WHERE DO YOU PLAN TO ADVERTISE YOUR SERVICES IN 2009 - Magazines, Newspapers, Web Site . . . . . . . Chapter 2.

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WHERE DO YOU PLAN TO ADVERTISE YOUR SERVICES IN 2009 - Magazines, Newspapers, Web Site . . . . . . . Chapter 2.

WHERE TO SPEND YOUR ADVERTISING DOLLARS? The last thing real estate agents and brokers need to hear in a recession, when every dollar is important, is "just give it a try". Advertising dollars should be invested, not gambled.

Chapter 1 of this series examined the potential value of:

Real estate magazines

TV advertising (Cable)

TV advertising (Local and network stations)

Radio advertising

Chapter 2 examines other advertising resourses. In this issue:

Newspapers

Internet Pay-Per-Click

Newspapers -Newspapers have historically been a staple advertising media for real estate brokers and agents. Large brokerages have traditionally used newspapers for recruiting, placing the full page color advertisements for office listings, open houses, agents' production pages such as the Sunday full page color ad listing the $Million Dollar Agents. 10 plus years ago, to have your color photo in your office ful page ad in the Washington Post meant that many consumers, buyers and sellers, would see your photo, name and know that you had sales of $XXX for the month/year. The question today is: are there sufficient numbers of viewers to justify the high cost of newspaper advertising??

NOT THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN. Times have changed. Statistical reports suggest that fewer and fewer consumers go to the local newspapers for real estate information. Declining circulationhas forced newspapers to devote more resources to their Internet sites and declining resources has forced reductions in personnel. With more commerce conducted online, retailers have devoted more resources to on line commerce dramatically reducing newspaper revenue. Many agents and brokers have reduced or eliminated newspaper advertising from their budgets.

The one exception related to newspaper advertising could be advertising Open House activities for Sunday issues. The Sunday issues of newspapers are the largest circulation. Traditions die slowly and many consumers continue to subscribe to the Sunday hard copy issue. Also, Open Housesare advertised in the on line newspapers. My experience for Open House ads is positive even today. This is targeting advertising for consumers who (1) rely on the newspaper for Open House information (2) relocating home buyers looking for Open House ads to learn about neighborhoods (3) the 20% or so consumers who do not know how to find Open Houses on the Internet. About 90% of the consumers we've sold through Open House in the past 5 years have come from the Washington Post advertisement. It still works.

Internet Pay-Per-Click- My experience with Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is limited to Google AdWords and Yahoo Search Marketing

PPC WORKS. PPC on Google and lesser so on Yahoo works if the agent or broker using PPC has the time to devote to understanding:

Keyword and keyword selection
Conversion tracking
The relationship between Clicks and Impressions
Landing pages
Click Through Ratios
Cost Per Click

PPC is one place where agents and brokers can literally throw money away. One little understood aspect of Google Adwords is that not only does Google use the content of your ad and your bid amount, Google also uses algorithms to predict, in real time, which clicks are likely to be most valuable. Using Google Adwords is complicated and Google, as Google is apt to do, has made the execution of Google AdWords as automatic as possible. That's a good thing because understanding the complexities of Google AdWords will turn into a full time job for a serious advertiser. Many companies offer Google AdWords management services. However, without individual knowledge of how AdWords work, the average agent has no way of understanding the value of these services. Google AdWords works, but, as with other PPC services, the Devil is in the details. If one embarks on using Google AdWords, caution should be used to limit the individual budgets of accounts.

Yahoo Search Marketing is simple to set up and use. However, the cost per click for popular search terms can be quite expensive and there is evidence that consumers will go to the top organic results passing over the clearly labeled "Sponsor Results".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SEARCH RESULTS FOR "mclean luxury homes".

Sponsored Results for a keyword that

Custom Homes in Mclean Grand homes in a private wooded enclave from $2.2 million.www.marquiscustomhomes.com
Mclean Luxury Home See HomesFor Sale, MLS & More in the Northern Virginia/DC Area. Free.www.HomeFinderConnect.com
Mclean Luxury Home Find Home Buying Tips and Instant Access to 1000's of Homes.www.maureendwyerhomes.com
Luxury Homes for Sale Search Millions of MLS Listings by Price, Area, Bed- and Bathrooms.www.Move.com

WEB RESULTS

Luxury Real Estate in McLean
... To Homes In McLean ... A HOME BUYER'S GUIDE TO HOMES IN MCLEAN, A LUXURY COMMUNITY IN ... luxury homes in Fairfax County Virginia starts with McLean. ...www.mclean-luxury-homes.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The keyword phrase "mclean luxury homes" would cost about $10 per click from Yahoo PPC advertising. The top ranking for WEB RESULTS cost $ZERO.

