The agency wants 90 days. I want one campaign.

I've held land a long time and I'm finally trying to sell three parcels rather than keep paying taxes on them. A marketing agency quoted me $1,500 setup and $900 a month to run Google and Facebook to a landing page for the parcels.

My problem is that I only need this for as long as it takes to sell three things. They want a 90 day minimum, so that's $4,200 committed. The parcels are listed around $48,000, $61,000, and $95,000. I'd pay a broker maybe 8 to 10 percent on land, so on the small one that's roughly $4,000 anyway.

What I don't understand is whether paid ads are even the right channel for raw land buyers, or whether I'm buying something a listing on the usual land sites plus a broker would do for the same money without the setup fee. The agency says land buyers search. I don't know how to check that claim.

Decision is sign the 90 days, or list with a land broker, or try one month somewhere and learn something.

4 replies

2mitchell_ray4 Get yoursPRO6

Three parcels is not a marketing problem at the scale that supports a retainer. $900 a month buys you an agency's attention on an account where the total possible outcome is three sales and then nothing to manage.

What you're really comparing is $4,200 of committed spend against a broker commission you'd only pay on a sale. The broker gets paid when something happens. The agency gets paid whether or not it does. On three parcels with a ceiling of about $204,000 in gross value, I'd put them on the land marketplaces, pay the broker on the two harder ones, and keep the $4,200.

If you had thirty parcels and a pipeline of more coming, the retainer starts making sense, because then you're building an audience and a landing page that keeps working. You'd also have something for the agency to actually optimize month over month. Right now you'd be paying setup costs for an account you shut off in the fall.

The agency isn't lying that land buyers search. They do. The volume on any one parcel is tiny and geographically pinned, which is exactly the situation where paid search costs a lot per click and delivers almost nothing.

3mikeoconnell7SP2APRO6

@solder is right on the economics and I'd add one thing. Ask the agency for an anonymized example of a land account they've run, with clicks, cost, and form fills. If they can't produce anything on raw land specifically, they're learning on your money and charging setup for the privilege.

1kevin_lombardPG1BPRO5

Wait, setup fees are separate from the monthly? Is $1,500 setup normal, or is that high for two platforms and one page?

The agency wants 90 days. I want one campaign.

4 replies