The question has divided the industry for several years: can a real estate agency exist without depending on major portals like Homegate or ImmoScout24?
In French-speaking Switzerland, most professionals still answer "no".
And yet, the weak signals of a changing model are clearly there.
A Dependency That Costs Dearly
Real estate portals concentrate what are known as active clients, those who are looking here and now for a property to buy or rent.
Result: to exist in the competition, agencies invest heavily in these platforms.
But this dependency comes at a price. Not only financial, but also strategic: your data does not belong to you.
Contacts, performance statistics, purchasing behaviors… everything remains locked within the portal's ecosystem.
You are renting visibility. You are not building a marketing asset.
Real Estate Facing Its Booking.com Moment
The hotel industry went through the same story. For years, hotels were entirely dependent on OTAs like Booking or Expedia.
Until the day some understood that the key was not to cut off OTAs, but to regain control of their digital marketing.
Real estate is at exactly the same turning point.
Your Website: More Than a Showcase, a Real Acquisition Lever
In 80% of cases, a real estate agency website is just a catalog.
However, a well-designed site can become the best long-term acquisition channel.
It can capture visitors via local SEO, generate leads via Meta or Google campaigns, and most importantly centralize your customer data.
Start with a Good Channel Mix
Let's be realistic: you can't cut everything overnight.
But you can gradually adjust your investment ratio.
Over time, as your site attracts more natural traffic, you can rebalance the scales.
Fewer portals, more direct marketing.
Case Study: 10 Sales and CHF 2.-.5 Million in Revenue
A Valais real estate agency with whom we collaborate chose to test a more direct approach.
By focusing on a targeted Meta Ads strategy, supported by a website redesign, the results were spectacular:
"Thanks to the strategy implemented, our Meta campaigns generated 10 box sales in Valais (total revenue approximately 2.5M). An exceptional performance, with a return on investment of approximately 60x."
Becoming the Owner of Your Data
By building your own database, you create a direct relationship with your buyers, investors, or tenants.
Newsletter, remarketing campaigns, similar audiences, automations: everything becomes possible when your data belongs to you.
Towards a Hybrid and Intelligent Model
The goal is not to pit portals against digital marketing. But to restore balance.
It is this intelligent combination of immediate performance and long-term strategy that will make the difference.
In Summary
- Real estate portals remain useful, but should no longer be your only channel.
- Your website must become an acquisition tool, not just a showcase.
- Owning your data is the key to your marketing independence.
- A well-thought-out strategy can multiply your results.
At Birdy Consulting, we support Swiss real estate agencies in this transition.
