Thinkproperty.com swoops for Deakins

Deakins, who joins next week, will immediately begin a tour of media agencies, said group managing director of GMG Property, Mark Goddard.

“Suzanne’s first task will be to do the circuit to get pitches,” he said.

Thinkproperty, which launched in January, has enjoyed strong growth on the back of heavy investment online.

However,  it is now looking to redirect some of its £9m market-ing budget into advertising and offline media.

Goddard added: “Until now, we’ve focused very heavily online, across display and search engine optimisation and search marketing. Now we’re looking to focus on brand building and offline media.”

The portal is unlikely to change its online partners, which include Big Mouth Media, Diffiniti and Harvest Digital, he added. 

Goddard is keen to employ various traditional media, including press and radio, but is unlikely to embark on a TV campaign, adding: “We are open to proposals going forward. Our marketing spend is fairly fluid.”

According to online data provider Hitwise, Thinkproperty.com now ranks fourth in the UK search listings for property sites, ahead of more established rivals FindaProperty, Fish4homes and Your-move.co.uk.

The site is also in the top 10 property sites, according to traffic monitor comScore, with more than one million unique users.

Earlier this month, Goddard said he aimed to establish Thinkproperty as the only credible alternative to Rightmove, with a new target of two million unique users.

The portal has also kicked off an advertising review, to run in parallel with the media review.

It has just launched an online display ad campaign, which will run for the next 12 weeks, with media purchased across a range of third-party sites, including Tiscali and Estate Angels.

Thinkproperty is wholly owned by GMG Property Service Group, part of the Guardian Media Group.

It holds more than 480,000 properties from the UK and overseas, and works with more than 4,400 estate agents who upload their stock.

This article was first published on Media Week