Sara Bonert wrote this very interesting post about a study (which was NOT commissioned by Zillow) which shows that Zillow leads convert better than most other online channels. Makes sense: the leads are more qualified because the consumer already has a lot of information before reaching out to the agent. Very validating for us to see this in print from a third party though.
Anyone in advertising will tell you that is in important to track where your leads are coming from- a task that is sometimes easier said then done. ListHub recently commissioned a white paper to try to tackly this task,and figure out which web channels they distribute to, are providing the best results.
In case you aren't familiar with ListHub, they offer a service that will syndicate your listings for free to approximately 21 various Internet sites. They work with over 110 MLSs and have about 65% MLS market coverage. It is a great service to their clients that they put this report together, as it helps them better understand which sites are working the best. This is good to know if you are going to spend addition marketing dollars online.
The full report can be found here. If you are affliated with a MLS, it is a must read. The Northern Nevada Regional MLS was used for the case study. If you are an agent, the results section of the study are of particular interest. Here are the highlights:
First they looked at where traffic for the NNRMLS's 8700 listings was coming from.
Then, from this traffic, they looked at who actually turned into a lead for the listing source.
Big props to Yahoo! for taking top honors in both measurements.
From my perspective as a Zillow employee, these numbers line right up with what I hear from Brokers and Agents, regarding the spread between the number of clicks we generate (12%, ranked 4th) and the number of leads we send (21%, ranked 2nd). The survey says, “It was interesting to note that Zillow’s lead conversion numbers are proportionally higher relative to their referring traffic volume. Not all traffic is the same; some sites attract customers who are closer to making an actual purchase.”
I believe a lot of this has to do with how much content is presented on a site. For example, on Trulia there is minimal information presented and only one main photo, you need to click over to see the rest of the listing details. So of course they are going to drive more traffic, but the quality can be lower.
Conversely, Zillow has very rich content on the site- up to 50 photos per listing. So while we may send less clicks, when the person clicks over, they quite possibly are further along in the shopping process.
DavidG does further analysis on the numbers saying: "By dividing the second metric by the first, it’s possible to calculate the relative ratio of leads per visit for each site. With that ratio, you can compare the relative value of traffic referred by each site on a conversion rate basis. Only Yahoo! comes close to referring traffic that converts as well as traffic from Zillow does - at 71% of Zillow’s rate. That’s far better than average. For all other sites combined, referred traffic converts at a dismal 40% of the conversion rate of traffic from Zillow. And some sites faired even worse. Trulia, for example, would have had to refer 5 times as much traffic as Zillow to generate the same amount of leads (they didn’t.)".
If you are not syndicating your listings, you are definitely missing out on some exposure opportunities. ListHub has a great product to help you gain this additional reach and quite possibly save you some time if you are manually entering listings today. And now, their current clients have a better understanding of just how their product is performing, very helpful in building an online marketing campaign.
Spencer, I saw the study and was quite impressed too but dug down deeper. While the main thesis (Trulia more clicks less conversion; Zillow less clicks. more conversion) is more than likely to be true the study includes a sample of only ~40,000 clicks, and the conversion data is based on 141 emails.
That is, Zillow clicks generated 29 emails vs Trulia 11 emails. So those numbers are awfully small and from any other marketing department I am sure would be counted as too small.
Given enough time, the report could definitely say, but at just 141 conversion data points it is a little small in trying to answer something like Trulia vs Zillow
Also, if you do the math, it means the Listhub site is getting a click to email conversion rate of 0.3% on average, which is, in a word: pathetic. A more average figure is somewhere closer to 1.5-2.5%.
Either way, a fantastic idea for a study and every MLS in the country should be doing similar ones and sharing the data. They should be commended for giving a shot and being the first.
Good feedback Niki. I agree -- the sample size is indeed very small.
How's France?
Hi there, Spencer...
I just was searching around on here tonight and found you here...
This is encouraging and I would say that the ZMM has been equally so with respect to the conversions. Anyway, thank you for sharing this data.