Think Print is Dead? Think Again

I still have one of these in my garage!  Not really.  I'm probably guiltier than most real estate professionals in writing off print media for marketing.  I spend the bulk of my time and effort in learning more about Internet marketing and implementing technology to build my real estate business.  And, I'll argue all day that some print media is not cost effective when compared to the Web for marketing.

Newspaper advertisements make our sellers grin and they make scrapbooks to show their friends, but they're expensive, especially in color.  Magazines fall into the same category, especially when it can cost hundreds of dollars for a quarter or half page in a Homes magazine.  You can have 10 times the number of high quality photos on a website or blog for peanuts cost-wise.  This doesn't mean that everyone should stop the print thing, but there has certainly been a massive scaling back.  Just ask the New York Times, as they had to sell their building and lease it back to generate cash.

Radio & TV have always been expensive, but some real estate professionals had some success.  Internet radio is a new medium that is gaining some traction.  However, mostly it's being used in Business-to-Business selling right now.  Podcasting had a surge in popularity a while back, but it's faded now, even though just about everybody has a cell phone.

So, is there any of the old style media marketing that's still working out there?  Actually, those who have perfected a market strategy in a certain area, most all of that type of marketing is probably still working for them.  However, it's still expensive to do, and the average real estate professional wants to get the most bang for their buck.

Direct Mail Still Works

Direct mail has been doing better.  Here's a quote from the Direct Marketing Association's 2010 Direct Marketing Trends Report:  "Response rates for direct mail have held steady over the past four years.  Letter-sized envelops, for instance, had a response rate this year of 3.42% for a house list..."  Those real estate professionals farming subdivisions are probably doing pretty well with that type of response rate or better if they're trying to generate listings.  In fact, direct mail and farming strategies are still the staple lead generation systems for many highly successful listing agents.

Print is an Integrated Resource

Printed matter is far from a dead issue in today's real estate marketing world.  Full color property flyers/brochures are considered necessary, even if you're not using brochure boxes, as they should be placed in the home as take-away materials.  Brochures aren't the only printed material necessary to brokerage marketing.  Presenting a uniform branding approach and producing custom letterhead stationery, brochures, postcards for farming, newsletters and business cards is the integrated approach that contributes to success.

It doesn't have to be a trade-off of Internet marketing dollars for print marketing though.  What if ... your real estate website service could take the data, text, and property photos you already have placed on the site for Web marketing and produce the integrated print materials in a professional way for marketing and branding your business?  Lawyers know never to ask a question if they don't already know the answer, so:

RealtySoft provides this integrated printing resource package with a long list of features and customization options.  Why take photos, create marketing text, put them into a website, then start over and do it again for print marketing?  RealtySoft's print marketing solutions for Realtors allow you to combine your efforts and your marketing to achieve success at a lower cost.  Produce your materials on demand in the quatities you want.  

See, print isn't dead, just residing in a new more efficient home on the Web.  Check it out or watch this short video (3 minutes):