DON’T SPEND ANOTHER PENNY ON
ADVERTISING UNTIL YOU READ THIS

How do you know if your advertising is working? I often review Newspapers
and other forms of media to critique ads by agents. With all due respect to
you all, realtors run some of the most wasteful, ineffective ads.

The classic example is the ad with the agent’s picture, name and phone
number. This type of ad gives potential buyers or sellers little reason to
contact the agent. I think agents that run these types of ads mistakenly
believe that just getting their name out will result in a flood of inquiries.

What’s the purpose of your ad?
Before you spend money on advertising you should ask yourself what’s
the purpose of your ad. Please don’t say to get your name out.
Unless your name is Wayne Gretzky or Michael Jordon your name’s
probably not going to attract many new clients. If your objective is to
attract new listings, then you have to design your ad in a specific way.
Just having your photo and your phone is probably not going to give
you the results you want.

Are you running your ads in the right place?
Most agents decide to run an ad when they get a call from some advertising
sales person offering them a “good deal”. Little thought about whether the
media is widely read or seen by their target market goes into their decision.
How many of you have a clear profile of who you want to do business with?
If you try to sell to everyone, you’ll end up selling to very few.  Develop a
profile and pick your niche.

You only have 5 seconds to grab peoples attention.
If you want to make your ads more effective you must give people a reason
or benefit to contact you. You only have about 5 seconds to grab the attention
of your potential clients, so a provocative headline with a benefit or unique offer
is needed to get the reader’s attention. A good headline on your ad is responsible
for 90% of the success of your ad.

You have to run your ads regularly.
Running your ad sporadically is a waste of your money. Running your ad once
or twice will probably give you the same results as not running it at all. Studies have
shown that it takes 7-10 regular exposures before people ever respond to most
advertising. If you can’t afford to run your ads consistently, regularly for several
weeks maybe even months, find another way to promote your services.
One time ads are a waste of your money.

Does your ad have a call to action?
What action do you want the reader to take after they read your advertising?
The traditional call for a free home evaluation is getting tired, every agent
and their dog is using it. If you want to cut through all the advertising clutter,
and make your ads stand out, you have to be more creative than that.
Contact me if you want some ideas.

This point is a really important one!
A study by the National Realtors Assoc. in the U.S found that 74% of all
clients come directly from having a relationship with the agent or a referral. 
It’s probably the same in Canada. If you’re spending significant amounts
of your marketing dollars advertising to people who don’t know you, you’re
spending your money in the wrong place. I recommend you focus on relationship
building activities and referral strategies. Next time you get another call from
an advertising sales person offering you a good deal, keep these four points
in mind and you’ll save yourself hundreds of dollars, time and wasted efforts.

BONUS TIP
Don’t rely on the graphic designers at newspapers and magazines to
design your ads, they may be good at graphic designing, but most
aren’t trained marketers. So they don’t understand how to write an ad to get people
to respond to your message.  Take a look at the ads in your local paper or
the Real Estate News; most look the same and over 90% of them break all the
rules on how to write an effective ad.

 Just For Laughs

A young broker had just started his own real estate office. He rented a
beautiful office and had it furnished with antiques.

Sitting there, he saw a man come into the outer office. Wishing to
appear the hot shot, the broker picked up the phone and started to pretend
he had a big deal working.

He threw huge figures around and made giant commitments. Finally he
hung up and asked the visitor, "Can I help you?" The man said, "Yeah, I'm
from the phone company I'm here to activate your phone lines."

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