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Real Estate Marketing: Why Image Advertising on the Internet (or Anywhere Else) Stinks.Tip! Free internet advertising makes it easy for you to put free ads on several of the premier quality web sites whenever you want, for free. This kind of benefit you get from free internet advertising can only do, to say the least, miracles for your business. So what is "image advertising?" Have you ever seen a commercial on TV for a hotel chain where the commercial is
nothing but a beach scene filled with sounds of crashing waves? That's what you
see for the first 20 seconds. Then at the end, the name of the hotel chain fades in
the lower right hand corner of your screen before the commercial ends. That's image advertising. It's what Madison avenue agencies are paid big bucks to
create. In the real estate marketing world, image advertising takes on a slightly different
form. Have you ever seen an ad like this? Here's the content: Mr. Joe Realtor, Your Choice for ALL Your Real Estate Needs Somewhere in the ad is a picture of Mr. Joe Realtor and then his company logo and
contact information. That's it. That's the ad. What's the problem with it?
- It's expensive.
- It's boring (one of the worst marketing sins you can make).
- It makes you look just like everyone else.
- It totally ignores your market (by not talking about them).
- It doesn't work (by work I mean generate a ton of leads).
This type of real estate marketing rarely offers something unique, rarely mentions a
benefit, is virtually untrackable, and is usually completely centered on the greatness
of the advertiser and not on solving the problems of the advertiser's prospect. The good part for you is that the vast majority of real estate professionals out there
are throwing money hand-over-fist at this type of stuff... and then explaining away
the lack of results by saying that advertising doesn't work.
It's happening on the internet and it's happening all over print advertising. What's the alternative? Fuel your real estate marketing with
direct response advertising. It works offline and it works really well online. For advertising to be considered "direct response," a couple things have to be true:
- there must be an offer
- there must be a reason to respond immediately
- the ad must be trackable (by using a code or special phone number or website
address)
- the only thing that matters is results
In direct response advertising, the buzzword "branding" is a not a goal. A RESPONSE
is the goal. By being able to track every ad you produce, you can make sure that your
advertising is profitable. After all, it is supposed to make you money. Here's how it should work: For every $1 dollar you send out in ads you should get some multiple of that back
as sales. One of the best examples of direct response advertising is all of the "junk" mail you
throw out everyday. Have you ever wondered why companies pay so much money to send you all of this
mail? The glossy envelopes... the "Respond by July 27 to get your free prize."
envelope teasers... They send it because it works. It makes them money. It may not be too flashy - there probably won't be any cute taglines on it and some
real estate professionals might even call it "unprofessional." But one of the main points in being a successful marketer on the internet (and
beyond) is realizing that YOUR vote about the ad doesn't count. Tip! Free internet advertising is the perfect way and best way to make your products or services known to the millions of prospective consumers in the Internet and make your web site start producing money. There is an enormous audience for free internet advertising that is present in the Internet, that the probability of anyone needing your services or wanting to buy your products is very high. Results are all that matter. And your prospect is the only one that determines those
results. In a nutshell, direct response advertising is akin to putting the sales pitch you would
deliver to a prospect face-to-face, on paper or on your website. It's called
salesmanship in print and if it helps you sell more real estate or get more listings,
do you really care what others think? You can use direct response advertising everywhere online: on your website, in
Google Adwords, in your email campaigns, your autoresponders... everywhere. So take some time to start opening your junk mail... It's a free education coming
right to your door and it will help your real estate marketing online and offline. Jason Leister, the Real Estate Technology Guru (tm), is owner of Computer Super
Guy, LLC, a Chicago-based technology firm that helps real estate professionals
profit with technology. Visit the
Real Estate Technology Guru
to subscribe to our free monthly eZine, ProfIT, and receive a FREE copy of
our special report "The Truth About Real Estate Websites and Search Engine
Optimization."
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