Estate agents are being encouraged to develop alternative marketing strategies to reduce dependence on property portals, following comparisons drawn between the UK property sector’s reliance on Rightmove and Netflix’s historic shift to original content production.
Industry commentator Toby Martin has highlighted the extent of Rightmove’s market position, noting that the portal commands over 80% of all time spent on UK property platforms. According to the analysis, Rightmove claims involvement in over seven in ten vendor instructions and eight in ten lettings instructions, with the average estate agency branch paying the portal over £1,500 monthly.
The platform recorded 2.3 billion visits and 16.4 billion minutes of browsing activity in 2024, establishing what Martin describes as a position comparable to Google’s dominance in search.
Alternative marketing channels
The analysis draws parallels with Netflix’s strategic pivot in 2011, when content providers including Starz, Disney and Sony withdrew licensing agreements. Netflix responded by investing $100 million in original content production, beginning with House of Cards. The move resulted in a 22% surge in US subscribers and the company’s valuation increasing from $5.7 billion to several hundred billion dollars.
Martin suggests estate agents could employ similar strategic thinking by developing direct marketing capabilities. Proposed alternatives include building local audiences through social media channels, maintaining and utilising email databases, creating shareable property content, and establishing partnerships with relocation companies and local businesses.
Database and referral strategies
The analysis emphasises the potential value of maintaining contact with past clients, unsuccessful vendor prospects, and landlords. Building relationships with solicitors, mortgage brokers and removal companies is presented as a method of establishing local market presence beyond portal listings.
The approach focuses on referral generation through service quality, with each completed transaction positioned as a marketing opportunity rather than a concluded business interaction.
Current market implications
The commentary does not advocate for abandoning property portals, but rather suggests agents develop complementary marketing capabilities while portal access remains available. The strategies outlined—including audience building, database management, local community engagement and content marketing—are presented as immediately implementable alongside existing portal usage.
The analysis concludes by proposing that agencies approach new instructions with a hypothetical scenario: marketing properties as if portal access were unavailable, thereby testing and developing alternative distribution channels.
The discussion reflects ongoing industry debate about the concentration of property marketing through dominant portal platforms and the development of agency-controlled marketing channels.