In a recent RISMedia article, Margaret Kelly, CEO of RE/MAX, LLC, shared her insights on reframing how we view the online publishers, like Trulia and Zillow, as strategic business partners, rather than competitors.

There has been much conversation in recent years about the pros and cons of third-party publishers in the real estate industry. Advertising on publishers is a business decision which varies from brokerage to brokerage. Some brokerages may decide to send their listings to all of the available publishers out there for maximum online exposure while other brokerages may choose to limit where they send their listings, and even limit the content they send.  ListHub allows brokers to be in full control of their syndication choices.

Whatever the syndication strategy, there is certainly no question that buyers are looking for real estate online.  Below is an infographic outlining the number of total views, visits, and leads across the ListHub network for the month of September.

Here are a few tips to help your brokers and agents make the most of their online marketing with ListHub:

1.) Choose Wisely

ListHub has a number of tools available to help you selectively choose where to send your listings online. Do you want to send your listings to publishers who do not display FSBOs? No problem! Use ListHub’s publisher filters to identify publishers who meet your exact criteria.

ListHub’s Publisher Scorecards are the industry’s only comprehensive report on the features and practices of all the publishers in the network. ListHub customers can access the Scorecards in their ListHub account under the “Marketing Choices” tab.

Seek advice! When you are looking for a restaurant or a hair dresser, you might read reviews or ask friends, so why not do the same when deciding where to advertise your listings? ListHub’s Broker Ratings allow brokers to share their opinions of each of the publishers in the ListHub network to help other brokers make syndication choices. Click the “Marketing Choices” tab and then choose the publisher you want to view ratings for, or add your own rating!

2) Measure the Results

Don’t spend your precious advertising dollars carelessly. Choose websites that deliver the greatest return on investment. Many of the publishers will offer reports to help you understand how many views or leads you are receiving on their website. Keep in mind though, that each website may be using a different definition of a “view” or “impression” which makes it challenging to accurately compare the data from one website to another.

That is why ListHub offers reports which aggregate all of the publisher’s metrics into a single set of reports for brokers, agents, and seller clients. With ListHub’s Reports you have an apples-to-apples comparison to effectively measure the results of your online marketing and demonstrate your value to clients. Click here to learn more about the ListHub Reports.

3) Create a Free Agent Profile

Make sure you are taking advantage of all of the options available to you through each publisher. Many of the websites in the ListHub network offer agents the ability to create free profiles which allow for greater marketing exposure. Simply create a free profile, and be sure to use the same email address as listed in your MLS to give yourself a more prominent placement at no additional cost.

Watch our short “How To” video to learn how to take advantage of this great marketing opportunity: