Identifying opportunity within the chaos: preparing for the property peak with PPC

Property peak preparation using Google Ads

Those with experience in managing advertising campaigns within the property market in the UK know that most interest in new build properties occurs in the first quarter of the calendar year. This is when we typically see developers increase budgets to take advantage of higher search engine traffic, and perhaps unsurprisingly it’s also when we as an agency see the largest number of high-intent goals recorded on our internal property index. But, just how prepared are your Google Ads accounts for this expected increase in demand, and what could you be doing now to put yourself in an optimal position for the coming months?

Accuracy:

Step one is to ensure you are using the most up to date Google Ads conversion code tracking, utilising Enhanced Conversions and Consent Mode. Without this, you might not have as much visibility into your conversion data as you could, especially considering browser and mobile operating system restrictions to cookies and additional regulation around user consent. Impact is often instant, so get ahead of the curve and start adopting E.C. right away.

Your account performance is only going to be as good as the fuel you put into it in the first place. Importing offline conversion actions gives you the chance to match offline conversions to online behaviour, close the user journey loop, and drive incremental conversion value while maintaining efficiency.

Have you interrogated your high-quality lead framework? What is the single most important action that a user can take on your website or app? Test Value Based Bidding and home in on users who are likely to carry out those most valuable actions, rather than driving volume from less desirable actions. Not every user brings the same value to a business, so why bid for conversions in the same way?

Opportunity:

The dreaded “B” word – but hold on. Broad match can leverage unique signals that are not available from other keyword match types. This is a compelling and unique selling point, especially if you’re currently focused on driving value from a finite number of phrase match or exact match keywords. Higher conversion volume and greater conversion value can be driven from campaigns that transition from exact to broad or phrase to broad match, according to recent studies.

Still got cash to burn? Utilise Performance Max to zero in on high value converting users over and above your existing keyword search campaigns across Google’s vast inventory. Replicate the same Value Based Bidding strategy, craft your target audience, feed the machine your best-in-class creative, and let Google do the rest! When most search queries do not result in a web visit, and most visits do not lead to a conversion, the added reach afforded using Performance Max could be a game changer to your business.

In Summary:

Early 2024 indications within the real estate industry predict that ad impressions and clicks on Google Search will decrease from previous years, but this will lead to increased competition from advertisers, driving CPCs up to their highest levels in years. Considering an already tough environment for consumers with high interest rates, set amongst the backdrop of a cost-of-living crisis, we’re likely to see a wider range of incentives from new build developers to hook potential buyers from the start of their buying journey and land prospected buyers. Therefore, setting your Google Ads accounts up for success now should pay dividends in Q1 next year, painting a more accurate picture of the meaningful actions that occur from your advertising efforts. This in turn can potentially provide a business case for further investment where available headroom exists, or for wider expansion and growth opportunities in the aforementioned areas. If you’d like to find out more, get in touch with our property specialists at Space & Time today at [email protected].