There is absolutely no shortage of available opportunities for marketing and advertising in today’s society. Especially when it comes to real estate. Is print advertising going away completely? Is the Internet going to be our only source of advertising in the coming years? Where should marketing and advertising dollars be spent to be the most effective?
The solution is quite simple: balance.
No, print advertising is not completely going away. It never will. However, since that is not our only choice anymore for marketing a property for sale or lease, we must all choose wisely when spending money for marketing. With so many advertising media available, it would be foolish to put all of your money into just one of them. Balancing the amount of available opportunities while staying within your budget is an important skill. A fair amount of the population will always read newspapers, always browse through catalogs that come in the mail, will always read literature when it’s directly mailed to them. I’ve seen it work too often to argue otherwise. Therefore, keeping up the right amount of print advertising is essential.
Being an advertising major myself, I know not to commit to anything without committing to it for a minimum of five months. Depending on the venue and distribution, it doesn’t have to be five consecutive months; it could be every other month, as long as you commit to being seen five times. Quality should be of concern with any type of advertising you are doing. Quality paper, proofreading your verbiage and “wow” factor photography.
With all of that being said, an astonishing 95 percent of all home searches begin on the Internet in today’s age. Therefore, a strong web presence is essential. A website is as common as having a business card today. A website that includes community facts and links to information about financing and the escrow/closing process are a must. A consumer must be able to search out listings of available homes, as well as research neighborhoods, sex offenders, schools and nearby attractions.
A good realtor will not be the source of these for you, but rather lead you to the source so that you can research what is important to you. Again, we come back to the quality factor in all of this. Quality photography will make more impressions with a listing than any other factor. Good photos will push your listing out to many different sources if the right marketing process is in place. Buyers come from all over the world and from all walks of life. The Internet is the one common thread that has the possibility to link it all together.
Real estate rules, regulations and laws change all of the time, Keeping up-to-date information available through your website and all of your Internet marketing is key. A lot of this can be done with time invested into the process, rather than a lot of money.
Be smart with how you spend your money. Don’t put it all in one place; spread it around a bit and keep track of how it works for you. FBN
Written by Sherri Monteith, Russ Lyon Sothebys