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Is Print Advertising Dead?

As an Agent for Coldwell Banker Gundaker one of our major points of differentiation has been the large amount of print advertising that we have each week. We have had major advertising in the St. Louis Post Dispatch. A double page spread of color homes ads in the middle of the real estate section of the Sunday paper, the back page on the real estate section had color pictures of our more expensive listings, and the front 2 pages had a list of all of our open houses for that day.

Unfortunately due to the continued rising costs of the advertising, even as the circulation numbers go down and recent unfounded and biased attacks against full service real estate companies by the St. Louis Post Dispatch, Coldwell Banker Gundaker has decided to greatly reduce the advertising. No more lists of all the open houses, ads only 3 weeks a month, and most ads Black and White instead of color. Open House ads

One of the explanations given to the agents about this reduction is that 80% of advertising budget was going to print advertising, a medium that is producing less and less results compared to internet advertising. I do have to agree, I usually had a home listed in the coor post ad every week and I almost never received a call from this ad. On the other hand, I receive lots of calls from my listings on the internet.

The main purpose for the Ads in my opinion was to show them to sellers and make them feel good. This is with out a doubt what I used the color Ads for. My sellers loved to see them and they felt that they were getting a service that other companies in our area did not offer. I will greatly miss these ads and I feel that it will hurt my listing presentation, but I do understand why our industry is moving away from these incredibly expensive print ads that are exposed to less and less people, and are less and less effective.

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Posted by Chuck Deiss on 03/29/2007 05:08 PM

Comments (43)

coldwell banker gundaker, advertising, st louis, jefferson county, real estate, missouri

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43 Comments on Is Print Advertising Dead?

MAR

2007

I have spent more this yr on ads then any yr i have been in this business , 11ys.

True, sellers want to see it,and even discounters are using it to justify having the seller go for the discounters

Quiet franky...I do not get many prospects from print ads, I use it as a tool for sellers when I go on listing appointments.

I get lots of exposure from my mass farm mailings, others tend to differ.

Thank you Neal, I completley agree, it has been a great tool for listing presentations but the calls do not come from it. I have not had lots of luck with farming, and have quit doing it at this time. What do you mail to your farm areas?

I would have to say, that print advertising is not always a good venue. However, IF the paper is available on the internet as well (which most ARE doing these days) then you are getting a double value. One to show your sellers, and the added benefit of the internet presence.

Allison, the paper has one of the top rated websites for the St. Louis area but my company Coldwell Baker Gundaker will not allow them to post our listings on the website even though they are advertised in the paper. They say that newspapers in other cities have started collecting leads off of the homes advertised in the paper and selling the leads back to real estate agents.

Chuck,

I really think the effectiveness of print advertising has lessened. It is rare that I get a call on something in our local paper. However, we all know it is necessary to some extent. As for your listing presentation, I believe it is how you present the goods.

BTW, I remember when Gundaker was a Better Homes and Gardens affiliate. That was awhile back, wasn't it.

My thought is that the purpose of print advertising is not to get calls...it's to market YOU, not the home. The name and face recognition are what brings business and builds your reputation. Looks good to the sellers, but doesn't really sell homes. I don't get calls from my ads, but I've heard a million times, "oh, I recognize you, you are a Realtor" or "I've seen your ads in the paper"....puts you at the front of people's minds...

Just my two cents.

Heather

Diane, its funny that you mention Better Homes and Gardens this morning. I was looking my office up on merchantcircle.com to see if anyone had posted reviews on the office; I was suprised to find that we were listed as Gundaker Realtors Better Homes and Gardens instead of Coldwell Banker Gundaker. That must be some very old data that the site is using; when I started in 2001 they had already been away from Better Homes and Gardens for awhile.

I certainly agree that print advertising remains important and pictures are worth more than words. Our corporate broker decided to move in the same direction and has attempted to make it work a few times. They scrapped all the photos and tried to drive everyone to their website for property descriptions and directions to open houses... FAILED...

