Real Estate Marketing
Success with Print Advertising
Most agents put very little effort into their advertising and then, ironically, are stunned when they receive lackluster results. Many agents simply copycat one another; they advertise in the same mediums and use the same ad templates and when they receive the same poor response, like brothers in failure, they console one another by accepting that advertising just doesn’t work. They rationalize that they only advertise for the seller.
This does not have to be. Writing ads that make you money is not a simple task, yet developing a cost-effective advertising campaign that generates significant response, and most importantly, makes you money is quite achievable. Like in most aspects of life, to achieve results you are going to have to invest; and in the case of advertising the investment is effort and the willingness to track response.
Always keep in mind these tenets as you develop your advertising strategy:
1) Advertising to pacify your seller is a waste of your hard-earned money. Treat your ads like your employee – if they are not effective in making you money, fire them.
2) Advertising requires testing and adjusting. Sometimes you must tweak the headline, copy, or close to suit your geography, market, or ad medium. You can not make proper adjustments to your ads unless you can track their response.
An Important Note on Advertising Guidelines
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has published a memorandum stating guidance on the procedures for the acceptance of real estate advertising. Section 804-c of the Act prohibits the making, printing, and publishing of advertisements which state a preference, limitation or discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin. To read the complete document please visit:
http://www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/disabilities/sect804achtenberg.pdf
Investing Effort
Regardless if your ad is a homes magazine picture ad, a newspaper ad, or an editorial ad, there are elements that it must contain. The first level of effort would be to understand the elements of effective marketing – the “how to” and “whys”:
How to:
· Make your ad stand out in a sea of competitors
· Identify desired prospects
· Engage prospects on an emotional level
· Compel prospects to respond
· Capture all the information necessary for follow-up
Why:
· Ad placement matters greatly
· Tracking response is the single most important factor in advertising
· Effective marketing is the fastest vehicle to build brand
Every ad you run, regardless of whether it is an editorial or picture ad, contains the following three essential sections:
· Headline: The headline drives the ad. It must generate sufficient attention to cause the prospect to read the rest of your ad.
· Offer: The offer is the copy of the ad. It creates value and credibility and projects uniqueness that separates you from your competition.
· Close: Compels the prospect to respond in a timely fashion.
First a Word on Ad Placement
It doesn’t matter how good your ad is if it doesn’t get read. What location is to real estate, position is to advertising. It’s important to position your ad so that it stands out and draws attention. The number one reason prospects do not respond to your advertising is because they never notice it. Most real estate sections feature a plethora of ads that look very similar to one another, making it easy to understand why your ad may not get read.
Your first job is not to get your ad read, but to get your prospect to see your ad.
Prospects do not have time to read every ad, and on average will skip over 75% of the material in front of them. Think about how you read a newspaper – studies show that readers approach ads by first scanning the headlines. They then move to the top right, immediately scan the bottom of the page, and work their way up the middle and left sections.
The best position for your ad is on the top front page of a section; the second best position is on the top back page of a section. The next best positions are top right, followed by bottom right.
Newspapers, magazines, and other print providers know that the top front section receives the most exposure, so they will attempt to charge you a premium. Consider negotiating or leveraging them whenever possible. Tell them you are willing to sign a deal with longer terms if the ad works well for you. Be creative. If your local sports team is playing in a big game, consider running your real estate advertisement in the sports section the day after (when everybody is reading the sports section) next to the article on the game. Use that same strategy for any widely-read event.
Continue on to The Headline