Five things you need to know – Part 2

By 7 commentsAssociate Resources, Internal Blog

Is Print Advertising Dead?

ImageChef.com - Custom comment codes for MySpace, Hi5, Friendster and more Richard A Smith, President of Realogy (Coldwell Banker, ERA, Century 21, GMAC, etc). pronounced in July of 2007 that all of their brands would be reducing their “print” advertising.

“The company intends to slash its newspaper advertising budget to 70 percent of its home-sale ad spend by 2010, down from 84 percent this year, Bloomberg reported, as it shifts more ad dollars online. “It’s going to be bloody…The newspaper industry is going to have to adjust,” Smith told Bloomberg.

Aside from the theatrics and based what we all know from reading the first installment in this series there does seem to be truth in those words. I think that we can all agree that some of the money we spend on print advertising doesn’t seem to be yielding the desired results. So why do we continue? Why not just stop advertising altogether?

I think you are all yelling out the answer “My SELLER” wants me to advertise. They love the newspaper! We all know who reads those Sunday classifieds, it’s our sellers. So think of the chicken and the egg…. what came first? The seller asking for the ads or the Realtor offering to run the ads? Even the best stats say that newspapers yield less than 4% of home buyers – so why are we all still running those ads? The answer is simple… we don’t have a proper substitute.

Think of your listing presentation, where you lay out all of those beautiful marketing pieces that all reflect our marketing plan focused on print ads. The local paper, the glossy magazine and the community papers. You all tell me that you sometimes feel obligated to advertise to justify the commission. With that in mind, I know that we will not be able to release ourselves from those advertising chains until we have something else we can place before our sellers to show them how we are going to sell those properties.

Meanwhile, do you all know where the majority of buyers come from? If you guessed the MLS, then you were right . I think we can safely say that somewhere between 60%-80% of sales come as a result of a showing by another Realtor. The state of the MLS will be Part 3.

Related reading:

Part 1 of the Series

Inman on the Realogy Statement

Newspapers: Not Dead Yet

7 comments on “Five things you need to know – Part 2”

  1. Karen L. Ross Reply

    I would like for the newspapers to go away. I canceled the “Sun Sentinel” after I started training — I got tired of newsprint all over my hands — even though I know it’s great to have a newspaper around if you have to deliver a baby or line a bird or hamster cage.

    I just wish there was a sure-fire way of tracking our listings online. I have one method, but it is very labor intensive. I know you told us that the technology is about ready regarding tracking those listings online — and OBEO was to present us with some new material to that end.

    Thanks for keeping us updated on print advertising and its demise.

  2. Caroline Carrara Reply

    May I suggest/request a new insert sheet for the agents and manager presentations please that promote/tell all about our EWM Blog and the power of the blog and internet promotion? This could replace/compliment the Advertising insert, or maybe that sheet should just be revised to include all?

  3. Pat Nieto Reply

    Personally, I believe that even though our sales mainly come out from the MLS we still need a tool, recognized by everyone one, to keep our Sellers happy! If we went to our Sellers with the statement that 60% of our sales come from the MLS; their reaction could easily be to just list it on the MLS for a flat fee. Why would they need us? When we list we sell a package to our clients, in that package, advertising is the major key. Years ago, I suggested to my manager to make an arrangement with the Wall Street Journal and/or the The York Times, both papers are read by high end clientele in New York and the New England area that could easily purchase here. I thought it would be good for our company to receive some out of state exposure since we are only known locally. I remember that when I lived in New York the only agent that advertised in the Wall Street Journal was Audrey, if it wouldn’t have been for her ads I never would have known EWM when I moved from NY to Miami. Certainly that switch would make our clients very happy and probably would be more productive. With their single ads they offer 30 days in the internet. Of course, the cost is very high for an agent to absorb it all. The company would need to have some kind of arrangement with these newspapers in order to share expenses.

  5. Albert Babani Reply

    I hope I don’t ruffle some feathers with this blog but I was surprised to hear that some agents feel they need to advertise in print format to justify their commission. Our commissions are justified by the hard work we put in to get a property listed, priced right, negotiated and then closed. Now that may sound simple when summed up in one sentence but you and I both know that it is easier said than done. As for our sellers, all they want is to get their home sold for top dollar in the shortest amount of time, and they don’t care how we achieve that goal as long as we net them what they want. So the obvious question is why does a seller choose one agent over another? Do they choose the agent that promises to advertise the most? Do they choose an agent because it’s a friend or a family member?

    A small percentage of the time they will choose for both of those reasons. However, in today’s market the majority of sellers will choose an agent because they feel the agent is the most knowledgeable about the market, the most professional, and the one with the best plan of action to get their home sold. Sellers will always agree that our commission is justified when we have done an adequate job of presenting the value a professional agent brings to the transaction.

    We create value in the eyes of a seller by properly presenting all the steps involved to get a home sold. We create value by being the most knowledgeable agent. Our knowledge comes from interpreting the information from various sources such as trendgraphix, and then using that knowledge so our listings are properly positioned within the market. We create value in the eyes of a seller by constantly keeping them up to date on the market stats. We create value in the eyes of a seller buy giving them feedback on all their showings. We create value in the eyes of a seller by negotiating a contract with terms and conditions that are acceptable to both parties. We create value in the eyes of a seller by helping them with every aspect of a transaction from pending status to closing. We create value in the eyes of a seller when we show them how much they will net when they list with you. The list goes on and on but I’m sure by now you get my point…’nuff said.

  6. Beth Butler Reply

    Caroline – great suggestion! We will make that happen.

    Pat – we do offer coop advertising in the New York Times through Luxury portfolio and Christies- so you are in luck! Print advertising will not go away completed – it will just be just more effectively. Great input.

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