“Every other phone call we get is a Rightmove enquiry”
Rightmove Optimiser customer stories: Hunt Frame
Paul Hunt, and business partner Mark Frame, set up Hunt Frame 12 years ago and now offer one of the largest and widest selections of property around Eastbourne. “We’ve been on Rightmove since we set up” says Paul. “Initially, we just listed our properties. Then 3 or 4 years ago, Rightmove really upped their game in terms of coming to see us and making recommendations on how we could get more enquiries. So we decided to test some extra products, like Featured Agent and Premium listings, and we haven’t looked back. When we had the opportunity to take the new Optimiser package in September 2015, it was a no brainer.”
With the Rightmove Optimiser package, Hunt Frame pay no core membership fee. Instead, all of their spend on Rightmove is on advertising products – giving them maximum exposure for their brand across all of a customer’s buying journey.
The results since taking the Optimiser package speak for themselves
- 171% increase in weekly exposure for their brand. That’s 28,729 more visitors seeing the Hunt Frame brand every week.
- 44% more leads received from Rightmove year on year.
- 24% extra email leads from customers that have a property to sell that isn’t yet on the market.
- 153% uplift in customers directly asking for an appraisal.
All of this has helped Hunt Frame move from a consistent 3rd or 4th position for market share within their patch to 2nd. Paul’s assessment sums it up neatly: “We are delighted with it, quite honestly”.
5 ways Rightmove is helping Hunt Frame stay ahead of the pack
1. Greater brand exposure
“We’ve obviously got our own website and we might get a thousand visitors a month. But Rightmove gets millions. It’s where all the buyers are, so having our brand represented well on Rightmove is much more important. I know that’s where the audience is, so it just makes good sense to spend my time and money there”.
2. More leads from buyers…and sellers
“At least 50% of phone calls we get say they saw us on Rightmove. It’s just the way the market has moved. If I want to sell a house, I put it on Rightmove. And the more exposure I can give my business on Rightmove, the better.
95% of our online enquiries come from Rightmove. The volume of leads we get from OnTheMarket is tiny. I wouldn’t consider going back to Zoopla as quite honestly, we don’t need to. We get all the leads we need from Rightmove and I’d spend any savings we could get from other portals there instead.”
3. A more effective use of marketing budget
“We were spending between £12k and £14k per year on newspaper advertising. But given the amount of enquiries we now get from Rightmove, we’ve been able to give it up completely this year and we’ve noticed no impact.
We just couldn’t measure it in the same way as our online advertising, so we now spend the money instead on Rightmove. It delivers clearer value for money and it’s a lot easier to justify what we spend, with all the reporting that’s available.”
4. Trusted Account Management
“Although it’s great to have all the reports and data, we’re very busy so I don’t have time to analyse it all. That’s where my Account Manager really adds value. In our regular meetings, he talks me through how many leads we’ve had, where they’re from, what the opportunities are and who else we could target. It’s a real partnership and I trust him implicitly because of the value he’s delivered for us.”
5. A clearer brand identity – both online and offline.
“Taking up so much advertising space on Rightmove has meant we’ve prioritised having a clear brand and image. We’ve focussed on making that consistent across all our advertising – on Rightmove and also on the flyers we use for canvassing. It all helps put us ‘front of mind’ for potential vendors.”
Consistency is key to getting more brand exposure and more leads
Here’s how Hunt Frame use their brand and messaging across Rightmove to drive results.
Clear and consistent use of brand assets like the deck chair image, distinctive font and colours help make their brand “stick” in people’s minds. They’re seen as a serious player and being known, and then remembered, means they’re much more likely to be on a seller’s short list.
When a buyer or seller starts their Rightmove search, Hunt Frame has pride of place, with their Local Home Page ad.
On the search results page, Featured Property means their property is seen first, for maximum impact on potential buyers and sellers. That’s their brand seen twice already – before any competitors!
Premium Listings are used to help their properties stand out from the crowd with larger photos and a bigger listing.
Featured Agent banners support their property listings by highlighting their brand yet again between the listings – giving them even more exposure.
On all their property detail pages, Hunt Frame make good use of the banner at the top and promo space on the right hand side to continue to reinforce their brand and message.
…and these banners send customers through to their dedicated Microsite page. This acts as a one stop shop to deliver all the reasons why a seller should put Hunt Frame on their shortlist – including testimonials, a full property list, details about the team and much more.
What about when customers leave Rightmove? Hunt Frame have got that covered too. They use eLeaflet campaigns to target motivated buyers using what is effectively a customised virtual leaflet drop.
To see how your business could benefit from maximum exposure with Rightmove Optimiser, speak to your Account Manager.
