Print ain’t dead Bob: Dear Ginny WTH

Dear Ginny WTH,

With the demise of print advertising, where does the broker brand come into play any more? It is the agent doing all the marketing these days.

Realtor Bob

Dear Bob,

I think it was Mark Twain that said the rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. Print ain’t dead Bob.

Let’s not castigate all print because the newspaper has become less important in marketing property for sale. That’s only one medium. Whether it’s your broker providing access to templates or you are doing it yourself, there has to be print in your marketing mix.

Here are my top five print media that are alive and well:

1. Property flyers – this is still a must in my opinion. A well put together property flyer is not only impressive to sellers, but applies to two audiences: consumers and other real estate agents. You hold a broker open house, you perhaps hold consumer open houses; you show the property to potential buyers; other agents show the property to potential buyers. There has to be something printed that has the details of the property so people can remember it. If it’s a luxury property then the ante is upped.
2. Open house announcements – if you hold open houses, you have to announce them some way. If there’s any use for the newspaper, it’s the open house section that still remains a staple in a buyer’s repertoire because they can’t find a real compendium of local open houses online. I also recommend a postcard to the neighbors or other targeted area announcing of an open house.
3. Just sold cards – there was a direct mail study done not that long ago that showed just sold cards got more inquiries than just listed cards because of the activity they show. If you are working a neighborhood and attempting to get listings in that neighborhood you should send just sold cards.
4. Past client touch points – I’m sure you are sending email messages to past clients to stay in touch, but you need an offline way to keep contact as well. Vehicles such as market reports, newsletters and other printed media that you can send to past clients on a regular basis.
5. Community newspapers – call me old-fashioned but I still think a local, community newspaper still offers value for exposing you as a Realtor and your property listings.

Get out the defibrillator, there’s still life there.