Video summary

Real Estate Marketing: Insights & Industry Trends with Seth Watts

Main summary

Key takeaways

Business

Business & Marketing Trends (Real Estate Marketing, 2022)

  • Industry shift: Despite expectations of a market slowdown, almost every marketing metric accelerated in early 2022.
  • VPA spend growth: The average Vendor Paid Advertising (VPA) marketing program increased ~20% (Jan 2021 → Jan 2022), even though print spend declined.
  • Budget redistribution: Money previously spent on print didn’t disappear—it was redistributed into digital and social, plus digital “enablers” increasingly bundled into VPA.
  • “VPA” redefinition: VPA is no longer only newspaper ads + signboards. Agents/franchises increasingly treat it as:
    • workflow/software
    • sign-on-glass
    • pitching products
    • social media/video systems
    • subscriptions and portal-related add-ons (e.g., REA/Domain-related price rises adding ~$400–$500)

Key Metrics & Concrete Numbers Mentioned

VPA Campaign Value (Australia)

  • Pre/post COVID: averaged just under $5,000 during 2019/early 2020
  • ~8 weeks after COVID hit (March 2020): dropped to sub-$3,000
  • Jan 2022: average spend back at about $5,100

Online Visibility KPI (Portals)

  • If you’re not on page 1 at REA, you lose ~1/3 of the audience.
  • Page 3+ is effectively irrelevant (people don’t search far down).

Social Media Budget Benchmarks

  • Top agencies may include $200–$600+ packages per listing
  • Strong offices/agents: social spend roughly ~$1,000 per listing (agent-direct estimate)

Pay-Now vs Pay-Later (CampaignAgent Data)

  • Sydney: +10% spend when paying later vs pay now
  • Melbourne: ~+12%
  • Brisbane: ~+35% (largest lift)
  • Example (Brisbane):
    • Pay now: ~$3,?00 (described as about $2,500; context suggests an earlier figure)
    • Pay later: $3,903
  • Conclusion: Offering vendor choice increases marketing spend and improves vendor mindset/alignment.

Frameworks / Playbooks / Decision Rules

1) “Redistribute the Budget” Playbook (COVID → Present)

  • Assume print decline ≠ lower spend
  • Reallocate into social + digital + video + portal placement
  • Bundle add-ons (subscriptions, sign-on-glass, email/social systems)

2) Channel Differentiation (“Own One Thing”)

  • Best agents pick one channel and become radically better than competitors:
    • social, video, TikTok, letterbox/analog, etc.
  • Spread risk by using multiple channels lightly, but own one deeply.

3) Video Production Guidance

  • Use a “top-and-tail” structure (short intro/outro) + property-first content.
  • Avoid “agent-as-star” when the agent isn’t strong on camera.
  • Match audience sophistication—don’t do video just to “follow the crowd.”

4) Vendor Payment Strategy (Choice Architecture)

  • Offer pay now vs pay later
  • Position pay-later as aligning cost with sale + reducing vendor budget anxiety
  • This increases willingness to discuss strategy (best outcome/price) rather than “crossing it off” due to affordability.

Concrete Examples / Case Studies / Named Practices

McGrath-like Operating Stance (as described by John McGrath)

  • Print still works in micro-markets (e.g., parts of Queensland, select Sydney areas), but broadly print is disappearing.
  • Portal placement is mandatory: “page one or you lose a third of the audience.”
  • Social is a major lever:
    • A partner franchise (Con Tsitouris / Western & NorthWestern Sydney) uses social for ~85% of listings
    • Mentions of Pinpoint Marketing for social remarketing/retargeting:
      • claimed database scale: ~3 million retargeting contacts
      • “muscle” effect: more usage strengthens outcomes over time

Gary V-inspired Content Technique (process example)

  • “Structured, but not scripted” video prep:
    • a yellow sticky note with:
      • sexy heading
      • 3 bullets
      • outro

Success Marketing & Letterbox Moat (Peter Choincy example discussed by John/Tom)

  • Letterbox drops described as repeatable, consistent communication:
    • “Speak 50 times a year” beats a high-production video seen once.
  • Moat-building formula:
    • regular campaigns like just listed, auction invites, just sold, last six sales
    • consistency over clever one-off messaging

Pay-later Uplift Example (CampaignAgent / Seth Watts)

  • Brisbane as an extreme case: pay-later increasing spend (~35%).
  • Implication (stated): without pay-later, agents may be missing ~$1,500 of marketing capability in that market.

Actionable Recommendations (Directly Implied)

  • Build a “digital-first but not print-blind” plan
    • Don’t declare print dead everywhere; test micro-markets where it still dominates.
  • Treat social as an operating system, not a one-off campaign
    • Allocate consistent monthly/per-listing budgets and use retargeting.
  • Use property-first video
    • Short intro/outro; let the home visuals do the work (agent leads only if genuinely effective).
  • Differentiate with ownership
    • Choose your strongest channel and become best-in-class instead of copying generic packages.
  • Improve conversion by revising pricing/payment conversations
    • Use pay now vs pay later to:
      • increase spend
      • reduce vendor objections
      • shift discussion toward strategy and best-price outcomes.
  • Rebuild office-level planning rhythm
    • After a fast-moving boom year, top offices plan by month (e.g., March/July/August/September) to capture fair share.

Presenters / Sources Mentioned

  • John McGrath (McGrath real estate; interviewer)
  • Seth Watts (Campaign Agent; digital/social/VPA insights)
  • Tom (host/participant; referenced repeatedly)
  • Peter Choincy (letterbox/success marketing example)
  • Con Tsitouris (social program example / franchise-office example)
  • Stephen Williams (mentioned via Campaign Track “boys”)
  • Felicity Bilic (organic social + boosting example)
  • Gary V (Gary Vaynerchuk) (yellow sticky note video prep anecdote)
  • Seth Godin (purple cow reference)

Original video