Unlocking the power of first-party data in Real Estate

While the importance of data in real estate is well understood, the complexity and challenges that come with managing, collecting and use of that data remain a concern and are often misunderstood and seem daunting for most. How to get the most of your data often seems difficult & out of reach. Ultimately the value of data lies in your ability to gain insight into and most importantly drive an action from the insights you have gained about your customers or prospective customers. According to research from Boston Consulting Group and Google, “Digitally mature brands who were able to engage with the consumers in a personalized manner were able to achieve an average of 11 percent annual incremental revenue uplift and 18 percent cost efficiency. The combined value potential of incremental revenue uplift and cost efficiency that can be achieved leveraging first-party data is estimated to be more than $200 billion¹ in the Asia Pacific markets.” ²

As the digital transformation of the real estate industry normalises after a significant period of acceleration, building high trust relationships at scale that endure via digital channels is becoming critical to the existence of agencies & agents. There have been leaps forward in the concept of 1^st party data in the residential real estate industry, we now stand on the edge of the precipice of the need to be able to leverage the intrinsic value of 1^st party data.

What is First Party Data?

Let’s first understand at a high level whatfirst party data is. Simply put, first-party data is data you are collecting directly and firsthand from your customers and prospects.

Some great examples of this in real estate are;

• Data you hold within your sales CRM or Property Management system about your clients,
• Data collected when someone visits your website and engages with content,
• Data that maybe collected via digital marketing campaigns you are running on Facebook or Instagram and your social media followers,
• Data you capture when people are coming through open homes, and
• Data collected through any surveys or feedback loops.

What does First Party Data tell you?

It tells you a lot about your customers and potential customers including.

1. Preferences
2. Behaviours
3. Needs

Residential Real Estate is a highly emotive, personal transaction that requires high level of trust. Understanding what is important to your customers and prospective customers, how they want you to interact with them and why they are on their journey is important. This will allow you to build relationships at scale by serving them information that is relevant to their situation before they ask for it; this in a nutshell is called nurturing your contacts.

Why is First-Party Data Important?

The way in which real estate agents build relationships is currently being redefined, the digital transformation of the real estate industry has propelled us to the position which now means trust and transparency is more important than ever due to the digital footprint, ease of access to information and advanced technology available to us. There is unparalleled value in first-party data that is now well understood, particularly as the need to build audience as the industry starts to understand the principles and need for a 1^st publisher strategy.

Delivering personalised content and communications,  through the right channel at the right time adds unparalleled value to real estate businesses. The ability to nurture relationships at scale, market effectively to your audience, and maintain transparency requires leveraging first -party data as an essential component of your strategy.

Having a strong first-party data strategy is crucial because it allows you to adopt a first-publisher content approach. This means publishing your content, like property listings, on your own channels—such as your website and social media—before sharing it on third-party platforms. When advertising on third-party sites, it’s important to include links back to your assets, like your website, to drive more traffic directly to your brand. This not only boosts your visibility but also improves your SEO, helping potential clients find you more easily online.

Considerations to making your first-party data strategy a success.

The world is evolving at a rapid pace in relation to data. Your ability to successfully execute on a well rounded first-party data strategy must consider;

• Regulation: Building trust is predicated on doing the right thing. Maintaining a framework for managing data within the remits of the law is expected of you and your business. With some significant changes coming, make sure you are well informed and prepared. The penalties are significant, the reputational risk could be terminal.
• Data Completeness: incomplete, invalid or outdated data will mean little to no return on your investment.
• Technology: Having the right technology and platforms in place to allow you to execute on a first-party data strategy is critical. This includes things like a fit-for-purpose CRM, a website built on a platform that builds audience, generates leads and captures behavioural patterns, marketing automation platforms that support nurturing your contacts, and that allow you to market to your audience, customers and prospects on things channels such as Facebook, Instagram and Google. An ability to create an interconnected, interoperable technology stack to support a first-party data strategy is integral to success.

How do you get started on a first-party data strategy?

Here’s a few of our recommendations for you to consider as you refresh or embark on a first-party data strategy;

1. Data: Understand what you have and what you need to be able to successfully execute on a first-party data strategy.
2. Collect, Cleanse, Maintain; build practices and processes in your business with your team which allow you to always collect first party-data, as well as cleanse & maintain that data as opportunities present themselves through interactions with your customers and prospective customers.
3. Know the law: understand the regulations now and as they evolve as it relates to data privacy. Ensure you have processes in place to comply with these regulations to build trust that you will handle your customers and prospective customers information legally and respectfully.
4. Have the right tools: Like everything, you will need to invest in acquiring and maintaining the right technology to truly realise the value of the data you hold. It is important that you take a whole of platform view to ensure the different tools you invest in allow you to execute on the strategy you have in place.
5. Build trust: You are in the business of people; you require high trust relationships with your clients and prospective clients to be successful. A powerful way to build trust is to be transparent. Let people know how you will communicate with them, what you will communicate and how frequently you intend to communicate.

As we enter the next phase of evolution in the Real Estate industry building a first-party data strategy will provide a very significant competitive advantage to those who understand it. Not only do you need to master collection, management and refinement, but you must also use the data. After all, your business is built on relationships, and building high-trust relationships and bringing this together in an ethical way is critical to the future of real estate.

¹ Estimated number based on Boston Consulting Group analyses, survey findings, published data of advertising spends by industry of respective countries and advertising spends to revenue ratios.

²RESPONSIBLE MARKETING WITH FIRST-PARTY DATA IN ASIA PACIFIC, Boston Consulting Group x Google, 2020, page 2. The opinion expressed is that of Boston Consulting Group and Google, as well as any other third parties involved with writing the cited material. Their opinions are subject to change. The opinions contained within the cited material are neither definitive forecasts nor guarantees of future performance and should not be treated as such.

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