From Guesswork to Growth: How Unchained and Experian Are Changing the Way Agents Understand Their Market

Estate agency has never lacked opinion. What it has often lacked is certainty.

Most marketing decisions in our industry are still built on instinct: what feels right, what worked before, what competitors are doing, what the loudest voices are saying. Sometimes that intuition is spot on. Sometimes it isn’t. And in a market where attention is harder to earn, budgets are tighter, and customers are more selective, “sometimes” is no longer good enough.

The world’s biggest brands don’t rely on hunches. They rely on evidence. For decades, companies like Nike, Coca-Cola and Lush have shaped their messaging, campaigns and positioning around detailed customer insight. Historically, that level of data was reserved for organisations with deep pockets and dedicated analytics teams. But that barrier is disappearing.

Through Unchained’s partnership with Experian, estate agents now have access to the same depth of customer understanding that global brands use to drive growth.

Not in theory. In practice.

Experian’s geodemographic data goes far beyond surface-level demographics. It doesn’t just tell you how old someone is or what they earn. It reveals how households live, what they value, how they think, what influences their decisions and how they engage with brands. And crucially, it does this at postcode and address level, meaning insight is local, not generic.

This matters because property markets are hyper-local. Two neighbouring towns can behave completely differently. Even two streets can attract different types of buyers and sellers. Yet much of the industry still talks about “the market” as if it were one homogenous group.

It isn’t.

When agents rely purely on assumptions, they risk building campaigns that feel right internally but miss the mark externally. Messaging becomes broad. Content becomes generic. Spend becomes inefficient. The gap between what an agent thinks their customers want and what those customers actually respond to quietly widens.

Data-led marketing closes that gap.

Understanding your audience properly doesn’t mean drowning in spreadsheets or turning marketing into a science experiment. It means gaining clarity on who your customers really are, what motivates them, and how they prefer to engage. When that insight is grounded in evidence rather than opinion, marketing stops being guesswork and starts becoming strategy.

Of course, data on its own isn’t enough. Experian’s reports are rich, detailed and comprehensive, but that level of depth can feel overwhelming without the right tools to interpret it. This is where AI changes the game.

By combining Experian’s customer insight with platforms like ChatGPT, agents can turn raw data into usable direction. Not just insight for insight’s sake, but practical outputs: clearer positioning, sharper messaging, more relevant campaigns, and content that actually resonates with the people it’s meant to reach.

Instead of staring at charts, agents can ask better questions. Instead of guessing tone of voice, they can tailor it. Instead of copying competitors, they can build something that reflects their own market.

The result isn’t louder marketing. It’s smarter marketing.

One of the most striking things that emerges from data-led insight is how often it challenges assumptions. Many agents believe their audience is more price-driven, more impatient, or more trend-led than the evidence suggests. In reality, large parts of the market value reassurance over hype, clarity over creativity, and long-term confidence over short-term noise. When messaging aligns with those priorities, engagement improves naturally. Trust builds faster. Decisions become easier.

This approach also matters more for independent agencies than for large corporates. Big brands can afford to waste budget. Smaller businesses can’t. Every campaign, post and message has to work harder. Precision becomes a competitive advantage.

Data-led, AI-powered marketing allows local agencies to operate with the confidence of national brands, without needing national budgets.

And this is where Unchained’s partnership with Experian becomes more than a commercial relationship. It becomes a strategic shift. Instead of relying on opinion-led marketing advice, agents can now build their strategies on real, local, evidence-based insight. Not what “the market” might think, but what their market actually does.

The video above shows how this works in practice, from understanding customer profiles to shaping tone of voice and marketing priorities. But the bigger picture is simpler than the technology behind it.

Better insight leads to better decisions; better decisions lead to better marketing; better marketing leads to better results.

Estate agency doesn’t need more noise. It needs more clarity.

And clarity, as it turns out, starts with knowing your audience properly.