There are many ways in which Cheltenham’s letting agents promote themselves to the local and national rental markets. The Echo newspaper is of course just one of them. There are currently some sixty different lettings firms that operate within the town, therefore its essential that an agent provides not only an exceptional service but also uses intelligent self-promotion methods.  If you really do offer a great service then it’s important to shout about it.

In my role as Sales & Marketing Manager I am constantly looking at new ways to attract both landlords and tenants to our service packages. Alongside this I am always monitoring the effectiveness of the existing methodologies. Traditionally an agent was reliant on their local newspaper, boards outside houses and the signage above their office door. Those days are certainly at an end; these are in fact the three least important aspects of property marketing today. Any agent who tells you otherwise is in my opinion sadly out of touch with reality.

In the current sales environment there is little doubt that effective e-marketing solutions are the greatest priority for both Estate Agents and Lettings Management companies. It would be corporate suicide to pull web-marketing campaigns and rely on the aforementioned old methods. The opposite does not hold true however, some firms have indeed pulled their newspaper adverts to cut back on costs, or at least drastically reduced them, yet find they perform almost as well as ever.

Personally I believe that all media forms can have relevant functions in the marketing mix of an effective promotional campaign. Recently we cut our advertising in the local rag down to a size that retains a function, yet makes it more cost effective. This is no knee jerk reaction on our part, unlike our friends in the estate agency market we are not suffering a downturn and as such are not pressured to cut advertising costs. The actions of our business are actually based on conversion tracking. Every let agreed is noted against the method of marketing that attracted that particular client. My tracking has shown that in the last quarter none of our successful property rentals has been thanks to the listings in the Echo.

There is a however a big difference between the way tenants and landlords run their search for an agent to can provide that which they require. A prospective tenant searching for a new property, at least initially, does not much care whom they get it from. First they want to see the majority of local stock available in the shortest time possible. Waiting for Thursday’s Property Finder to see a handful of random properties from the handful agents that use the paper is not a likely choice. Prospective tenants can simply type ‘Lettings Cheltenham’ into a Google search, followed by a quick browse through Rightmove.com, and by this method find almost all the agents and properties in the town.  For a landlord however, the first search is simply for names of reputable local agents to contact for information packs or meetings. This is where the newspaper can still be a useful first port of call for some. It’s for this reason alone that we do not pull our newspaper advertising completely.

Surprisingly though the Echo seems to be hell bent on forcing the hands of the local Lettings agents and putting them in a position where further cuts in advertising may yet occur. Recent promotions made available to Estate Agents, and to Estate Agents with lettings arms to the business, have not been made available to Lettings Agents. This has led to many agents cutting the size of their adverts, or temporarily pulling them altogether. The towns letting agents, with the director of the newspaper group, have now called meetings. I must be honest and say that I am hoping the meeting leads to agents pulling their adverts. If this is the case then the Echo will become redundant for the letting agencies and I will shift the expenditure into other mediums. I am far more able than many of my competitors in utilising modern marketing methodologies. Anyone can order a box in the Echo; not everyone fully comprehends the breadth of e-marketing solutions!

tags: cheltenham, cheltenham lettings, cheltenham lettings agents, estate agents, gloucestershire, lettings management, property blog, property market