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Steven Cross
Print advertising can generate a high percentage of enquiries for properties, yet agents remain divided over whether the medium is worth using.
The latest Real Estate Business straw poll generated a mixed result over the effectiveness of advertising listings in newspapers.
According to the result, 49.8 per cent of agents agreed that print advertising was worth the cost, while 45.1 per cent of the 317 respondents believed it wasn’t worth it.
Only five per cent were on the fence.
The results come the week that Victorian agency PhillipWebb publically vowed to abandon print advertising, claiming it would suffer the same fate as the dinosaurs.
“The fact is that newspapers are lucky to attract about 0.5 per cent of your target audience. That’s not a great return on investment for any vendor,” said founder and director, Philip Webb.
“However, we know that nine out of 10 people use websites to research buying properties. Online advertising allows you to reach your exact demographic through priority placement and refined searching.”
Consistent with the view of a number of people who commented on rebonline.com.au, however, a 'Tony' strongly disagreed with PhillipWebb's approach.
"This is a short sighted attitude by Philp Webb that will cost a vendor money not save them money," he commented. "Print media is still very much an important tool to attract buyers. Next thing we know sign boards will no longer be nessesary as well."
A western Sydney principal also claimed that newspaper listings are much better at attracting enquiries than previously thought.
Adam Denina, principal at Starr Partners Parramatta, whose office was ranked fifth in this year's Top 50 Sales Offices ranking, uses different phone numbers for each marketing method.
At the end of the month, Mr Denina can see how many phone calls were generated from online listings as opposed to signboards and print advertising.
“Upwards of 30 per cent of all our enquiries come from print advertising,” Mr Denina told Real Estate Business.
“Everyone thinks that 80 per cent of enquiry comes from online, and it’s so not true - it’s lucky to be 50 per cent to be honest. And out of that 50 per cent, you won’t get many qualified buyers because it’s so accessible.”
Mr Denina said that print advertising is "100 per cent worth the cost".
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