Zoopla has kicked off an eight week marketing campaign to fend off the threat of OnTheMarket and to capitalise on the key house hunting months of May and June.
The Zoopla campaign follows a 41% increase in the portal’s marketing spend for 2024, which it claims will drive extra hits on top of the seasonal uplift and an estimated 34% rise in vendor leads for agents.
The portal’s statement on the campaign draws on its monthly consumer tracker of “2,000 general population respondents” and says that feedback from this has inspired it to position itself as “the number one portal for potential vendors”
It says the campaign will “saturate” popular events and cultural moments such as the men’s football Euros and FA Cup finals on TV, On Demand, YouTube and social media channels, as well as the Zoopla homepage and app.
There will also be increased regional marketing in what it describes as ”high-performing regions of the North West and West Midlands” on local radio, street advertising and ‘Zoopla purple’ taxis which launched in March.
The statement continues: “This second marketing campaign of 2024 will help agents make the most of improved market sentiment, with 1.1 million transactions forecast for 2024 despite headwinds in the mortgage market and sales agreed up 12% year on year. The campaign’s call to action and onsite content on Zoopla will also help prime buyers and sellers to make a move and will highlight how Zoopla can support them with their moving decision in 2024.”
Additional marketing activity coming soon includes a partnership with an unspecified property programme which will be launching in the summer.
Commenting on the launch, Nikki Cole – director of national sales for Zoopla – says: “One in two UK adults turn to Zoopla first when they’re looking for a valuation and our latest marketing campaign continues to build on this successful platform. We’re all about delivering agents prepared and educated sellers through our marketing and getting the property market moving faster as a result.”
Six weeks ago OnTheMarket surpassed surpassed 15,000 advertisers for the first time in its history – some 60 days after the portal was acquired by US retail giant CoStar. The figure includes both agents and developments, exceeding its previous high of 13,867 recorded four years ago.
One of CoStar’s pledges to OTM shareholders during the acquisition process was that it would beef up marketing and take on not just Zoopla, but also Rightmove.
Source: Zoopla battles OnTheMarket with huge new marketing campaign
