HAMPTONS REAL ESTATE, SOUTHAMPTON, NY

IF YOU WANT A PIECE OF THE ADVERTISING PIE, BETTER GRAB IT!  It may not be there if you delay; we hear all kinds of Realtors are completely out of the print advertising business!....Not that they are thinking about it or analyzing it or even doing research on if they should do it or not---no! They are completely out of the print advertisng business. Reasons are: "too expensive", "my customers only use the internet", "print ads never pull!" or "print ads are dead!" So I put my safari hat on and headed into the AR jungle and asked: "IS REAL ESTATE PRINT ADVERTISING REALLY DEAD?"

HERE IN A PIESHELL ARE THE RESULTS:

IF YOU WANT A PIECE OF THE ADVERTISING PIE, BETTER GRAB IT

I POSTED A BLOG LAST WEEK THAT WAS FEATURED AND RECEIVED OVER 200 COMMENTS AND IT WAS ALL ABOUT THE USE OF PRINT VS. INTERNET ADVERTISING. THIS IS THE RESULT OF EVERYONES INPUT.

So, we know that if everyone in real estate had their choice, they would pay nothing for advertising; but we also know that nothing from nothing equals nothing.

As of late, we are all hearing how we should be doing internet advertising, social media, Google, Public real estate websites: "It's Free Advertising!" (or costs very little compared to print ads) we have been hearing this for over a year now, perhaps 2.

 Sounds too good to be true to me! ...and you know what they say about that! (If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!) This is what drove me to try out print advertising again after I had stopped doing any print ads in 2008 and early 2009. I picked my places carefully and limited the amount of money spent.

FOCUS: I used a publication with a glossy presentation and a high end appeal. PROFILE magazine is published by my company and has a very long shelf life and a 250,000 distribution. When my results were nothing short of spectacular, I sold 3 properties over $2million from 1 full page, full color ad. Cost to me: $2500.00.

Success drove me to try something that worked; so I decided to share this information with all who would read about it on AR---it got a featured big fat YELLOW STAR and more than 200 comments from all of you! Now it is time to share what all of you think, in a nutshell.

I have tried to be as objective in my analysis as possible and give you the key points made in the comments received:

KEY POINTS THAT CAME  THROUGH FROM ACTIVERAIN:

• The internet is still the place that most real estate searches begin.
• Print advertising is not dead.  Some forms are still a growth segment of advertising in certain markets.
• Newspaper print ads are a very small part of print advertising.
• Internet advertising is still the most important source for leads in lower end markets.
• Boutique brokerages NEED to do print ads--creating the glossy, high end booklets that still pull.
• Large Real Estate Companies use print advertising for image building more than focusing on individual properties.
• Most small towns, villages and smaller communities continue to do print advertising if they still have a local paper.
• Most sellers expect their properties to be advertised in print, especially if it is a high end listing.
• Post cards, flyers and glossy brochures are still being used effectively in many markets.
• Glossy magazines are key to a resort market....for local information and relaxation.
• Markets that sell properties for $200k and under are exclusively utilizing the internet for advertising. As one responder wrote:    "In my market of $150K houses and under: Print ads are dead!

                                                  PRINT VS. INTERNET ADVERTISING

WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE TO ME:

1. A balance between print and internet advertising is critical to maximize your business in most market-places.
2. This means, that in order to determine the correct split, all advertising plans should include research done from a websites "hits" and concrete data showing the results of all leads from that source.
3. This also means that print advertising needs to be evaluated, by cost of ad and results of each print ad.
4. A lot of tracking needs to be done on an ongoing basis to determine the flow of time, dollars spent and the end result of each venue.
5. Putting money into an evasive venue such as print advertising means that you need to be in the best vehicles available.
6. Do your research on all publications for distribution, targeted markets and buyer profiles.
7. In the event you find that print ads don't pull---pull the plug! But only after you are sure that in your area, print ads are dead!
8. ...And remember: Print ads attract listings!...and high quality ads are a must---you are trying to attract a high end buyer/seller!!!        

IT'S LIKE MONEY IN THE BANK!

THAT'S IT

That's all it takes to see an improvement in your 2010 results! Even if the earth doesn't move from the changes in your advertising plans; your income should!  

Mine did,and now that I have incorporated the practice of in-depth analysis of all advertising venues available to me--I can already see a big difference for my business for 2010!