Monitoring PPC advertising is very time consuming. Since the bids can change ever minute or so, if an advertiser wishes to stay in the top 3 search results for sponsor ads, the ads must be monitored and the big amount adjusted based on other advertisers bids. Managing a successful PPC campaign isn't for passive advertisers. Your ad will be replaced by a higher bidder or you could easily exceeding your budget. Tweeking PPC bids to stay in position 1, 2 or 3 is almost a full time job.

#1 may be way too expensive to be cost effective depending on the destination web page.
#2 will be less expensive, but can cost more than expected.
#3 can easily fall into position #4, 5, 6, out of sponsor position yet still paying per click.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE PPC LEADS A CONSUMER TO YOUR WEB SITE. The success of PPC is going to be directly related to the construction, content and lead capture ability of your web site. It will not pay to use PPC if the destination web site has poor navigation, no lead capture ability (questionnaire) or interesting content to engage the consumer.

COMING SOON

Internet directories

Web site(s)

Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988, E-Mail.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Posted by Lenn Harley, Real Estate Broker, Virginia & Maryland on 12/10/2008 06:56 AM

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50 Comments on WHERE DO YOU PLAN TO ADVERTISE YOUR SERVICES IN 2009 - Magazines, Newspapers, Web Site . . . . . . . Chapter 2.

DEC

2008

Hi Lenn,

I'm done with anything that is a print ad other than my mailers for listings. Anything else has not worked and I'm starting to see other agents stop it too as the papers are getting smaller and smaller. Internet and the MLS is really the way to go if you want to attract buyers here...at least for me it is.

HI LENN

I agree the days of printed media are indeed a foregone conclusion- Internet presence as you of all people know works. As for postcards, mailers, newspapers....save a tree and your money.

I stopped using print advertising about 2 years ago with the exception of Open House ads. The only print anything I do is personal notes to past clients and possbily the mailing of flyers to past customers/clients or around a new listing. Very minimal print use, but I pay a lot of attention to the internet.

Neal. Indeed. Just looking at the Washington Post real estate section is sad. They don't even separage locations any more.

Allison. YES! I do know from experience.

New home buyers today drink their coffee on Sunday mornings with their laptop on hand to search the internet for open houses. No longer is the newspaper the primary source for this information. Newspaper revenues are hurting so bad that the LA Times has discontinued the real estate section of its newspaper. We don't support any newspaper advertising in our office and will only advertise in other print media if each company is limited to only one ad per company. That is to say, we won't advertise if our ads are sandwiched between ads of our competitors that have Agent A from Brand X saying she is the area's number 1 agent, alongside the same company's Agent B touting her real estate expertise. For us, where's the bang for the buck, especially when Brand X is using our listings to push up their numbers and they push hard to exclude us from showing their listings.

Excellent information. I learned to do PPC myself so I could understand how it works, it was very easy to set up but I just have someone manage it, I am a Realtor first. I get the majority of my new business from my PPC Campaigns.

You are correct, if you don't have a site to make them stay and look and yes register, you are throwing money out the door, in my opinion.

70% of all clicks are organice.

30% are in the sponsored ads.

The sponsored ad's have the great ROI, according to my past client at Google. When people are in a hurry and want the best site or product for what they are looking for they go to the sponsored search.

Personally I am an advocate of both. In studying my getclicky I get lots of hits from the organic but not necessarily people looking for real estate and the bounce rate is higher.

Len I don't know how some people can afford PPC. I had no idea that some of them cost $10. I was thinking an "expensive" one would be around $2.

WOW.

I'm glad I have good organic results!

Missy - great observations and very useful info. We are moving away from print and leaning more and more on the Internet. I'm learning a lot. I guess the hand writing is on the wall when the local Newspaper switches to on-line as well!

Artie Shaw said it best: "Interesting, very interesting!"

We're all going to have to change with the times, but that's the ways it's always been.

Good morning Lenn.