About 6 months later, after spending a corporate bundle coming up with what I called The Brainwashing of the Masses campaign they went around to all offices passing out fancy color brochures for us to enlighten our sellers as to why the piss poor print advertising was so great. The ran the new layout for a month or so... FAILED...

Came up with a compromise but I expect they will keep pushing their plan to Brand the company, drive everything to the web site and send the leads to agent with an extra large referral fee....

Dan, this sounds exactly like what they are trying, especially the part about sending the leads back to the agent with an extra large referral fee.

Two years ago CBG started a new program called lead router. They started advertising against their own agents on the internet, out bidding us on pay per click sites for all of the search terms people use when looking for homes in our area.

I used to pay 5 or 10 cents a click and my website received lots of traffic and generated lots of leads. Then our corporate bid all of the terms up, they collect all of the leads and give them back to the agents with a 35% referral fee attached. This still infuriates me.

Chuck,

When our market was flying, I was looking for something different from the regular post card mailers, Well I found it, I designed a newsletter that I send out bi-monthly,over 5yrs and they still generate calls, no all are real, but plenty of listing appointments and without mentioning my cost, if I get one listing and it sells, My compensation pays for 6 mai;ers plus half of the next cycle,it works for me from lots of consistancy and they see your face,they remember you, I just printed my next one,due out this week.

Some people do not agree it works for them, but I do not have luck with other venues as some do.

Newsprint advertising is all about name recognition and market share. Well, almost all. When we do an open house, you bet we put an ad in the Washington Post because that is where folks in our area go to find open house ads.

Newspaper advertising has diminished in value right along with the reduction in circulation. DOWN.

Thanks Neal, I experimented with creating and mailing my own newsletters last year but it seemed to take too much time. However, I now have an idea, I could use articles from my blog as the stories and it would take much less time. Thanks again, I think I will give this another try this year.

Lenn, I agree, and while the advertising is diminishing in value and circulation numbers, the price for advertising keeps going way up.

Chuck,

Yes it takes alot of time, but instead of hiring a person to handle it, which I used to do....it seems they never get it the way I want, I am also pretty critical, so it is best that I use the time, most of the content is in a platelet now,so there is less work unless I decied to make drastic changes.

It's not dead, but it's on life support. The question I'd be asking is how would you use the money currently being spent on print? Very few people I speak with can justify the expense, but keep doing it because the sellers want it.

Instead of trying to make your sellers 'feel good', try educating them as to the reality of the business these days. I'm sure you will find most already realize what you will be telling them, and the rest need to understand what's going on today in 2007.

Does Mr. Seller really want your money and resources directed at something that does NOT work very well? You only have so much marketing money and time - wouldn't they rather see it put to productive use?

I mean really..... think about it..... why on EARTH would someone (even someone who likes to read the physical newspaper) look at real estate in the paper? One small, blurry photo (probably not even recognizeable.... virtually NO meaningful description.... virtually NO screening as to the actual qualifications of that one particular listing for the buyer and their preferences....

When online you can see a dozen (if not dozens) of photos, virtual tours, video tours, maps and directions to the house, full descriptions and search for EXACTLY what you're looking for?

I mean common sense would tell you it just doesn't make ANY sense to search for properties in a newspaper! I personally LOVE to read the newspaper... I like the feel, the touch... I like to see the ads... I read 2-3 newspapers EVERY day. BUT... if I was searching for real estate, that would absolutely NOT be where I would be looking.

I would have to agree with others comments in looking at alternatives to print you can spend your money on. In my experience, print advertising, at least the daily newspaper, has a very poor ROI.

I think sellers want us to advertise because they see all the other realtors doing it and figure if it is offered in the presentation ,they expect us to agressively market it, lets face it, I see more full service agents offering this and that so they get the listing, there are so many ads, but when the seller starts to complain, I stress to them to look to save all the ads, weekly and they will see that in this market 99% are the exact same properties, many altered,but more the same.

