‘Engaging, personable and digestible’: How realestate.com.au cracked its Lifestyle content
The world of lifestyle content is getting increasingly competitive. Here we delve into how realestate.com.au engaged a former host of The Living Room and an ex-Dove marketer as stars for its new Lifestyle platform.
Realestate.com.au’s wide variety of content is quickly proving a hit with the savvy lifestyle audience. Since launch on March 9, realestate.com.au/lifestyle has attracted more than 6m visits1 and reached 6m Australians on Facebook a number that continues to grow.2
The video-led strategy is also paying off, with video views increasing by 149% from November 2016 to May 20173, proving the content is exactly what consumers have been looking for.
The extension has further positioned realestate.com.au as the online destination for anything home-related, but it goes well beyond any traditional home decorating tips.
It’s what realestate.com.au video and creative manager Monique Knoblanche calls “authentic” and “relatable” content and it underpins the entire strategy.
“Today’s viewers want informative content that is engaging, personable and digestible on the fly,” Knoblanche tells Mumbrella. “We have partnered with expert personalities to bring the new experience to life. Our trusted experts are people you want to invite into your home because they’re passionate about what they’re doing and they want to share that enthusiasm.”
When it comes to gardening advice – whether it’s how to grow your first veggie patch, choose a ‘hipster’ indoor plant, or find plants that won’t die in your bathroom – expert personality Fabian Capomolla is dishing it out in spades.
Capomolla, aka The Hungry Gardener, is a former host of Channel Ten show The Living Room, and one of several Lifestyle experts who not only provide editorial content but feature in a weekly video series onsite and on Facebook.
realestate.com.au may have started life advertising properties, but people are much more connected to their homes than just buying, selling and renting them. It’s this realisation which forms the foundation of realestate.com.au/lifestyle – that ‘lifestyle’, and specifically for Capomolla, gardening, are integral parts of the property experience.
“We’re helping people actually create the space they’ve always dreamed of by making the content simple, accessible and in a language that non-horticulturalists will understand,” Capomolla says.
Most people don’t want to watch a detailed half-hour style show, they want bite-sized pieces of information they can grab quickly and put into practice in their own home.”
While series like The Converted, featuring quirky renovations – think homes that were once vehicles from trucks to trains – and In My Place, which takes viewers into the homes of cool Australian creatives, designers and photographers, are firmly rooted in the realm of daydreaming content, it’s the likes of Capomolla and fellow experts, Three Birds Renovations, who provide relatable and actionable home renovation tips.
Indeed, it was an ethos of wanting to “inspire and empower” that attracted realestate.com.au to pick up Three Birds Renovations for Lifestyle.
Lana Taylor, a former marketing manager for personal care brand Dove, Bonnie Hindmarsh and Erin Cayless are the trio who make up Three Birds, a business they created in 2014 after walking away from their various corporate roles. They offer home renovation and design advice to women like themselves – “mums next door”.
In early August, Three Birds Renovations will begin its third project in collaboration with realestate.com.au.
“We are not qualified architects, interior designers or builders. We are self-taught and that’s the appeal,” Taylor explains.
“We’re just three mums next door talking to mums next door. We bring to the table basic language and learnings and share our mistakes so other people don’t have to make them.”
Brand integration is a key element of realestate.com.au’s commercial activity, with Knoblanche describing herself as the “gatekeeper”, ensuring the content is an authentic fit for the brand partner and, critically, for the audience.
“Our brand partnerships are genuine, and they have to be because if they’re not our audience will see right through it,” Knoblanche stresses.
Lifestyle on realestate.com.au is still new, but the initial success of the experience, combined with the sheer volume of engaging content, will no doubt take realestate.com.au beyond looking for a house to become the number one destination for all things property.
1 Adobe Analytics. Site Sections Report. Visits to the Lifestyle Section. March 9 – Aug 14 2017
2 Facebook Touchstone Report – April & May 2017 for realestate.com.au/lifestyle page
3 Brightcove onsite video account. Monthly onsite video views for November 2016 compared to May 2017
Paid or unpaid, they do deserve a lot of credit. It’s a phenomenal service.
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Hey! great post I liked your post, I have no idea about such kind of information about Real Estate property.
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