With a greater interest to own homes, house hunting is on the rise, and
the majority of buyers are using mobile searches to find a home. PHOTO |
FILE
The number of Internet users and mobile penetration have grown rapidly in the country in the last few years.
According
to the Communications Authority of Kenya, information communication
technology penetration now stands at 78.2 per cent.
“The
digital universe is rapidly expanding, with everyone and everything now
online,” observes Rosemary Momanyi, the senior industry manager at
Google Kenya.
There are 23.2 million Internet users in the country, 97 per cent of whom access it via their mobile phones.
Smart phone penetration stands at 27 per cent, while 4.2 million Kenyans are active on Facebook.
Internet
users spend 6.2 million hours spent per month watching YouTube and 99
per cent use various search engines. Google Display Network penetration
stands at 98 per cent, says Ms Momanyi.
POTENTIAL TENANTS
“It
has become cheaper to go online through various data offers in the
country,” she says. “With a greater interest to own homes, house hunting
is on the rise, and the majority of buyers are using mobile searches to
find a home,” says Ms Momanyi.
The online platform has become a huge marketing frontier today and some real estate players are already using it.
“When
we first started in 2012, the main problem was convincing people that
online advertising worked. People were very sceptical about the value we
could add. But as our numbers increased and people realised how
powerful the online platform was, we had to start dealing with the
challenge of new competitors,” says Lizzie Costabir, the marketing
manager at Buy Rent Kenya.
With over
13,000 properties listed and more than 150,000 people accessing the site
every month — a third of whom are overseas — it is clear that the
online platform is really gaining momentum.
“The
Internet is greatly diversifying real estate products as companies
structure their operations to remain relevant in the digital age,” says
Ms Costabir.
Ninety-two per cent of
Kenyans who are online are potential tenants, while 73 per cent are
prospective real estate owners, says Ms Momanyi.
“Kenyans
likely to be potential tenants are most likely above 20 years of age
since, at around 25, they start thinking of where to rent their first
apartment, and buying their first home becomes apparent as they grow
older,” she offers.
According to Abec
Real Estate Director, Mr Samuel Manjau, the buyer above 50 years of age
is less likely to use social media to search for property, but the
younger generation is certainly adopting it.
Data
from Google indicates that 40 per cent of online users are potential
tenants, and 35 per cent potential homeowners. Forty-nine per cent of
online users are between the ages of 25 and 35, and 34 per cent between
the ages of 35 and 40. These are the potential tenants developers should
be targeting for their rental houses. Potential homeowners constitute
17 per cent for those between the ages of 45 and 54, and 11 per cent for
those in the 55 to 64 age bracket, according to Google.
FLOOR PLANS
Google’s
internal search data grew by 43 per cent in quarter four of 2014 in the
real estate category, with those who searched for houses to buy
standing at 16.4 per cent, and those seeking rental houses at 83.6 per
cent.
“Property letting is a big
beneficiary of online platforms as one will naturally find the younger
segment of the population keen to use online technologies, who are
initially tenants before building up deposits for purchases,” notes Mr
Manjau. “As the younger population grows in their careers and have more
disposable income, these platforms will grow in importance when it comes
to marketing and property search.”
Kenyans also search for other real estate-related services such as movers and house plans, says Ms Momanyi.
The
first way to maximise on online marketing is to maximise digital shelf
space, Ms Momanyi says. With 97 per cent of Kenyans accessing the
Internet through their mobile devices, 27 per cent via smart phones,
eight per cent via desktop, and one per cent via tablet, a developer
should be present on all devices, she says.
A
developer or marketer should also reach undecided consumers by using
all the available opportunities such as Google Search, Display and
YouTube, she adds.
One should also be
in the best position possible. The top position drives10 per cent more
new clientèle than the other positions, Momanyi says.
“People
will spend the first five seconds hovering over the top of the page,
then they will scroll down. The premium positions are the top and the
right side, and that those are the most strategic positions to place
advertisements,” says Momanyi.
A
developer or marketer should also showcase their best offers first in
order to immediately capture interest, and also leverage on creative
formats that highlight benefits such as cost, and use advertising
extensions like calling address.
There
is certainly a future in online property market, but the main focus
should first be on gaining and consolidating a market share, says Mr
Manjau.
“However, online developers
should initially provide them for free as they gain market share, then
gradually introduce advertising fees which can be justified by online
traffic to these portals and their share of the market,” he adds.
******
THE NUMBERS
FYI
•Kenya has 23.2 million Internet users
•Smart phone penetration in the country stands at 27%
•4.2 million Kenyans are active on Facebook
•Kenyans spend 6.2 million hours a month on YouTube
Of the online users
40% are potential tenants
35% are potential home owners
49% of potential clients are aged 25-35
34% of potential clients are aged 36-40
No comments :
Post a Comment