Survey results Part I: digesting the digital shift
Estate and letting agents, property managers, social housing professionals, investors, landlords and the general public have all taken part in one of the most detailed surveys on this topic of communication within the property industry.
Viewber set out to analyse shifting attitudes to staying in touch, examining professional perceptions and the uptake of proptech in a post-pandemic world. In the first of two results-focused blogs, we reveal how digital content is now the first port-of-call for home movers and property professionals.
Ed Mead, Viewber’s co-founder said of the findings: “We are so connected to our smart devices that property professionals who are not using social media and direct messaging may be underservicing clients and damaging their professional image. You need to be where your customers are, and clearly that’s online.”
Social media becomes a premier property source
More than 61% of respondents regularly follow and watch property accounts on social media. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn were all cited as popular places to monitor property related news and communicate with industry professionals.
Indicative of the influence of online media, many participants cited trade podcasts and digital publications as some of their most trusted social media sources, including PrimeResi, The Negotiator and Viewber’s very own #EdTalks podcast.
A daily online obsession
“More properties are posted on Instagram because more people use this social media platform.”
Viewber’s survey confirms that digital content and social media plays a daily role in informing and educating. When asked how frequently people checked their personal social media accounts, 93.1% looked every day.
The most popular answer was ‘less than 5 times a day’ (60.5%), while 25.6% checked once every hour and 7% checked every 30 minutes. When it came to checking non-work emails, 70.5% checked less than 5 times a day, while 18.2% visited their personal email account once every hour.
Phone use is lessening, especially landlines
“Potential tenants and buyers who work full time can’t always take phone calls at work but will acknowledge other forms of contact.”
As a nation of property lovers, we still want to deal with real people but we’re increasingly comfortable with discussing property matters when it suits us, and online as opposed to over the telephone.
Viewber’s survey results confirm that staying connected – whenever and wherever – is the new norm. Of those who took part in the survey, 95.5% had connected their email and social media accounts to their mobile phones.
In contrast, there was almost a 50-50 split when we asked people if they had a landline. The diminishing importance of such a connection saw an amazing 43.2% say they didn’t have a landline at all. Phone calls were also affected by personal filters. Unsurprisingly, 59.1% said they would not answer a mobile phone call from an unrecognised number, while 70.5% said they prefer messaging or emailing over talking to someone on the phone.
Online assets for every property platform
While Viewber is property’s first choice as an overflow accompanied viewings service, our digital marketing solutions are just as popular. Contact us to book a live video tour from any UK property, or request we produce a full digital marketing pack on your behalf, comprising pro-photos, a 360° tour, a virtual viewing and a floor plan.
Part II: Trusting online conversation, coming soon…
