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Internet Marketing vs. Print Ads

Over the years we have all spent thousands on advertising. If you are like me you have done newspaper ads, home magazines for the local market, ads in the brochures for local events, mass mailings, and the list goes on and on and on. On the flip side, there is internet marketing. Sites to market ourselves as Realtors, sites to advertise our listings. Some cost, some are free but if you are on AR, you obviously are internet savvy and I would bet you have done internet marketing as well.

Everywhere you look there are statistics. There are various numbers used but they all agree that internet marketing beats other forms of marketing. For me this is very true. How about you? In your local market, which is most successful in getting exposure for yourself and your listings?

Posted by Shelby Morris on 01/13/2008 11:56 PM

Comments (25)

internet marketing, print ads, marketing listings

25 Comments on Internet Marketing vs. Print Ads

JAN

2008

Shelby, I enjoy driving, but that doesn't mean that I won't ride a bike, walk, or take a bus or a train. In my estimation a strategy based entirely on the Internet is a lopsided one.

While sitting at my open house today reading Think Like a Winner by Walter Doyle Staples, the phone rang. The caller was asking about a listing I had closed more than a month ago. I asked her where she'd seen it, Homes and Land Magazine, and an old one at that. Turns out her computer was broken and she's in transition. I schmoozed her a bit and got out of her what type of property she was looking for. She's willing to go out looking tomorrow if I can find some homes that suit her. She's reputedly pre-approved and has a letter.(we'll see)

There's a Long John Silver's commercial that I find amusing, and apt: Man is on a dock fishing with a single pole, he turns to the guy fishing next to him and asks "What're you fishing for?" The shot pans wider to show the second fisherman has about fifty different kinds of poles and lines, the second man remarks "Everything!"

How many lines do you have in the water? You can't catch all fish by the same method, some swim at different depths and some hit on different lines and lures.

here here, varied approach gets the most mileage.

Matt - I totally agree that we need to use more than one form of marketing. Being a country gal, I never believe in "putting all my eggs in one basket". I diversify and do several things. Over the past year I have tracked it closely and have seen a trend. I get more from my internet marketing than anything else. I have often wondered if maybe our local market is so saturated with print ads that people aren't really SEEING them anymore. I have become an internet junkie - tracking my hits, using analytics to tell me where the hits are coming from, etc. Real estate is changing and I am adjusting to keep up. I am like the guy with all the lines in the water these days but I have more lines in the internet pool at this point. Good luck in 2008!

Hi Shelby: I get most of my leads from three sources: My sphere of influence (which I call my sphere of relationships), my internet website www.NewHomeHuntersOfTarrantCounty.com , and my two page ad in Homes & Land Magazine. The magazine ad gets expensive, but as long as it pays for itself in prospect sales, it then becomes a very valuable listing tool that I have used very effectively when I go on listings. No one else in my Fort Worth market area has a double-page ad. I did drop it for this past November and December, but I am starting it up again in the next issue. Please email me if I can help. Take care...

Karen - those are my main 3 as well. I was running ads in our local magazine monthly and realized that I was becoming invisible, so to speak, because of the consistency. I have done exactly what you have done and stayed out for a couple of months. I plan on going back in again in February. I don't use 2 page ads because so many others do as well as the expense. I do borders, flags on each house, etc. It makes me stand out from others. I did the front cover of the magazine once thinking it would be great exposure and got nothing. That is when I realized I was there so much that folks weren't seeing me anymore.

Shelby - I use email marketing to supplement regular print communications. My email marketing is exclusively monthly newsletters, new listings, and open house announcements. I can't say one is better than another but the key is to know your audience and find ways to stay in contact. Electronic communications are significantly less costly than high quality flyers (and easier to distribute).

Internet marketing is definitely the best way to get clients. Although I am starting to do some direct mail to expired and withdrawn listings.

Todd - technology is a wonderful thing!

Matthew - I agree totally. All of my clients come from my sphere of influence, internet marketing and open houses. I have yet to actually get a client off of a print ad.

JAN

2008

Shelby -

I commend you for doing the analysis on your internet marketing activities but, have you done the same thing with your print advertising? Not all print advertising is created equally and perhaps you just haven't hit the right on for your area that will bring you in the best results. The key is not to just advertise where everyone else advertises - that will only make you invisible, as you've seen. The key is to find out where you can get the most exposure, for the best price, with the best results. So perhaps go back to your print advertising and analyze where the majority of your leads came from that way and increase your advertising there.

