Agents Losing Faith In Newspaper Advertising
An increasing number of real estate agents do not feel that newspaper advertising produces results, according to a new study released by Classified Intelligence LLC and Realty Verdana, Arial. According to the study, real estate agents buy newspaper advertising primarily to meet the expectations of property sellers.
Rather than using classified advertising space in newspapers, agents appear to be switching to free classified sites such as Craigslist and Google Base. More than half the agents who participated in the study said they were advertising listings on the free classified sites, and others indicated they were planning to reduce newspaper classified advertising in favor of the classified internet sites.
The Newspaper Association of America reports that real estate advertising showed substantial increases in the first quarter of 2006, but has shown sharp declines during the second quarter of the year.
My own advice is for real estate agents not to be too quick to cut newspaper advertising budgets in favor of on-line classified sites. Many baby-boomers still rely on newspapers for information and are daily readers. For many in this age group, newspaper classified advertising remains a viable source for obtaining information about properties on the market. This is the demographic segment most likely to pace an improvement of real estate markets nationwide, and reducing advertising spending to them may not be a wise marketing decision. Better to maintain some kind of presence within the local newspaper while at the same time expand your use of internet based classified sites. For awhile, at least, I think both the newspaper and the internet are needed to effectively market real estate.
For more information about real estate in the Tampa Bay area, visit my website at www.thestpeterealestatesite.com.
Rather than using classified advertising space in newspapers, agents appear to be switching to free classified sites such as Craigslist and Google Base. More than half the agents who participated in the study said they were advertising listings on the free classified sites, and others indicated they were planning to reduce newspaper classified advertising in favor of the classified internet sites.
The Newspaper Association of America reports that real estate advertising showed substantial increases in the first quarter of 2006, but has shown sharp declines during the second quarter of the year.
My own advice is for real estate agents not to be too quick to cut newspaper advertising budgets in favor of on-line classified sites. Many baby-boomers still rely on newspapers for information and are daily readers. For many in this age group, newspaper classified advertising remains a viable source for obtaining information about properties on the market. This is the demographic segment most likely to pace an improvement of real estate markets nationwide, and reducing advertising spending to them may not be a wise marketing decision. Better to maintain some kind of presence within the local newspaper while at the same time expand your use of internet based classified sites. For awhile, at least, I think both the newspaper and the internet are needed to effectively market real estate.
For more information about real estate in the Tampa Bay area, visit my website at www.thestpeterealestatesite.com.
-30-
posted by Terry Ward at 4:46 AM
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