Online Real Estate Advertising - Are You Doing Any?
According to the Borrell Associates, online real estate ad spending is expected to grow from $2 billion in 2006 to $3 billion by 2010, rising from a 17.7% share of all real estate ad spending to 32.1%. The report puts this in context by saying:
The research firm found that while 77% of real estate buyers use the Internet for home searches, just 15% of the 535 agents surveyed place ad dollars there! Believe it or not, however, real estate agents still lead the local search advertising pack! Search ads for individual local agents have jumped from 17.5% of local search ads in 2004, to 23.9% in 2005, to 49.6% of listings on keyword searches across 10 different cities!
According to figures from Google, 41% of real estate agents use search marketing now – a number a seems very high, and and additional 33% will begin using search marketing in the next 12 months. Google even has a set of research resources and a tips page aimed at realtors.
Recently I decided to put local keyword search to the test and did searches on keywords like “Real Estate Agent Menlo Park†and “Real Estate Agent San Diegoâ€. I clicked on various ads (please forgive me) and actually called up a number of agents! Here are some of my findings:
- Ad results usually considered of local realtors, national real estate sites (justlisted.com, californiamoves.com), and individual properties. It was usually obvious from the title and URL which was which
- Almost all the local realtors I spoke to said that advertising on Google search advertising was working very well for them
- Interestingly (but not surprisingly), quite a view agents were using Google adwords to promote individual properties (See example below)
- Google gave preference to local ads in cases it couldn’t find ads that matched my specific keywords
EXAMPLES:
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In spite of the great research numbers and what look like positive results, a lot of the realtors we know don’t fully understand or haven’t seriously looked at search marketing. This week and in the weeks to come, we’ll take a closer look at search marketing (and Google Adwords in particular) and hopefully shed some light on how online sellers like you can use it to grow your business – or at least better understand it.
We would love to hear from those who have tried search marketing and get your opinions! Let us know if you are part of the 41% of real estate agents using search marketing and if so, how search marketing is working for you!
July 10th, 2007 at 10:39 am
Blogging & Google are my friends
July 10th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
All Google all the way. All organic search results all the way.
Works for me.
July 10th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
I haven’t done the Google ad words for several months but think I need to seriously get back to that. Interesting post!
July 10th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
Yes. Blogging. Pay Per Click? No. Electronic Flyers? Yes - we have our own database of 51,000 to distribute to.
July 10th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Blogging - Yes. Google - No. Craiglist - Yes. My website -Not too effective. Trying to find ways to drive potential buyers and sellers to my website.
July 10th, 2007 at 10:21 pm
I tried adwords for several months nothing but bills, now I am close to top of list for my city and a few leads occasionally
July 11th, 2007 at 8:04 am
hey there, this is a good post, I will remember to use it, keep the good work !
July 11th, 2007 at 8:44 am
Blogging? Yes. Web site? Yes. Property web sites? Yes. Lots of organic results, no PPC.
July 11th, 2007 at 9:57 am
PPC yes until I get the same results from organic. I’m working on improving organic PR every day. I finally hired someone to help me maximize my results, has already paid for himself.
July 11th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Organic search, of course, but tough to rank on competitive terms against big players (HomeGain, HouseValues, etc). Less competitive, longtail terms, definitely no PPC — results through effective SEO, blogging, etc. for these terms better than paid advertising.
Have used PPC to some success for the more competitive terms — again competing with same big players, but I can outspend them to get leads, rather than cough up 30% of my commission for those same leads. Only works if website is “sticky”, otherwise leads just drift away.
Yahoo! can actually be effective, not just Google, for PPC (often a lot cheaper, and a different type of consumer).
Have to take into account search demographics and preferences to target when using paid search. My experience is I am more likely to pick up older buyers, “deal hunters” looking for low-priced homes, or those looking for a specific neighborhood/type of home, via PPC, whereas organic seems to draw more educated, middle-aged group looking in a general area, who are often longer term buyers, often in early stages of research.
In summary PPC seems to work on a limited basis, and requires extensive monitoring to obtain best results, but should be part of a comprehensive marketing approach. Organic is optimal however, and should be the focus of all efforts. Either way, strong web visibility and appeal is essential in today’s economic environment.
July 11th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
Blogging? Yes. PPC? Yes. My own website? (not just a page from my company) Yes. SEO? Yes. E-Newsletters? Yes. Adding content daily to my website? Yes. PRWeb? Yes. Qualified leads? Yes.
It’s all an unending race…
July 11th, 2007 at 9:38 pm
[...] Online Real Estate Advertising - Are You Doing Any? [...]
July 12th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
this is a new one - how about being able to advertise ONLY in the school district you want, or zip or municipality. That appears to be the plan of BlockShopper who patented pubishing and segmenting advertising based on hyper-local real estate news - like a USWeekly + a super charged Real Estate Value site.
A few builders, investors and realtors are advertising their properties only to traffic that they want (unlike the daily newspaper routine).
July 16th, 2007 at 5:57 am
[...] Searchlight Crusade’s Dan Melson vs. vFlyer Blog’s Oliver Muoto: Melson’s “Larger Loan Amounts: Tighter Rules for Lending” is a run-down on loan options for those that “earn more than the average bear” and want to buy a new home. While, Muoto counters with “Online Real Estate Advertising - Are You Doing Any?” and points out that online real estate advertising is expected to hit $3 billion by 2010. Winner: Muoto. This was a tougher competition than I expected and the edge went to Muoto because of the uniqueness of his post. [...]