Are We Witnessing the Death of Newspaper Classified Advertising For Real Estate?
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Not yet, but the time will be coming soon.
Almost every real estate agent I talk to hates to put a classified advertisement in the newspaper. They only do it because the seller expects the ad to be there and are afraid to tell the seller that it is a waste of money.
But the downturn in home sales is making the real estate agents get smarter. Knowing that listings are moving slower and that newspapers advertising costs lots of money smarter agents are instead going to the web. They are creating custom sites, marketing on websites such as Zillow, and getting exposure where the buyers are.
And the newspaper industry is noticing as their revenue is taking a hit. Once conventional wisdom by sellers changes that newspaper advertising is passe, watch out below.
During that period, Doctor forecasts more online competition as various sites struggle for a piece of a much-reduced pie. He thinks newspapers should look for real-estate sites like Zillow and Trulia to ramp up their Web sites, offering more interactivity and local data. That way, when the market’s back in force, he adds, newspaper sites and services will be ready…
Although the NAA hasn’t released industry-wide numbers for the first quarter of 2007, individual companies, including Tribune, Gannett, and NYTCO, are all reporting weakness in real-estate listings. The industry-wide dip in fourth-quarter 2006 resembles the 1.8% in auto classifieds in fourth-quarter 2003, and the 16.9% drop in recruitment classifieds in first-quarter 2001. Both declines reversed a long period of healthy year-over-year growth–and were followed by long-term declines, which continue to the present day. via MediaPost Publications
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Comment by Rhea on 25 April 2007:
Classified ad departments are not long for this world, and that is not just because of realtors not placing ads. Craig’s List and similar sites have taken the hassle and expense out of ‘classified advertising’.
Comment by john harper on 25 April 2007:
It’s another case of inequity. Papers charge agents a premium for an ad that would cost the consumer much less. We’re supposed to view it as a business expense – so that makes it what? – less money going out of our pocket?
With the exception of including our listings on the open house tour sheet, we haven’t run an ad in the newspaper for months.
Craigslist provides 20% of the traffic to our site. We, like many other agetns, are finding the resources on the Internet to be more effective and less costly.
Comment by Tom on 25 April 2007:
John
Are you seeing any pushback by your customers for not advertising in newsprint?
Tom
Comment by john harper on 25 April 2007:
Not really. We explain evolution to them.
Comment by Tom on 25 April 2007:
That is awesome! Most agents are fighting the battle and still losing.
Pingback by Seeing The Light: Realogy Cutting Newspaper Advertising Spending Drastically — The Real Estate Bloggers on 18 July 2007:
[...] to all the agents out there who hate placing newspaper ads, do not despair. You know newspapers are dead, now the big boys at corporate have learned that lesson, and soon the customers will to. [...]
Comment by Adam Kruse on 14 November 2007:
We always tell our sellers that the newspaper and other print media are basically worthless. I ask them if they ever pick up one of those magazines when they are trying to buy a property, or if they just go straight to the internet? Zillow is growing, so is the Flat Fee Real Estate market!!