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Debate Continues: Are Newspaper Ads Cost-Effective?
The comments, suggestions, opinions and questions just keep on coming on the issue of newspaper advertising. Here are 11 more.
Nearly two dozen Associates have provided input on the value of advertising in newspapers. Most say it's not worth the money, while others say it's always been effective for them.
Read the original story below.
"What advertising are Associates using? ..."
"What other forms of advertising are Associates using? Some agents referenced Internet advertising, which we are currently using. Are there any other suggestions or some recommended Web sites to try?"
DeeAnn Bartkey, Office Administrator, RE/MAX United, Owatonna, Minn.
"I encourage agents to follow the Buffini program ..."
"I find it rather interesting that the majority of agent polled are responding that the Internet is their primary source for leads. In Brian Buffini's presentation, he shows a graph that demonstrates that only 14 percent of people looking for a real estate agent use the Net. I truly enjoy and encourage our agents to follow the Buffini program."
Joe Collina, RE/MAX Escarpment Realty, Burlington, Ontario
"Everything is looking toward the Internet ..."
"I personally advertise when I have an open house, but being an e-Pro (Internet knowledge), I get most of my buyers from my signs at the home, and my Internet business is booming - I get 85 of my business from there. We are now able to launch all open houses, new listings, and upscale homes in our Web site, and especially RE/MAX Mainstreet. We have so many tools especially, CDs, etc., that buyers and sellers find rewarding.
"The way I see the future, everything is looking towards the Internet, especially when buyers do not really have to communicate with a Realtor on the telephone. They are able to receive information immediately on a home they are planning to buy or just want to be curious about a particular home.
"As for sellers, they are starting to realize that most buyers are searching on the Internet for their dream home."
Maria Cutrona, RE/MAX Hearthstone Realty, Canfield, Ohio
"Use classifieds to drive traffic to Web sites ..."
"I think traditional classified advertising (place it and the phone will ring) is going away. However, we have seen some of our agents have good results by using classified ads to drive traffic to their Web sites. Consumers have to find you on the Internet for the Internet to generate leads. Getting your Web site address out to the consumers is critical and search engines are just not going to cut it in accomplishing that. Search engine optimization can be just as expensive if not more so than newspaper ads and it's often far more time-consuming with generally the same results as traditional classified advertising.
"Agents who are very consistent in how they have their classified call to action presented get better results, as do agents who use an Internet call to action rather than the standard 'call me at ...' We encourage our agents to upload additional photos to their Web site and then use a call to action such as "for 20 color photographs, go to www.webaddress.com" or 'for color photographs and the address, go to www.webaddress.com.' It's a high-benefit, low-threat call to action. Handled consistently in every single ad, it helps brand the agents and get their Web sites out into the local population with the clear message that the agent understands what the consumers want - photos, details, and the address and no high-pressure sales call.
"We encourage them to do the same thing on their fliers, direct mail pieces, e-mail signatures, online advertising, etc. If an agent is paying for a marketing effort, then there should be at least some expectation of a return and driving traffic to and building recognition for their Web site can provide that return. The Web site can then go to work with the photos, virtual tours and details that are far too expensive to be accomplished in print.
"There is still a place for print advertising, but newspapers need to stop thinking of it in the traditional sense and start looking at how it can work with the Internet and help agents think outside of that, too."
Kris Keener, RE/MAX Equity Group, Beaverton, Ore.
"Mostly sellers buy papers to look at their own ad ..."
"I recently had a listing in Chicago. In October a major newspaper prints a huge residential real estate section in which some Realtors and brokerages advertise heavily. It is extremely costly and as statistics show not very effective. My seller was insulted that I did not take out a $5,000 full-color, half-page one-time ad to advertise his home, which was also overpriced. One thing sellers do not understand in advertising is that it is mostly sellers buying the papers to look at their own ad, as my seller did. Ninety-eight percent of the activity on this property came across as a result of networking with brokers and agents, the MLS, the virtual tour and the Internet sites and the street signage. Most buyers are working with agents and rely on the Internet to gather their real estate information."
Sandy Muellner, RE/MAX Signature, Chicago
"It works for us ..."
"You really can't be too quick to get rid of newspaper advertising. Here in northern Utah our office has had good success in advertising in the newspaper. We have found that people will respond more to just a basic print ad then anything with a picture though. Even if it doesn't sell the home we're advertising, it puts us in touch with potential buyers whom hopefully we can help with purchasing something to meet their needs. So it works for us out here."