Chuck.. Sounds like we have the exact situation right down to the referral fee. Guess this is the new coporate direction to reduce our portion of the commission. I also wonder how long it will be before they decide to try salaried agents to handle the leads.

Fred..I disagree that we are trying to make our seller feel good with print ads. There is a good chunk of the population that is not "searching" for a home but given time may see an eye catching home that draws them into the market. Also when it comes time to call an agent to list their home they are more likely to call the company that has the nice advertising they have skimmed over the years.

This is what I have been trying to tell my brother who works for a RE Pub...I wint mention the name. If you want to make buyers and sellers feel good, check out my new concept at www.curbsidecds.com $129 for 100 CDs

The CDs go to interested parties too...If you are a Mom in a super market with screaming kids, are you going to pick up a homes and land... Dad doesnt go to the market except to get beer...think about it.

Print advertising has always yielded me about...oh, nothing. That includes postcards too. Last year, I sent out 5000 postcards one week when interest rates were especially good (I'm a mortgage broker) and I recieved exactly one phone call. It didn't turn into a deal- the guy's credit was horrible.

Newspaper- even worse. I've personally found it to be an expensive way to learn that I don't get clients from newspaper ads. ...and, now that I think about it- I used to read the local paper every morning and now I read my news online.

I used color print mailers and average a 6 to 8% response. It's how you present it. It's ALL in the delivery.

Hmm. Update. Got a phone call from California today (I'm in Virginia)...senior citizen, no internet connection, has a friend here who mailed her the Homes section of our local paper. She saw my ad and called me, made a connection.

Yesterday, I spent extra to run my ad in full color. I run a quarter page, just one photo and the website address for each of my 5 listings. Traffic on my website TRIPLED yesterday in response. Might be a regional thing here, but it still works for me.

Karen - I have had good luck with postcards. I think that the most important factor is repeated mailing. I think you would have had better luck mailing to 1000 people 5 times, or even 500 people 10 times. I get most of business from expired listings. I send an initial letter and then follow up with 12 postcards over the next 6 weeks. I use a bright yellow card stock for all of the postcards. For every 100 prospects I use this with I normally get 10 to 20 calls and out of those 5 to 10 listings.

Heather - That is great, I know lots of people in their late fifties on up that have never used the internet. many of those people will be selling homes either to downsize or to move closer to other family. We ARE hurting ourselves if we reduce print advertising too much in favor of the internet.

While Sellers DO like to see their home in print, most of them do recognize statistics. If you keep track of where your calls and inquiries come from, it's easy for them to see why you want to switch your advertising from print to the Internet. Just have facts to back it up. We tell our Sellers from the first marketing presentation that we're NOT advertising in the newspaper or the real estate magazines and that we ARE exposing their property heavily on the Internet, and why.

Our team was just discussing this issue a couple of weeks ago. Print advertising for specific homes is definitely on the decline. Rather than taking multiple pages to show all of our listings, we've moved featuring just a few and then prominently saying "Visit us online to see other great homes".

Chuck,

I've had success when I show sellers NAR stats of how many consumers look for homes online vs. compared to how many look in the paper, etc. Usually (not always) they are receptive and understand that alot of print ads are wasted money.

If something doesn't show results, why keep doing it? If buyers stopped going to open houses, would you still waste time doing them just because sellers think it's still worthwhile and other agents refuse to give up on a dead strategy.

Is a doctor going to prescribe a medicine just because the patient heard about it on a TV ad? Ah, never mind. :)

I feel advertising in the newspapers is a waste of money. And it's so very expensive for what you receive back. My last "Picture Perfect' ad in the post cost me $152, and that was a discounted rate. It did have a pic of the house and ran on Friday and Sunday. I used them to advertise my open houses. Not one phone call resulted from them. Also, the reqular classifieds are very expensive for what little comes from them. Our office does use the STL Today website. I usually used print advertising to appease the sellers, but I am learning that I have to educate them to the fact that the odds are very slim that there home will sell because I've advertised it in the paper. Cooperating with other realtors, and getting them to show the home is what is going to sell the home. Having it priced correctly is imperative.

