Estate agency boards - the marketing maverick

Every day thousands of estate agency boards are erected across the UK. Even in the digital age the board remains one of the most reliable forms of marketing available to an agent and among the cheapest in the industry.

The key to agency boards is recognising their potential and capitalising on it; this will play a significant role in successfully executing your local marketing campaign. 

A well-designed, strategically-positioned board acts as a gateway to your business. It emphasises your market dominance and instantly raises your brand awareness.

Thanks to our many years of industry experience, delivering board services for over two decades, we’ve observed what’s effective in estate agency board marketing and how simple changes can maximise your marketing strategy.

Here’s a selection of key tips…

First impressions

When it comes to the design and placement of your boards, brand recognition is key and first impressions are imperative. 

While the size of an estate agency board is regulated and capped by the Town & Country Planning Act (0.5 square metres for residential boards) design flair is not.

Board design has changed vastly over the years and continues to adapt with current trends. Keeping your design fresh is important and many agencies continue to push traditional boundaries with an array of custom designs, shapes and styles.

A unique board is a distinctive marketing tool for any agent, so capitalise on your half a square metre in order stand out from the crowd. 

However, extra design details do come at a cost with production fees for these types of boards generally being higher. So always take this in to consideration before getting creative with your designer and remember to utilise the one free colour, white.

On location

Web portals have indisputably revolutionised property search but this does not make the estate agency board redundant.

A board widens your audience, think geo-targeting minus the paid search campaign. Demand for boards is continuing to grow; over 500,000 boards were erected by Agency Express alone last year. 

This tells us that customers still want traditional signage and that it remains an important tool in property search.

So, on that premise board placement should be a fundamental part of your marketing strategy. Time should be taken to consider where the board is best placed, this may not always be at the front of the property.

Think about flow of traffic, line of sight and any possible restrictions. Remember the estate agency board is also there to create awareness of your brand within the local area.

A strategically placed board will not just direct viewers to the property, it tells the neighbourhood that you are the agent selling that property and acts as a call to action for your business.

As the saying goes boards breed boards. The more boards you erect, the more properties you will list and ultimately the more you will sell.

Constant positive reinforcement is a well-documented principle, and estate agency boards are a perfect medium to help an agent achieve this.

Online management

While estate agency boards are a traditional marketing method, management of boards has shifted online. Online management simplifies the day-to-day administration of boards, minimises the time and effort needed by agents and can reduce production costs.

Depending on design and quality, sizable investments are made by estate agents in the pursuit of the perfectly branded board. Yet non-retrieval remains the biggest cause of board loss and reproduction costs can leave a hefty dent in your marketing budget.

A comprehensive board management system will enable you to see the location of your boards on the streets and their current status, but most importantly, will remind you to make retrievals. Maximising your board usage will ultimately reduce your spend on production. 

*Naomi Wood is Marketing Manager at Agency Express