RealTown's RealTalk

Jim / Everyone,

I have adopted a policy of NO PRINT ADVERTISING. Whenever I have a listing appointment, I tell the prospective seller that I don't advertise in print publications because print advertising is a dead man walking. I ask them is they would agree that internet information is both more abundant and content rich then print advertising. Most people relaize that when it comes to looking for real estate, the internet is the king of information. I tell them a little story about how 15 years ago a husband and wife may have begun their search by looking at the newspaper and perhaps running down to the corner convenience store to pick up one of those home magazines, but today they just grab their coffee and pad into the room where they keep their computer and plug into the world wide web of information. There they will find content rich information, multiple photos and now video. I have not lost a listing yet over this. If you are currently spending advertising dollars on any print advertising - stop it! It is a waste of time and resources. Put you time, money and efforts into the web. 

That's my opinion!

Charles Kraus, Managing Associate Broker, RE/MAX Experts, Annapolis, MD

ChesapeakeHomeFinder.com  

agree. One of the things a Real Estate office can do is track the results of
marketing by asking phone callers or any other leads: "Where did you see the
ad?" Or, "How did you hear about us?" You can do this with a computerized
appointment showing system. We happen to use a system by "AOS - Real Front
Desk" The link to their site is http://www.reaos.com/reaos_site/. The
program can be set up to track all your advertising campaigns. You can count
the actual calls received and connect them to your advertising.
Bart
 

Good point Bart. Having an automated front desk is great. Then you can tie
your efforts to or lead management system.
 

You don't have to waste time on asking where they found you. Set up
third-level domains, set up alias e-mail addresses, set up tracked
toll-free, purchase tracking devices (Google Analytics), etc. When they call
in you tell them. "Oh, I see you found us through...."
 

Having to ask them where they heard about you is tantamount to not having a
reliable tracking system for you marketing plan.
 

Rich

I have not used print advertising in over a year, and I do not miss it, nor
do I see any loss in business. I agressively utilize the internet and the
sites I syndicate to. I tell sellers up front that print advertising "Does
Not Work".

Monica McNamara

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Totally agree. The key is to have a listing syndication product that offers
it all. Saul's recent white paper on MLS 5.0 is a preview of what will
happen as we move forward. You can read the piece on RealTown at
http://FutureOfMLS.com.

If you are not looking at systems that are top-down driven, that provide
front and back office systems, that deliver listings from the MLS directly
to listing syndication partners, that gives you tracking of every lead and
every referral or hand-off to broker's agents, you should be.

Rich

PRINT IS DEAD.

Need proof?  Besides the LA Times canning their real estate section (that's pretty telling right there....), I have a great example of why advertising in fish wrap no longer works.

I recently have had two features stores in the two largest daily newspapers in the state - two weeks apart.

One article was in the real estate section.  

The second story followed two weeks later in a different paper.  It was on the front page.  Not only that, it was a large, feature story.  Not only that, it was above the fold, directly under the masthead.  A 6" square photo of a broker was on the front page.

Now, any journalist will tell you that to have a feature story above the fold, under the masthead in a major daily newspaper is THE absolute best placement for a story.  Period.  Not only that, the story was about different methods that realtors are using to market properties in a slow market - something fairly timely considering how many properties are languishing on the market right now.

Can I tell you that it may as well have never been printed.  I received NO phone calls.  NO emails.  NO inquiries.  My website received no significant bump in traffic. The fact that two articles were in the paper hasn't been mentioned by a single person. The broker featured in the story received NO phone calls.  His website got NO bump in traffic, even though the URL was front and center in the photograph on page ONE. 

These were prominent feature stories, not classified ads in the back of the paper. 

The deafening sound of NOTHING only makes it very clear to me that newspapers must be a complete waste of advertising dollars.

Times have changed.  

Print Media Advertising

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Regarding a Full Page ad for 12 months in a real estate magazine Robert Nardi wrote; "So an investment of $6000 per year seems to work." , which triggered some thoughts... Like many of you, I've been doing this some time (17+ years). The most common sales pitch I get from marketing vendors (print, web, etc.) goes something like this; "If you get just one sale - It pays for itself". My typical response is I'm not looking for a tool that only "pays for itself", I want a marketing tool that pays for itself 4, 5 or 10 times over.

Advertising / Marketing can be looked at from two perspectives. My first litmus test is to ask myself whether the tool is A) a Selling Tool or B) a Listing Tool? In other words, does it actually increase sales or is the real benefit that it impresses sellers and therefore helps get more listings? There's a valid basis for both but its important to be realistic when evaluating the cost / benefit of any marketing tool.

I advertised in the supermarket real estate magazines for many, many years. Full page color ads every single month. My conclusion is that while real estate magazines can sell a home from time to time, if evaluated on a cost versus commissions earned basis, my own experience is the cost outweighs the commissions most of the time (exceptions noted). With that said, its my opinion that print advertising is a Listing Tool, not a Selling Tool.

If you are willing to invest $6,000 (as in Robert's example) for Advertising / Marketing, the question to ask is what tool will get the greatest return on investment? For example, while I'm not an "Open House" proponent, I would imagine that if I paid a fellow agent $100 to sit an Open House for me and did that for 50 weeks of the year, I would probably generate a lot more leads / sales than I would with the Full Page real estate magazine ad.

Food for thought...

 Brett Shaw from Cyberhomes:

Interesting point Robert.  As I'm sitting here during my floor time (receiving no calls or visitors), I wonder if this wouldn't be better used as an Instant Messaging format, or being available for a video conference.  We have to face facts, print is dying.  And even if it's not, the use of it as a marketing tool is.  With everything available on the internet for free or close to it, it just makes sense to focus on that.  Not only is it the cheapest, but it's also where everyone else is looking.  Cyberhomes.com offers so much to agents and potential buyers and sellers.  With local information so ready at hand, why wait for the paper every morning?