Print Media Advertising Is Declining

by Phil Hoover, Real Estate Broker

The newspaper business is becoming more and more challenging as the internet draws more classified ad revenue away.

In the past few years, 30% of classified employment advertising revenue has moved to the internet.

Now, real estate advertising dollars are migrating to the internet too as major firms curtail their print media advertising.

Realogy, the holding company that owns Coldwell Banker, Century 21, ERA, and Sotheby’s recently announced that they would eliminate 70% of their print media ad budget in the coming months.

In the Sacramento area, Lyon Real Estate recently announced that they would move all of their $1 million annual advertising budget to internet advertising.

That announcement surely rattled the Sacramento Bee management to the core as they contemplated who else might pull the plug on classified real estate advertising in their stagnant real estate market.

Here in the Boise area, you can’t help but wonder when Holland Realty, Selequity, and Group One will wake up and realize that 80% of home buyers use the internet to find a home.

All three firms continue to publish their own real estate tabloids despite overwhelming evidence that such advertising is not cost-effective.

Granted, print ads make sellers feel good and they are a useful listing tool for listing agents eager to impress sellers, but the real question is “do they attract potential buyers?”

Think about it ~ why would anyone pick up a newspaper when they can go online, view photos, virtual tours, and get detailed information about every home listed in MLS?

For all of those reasons, I focus 100% of my marketing efforts and dollars on my website www.BoiseReal.com, and my three blogs ~ www.BoiseBlog.com, www.EagleBlog.com, and www.OurBrookwood.com.

Those sites generate the vast majority of my business by attracting highly-qualified, serious buyers.

And, due to their relevant, useful content, they are ranked highly by the major search engines.

(Note: I received a call from a California buyer who was on www.OurBrookwood.com while writing this post, and expect to show them homes later this week)