Real Estate brokers and agents should have their 2009 Marketing plans neatly constructed by now. Unfortunately, it has not happened. Over the past few weeks I did a phone poll of 25 marketing directors of large brokerages across the United States to learn what they have in store for 2009. Here is what I learned.
1. Very few campaigns will be flighted until February.
2. Newspaper open houses are still the focus
In other words, the only strategy that is changing for brokers in 2009 seems to be doing less than before. This is tragic – because the consumer is not reading the newspaper today as they did before.
Not to be critical of my 25 friends, but some new thinking is needed. Consider this one fact.
In 2008, the internet passed the newspaper as a preferred source for news.
PEW research conducted a study in December – 40% of respondents indicated they get most of their national and international news from the internet, compared to 35% from newspapers. This shift represents a 24% shift from 2007!
If you need help in constructing your 2009 Marketing Plan and seek to take advantage of online advertising – call the WAV Group. We can help you navigate these waters. Buying online advertising is different than print – do not make uninformed choices or you will waste your budget.
Incidentally, here is a rather provocative post on the death of newspapers – comparing them to nursinghomes.
