AIDA!

If you’ve never heard of this winning little acronym, it stands for…

Attention – Interest – Desire – Action

… it’s a sales formula used by salespeople to sell everything from double glazing to kitchens, and acts as a reminder of what a sales message needs to address.

So what has this to do with selling houses?  Everything!

Remember (see blog Your Rightmove Property Performance Report) there is a distinct correlation between the number of buyers who click on your property to get extra details (your click-through rate) and the numbers of viewings generated.

Typically, you need a click-through rate in excess of 10% to get enough viewings for an offer to be made. So, if you aren’t getting the viewings, chances are your rate is below this.

Let’s apply AIDA to your online property advert, to see if we can improve it, and increase the number of enquiries from buyers:

ATTENTION – What does your main photograph show? Is it attractive? Has it been taken on a blue-sky day? Are there any cars/wheelie bins/road signs in shot? Your main image is the most important component of your online advert, so make it count. Encourage your estate agent to try different photographs as your main shot, perhaps just the front door or the house name plate. Browsers will then have to click to see what the front of the house is like and hopefully look at the rest of the photographs too.

What does the text say about your house on the summary page? (i.e. the page where your house is listed with any others in a search). Has it been written especially for that page or has it simply been ‘lifted’ from the detail page? Try writing a punchy ‘strapline’ – in other words, no more than about 10 – 15 words as a headline to encourage buyers to click. Here’s one of mine:

“A beautiful bolthole nestling in rolling hills”  and another…

“Calling all urbanites – a truly chic studio flat surrounded by the trendiest coffee shops and eateries”

The text on your detail page need to be concise and impactful. I favour bullet points, like this:

• 4 beds
• 2 bathrooms
• huge games room
• carriage driveway

A couple of very brief paragraphs can summarise the location and description, but your browsers won’t read chunks of text online.

INTEREST – In order for you to really capture a browser’s interest, you need to show them that your house has what they’ve been looking for. This really comes down to knowing your buyer ( see blogpost Know Your Buyer). Try this – write down 10 -20 key words you think your buyer will be hoping to read about your house and sprinkle these liberally around your online text e.g. views, country walks, 2 minutes from station, real fire.

Now look again at your photographs – are these telling the same story? Your advert should be delivering strong and consistent messages to make sure your buyer feels excited enough to book that viewing. Remember a potential buyer is particularly looking out for features which they currently do not have!

Once you know your buyer – their motivations and aspirations, you can show them – via a carefully designed online advert – that your house is the one they have been searching for.

DESIRE – Your photographs show all the lovely feature and lifestyle your house will give them; your text reassures them with specially chosen key words and phrases. They want your home. They desire your lifestyle.

Once they want it enough, they will naturally and willingly take the next step of…

ACTION – What you really want your buyer to do next is to pick up the phone and call your estate agent to arrange a viewing. Simple!

Testing – once you have made changes to your online advert, it’s really important to test the results.  Compare your click-through rate from the old advert with your rate after the changes.  If there is no improvement, make some more changes, and test again.

Next time you have a chat with your estate agent, ask him of he’s ever heard of AIDA. If not, maybe direct him to this blogpost……

If you’d like my help to sell your home more effectively, please answer a few short questions here and if I think I can help you, I’ll be in touch.