It looks to me like the Inman Conference in August of 2007 accurately marked the shift from Newspaper advertising to print advertising in Real Estate. Way to go Brad! I think you may have placed the thorny crown upon the king that gave you life as a writer (Although I think that the Chron still does very well compared to their peers in other cities). Nevertheless, so it was that real estate began to spend more dollars advertising online, and so it continues today. But there is a bright light in this story. Take a careful look at what is happening in 2010. The gap has begun to narrow and swing back. Remember too that Newspapers are selling online advertising.
In recent months we have performed a number of consulting projects for newspaper publishers and magazine publishers in the real estate space. We serve the industry by helping them develop their sales staff and marketing communications to promote the value of a combined online-off line advertising product. The goal for them is to win regardless of how the REALTOR allocates their advertising budget. Even Google uses print advertising. If you think its dead, you are dead wrong. Print advertising may be the best way to differentiate yourself in today’s real estate market.
A friend told me yesterday that he is working with a hedge fund to buy a $177 Million dollar piece of property. The time to buy, he says “Is when nobody else is buying.” Now may be the best possible time to lock in your rates. Just remember, print advertising is a driver of traffic to your website – be sure that you include strong calls to action to “get more property information at www.yourwebsite.com” in your offline advertising.
