Too much exposure can be a bad thing
How many photos are overkill for a listing?
by: Bernice Ross, Inman News
Are you marketing your listings with just one picture or are you
marketing with 20 or more? Is it possible that too many pictures online
is preventing buyers from looking at your property?
The research
is clear that having only a single photo of your listings online causes
Web visitors to search elsewhere. The challenge is how much is enough
and how much is too much? A new study from Point2 Agent suggests that
the more pictures you have the better it is. Jeff Turner, the CEO of RealEstateShows.com,
argues that based upon attention-span research, five to nine pictures
is about all the brain can handle in 30 to 60 seconds.
Point2Agent
has just released a new study that measures the impact of photos in
terms of marketing listings online. This study replicates the results
of a study the company conducted in 2007. The current study examined
three variables and plotted them against the number of pictures on each
site:
1. Detailed views
2. Interest in terms of
interaction with the listing on a Web site (i.e. how many times
visitors viewed a virtual tour, viewed the listing on a partner site,
completed a mortgage calculation for the property, etc.)
3. Leads generated
The
study evaluated all Point2 listings entered into their system during
the first quarter of 2008. The sample consisted of more than 100,000
listings and included listings from all 50 states, every Canadian
province, plus other countries worldwide. All price ranges were
represented.
Results
1. Listings that lacked
photos performed poorly in the study, generating little consumer
response and business. Those that had one picture performed better, but
not nearly as well as the sites that had 21 to 36 photos. In fact,
those listings that had no picture generated 0.02 percent of the number
of listing views as compared to those with 21 or more photos.
2.
Compared to listings with only one photo, those with 21 or more photos
generated more than triple the number of Detailed Views, more than
double the amount of interest, and double the number of Leads.
3.
Compared to listings with no photos, those with 21 or more photos
generated more than 55 times the number of Detailed Views and nearly 27
times the amount of Interest.
4. Comparable results were obtained when plotting these three key variables against varying numbers of photographs per listing.
5. Views, Interest and Leads jumped 20 percent or more as the number of photos increased from 15 to 16.
The
study seems to confirm that having additional photos on an agent or
broker Web site affects the stickiness of the site, which leads to
substantially higher lead conversion.
RealEstateShows.com's
Turner makes a fascinating counterargument. According to Turner, "We've
spent a lot of time researching how the brain works when viewing
property online. A key point to consider is attention span. There's a
reason that television commercials are 30 or 60 seconds. Rather than
doing a three- or four-minute movie or virtual tour, we have found that
that the brain can absorb about five photos in 30 seconds or nine
photos in 60 seconds. If you create a video that is longer than 30 to
60 seconds and that is packed full of pictures, you will exceed the
amount that the brain can absorb."
Turner uses himself as an
example. When he and his wife were looking for house, his agent showed
several properties they did not like. Even though they were adamant
about purchasing a single-family residence, the agent encouraged them
to look at a duplex. After continued requests, they looked at the
duplex and fell in love with it.
Turner goes on to say, "This
sale would never have happened if my wife and I had been looking
online. We would have never looked at the property because we would
have ruled it out when we set up our search criteria. This is exactly
the problem with giving Web visitors more and more information. The
more information you give them, the easier you are making it for them
to exclude your listing from the ones they want to see. Your role in
Web marketing is to get them to come out and see the house -- not to
give them so much information that they decide not to look at your
listing."
The Point2 study clearly indicates that having
multiple pictures is a smart idea. Increasing them from 15 to 16
generates 20 percent more leads. On the other hand, we have no way of
knowing how many buyers ruled out a specific property because they
viewed it online.
What should you do? You can track your page
views using Point2's system, Google Analytics or one of the many other
tracking tools on the Web. Change the number of pictures and watch your
results to determine what works best in your market.