Admin

Is advertising a total waste?

By
Mortgage and Lending with Rob Laluk - The Mortgage Centre - Elder Mortgage

Ever feel like those advertising dollars are going to waste?  Are people prepared to purchase your product or to contact you to take the looking at homes after reading the first 6 pages of doom and gloom?  How about listing your home for sale in a market where nothing is moving, prices are plummeting and you would have to be completely off-balance to do so?

I do understand that some of these statements are true in some parts of North America, but the media is painting with a pretty broad stroke when reporting on current market trends and financial situations.  By the time a consumer gets through 6-8 pages of bad news, why would the look at the flyers in the middle, an advertisement for new appliances, or the real estate section.

 Our local paper gets an estimated $12,000 a week from local realtors, and I would imagine that few people are looking at their ads with true ambition by the time they get to them.  In chatting with a local realtor, there seems to be a movement towards pulling realtor ads from the local papers in an effort to foster more responsible reporting from the media. 

 I personally do not do a whole lot of advertising in the local newspaper, but have recently listed an ad for my home-buyer's seminar.  After much thought, I am not sure that I don't regret this.  I am not sure who will be looking for a home by the time they get to my ad.

 I would appreciate any thoughts or comments on this concept, and would like to see if people think it would work in other markets, or if we are just stuck with the reporting we have, because the media is just too strong.

Show All Comments Sort:
Olena Osipov
Maple Ridge, BC

You have to be consistent with advertising. It's mostly for your name recognition. You also have to be careful how much you're spending on it. I used to do it but have stopped. I just can't afford it right now and I get way better response just by doorknocking and networking, and good thing about it is that it doesn't cost me much:) I'll let top producers to support local newspapers for now.

I totally agree on the doom and gloom media coverage. This is the way for them to make money. I personally don't watch any news otherwise I'd be back to my accounting job by now. Are you kidding me?! Why do I need it? I have my house stats every month, fellow realtors as experts and my own head. It's enough for me to get an idea on what's going on in the market.

Dec 05, 2008 10:20 AM
Rob Laluk
Rob Laluk - The Mortgage Centre - Elder Mortgage - Maple Ridge, BC

I actually want to get out door-knocking.  It would be a completely un-traditional thing to do as a mortgage broker.  I think, however, that it could go hand-in-hand with a realtor's door-knocking.  It might be interesting to see the response of a broker/realtor team going out.  I'm sure that you get questions about the mortgage industry, especially with the current state of it, and have no clue how to answer them. 

There could be many clients that could be yours if they understood that this really isn't a scary time to apply for financing, and that, contrary to the media reports, there is still access to credit for those who apply.

Food for thought....

Jan 07, 2009 04:46 AM