RISMEDIA, May 20, 2008-In an industry facing tremendous pressure, how do real estate agents market themselves to gain an edge? To find out, Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) surveyed more than 700 attendees at the 2007 National Association of Realtors Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The results of the PPAI survey demonstrate that nine out of 10 Realtor companies use promotional products as part of their marketing efforts, and more than 70 percent of real estate agents rated promotional products as “effective” or “extremely effective.” In addition, nearly 95 percent of those surveyed mentioned that promotional products are included in the budget right from the beginning and are purchased as and when needed.
The top five purposes for promotional product usage among real estate agents include:
– To increase name recognition (cited by 62 percent of respondents)
– To get new customers (cited by 57 percent of respondents)
– To generate goodwill (cited by 53 percent of respondents)
– To get referrals (cited by 52 percent of respondents)
– To increase sales (cited by 47 percent of respondents)
“In a world that is increasingly high-tech, real estate agents rely on promotional products because they are high-touch,” said Stan Breckenridge, MAS, PPAI Chairman of the Board and vice president of marketing for Moderne Glass, Inc. “When you add the high-touch element of promotional products to the marketing mix, it is possible to reach each customer on an individual basis, and that personal touch is particularly important when you’re helping people make the single biggest purchasing decision of their lives.”
The top five ways in which real estate agents measure the success of the use of promotional products are:
– 47 percent of respondents use sales growth
– 35 percent of respondents use customer retention
– 35 percent of respondents use increased number of customers
– 27 percent of respondents use productivity
– 16 percent of respondents use increased market share
For more information about Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) or to learn more about the proven power of promotional products (including research and case studies), visit the PPAI website at www.ppai.org or contact PPAI at 972-258-3041 or PR@ppai.org.
The survey garnered a 2.29 percent response rate. A total of 702 respondents out of 30,600 attendees completed the survey. The margin of error for the survey was +/-3.5 percent at the 95-percent confidence level. This means that if you conducted the same survey 100 more times, 95 out of the 100 administrations should yield results within +/- 3.5 percent of the current response percentages in the survey. Respondents were given promotional products upon completion of the survey and their names were entered into a drawing for a chance to win an iPod.
