print advertising | Joe Spake's Weblog

A while back I shared some interesting statistics in a post Newspapers and magazines a little thinner these days. Always a staple in real estate listing and agent personal advertising, the newspaper still seems to be a favored medium by many Realtors. Brian Solis’ post on PR 2.0 blog, Newspapers are old news presents even more shocking data on the demise of newspapers as news resources.
Newspaper advertising is so securely married to real estate, that anxious sellers, and relocation companies demand an accounting of print (usually Sunday real estate section) ads run for a property. Even though indicators are that most consumers are getting home information from the Internet, I am seldom asked, “what kind of response are we getting on the web?” The question is usually, “how many [print] ads have you run?”
While many agents stick by their print ad programs, I stick by yesterday’s post. Newspaper ads are but a temporary appeasement until the newspapers cease to exist. I will put my dollars on the web.

I have been telling clients and potential clients for years that print advertising is on the way out. While running an ad for your home in the Sunday newspaper every week might be a big ego booster for the seller and the agent, print advertising is being acknowledged as a less effective medium for marketing homes, and sales continue to drop. According to Center for Media Research,
online real estate advertising is expected to grow 12.4% next year, as total spending on real estate advertising declines.
Many home sellers demand print advertising and many 20th century agents tout it in their marketing plans. A 4 or 5 line ad with a headline and no picture can cost around $100/ insertion, while electronic flyers, syndicated on numerous sites, are virtually free and provide huge amounts of information, pictures and virtual tours. The next few years will see more online marketing and advertising, as the many facets of web 2.0 find commercial applications.
And 20 years from now there will still be agents going into listing appointments promising to run a print ad every Sunday.

Joe Spake's Weblog

Memphis and the World

Tag Archives: print advertising

Newspapers are old news and old school