Bill

I've got a seller insisting on advertising in print and it's expensive. According to the print advertiser, circulation is strong. But how many people will actually read it? Drives me crazy.

I feel Sunday Open House ads are still important in my area, but that's about it as far as newspaper ads go. I let my sellers know up front that they will NOT be seeing their homes in the newspaper unless we are advertising an open house. That clears up any misunderstandings right off the bat!

PPC works for me with the other business that my husband and I own, and the only reason I do it is because all of my local competitors use it and I need to stay in the game. I haven't tried it for real estate yet, but I really haven't found the need to ~ yet.

Lenn, I can remember when you needed the newpaper when you wanted to buy a car hah. Used to spend a lot on google adwords, but, concentrated on relos, locals were killing us. Tip, choose all states except your own in the territory section. Saved us a bundle with better ratio's. Thank goodness organic now.

Lenn, do you mind if I answer Karnen?

If so just delete.

Karen, all clicks are not 10.00, it depends on the search term you want to be found under and the area you are marketing for. In Ann Arbor the click is 4.85 but in Saline is .85.

If you are in a large metro area, and want to get leads from that area, it will cost more. IMHO the smaller area's bring the more targeted results.

Really good information and you just saved lots of agents a ton of money.

Thanks Missy - I guess I was just beyond shocked to think that some clicks are $10. That seems beyond insane to me.

Lenn--I have always stayed away from PPC advertisng as I think blogging can get you up to that number one spot with less out of pocket expense. I agree that Sunday papers are still read but at $125 per ad, I avoid unless there is a special. I do get good response from local papers because people subscribe to read about kids, grandkids etc. I do B&W photos with exciting headlines and lead them to my webpage. It has worked successfully. This is a good series!

Martin. The way I remember it is that ALL agents are #1 and all children are above average.

Missy. That's pretty much my experience too. I haven't done PPC for quite some time and it was difficult developing sufficient organic SERP that I could gradually reduce the PPC. But, it was worth it in terms of money saved and quality of leads.

Karen. You have found the "holy grail" of the Internet.

Lisa. Indeed and there is nothing worse than trying to find anything but a new home ad on a newspaper web site. They're awful.

Bill. Welcome back. Yes, it's important to stay up to date.

Lenn, Here in NC even the big agents have given up the Saturday full page ads. At $4000 + per week, it's just too much. We aren't lucky enough to have a Sunday Open House section- maybe if we did our Open Houses would be more successful.

The PPC sounds intersting, but as you said, it's almost a full time job, and can get very costly too for the amount of business it actually brings in.

Great information, thanks again for your always helpful posts.

Craig. Careful. Those "circulation" claims often include the number distributed and not subscribed numbers.

Jeannie. You've got good experience. I agree that the Sunday Open House ads are productive. That's about it.

Frank and Jodi. That's my experience too. Thank goodness for organic. That's hard work too.

Missy. Thanks. Indeed. I used "luxury homes McLean" just as an example and the cost per click is probably closer to $20. That was from memory because I don't use them any more. At the same time, while McLean is a high priced luxury community and a good lead is going to lead to a $2.5Million sale, clicks for say "upper marlboro real estate" might be as little as $0.75. Depends on the area generally following real estate price ranges.

Steven. Thanks. Glad to share. That doesn't mean PPC is not a good way to get traffic. It is. However, it pays to work on organic results.

Karen. PPC, if used carefully, can produced good results. However, if you just put up a bid and don't monitor it, it can really cost. I haven't seen the charges lately because I don't use it any more. However, I've seen bids of $10-$25 for luxury areas like Potomac, Bethesda and McLean.

Teri. Very smart strategy. The days of routinely advertising services or listing in the newspaper are probably over.

Linda. Glad to share. PPC can be very expensive. You can use obscure keyword phrases and get some traffic, but much traffic is costly because it's not really targeted.

Another great course in Real Estate 101. As the market changes we need to know how to adapt to the changes. A great way to track the success of your ads is to use an "800" number and assign a separate extension to each ad and track which ad gets the most response. With web sites you can set up separate entry pages for each ad and track which entry pages get the most hits.

Alan. Hopefully, the agent using PPC will be so busy selling real estate that they won't have to agonize or tracking leads.

I get these stats from my server.

