The criteria that matter most
- Buyer knowledge. Ask the agency to describe your buyer's week without your help. If they cannot explain what a leasing manager or asset manager worries about, they will struggle to write messages that land.
- Named proof. Look for case studies with named clients, specific numbers and a timeline. Vague claims of growth without names or numbers are hard to verify.
- Pipeline reporting. The agency should report on demos, opportunities and revenue influenced, not only on clicks and impressions. Ask to see a sample report.
- Channel range. PropTech growth usually needs a mix of search, paid social, account-based outreach, events and partner channels. Make sure the agency can run the channels your buyers use rather than only the ones it prefers.
- Systems. Good marketing breaks down without a clean CRM. An agency that can set up and run tools such as HubSpot will catch leads that would otherwise leak.
Questions to ask on the first call
- Which PropTech or real estate clients have you worked with, and can we speak to one?
- How would you describe our buyer and their biggest frustration?
- Which channels would you start with, and why?
- What will we see in the first ninety days?
- How do you report results, and who on our team needs to be involved?
- What happens if a channel does not work?
What the first ninety days should look like
- Month one, learning. Interviews with your sales team and a few customers, an audit of your website, CRM and current campaigns, and a written plan with priorities.
- Month two, launch. The first campaigns and fixes go live, usually the ones closest to revenue, such as conversion fixes, comparison pages or targeted outreach to named accounts.
- Month three, early signal. Demo requests, meetings booked and engagement from target accounts, along with an honest read on what to keep and what to cut.
What a good first call with an agency sounds like
Imagine two first calls in the same week. In the first, the agency opens with a deck of logos and a promise to double your traffic, then asks what your product does. In the second, the agency has already read your site, asks who signs the contract at a typical customer, wants to know how long a pilot takes and asks to hear about your last three lost deals. The second call feels slower and is far more useful.
A strong PropTech marketing agency spends the first call learning your buyer, because everything it builds depends on that buyer. Listen for questions about property managers, brokers or asset managers by role, about your sales cycle and about the proof you already have. Leave the call knowing what they would do first and why. If the answer could apply to any software company, keep looking.
Red flags
- Guaranteed rankings or lead numbers, which Google's own advice on hiring an SEO warns against.
- Long contracts with no exit before results.
- Reports that only show traffic.
- A pitch deck full of logos with no named results.
- A team that changes after the sale.
Watch too for agencies that propose the same plan they would give a restaurant or a dentist, because real estate software buyers notice generic marketing quickly.
What a PropTech marketing agency costs
Most agencies price as a monthly retainer, a fixed project or a mix of both. Retainers suit ongoing demand generation, while projects suit a website rebuild, a launch or a positioning sprint. Whatever the model, agree on what success looks like in pipeline terms before you sign. You can see how we price on our pricing page.
Where Leapyn fits
We are one of the options. We work with real estate software companies on positioning, websites, SEO and AEO, paid media and HubSpot, and we report on demos and pipeline. You can read how we approach it on our PropTech marketing agency page. If you are still shaping your launch plan, our PropTech go-to-market strategy guide is a good place to start, whoever you hire.
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