New Avenues Of Marketing Exposure Are Exploding In Growth And Cost
Remember when there were only three broadcast television channels? Well, I know some of you – like me – remember. It was a simpler time, back then.
If you wanted to bring a product or service to market, there were limited channels to advertise – and because of this dynamic, the costs to exposure a large part of your audience to your ad was relatively cheap.
Not so, anymore.
Now, when a product or service is brought to market, it almost always has to be targeted to a specific audience – as few entities can afford the blanket coverage of yesteryear. Just take a look at what it costs to market a presidential candidate.
We see this happening in real estate, as well. The avenues where listings can be shown has grown to a visual cacophony. There are virtually thousands of places where buyers can find listings.
Somehow, I don’t see this as a great benefit to Realtors – or the public, in general.
Don’t get me wrong – I do believe that competition is good… and that having more than one way to market listings is good – but at what point does it become more of a hassle than it’s worth?
Would online auctions be better if there were a few dozen Ebay-like sites to buy and sell on? And if so, how would it benefit the people who were trying to buy or sell?
For some reason, I think not.
Overland Park Real Estate says:
That is why it is becoming so important for a listing agent to use a flyer site that syndicates your listings to all these other websites where buyers now go to find homes. Your local idx is no longer enough, there are a lot more sites out there that are not getting their data from local idx and are getting a lot of exposure to buyers.
May 1, 2008 — 10:44 am
Doug Quance says:
>Mike: Agreed. Sites like vflyer and Postlets are good examples.
May 1, 2008 — 11:50 am
Todd says:
Strange to see reactionary, almost melancholy, ideas here on Bloodhound. “flyer sites”, direct mail ( both paper and electronic, etc. are all obsolete and very ineffective, hold overs from the days when you could have a one way conversation with a Consumer.
Television adverting for your listings is easier and cheaper than ever before with SpotRunner.com, Google AdSense for TV and Comcast’s “Project Canoe”. All just a few pennies to run ads.
http://www.google.com/adwords/tvads/
But even better than today’s latest TV ad technologies is you the agent participating in a TWO-WAY conversation with people buying and selling homes. Connect, socially interact, participate in meaningful ways. Nothing can beat that.
May 1, 2008 — 12:08 pm
Doug Quance says:
>Todd: Google TV Ad program just went live:
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9933365-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
😆
How is it that we’re so “yesterday”?
I haven’t looked into it yet… but I suspect it’s not going to be just “a few pennies” to run those ads…
May 1, 2008 — 12:49 pm
Joe Hayden says:
Nothing has changed the basics…Nothing…
I do all of the syndication, the “flyer” sites, etc., but I get very, very little traffic to listings from those sites. It is really just Google-juice for me.
I keep up with what the search engines return in my area for a huge variety of keywords and phrases. I know I am in a localized market with very little intrusion from Homes.com, Zillow, Trulia, etc., etc., etc. The local companies are doing a great job hanging on to page one for a lot of searches.
I think it goes back to what your local market needs and what is happening on the search results pages, and you need to adjust to those realities.
May 1, 2008 — 2:27 pm
Chris Eliopoulos says:
Is The Growth Of Media Good For Realtors?
First let start by saying the there are Real Estate Brokers and Real Estate Agents.Realtor is a bought title to “help” with marketing.It is NOT a license to practice real estate.
Seems from tangible evidence (return in money invested),that TV is not the media to sell a home in today’s market.Flyer’s electronic or not aren’t effective either.
When the market takes a turn as it has now, seems that the local paper, direct email, direct call and net working among brokers, are more effective ways to invest in advertising one’s listings.
May 1, 2008 — 2:44 pm
Bob Wilson says:
>Nothing has changed the basics…Nothing…
Agreed. Listings are still just bait. just like 10 years ago when we fought for the double truck center pages of the local paper realm estate section. The ads made the phone ring, but rarely did anyone buy the home that they called on.
Just different media types now, and more of them.
May 1, 2008 — 5:54 pm
James Boyer says:
I was a e-bay and yahoo auctions seller for a while and I have to say even having 2 differant places was a pain in the butt. It turned out that going with just one was much more profitable than trying to do both.
May 6, 2008 — 1:52 pm