Lenn- I am always amazed at the Agents in my area that insist Print Advertising is the way to go. I do some, because it works, but it is limited to special timely occurrences. This week I will be sending out a card to inform people of the new Jail being built.....just an informative Postcard. I have had very positive responses and thank you from this type of Public Service Marketing.

I haven't done much print advertising in over three years. It seems like the Realtors who do it in my area are those that don't know how to convince a seller that there are better places you can spend your money namely the internet.

Hi Lenn,

I stopped all advertising unless it was the internet. Myself, along with others, most notable Missy Caulk have hired a management company to do our PPC campaigns. That being said the most important number for me is the ROI number, which for the last 3 months has been 9-1. With the hopper filling up quickly, I think the number will go even higher.

Dick Beals

I only use the Internet because it works. It is cheap, global, 24/7 and returns more business that any other form of marketing.

In defense of some of the agents who continue to use print advertising:

not sure how valid this is BUT:

my office continues to put spreads in the real estate magazines even though they are half the size of the editions in the past. Their reasoning is that when buyers open it up, we have less competition for their calls, plus it makes US look prosperous while the others are cutting back.

The thing is in my area, I'm seeing the others cutting back in print but not increasing anywhere else - they're just cutting back, period.

Lynn,

Good point on open houses in Sunday paper. That is if you do open houses. We have stopped them except in some cases where we need to get people inside the home to see a feature or hidden back yard oasis.

I haven't ventured into PPC, though one of my leading competitiors uses it and gets business that way; but pays dearly for it. I will keep an open mind about PPC as my brokerage grows. Right now we are a warm market brokerage.

Ann D. If you're in a viable market, you're very fortunate.

Karen. I doubt that the average consumer thinks about the agents and brokers that do NOT advertise in the magazines. I suspect that they just focus on the ones who do. I also suspect that brokers use magazine ads to recruit or keep agents happy. I can't see the cost of pages in these magazine for the short shelf life.

Jim. Same here. Other media work too, but bang for the buck, it's the Internet for me.

Dick. I believe Missy does very well. I know PPC is productive. I just have a different Internet strategy.

Bill. If a seller insisted that I spend advertising dollars on print advertising, at the high cost of print advertising these days, I wouldn't take the listing. I can put up a web site for a listing and have it produce in SERP in hours. It's all in the numbers for me. Print just doesn't get he numbers of responses.

Kathy. What an interesting idea. Get the info out and get your name out there.

Hi Lenn:

I've been concentrating on internet marketing for years, but I still do a monthly magazine ad & a few paper ads (very local) per month.

Toula. Whatever it takes. I don't do anything but Internet, but I don't list properties.

Hi Len, great post and very informative. We're still in the Homes & Land magazine here to showcase our listings but at the price these days we'll re-evaluate in 2009. Actually most of the larger real estate companies here in Raleigh have stopped newspaper adds. I've not tried PPC - but who knows. Like you said - whatever it takes!

Your Raleigh Realtors

This is such valuable information. Personally...I've spent so much money in the past years that I've pretty much decided against spending ANY $$$ on advertising. I've had so much more return on my investment of time and direct marketing. That is where I am going to continue to invest. ~GBU~

Lee & Pamela. PPC can work, but be careful. You're in a dynamic area. The research triangle still beings folks to your area. Relocating home buyers are my absolute favorite.

Elizabeth. I'm not sure what type of direct marketing you're referring to. Give is an idea. I love to know what folks are using.

We have talked about PPC for some time and could never figure out how to have the time to manage it. I'm glad to hear it isn't just me. Thanks for the info.

Thanks Lenn. You have solidified my thoughts that PPC are probably not for me. Now I need to check out Chapter 1!

DEC

2008

Lenn, a lot of interesting info in this blog, so much so that I've bookmarked it. It's frightening the amount of cash which can click into thin air if one is unfamiliar with how to utilize some of these tools.

Hi Lenn...It's mainly the Internet for me. I did PPC but, as you wrote, you need to know what works and I'm not sure so I stopped doing it. My placement on Google doesn't seem to have changed.

I send out listed/sold postcards also and have been satisfied with the return.

Thanks for providing this information for those of us trying to maximize the results of our advertising dollars.

Kate

DEC

2008

We use print ads for the local Realtor paper and neighborhood papers. We no longer advertise regularly in the local daily paper and have re-directed every other marketing dollar to the internet. We do use PPC-Google Adwords and have had mixed results. When we stopped advertising in the daily, we saw no drop in traffic. We simply announce our sales in the daily 1x per month.