~Renae

FEB

2008

Shelby, and everyone,

I read this thread with great interest as a specialist in residential marketing (not just a salesman using the title...I'm a real marketing guy!). You're all partially correct about where to advertise. I agree mostly with Matt, the first responder. You can't put all of your marketing eggs in one basket. Shelby is also right in that when evaluation shows one medium is working best, you should concentrate on it, as she has with the internet. However, her analysis of why her print advertising isn't working is what bothers me.

Renae is the closest to the real point. It's not only the medium that effects the results of your marketing effort, it's mostly the design and content. If you feel you are "invisible" it is not because of the medium you are using. It is probably because your message is not professionally prepared. Although people think that with a computer, anyone can create ads, flyers, brochures, etc., there is a difference in professional advertising and amateur advertising, and the results show it. (I can certainly work a scissors, but you sure wouldn't want me to cut your hair, would you?)

"Consistency" is certainly not your problem since the real estate market is so fluid. Different folks are entering and exiting the market too rapidly for your ad to become "invisible" due to overexposure.

I suggest having a real pro look at your print marketing effort rather than forgoing the medium.

You have made good points but I would just like to add something that goes with marketing. "Now your audience". For example if you have the best flyer about selling a home in an area where the people have not sold much in years then your responses may be very low. In other words do your research on the areas you want to market then create a specific ad. General ads responses are not that great, however you could be lucky and hit some good numbers. You may have to put a lot of different ads to target different audiences.

with internet marketing you can reach more future clients. There is no limited delivery range. Got to love the internet

FEB

2008

I have gone almost entirely to internet marketing as the print ads have not preformed well for me. They have become so expensive that it is a struggle to justify it in the budget. being selective is the key to any advertising.

Bonner

Most of the agents that I work with have almost completely abandoned print ads.

In my market, Internet marketing is beginning to take off. I am seeing more and more response to it and the realtors I work with are coming on board as well.

I love the web. I have been cutting back more and more on print ads and going online..

FEB

2008

Internet is cheaper but you need soft sell skills in the beginning and a F/U system that you stick to.

APR

2008

I am going towards marketing primarily on the internet but I am not sure where to even start. I have been posting on the free sites and I am currently having a custom web page made as we speak but do you find that advertising ads on say, the local newspaper's website is money well spent or should I be looking towards something on a grander scale such as Realtor.com's featured ads?

Hi, Misty. I don't use the local newspaper website or anything beyond the basic free ad on Realtor.com. I do, however, have a custom website that is wonderful and allows me to track my traffic and where it is coming from. I use over 20 internet sites. My exposure is great. I always link back to my own site as well. Good luck.

Hi, Misty - We're primarily internet, and we get lots of traffic through our semi-custom site, and contacts, as well. We also use postlets to advertise our listings on lots of other websites, including Craigslist. Our other major source of contacts is "Just Listed" and "Just Sold" postcards. We send out about 650 postcards on every listing and sale, and they definitely produce contacts. Part of the reason our web and postcards work well for us is that we're in a relatively small and unique market area that a lot of other agents aren't specifically targeting to the depth that we are. From that standpoint, local expertise, speciaiization, and local trust are all working for us. Blessings in your business! (We were in Tennessee in October for a wedding loved the Smoky Mountains!)

When I started in Real Estate, people used to come to open houses with the newspaper in their hands all the time. Now I ask and no one talks about the newspaper. I have had many say they saw the house on the Internet and wanted to see it in person. One today, in fact.

APR

2008

Guys, you are all right. We need to spread information about ourselves through different sources. Newspapers, online media, blogs (I've learned lots of stuff from AR. It is really amazing source). I used only newspapers for a long time but recently I've studied that online ad is still cheaper then printed. I mean the pay per click thing. And I'm working on my new website with PropertyMinder company and planning to start online advertising. I hope to succeed in this internet things.

Peter - I have experienced the same thing. I used to run print ads for my Open Houses and then everyone tells me they found it on the web. After a few hundred dollars over the course of 3 Open Houses, I finally caught on. Now I may run the Open House in the paper on the day of the Open House if my client wants it. Overall, the internet is the way to go for effectiveness.

Hi, Patsy - I use PPC as well. My exposure is great. My Agent hosts my website and they have a tracking system that shows me where my clicks come from (referring sites). To make sure I don't miss anything, and to double check my web guru, I also use Google Analytics to track. I love all of the information I am able to access from these 2 sources. I know what gets clicked on my site and where they came from. And I agree with you - AR is a wonderful resource for us all!

Print advertising, for the most part, is dead. The net is where it is at now...the technology revolution is everywhere!

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