Recently I wrote a post about how I use my blogs and website to connect with clients.  One thing I mentioned is that I include the words "Google (name of neighborhood)" in the newspaper ad I run.  Several folks commented that they don't do newspaper ads and that print marketing is no longer effective.

That got me to thinking about print advertising.  Is it dead?  Does it work?  Do we use it?  In light of social media, is it the dinosaur of the past?

My opinion concerning print marketing is that, depending on your area, it might be still be an effective tool that can be and should be utilized along with your social media marketing plan.  Let me explain using my little part of the world. 

Here is map of the greater Tulsa area. 

You can see in our area that the city of Tulsa is surrounded by the growing suburbs such as Owasso, Sperry, Skiatook (up North) and Broken Arrow, Glenpool, Coweta and Bixby to the South. 

If I have a listing in one of the suburbs, such as Owasso, I need to market it to the larger city of Tulsa.  Obviously, I'm going to use social media to do that (Postlets, custom writing blog, Facebook, etc).  I'm also going to use a couple of sources of print media because they are still effective in our area.  One source is the Owasso Reporter newspaper.  Each of the suburbs has it's own once or twice a week newspaper.  My ad there will announce the listing, custom written blog and open house to that local community.  But to reach the people in Tulsa, I have to use another source.  Our Saturday World of Homes is where all the open houses for the weekend are listed.  This piece is published in color and included every Saturday with the Tulsa World newspaper.  These ads are also posted online.  Yet another print media source is the Owasso magazine or Tulsa People magazine.  Why the magazines?  Because Tulsa People is read by people in south Tulsa (primarily).  A house in that publication will be seen by anyone in that area who is considering moving up to the Owasso area...or other suburbs where I have listings. 

Print media marketing accomplishes a couple of important things in our area. 

First, it gives exposure to the listing via a channel that is used by consumers.  To ignore that would not be wise. 

Secondly, it exposes the home to the local suburb via the small town newspaper.  My sellers will see this also. 

Third, it gives me the ability to take a house out in the suburbs and put it in front of people who live in the city of Tulsa.

Fourth, it makes my net BIGGER.  Print media marketing couples the marketing power social media with the marketing power of a print media that happens to still be effective in our area.  This makes my marketing broader and more effective. 

If your area does not have effective print media marketing, then using that resource might not be a good idea.  But when you live in a unique situation where you need to expose your properties to an area outside of your area AND print marketing is still in use, then don't ignore what works.  If people are still reading the newspaper, then being in the newspaper means my properties are in front of them.

Obviously, social media is the way to go these days, but be careful not to overlook this old school method.  It might be just the hook that brings in that buyer you're looking for!