You lectured me on this subject before Lenn so I am spending 60% of my marketing budget on the web...

DEC

2008

I guess I'm one of the underdogs for print advertising here. I do't think that all print advertising is a waste of money, just some of it. I have found that advertising in newspapers and magazines just for the sake of advertising is definitely wasting your advertising dollars. here are ways to use print advertising to your best benefit and to receive a good ROI.

Find out what your target market are reading and advertise there! Don't make them come to you - you go to them!

~Renae

DEC

2008

Lenn - I only use newspaper ads for open houses and sometimes, a just listed.

Lenn-

Great post...thanks alot! You talk about newspapers putting more into their online presence. Take a look at my local paper's very own FSBO SITE! http://www.qchomes.com/

DEC

2008

Len:

Great article. Good info here to be sure.

However, I respectfully disagree that WEB RESULTS are "FREE".

Learning to accomplish #1 natural rank will cost a lot of... (GASP) T I M E : )

I don't think paying for SEO is such a great idea - at least not at the exhorbitant rates that most services charge.

However, a good SEO Coach can help the Realtor who wants to accomplish natural search rank!

Terry. PPC takes a LOT of time to manage it well. Otherwise, you could be outbid quickly and off the SERP or you could move from 3rd place to 1st place and find out that you've just spent a LOT of money you didn't intend to.

Many who do PPC seriously hire pros to do the monitoring. I don't trust anyone else to spend my money so I did it myself. Glad I don't do PPC any longer. The exception would be PPC on ActiveRain if Localism ever gets fixed.

Terri. I don't want to discourage anyone from doing anything. Just bringing some background.

Lola. Indeed. PPC can burn money very quickly. Directories can cost a lot of money to cover a market area. The designers of the directories know that.

Kate. Great. If my experience helps anyone, we can keep more of our hard earned money "at home".

Ryan. Smart thinking. Do what you can track working.

Paul. "Lecture"??? Do I lecture??? I'm just relating my experiences. I want all of the aggrigators to "get out of our way" and let us move up a few notches in Google SERP.

Renae. Smart thinking. Targeted advertising is critical to success.

Mike. I would NOT do an open house without an ad in the Washington Post or Baltimore Sun or both.

Chuck. Very interesting. Pitting FSBOs and Agent ads right in a row. Of course, the FSBO seller hasn't the foggiest idea what to do if they get a contract.

I love to sell FSBOs. Our buyers get a very good deal.

Lonn. Of course, our time has value. But, paying for things we can do ourselves with minimum time is the key. Of course, you're right.

Unfortunately, most who pay for SEO do not get anything of value and in fact, some SEO tactics can be downright harmful to the site.

Lenn - I'll be reading alot on PPC, organic SERPs and such in 2009. Right now, it sounds french to me.

Lenn - This is a silly idea, but I'm going to say it anyways.

When I want to look successful, polished and professional, I will buy myself a one-page ad in the Luxury Home Magazine for my clients to see. Would it sell the house? Who cares? I'm for my self-ego. LOL.

Loreena. Everything you need to know about SEO is on the Google Webmaster Guidelines page. AdWords has detailed instructions and lots of help.

Lorrena. For what a full page in a luxury magazine would cost, I'd buy a Gucci bag or apir of Ferragamo loafers.

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Lenn Harley, Real Estate Broker, Virginia & Maryland

Leesburg, VA

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Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate

Address: Lovettsville, Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria, Stafford, Woodbridge, King George, Fredericksburg, Leesburg in VA., Rockville, Laurel, Columbia, Baltimore, Waldorf, Frederick, Eastern Shore, Bowie, Harford, Annapolis in MD. , Maryland, Virginia

Office Phone: (800) 711-7988

Email Me

Maryland and Virginia real estate agents and brokers serving buyers and sellers with experience. Search listings in Maryland and Northern Virginia and get daily updates of new homes for sale by e-mail. Contact Lenn for a tour of homes. REALTORS available every day for home tours. Homefinders network of experienced agents and brokers includes new home specialists, resale specialists and luxury home experts. We can help you with your home buying needs. Homefinders offers discounted 5% listings for Maryland, Northern Virginia home owners. Experienced agents helping buyers and sellers in the Washington Metro area since 1985.

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