I like writing articles in the newspaper...Content for them and free for me :)

Scott

I agree with some of the responses that have been made. I have spent a lot of money on print with not much success. I look forward to the internet for coverage more so this year than ever!

I just think there are not too many people taking the print that seriously anymore though is does make good reading in the bathroom!

HA
Travis

MAR

2007

Dan, I think the point is that CB takes a franchise fee and a split from every sale you make. They justified doing that by offering to do MORE for their agents like Newspaper advertising and other advertising plus stationary, etc.

I used to be with Prudential John Aaroe which had the same philosophy. Take a piece ($) of everything I sell and provide the additional support, advertising dollars, etc.

As the market is getting tougher, these companies are cutting back where they can. They do NOT however consider offering their agents more commissions.

You might want to check into other alternatives like Keller Williams (I am prejudiced - just love the company) where you get to make the decisions on how to spend your marketing dollars.

Good luck!

Irina, Pasadena CA

Dan - Check this out

Chuck Thanks for posting, this post pretty much answered my question I had on print ads, Thanks

Great post. We had also felt that advertising in the local paper was more for the benefit of the seller and future lising prospects. However, our feelings have changed. We have a top quality webiste that allows prospects to search for homes online with access to the entire MLS database of ALL homes listed by every company. When we advertise our listings in the paper, we include the mls number and our website address. While we do not get very many calls from our ads, our website does recieve a great deal of increased traffic from the ad. We have found that many prospective buyers will not call, but will go to our website to check out the listing. Once they feel comfortable with our website, they will call us for more information.

We had a great seminar about this today.

The NAR Stat is that 80% of buyers start their search on the Internet.

So I tell sellers that I spend 80% of my marketing dollars driving prospects to my sites.

Since doing this I have had no complaints from my sellers and my paper ad bill is down considerably.

Great post. The only reason we still invest as large of portion of advertising to print is because our competitors do. We too, rarely receive buyer leads from printed advertising. However, in almost every listing interview the seller asks about our printed advertising. Sellers also look at local printed advertising before contacting agencies for possibly listing. We usually have no problem convincing a seller to list with a presentation of marketing strategy but those printed ads are deemed important enough in most sellers minds that they will not approach you if you do not have a high presence in print. I guess you chuck it up to self promotion and not listing promotion.

I agree completely. Talk to buyers the go the the internet because there is much more information. Advertising is for Sellers that do not understand todays market. We must educate them on what is working in todays market.

CHUCK...

I was in the PRINT advertising industry for YEARS... years ago before the net. I sure am glad I am out... because it is SO old school.

There are MANY alternatives that are MUCH more effective. ESPECIALLY for small business people.

Print Advertising is definetly important to sellers however it seems the Internet is now the place for most real estate advertising

Occasionally yes. I try not to spend more than 10-20% of my advertising budget on print ads. I rarely get calls off them but feel the need to cater to buyers that don't use the internet (for example my parents). I also do it to please my sellers.

Hopefully one day soon I can eliminate all my print ads.

Chuck, I liken print advertising to Open Houses. They still serve a purpose but that purpose isn't to actually sell the house. It's more to satisfy the seller and help us pick up other buyers. While online advertising is what's getting the results, there are still those old-schoolers out there who read the print advertising and have nothing to do with online ads. OHs don't usually sell the house I may be showing, but they do help the sellers feel good and they help me get in front of more buyers & sellers. Print ads do the same thing. They don't usually sell the house I'm advertising but they help get my face in front of more people and help the sellers feel better about the process.

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Chuck Deiss

Arnold, MO

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