Brian Ottley, RE/MAX West, Logan, Utah
"Most of my marketing dollars are online ..."
"I completely agree with the responses you have from other RE/MAX Associates. Previously I advertised all my listings each weekend in all the local newspapers. My response has declined over the last year and that told me I had to do something else and do it quickly. My Internet advertising was not my focus until the market started to change over the last year. Now I am putting most of my marketing dollars online and the results are astounding.
"Internet advertising attracts the serious buyers and sellers, I have found. It allows consumers to shop when they have the time and not just wait for the Sunday paper. Serious buyers are just not waiting. They are online, looking at all the Web sites and they demand photos and virtual tours.
"The Internet is now becoming the way buyers want to find homes. Sellers need to know that it takes more than a black-and-white ad once a week to showcase their home.
"I am sold on Internet advertising and I let my clients know that I am doing everything I can do to sell their home and the Internet is definitely at the top of my list."
Teri Pacitto, RE/MAX OTB Estates, Oak Park, Calif.
"Know your audience ..."
"One of the most basic principles of business is to know your audience. I target my advertising to venues where buyers and sellers (or someone they know) will be looking. Blowing your advertising budget on expensive newspaper advertising is a waste of resources and a disservice to your sellers. I put my resources where I get my leads, the Internet and home publications."
Nancy Payette, RE/MAX Realty Services, Port St. Lucie, Fla.
"My Web site is more productive ..."
"I have been a licensed Realtor for 30 years. I've tried just about every product available from newspapers and spent countless thousands of dollars using them. I have found that my main return was a seller who thought I was trying hard to sell his/her home. I receive several leads from the Internet each week and find my Web site more productive than newspaper advertising. The other really effective thing I have done is put together a monthly 32-page newsletter in color and direct-mail it to 11,000 homes in my city. I feature stories of local interest (not reported in local or national media) and tips on real estate, as well as my listings. I had one listing when I started the newsletter, and within 60 days later I had 41. Without a doubt this is the best marketing tool I have found."
Rich Petersen, RE/MAX Action Realty, Fort St. John, British Columbia
"Advertising money is a finite resource ..."
"In my experience, almost every comment I have ever heard from a real estate agent advocating newspaper advertising has had to do with placating or appeasing seller concerns.
"This is a little like the 'Western' philosophy of medicine; if you treat the symptoms, the patient will feel better. While this may be true, the problem does not go away.
"Instead, it may be helpful to explain to our clients that advertising money, after all, really is a 'finite' resource. Therefore, spending the money wisely, utilizing proven systems that generate maximum results per dollar and employing dynamic, measurable technologies such as the Internet, work better to sell homes. If the idea is to be in more places, never knowing with 100 percent certainty which one is going to work, I'd rather spend ALL of my ad money in areas that give the higher statistical returns than the local newspaper.
"Finally the best seller appeasement of all is a home that is SOLD."
Eric Recktenwald, RE/MAX Capital City, Austin, Texas
"It will always be effective ..."
"In our town of 75,000, Longview, Texas, the newspaper is still the No. 1 place to advertise. I have always had good results advertising in our local paper. Everyone reads the paper, especially the over-45 or 50 age group. Also, selling ads arouse the interest in people who might not have been looking to buy, but see a really pretty place and want it. Pictures of realtors alert friends and newcomers to see what offices they want to call. I think it will always be effective no matter how popular the Internet is."
Jo Salmon, RE/MAX First Choice, Longview, Texas
"I only use it for open houses ..."
"I agree with the majority of the responders. Our newspaper, while charging us outrageous rates, continues to run full-page negative articles about the real estate market as well as the loan markets. I only use it for open houses. It seems as though they think the only thing that is news is bad news and in this, they join the broadcast media in their approach. Many of our agents eschew the use of the newspaper in favor of more targeted advertising and so do I."
Terry Stauffer, RE/MAX Ideal Properties, Medford, Ore.
"I receive perhaps 1 percent response ..."
"I receive perhaps 1 percent response from newspaper advertising. My new advertising theory will be: to keep my picture and name in the news but crop the ad down to include my Web site addresses, where the potential buyers and sellers can find NEW LISTINGS - OPEN HOUSES - SIGNIFICANT PRICE REDUCTIONS by going to my sites."
