Craigslist
In which basket should I put my eggs? The Real Estate Tomato wrote on the value of Craigslist as a marketing tool. We have known this for some time. As I have been looking to replace my daughter’s car, Craigslist has been my first stop each morning. From a real estate perspective, we have found it an essential weapon in our marketing arsenal.
In this technology age where print advertising is losing its luster, I have been watching more closely the effectiveness of each of the marketing opportunities we employ for our listings. Keeping in mind that I’m just a girl that can’t say no (and while I keep adding marketing avenues to our arsenal, I have resisted to date eliminating any), here is where I see our listing “traffic” coming from, in order of success:
Multiple Listing Service (MLS)
Free online classified ads (including Craigslist)
Yard signs/brochures
Direct mail
Realtor.com
Personal website
Newspaper classified ads
Other internet/print
My list, of course, addresses property-specific leads, not personal leads. That list would look dramatically different. With the exception of the obvious “MLS”, I find it somewhat surprising that print marketing is generating very little measurable return. Is print advertising indeed becoming a dinosaur? Probably, at least as we now know it. The daily rags are evolving, however. I don’t run ads in the Union-Tribune for the sake of the print ad but for the resulting exposure on their internet arm, SignOnSanDiego. And as we tell our clients, as long as there remains one hold out who doesn’t own a computer, print marketing will continue to be an essential component of a comprehensive marketing plan.
When I hear people talking about redirecting their “marketing dollars”, it reminds me of the “don’t put all of your eggs in one basket” idiom. The problem is, with the expansion and increasing popularity of internet opportunities, I find I need to buy more eggs.
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