Why Do Agents Continue to Rely on Print Advertising?

If you’re an active Realtor, you’ve seen the same stats that I have - anywhere from 75% - 83% of homebuyers start their homesearch on the internet.  Yet agents and companies continue to spend countless dollars on print advertising and wonder why it isn’t effective.  In talking to many agents, at least in our area, the choice rests with the sellers that they represent. 

In our area, our homesellers could be demographically described as “baby boomers”, most of whom relied on print media for their information.  They used the paper, homes magazines and other publications in their home search, so they feel that the buyer for the property that they’re now selling would conduct their search in the same manner. 

The buyers that we’re primarily dealing with could be demographically categorized as “Generation X”.  We know that they rely on the internet as their source of information.  They want instant information and don’t want to wait for the publication to be printed and appear on newsstands. 

So, where does the challenge lie?  In my opinion, most agents want to appease their sellers and will take the path of least resistance to get the listing.  However, if their truly in tune with their clients goal of selling the home, wouldn’t they want to expose the listing to the largest pool of available buyers?

Education of the “baby boomer” sellers will be the only way to overcome the Print vs. Internet challenge.  Direct testimonial evidence along with statistics would be a great place to start, but a focused “internent marketing plan” with detailed information on which portals and services would be used to reach the “Generation X” buyers would be a great tool as well.

Until an agent is willing to take a stand and educate their potential sellers that print media is not an effective way to reach the target buyer for their property, they’ll continue in the vicious of cycle of ineffective marketing - continuing to spend money on print advertising without the desired result of selling the property in shortest amount of time possible, for the most money, with the least amount of inconvenience