Keep it simple

Much to my surprise, I found this leaflet from Gascoigne-Pees on the doorstep yesterday. For a moment, I actually thought that I had received a piece of canvassing literature from a political party. My home constituency of Epsom is apparently safe as housing policy according to the brilliant voterpower.org.uk and hence, none of the parties seem to have bothered troubling me with doorstep propaganda. I was actually rather disappointed to find it was a gimmick from an estate agent. But, fair play, they got my attention for a moment.

Coming up with fresh and exciting ideas for marketing the services of estate agents is always a challenging task. What have we got to say that's new? What would be really compelling to potential vendors? Why would anyone pay attention to this? The challenge to come up with ideas to answer these questions can have a tendency to lead you away from a solution that adheres to one of marketing's most clichéd mantras:

Keep it simple, stupid.

The phrase was actually originally "keep it simple and stupid" and although it's true meaning has been debated by minds immeasurably superior to my own, I take it to mean that you should keep marketing communication simple to the degree that it seems stupid to the creator. The creator after all has an intimate understanding of the subject, the company and the proposition. We should not necessarily assume that the recipient is as familiar with the services that estate agents offer. Stupidly simple = easy to understand.

This is perhaps why I still hear many a tale of new instructions arising from the oldest, the simplest, maybe the stupidest of estate agency marketing lines:

"Call us today to arrange a FREE valuation"

In an age of brand engagement and viral marketing where we marketers are increasingly pressured to disguise advertising as entertainment, this dinosaur of a headline may seem almost vulgar. But it works...

It works because it is simple, it is compelling, it uses the word FREE (in CAPS preferably). It offers vendors what they really want; insight into the value of their property at no cost and with no obligation. You may say, well we've all offered that for years, but in an age of FSBO services with up front fees and crude automatic valuation models, there may be a renewed appeal for this old faithful line.

No doubt a fresh slew of cheap estate agency leaflets with a World Cup theme are poised for print at this very moment. And some of these will provide a moment of mild entertainment to disinterested customers on the short journey from front doorstep to recycling bin. But I was reminded in a seminar the other day of the pent up demand that exists in the property market. 800,000+ households want to move, but have continued to wait with frustration and anticipation for the financial pieces of the puzzle to fall back into place. These people are receptive to property news, insight and advice without the need for gimmicks or overly complicated offers.

I wonder how many "FREE Valuation" letters and leaflets there are already stuck to fridges in the homes of those 800,000 households ready and waiting to be 'redeemed' at some point in the not too distant future.

Comments

[Steve Hatch]

Enjoyed this post, predictably our own printer has been badgering us to go with a big World cup theme! Who wants a bloody estate agent coming round while the game is on... unless they bring a case of beers with them of course :)