How display advertising should reflect a property listing

Built on knowledge and experience of New Zealand's strong real estate market, realestate.co.nz has seen it all when it comes to selling property. Just as a successful property listing highlights a home's best features, and targets them at the most suitable audience, display ads need a strong message, delivered to the right market segments. Here are a few tips brand advertisers can take from the world of property listings.

1. Targeted marketing sees results

In property listings you will often see phrases such as "the perfect first home", or "a developer's dream". This isn't just fluff added to a listing to make it read better, these are words purposefully chosen to resonate with particular groups of people - the target market.

Similarly, if you want a user to click your display banner rather than scroll on by, it needs to demonstrate value to them. 

Understanding 'pain points', or areas where you can supply your audience with solutions to their problems, allows you to produce targeted ads that are more likely to grab attention.

In both instances you need to get this information in front of the target audience in the first place. By listing property on realestate.co.nz, New Zealand's largest real estate website, you ensure that you're targeting relevant buyers looking to invest. This readymade market is also available to digital marketers wishing to post adverts and get their message out to a large, relevant audience.

Property listings and digital advertising both have the power to excite and engage.

Understanding 'pain points', or areas where you can supply your audience with solutions to their problems, allows you to produce targeted ads that are more likely to grab attention.

2. Visuals should showcase the highlights

For both property sellers and display advertisers alike, space is always a consideration.

You only have so many images you can choose to feature in your property listing, so each should be carefully weighed against the others to ensure it provides maximum impact. Only those which show the property in the best possible light can make the cut.

This perfectionist attitude is also a must when creating a successful display ad. You only have the space available in the banner to make your impression, so clarity is key. Cluttered or poorly laid out ads are simply not going to be clicked on, so make sure yours clearly communicates its message with no extra frills.

A call to action (CTA) is vital in any display ad. Like a listing, where you'd feature open home times or agent contact details, your call to action tells the audience how to take the next step. Your CTA should be informed by what your audience actually wants. They might not be ready for the hard sell just yet, so consider CTAs such as "request a quote" or "speak to an expert" rather than "buy now".

3. You have to follow through 

Whilst making a property look good is clearly the aim of the photographs used in real estate listings, you can't expect potential buyers to be impressed with a property that looks nothing likes the images. Once prospective buyers have jumped the first hurdle and turned up for a viewing, you need to continue that good initial impression if you're to see a successful result.

This process is similar to the relationship between a banner ad and a landing page. A good landing page is integral the success of your display advert campaign. It needs to be relevant to the banner, continuing the same CTA and positive experience that brought the user that far.

4. Make it emotional

Buying a property is a hugely emotional experience. You're asking buyers to have so much faith in the product you're offering, that they're willing to turn their lives around in order to buy it. You need to take the buyers on an emotional journey which allows them to imagine themselves occupying this entirely new space.

Likewise, the elements of your display advert campaign need to deliver a concise and powerful message to your target market. Appealing to the emotions of users will make them far more likely to take that first step.

Understanding who your audience is and the channels they use is key to success.

5. Go beyond the expected

Cliches abound in both property listings and marketing campaigns. How many times have you read "location, location, location" in a real estate listing, or "efficient and effective" in a banner ad? In such competitive markets camouflage is really not an advantage. You want to stand out from others targeting the same audience and show them what makes you a different, and better, solution to their problem.

If these display advertising ideas have given you inspiration, and you want to market your property or product on New Zealand's leading real estate website, get in touch with the realestate.co.nz team today.