Top 10 Print Marketing Strategies for Real Estate

Over the past half dozen years we've seen a lot of media coverage about the demise or merging of newspapers around the country. The loss of advertising revenue from their major past customers, like real estate brokerages and auto dealerships, has been one factor. Advertisers want to spend their money for results, and as people moved their news consumption from print media to the Internet, advertisers have moved with them.

Marketing research firms have been publishing reports recently that indicate changing trends. For years, marketing spending by real estate firms has been down and their spending has been moving from print to the Web, with last reports showing 56% going digital.

Now the data is showing digital advertising spending flattening out and print spending rising again. There isn't published data to support it, but this spending may be by companies that have found ways to use print and digital together for better results from both. Let's see how these media can work together.

Strategy #1: Don't dismiss print.

You may not have been dismissing print, but if you've been reducing your print budget over time, it may be time to take another look at the ratio of print-to-digital spending. The trend began to change in 2012 with newspaper spending up almost 1% that year, and magazine spending up more than 30%. So at the very least, you should be putting some thought into your budget and marketing plan to see how to get more from print and use print and digital together for better results.

Multiple major surveys are telling us that people still respond to print marketing, but in a way that's different from in the past and from which we aren't benefitting. Americans have become dependent upon the Internet and have moved to mobile devices in droves. These surveys also tell us that no matter where our prospects hear about us or see our advertising, many will make their first research effort a visit to our website. Our #1 strategy is simple but important: Start thinking of print and online marketing as a team, not an either/or.