The following prediction might be unexpected, in a down market, with agents cutting advertising, so bear with me and read the supporting arguments before you decide if you agree...
Prediction: 2008 Will Be The Year TELEVISION comes into it's own as an advertising medium for Real Estate Agents.
Why? Television is PERSONAL and POWERFUL. Ads are delivered to client and prospect living rooms daily. TV represents PUSH Marketing instead of PULL MARKETING. Ask a seller if he would rather have TV 3X per day or print 1X per month. It's no contest.
But What About The Cost? Until now, TV has been too expensive, But there are new ways to use web sites to collect agent info, listing info, and photos, and use these same servers as production machines to automate the creation of panning and zooming virtual tours which can be then exported as .MPG files and run as TV commercials. No film crew needed!
What about the Internet? Yes it is powerful, and ubiquitious, and growing... But it is the imitator instead of the market leader. The internet has been trying to imitate Television. Full motion video, or the elusive "rich media" web site is a case of art imitating life, or more likely, a case of technology imitating results.
Television has a 50 year head start on the WWW for being "rich" as in "rich media".
The advantage, for the web, until now, has been that the web is interactive. But what happens when Television becomes interactive? We are not far from that day when your television remote can signal to an advertiser that you want more information! Think about that for a minute....
What happens when listings can be turned into television commercials by automated web sites?
What happens when local cable companies start 24 hour Real Estate Channels with lower ad rates than have ever been seen for local television?
A little perspective might help? Innovative products and services often gain an early advantage over tradtitional companies and products in any market. Young, new startups and fast moving smaller companies often produce these innovations, and use them to gain advantage over traditional players in a market, AT FIRST. But after a while, if the innovation has staying power, then the traditional players incorporate the new product or service into their already solid business model, and the new becomes the norm. After a time the fast moving startups crash and the market finds itself getting the new product from traditional providers instead of the hot young upstart companies.
For example: In the beginning, there were print shops, and most business printing was one color. Then along came copiers. At first copy stations sprang up at drug stores, libraries, and at office supply stores. Soon you could print your own letters and brochures at your own copy machine. But then the print shop adapted, coming up with even better copiers so they can do it for you cheaper than you can do it yourself.
It was exactly the same with color copiers. Color Copy shops sprang up on streetcorners, in libraries, and office supply shops, but most of these were eventually put out of business when traditional printers bought the latest generation of color copiers and digital presses.
Copiers and Color Copiers are now in our homes, and offices, but for real business use, the big name providers can still produce better quality at a lower price than a self serve world. And you generally get it from an operation that looks more like a traditional printer than the corner of the drug store. In some cases the color copy shop turned into a real printing company.
Finally: Consider computer operating systems... LINUX was a fast growing upstart Operating System that was serviced by small companies and technology startups as a competitor to the IBM supported Windows Operating systems... After a time, IBM adopted LINUX and the new OS now runs IBM server products. Once again, the old school strucure absorbed the new technology.
I hope I have shown how entirely possible it is that many disruptive technologies end up being absorbed by the OLD SCHOOL industry they first try to displace. Can you think of other examples?
Can you see TV as the old school outlet for communicating with consumers - absorbing the new technology of interactive communication to become the provider of choice for Real Estate Ads?
I predict Television comes into it's own as the owner of interactive surfing experience, and that a youtube generation will want more TV as they age, rather than more Internet. Web surfing is a very solitary experience, hard to share with another. TV is easy to watch with another. Husband and Wife will work together to research the housing market by watching TV. That's my story....
As an agent who plans on surviving this market, you might want to consider a few textbook marketing lessons...
First: The brand perceived as #1 can charge more for the same basic product or service.
Second: Down Markets Are The best time to build brand and market share. Competition is less visible because they run scared in such markets. When the market turns, the advertiser that has been consistant and visible during the down market will now be perceived as a market leader in a hot and growing market.
Third, High Ground is Easier to Defend. In war, soldiers are taught to take the high ground because it is easier to defend. It gives better ability to observe the battlefield and slows any attack. TV is the high ground in marketing. You can be very visible, while few can afford to assault you. The cost makes it a high ground that slows the attack of competition and lets you stand out in your field.
Fourth - When markets are confused, they want a natural filter. The provider who can stand out and simplify things will do more business. Consumers are overwhelmed right now with choices and options. In any field, the power of a BRAND is the power to cut through the competing offerings with a message of trust and market leadership. Consumers need help to narrow the field of agents and home buying or selling strategies. They want somebody to make sense out of of the number of choices they have. TV acts as a filter to reduce the number of messages being thrown at home shoppers. Anybody who is ALL OVER TV with a branding message is obviously a market leader.
For all these reasons, I think 2008 may be the year of TV ads for Real Estate. Comments?