statistics show that floor plans are more desirable in fact than lots of images and certainly things such as video.
200SQ: What do your users tell you about property advertising - their likes/dislikes?
Nigel: Don’t put crappy pictures up. Use high resolution pictures. Remove personal items - let the purchaser imagine themselves in the home. Make sure there is no clutter, things weeds and mildew - stuff that sits in the background in photos but make all the difference.
One thing that really annoys people is a lack of an address. You are not doing yourself any favours by doing that and the advertising is missing out on opportunities, for example it is not shown on a map search without an address.
Do not list your property for sale without the key information included and keep that information accurate.
When advertising the property include the positives and avoid any potential negatives. Be accurate and honest but stress the positives. There is an interesting dichotomy here - the vendor wants to provide information that presents the home in an optimum light while the purchaser wants all information. The vendor is in marketing mode, factual of course, but presenting in the best light, avoiding negative information. The LIM or building report are for those things and they can be addressed when talking with the buyer, you don’t need that up front.
200SQ: What are the most common search criteria?
Nigel: Users have reasonably tight criteria. They know the 1-3 suburbs they want, how many bedrooms, the maximum price they are willing to go too and so forth. The most common are price range searches and then number of bedrooms in specific suburbs. In metropolitan areas (Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland) school zone searches are important.
200SQ: Another relatively new tool Trade Me has added.
Nigel: Yes, it is something that had been asked for for a long time so it was great to deliver it.
200SQ: What is the most important aspect of an advertisement to grab attention?
Nigel: Getting the first few sentences in the description right is important. Use it to push the main aspects of the property right up front. If kitchen has been remodelled, there are great views say it - it is an advertising pitch. Be specific. Brand names work, particularly aspirational brands - for example, say there are Smeg appliances in the kitchen.
200SQ: Are there any “tricks” or things you can do to get your advertising to show more regularly
Nigel: Include key words in the description as that is a capability of the site, for example a pool. Include that sort of thing in the description to get noticed more.
If it is a great really presentable property it can be included in the monthly newsletter which goes out to maybe 1million people too. That is powerful. There is all the social media media opportunity too.
200SQ: What other options are available to highlight a property?
Nigel: You’re talking about our premium advertising products. They work wonderfully. Generally a featured property will get 1.6 more views and twice the inquiry of a standard listing. The longer you can keep them premium the more views.
Some 85% or more of users keep the standard result searches (they do not change the default search criteria). Thus, the newness of the listing and whether or not they have premium advertising will dictate the volume of views,
You could always take some display space and your own creative specific to the property. That can really generate some interest.
200SQ: Are there things that you should NOT do?
Nigel: I am not a big fan of video. If you are going to do it the video needs to be professional with a voice-over and/or music and it needs to be under 2 minutes unless it is a very high value home. Poor video turns people off.
Images are number 1, but the average user does not scroll through more than 10 pictures, so lots are not really required.
200SQ: Trade Me is in a unique position having both private sellers and professional marketers (real estate agents) advertising on the site. Can you tell me some of the differences you see between the advertising for agent listed properties and private sales?
Nigel: A lot of agents see the value of professional pictures. They really make a difference.
The other area is professional copywriting, with an agent normally having a stronger sense of the optimal information to communicate. A private seller lacks the experience in this area.
200SQ: One of the things we notice when looking at currently for sale properties while doing appraisals is a divergence in asking price between agent and private sellers.
Nigel: Direct sellers tend to overvalue their home because they have not had a professional pricing discussion. Private sellers really should get information and have that sort of discussion. You over price at your peril - price and speed of sale are linked.
200SQ: Thanks again for your time Nigel. A great overview, with some important tips for anyone that uses Trade Me Property
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