AIM Finding Passive & Premium Buyers Using Digital Marketing.

There is a big difference between active and passive buyers

What is Passive Buyer?

Passive buyers are not actively looking for property, but if they happen to see a property that interests them they can become active buyers for that property. Passive buyers are often emotional buyers, because they may have seen a property they would love to own, and emotional buyers often will pay over the odds to ensure they secure their new desire. You won’t find a passive buyer by using a website listing because they simply aren't looking online for property - you need to find other ways to get your property noticed.

For this reason, it makes perfect sense for your vendor to specifically invest in marketing items that reach passive buyers, as well as active buyers. Here is a list of things that will reach passive & active buyers - AND don’t forget if you get a passive buyer you may well get a listing too, because most people will need to sell in order to buy. That's a win-win for you. So, how can you reach passive buyers?

Digital marketing

Especially multi-channel (ie: not just Social Media) is, without doubt, the best way to reach a massive local audience at a very low cost per person. As an example, whilst a substantial part of the ad budget on AIM campaigns is targeted to people whose actions indicate they are active buyers, we set aside a portion for what is called an awareness campaign. This is a broader communique to the local area (and other targeted areas) to let many more people know about your listing. When a passive buyer sees an ad for a listing that piques their interest they’re likely to click on the ad - and they will be retargeted with more ads to remind them about that listing and the selling agent/agency too.

Signboards

These remain a highly effective source of passive buyers, but clearly need to be driven or walked past to be seen.

Print ads

Whilst many papers have closed, and some agents or vendors may have abandoned print ads, they still have a place in terms of specific engagement for certain demographics. Newspapers & magazines are read for entertainment, so it stands to reason that amongst those readers will be people who may stumble across a property that engages with them - even if they weren’t actually looking for property.

Summary

The main message of this short article is this:

• Passive buyers are definitely worth trying to attract as they are a significant proportion of all property purchasers.
• Passive buyers can also be premium buyers, which could mean a better price.
  
• You can’t reach passive buyers with portal listings.
• Digital marketing is probably the most effective and best way to reach a larger number of potential passive buyers with little effort and in a cost-effective way. Remember that digital marketing social media only will miss a very large % of potential buyers because not everyone uses social media slavishly - so choose multi-channel (both Google Display & Social Media Ads) if you can.
• It’s a smart move for your vendor to invest in marketing tools that go beyond what is now a traditional approach to marketing primarily using portal listings.
• When the market becomes more difficult, a good agent will leave no stone unturned in their efforts to try to create as much interest as possible in their client's listings. This means trying to unearth a buyer who may not otherwise be looking in a difficult market.
• Passive buyers can often become clients if they need to sell their property to transact.

If you’re already using multi-channel digital marketing on every listing, congratulations you are in the vanguard. If not, perhaps now is the time to rethink what marketing looks like nowadays. We’d love to help you take the next step with a simple, short, chat.

Happy selling!