<strong>The</strong> <strong>top</strong> <strong>10</strong> <strong>tips</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>writing</strong> <strong>great</strong> <strong>real</strong> <strong>estate</strong> <strong>ads</strong><strong>Tip</strong> <strong>No</strong>. <strong>10</strong>Get yoursellers <strong>top</strong>ay <strong>for</strong> theadvertising!47
In Australia and New Zealand, Realtors do something rather interesting -- they askthe sellers to pay the total costs <strong>for</strong> a professional media mix advertising campaign,often amounting to many thousands of dollars.<strong>No</strong>w, be<strong>for</strong>e you read further, I would point out that not all <strong>real</strong>tors in Australia do that-- only the best agents have the skills and are able to obtain substantialadvertising dollars from the sellers and achieve <strong>great</strong> results <strong>for</strong> them. Otheragents, many of whom cut their commissions to win listings when times are tough,also pay all the advertising (albeit very small campaigns, as it is coming out of theirpocket), which reduces their commission further.Whereas, the better agents are not only retaining full commission, but also thosesubstantial amounts of advertising dollars, which enable them to put together veryeffective advertising campaigns, obtain a better result <strong>for</strong> their sellers -- and, what doyou think that does <strong>for</strong> their profile? Absolutely through the roof.That is one of the main reasons why newspapers in these two countries are still suchpowerful tools <strong>for</strong> the <strong>real</strong> <strong>estate</strong> industry, carrying hundreds of millions of dollars inglorious full-color <strong>real</strong> <strong>estate</strong> advertising. As I mentioned previously, where I now liveat the Gold Coast in Queensland Australia, our daily newspaper will carry anythingfrom a <strong>10</strong>0 -- 200+ pages full colour Saturday <strong>real</strong> <strong>estate</strong> liftout..I have heard many times in the USA and Canada in particular, that “newspaperadvertising doesn't work” -- not true! As long as newspapers have readers, then theright message put in front of them will achieve results, particularly when managed aspart of a media mix campaign, complementing the other media used, as I havediscussed previously.Research "Down under" shows that the higher the seller paid advertising percentage,the better the campaign, with more sales at higher prices in a shorter time frame. Asproven across the Australian and New Zealand markets, sellers will pay, if theybelieve as a result, they will achieve a better end net result -- you're alsoguaranteed to achieve a much higher listing to selling success rate -- retain fullcommission and also, both ends of the deal or "sides".Industry support – some time ago, the <strong>real</strong> <strong>estate</strong> Institute of Queensland (REIQ)quoted in the daily newspaper "On the subject of <strong>real</strong> <strong>estate</strong> advertising, the REIQsupports the policy of seller paid advertising." This is the industry Association thepublic listens to and trusts.1% - 2% of property value – in Australia and New Zealand, the aim is <strong>for</strong> 1% - 2% ofthe selling price, <strong>for</strong> the advertising budget. This is merely in line with all otherbusinesses and industries, in terms of what advertising money they spend, as a % of48
Change language