Carol Ann Williams, RE/MAX First, Rochester, N.Y.
Copyright © 2006 RE/MAX International Inc. 12/11/06
Associates Shying Away From Newspaper Advertising
When RE/MAX International Senior Vice President Kristi Graning asked for Associates' opinions on the value of newspaper advertising, she got an earful.
"Newspaper advertising is going the way of the cassette player," wrote Marty Sorrentino of RE/MAX Hearthstone in Merrick, N.Y.
Added June Comey (ABR, CRS, SRES), with RE/MAX Associates Poway in Poway, Calif.: "I have found no value lately in newspaper ads. Very expensive and the general public does not seem to use them as a resource for home searches or open houses."
And so on. Virtually every Associate who responded to Graning said that advertising in newspapers did not produce a significant return on investment. While some continue to advertise in print, it was mostly because clients expected or demanded it.
Graning, Senior Vice President of IT and eBusiness, was interested in Associates' advertising opinions because she had been asked to participate in a panel discussion at a conference sponsored by Classified Ventures - a joint venture owned by five large media companies, including Gannett and The Washington Post Company. They've banded together to explore ways of obtaining more online advertising.
It's no secret that the Internet has deeply cut into newspapers' advertising revenue, especially in the classified area. Media companies are looking for ways to combine print and online advertising. At the conference, held in New Orleans just before the NAR conference in November, Graning was the only representative of a traditional real estate organization. Other participants in the discussion included forsalebyowner.com, realestate.com and oodle.com.
"Newspapers are very interested in adjusting their services," Graning says. "They want real estate agents back as customers, so they were particularly interested in what our Associates had to say. I was able to give them some constructive feedback. That was because Associates did such a good job responding to my request. I'm grateful for that."
A few other comments and suggestions from Associates:
"Times have changed ..."
"I had been a big advocate of the newspaper, having been in the business for more than 23 years, but times have changed. The Internet is where 85 percent of buyers/sellers start their search. That's where they spend the most time and the can virtually tour the homes they like."
Steven Young Jr. (ABR), RE/MAX Consultants, Little Rock, Ark.
"No replies at all ..."
"I still do newspaper ads to appease the sellers, but I also tell them there were no replies at all (if this is the case, and it usually is). I'm getting more response from Craigslist these days."
Barb Avery (CRS, SRES), RE/MAX Eastside Brokers, Kirkland, Wash.
"Our office does a group ad ..."
"Our office does a group ad, but have shrunk the per-property ad space, therefore shrinking our overall ad size and cost 40 percent. It's not worth the expense and I'd quit altogether tomorrow if I had a more convincing way to show sellers it's worthless."
Jim Henry (ABR, CRS), RE/MAX Associates Plus, Hudson, Wis.
"My leads mostly come from the Internet ..."
"Newspaper ads are extremely too expensive for the ROI, and over a month add up to a hefty price tag. I track my leads and they mostly come from the Internet or buyers driving through neighborhoods. Maybe one a year originate from the newspaper. Newspapers can cut their costs if they wish to obtain my business."
Lynn Vaughn (ABR), RE/MAX Equity Group, Vancouver, Wash.
"Our ROI is 0% ..."
"We measure ROI the same way almost everyone does - by measuring dollars spent to direct results obtained. We don't have to track it, as it's not necessary - our ROI is 0%. Yes, we do it to please our clients, and in listing presentations. Newspapers should provide special Internet advertising that is Realtor and consumer-friendly, and this could help their business."
Don Lehman, RE/MAX Real Estate Services, Anaheim Hills, Calif.
"Realtors sell houses ..."
"I write very effective ads with great photos. But with hundreds of dollars spent, I get no real response. I find that Realtors sell houses. I do, however, feel that if newspapers can take a different approach, such as sorting ads by city or price rather than scattered all over the place, that would help."
Jeanne Tishma, RE/MAX Homeward Bound, Sheffield, Ohio
"Something exciting to advertise ..."
"I only advertise in newspapers when I have something exciting to advertise, such as a new listing, open house, or price reduction. I explain that I place most of my advertising budget on the Internet, as that is where most of my buyers come from. My sales director put it succinctly: If routine newspaper advertising was worthwhile, the real estate section would be so heavy you wouldn't be able to pick it up."
Kathryn Acciari, RE/MAX Innovations, Boston
Add your own comments
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Copyright © 2006 RE/MAX International Inc. 11/28/06 |