I often find myself hearing the same comment in several variations about advertising: “I bought a large ad in my local newspaper and didn’t receive any immediate business from it. It’s obviously not working and a waste of money.”
This statement can’t be any further from the truth. In every business and every industry, advertising was designed to do the same thing—create brand awareness. Brand awareness is best described as the extent to which a brand associated with a particular service is documented by potential and existing customers, either positively or negatively. Brand awareness is the primary goal of advertising and has influence on the buying behavior of a consumer, but does not guarantee an immediate return. Advertising is a progressive effort to buying habits, and consistency is the key.
The advertising you placed definitely did something. It began to educate your captured audience on your offering. Real estate agents have a long history of consistent marketing campaigns, such as printed note pads, magnets, business cards, direct mail and even billboards. All are forms of advertising, with the expectation to get your name out there or, in the case of this story, your brand.
The strategy is to place a message in the mind of someone looking to sell or buy a property so that they will think of you. How are you going to get work from new customers if they have never heard of you because you didn’t take the time to create brand awareness?
In order to be successful, you need to be constantly promoting yourself to new audiences and possibly new markets. With that in mind, the following things are critical to remember when advertising yourself or your brand:
-Advertising is designed to create brand awareness while embedding a message in the mind of the consumer.
-Advertising is not designed for immediate business. You shouldn’t assume a consumer will call to engage just from reading an ad.
-Advertising can create impulse buying. This occurs when a consumer needs a service or product and does not particularly care who provides it. The provider with the strongest advertising may win the deal by pure perception of being a stronger candidate.
RES.NET, a leading software provider within the real estate industry, provides new forms of advertising by selling real estate professional banner ads.
Our banner ads, like all ads, were not designed to guarantee an agent or other third party providers with an automatic connection with a buyer or seller. They have been designed for professionals in their serviced territories to build brand awareness among buyers and sellers looking to engage with that professional type. For example, an asset manager managing REO assets may frequently search zip codes within RES.NET to connect with a vendor. The vendor with an ad is embedding their message into the minds of those asset managers, whether the asset manager chooses that vendor or not.
The ad may not create immediate business because the asset manager may be looking for a vendor they already know, but the ad is leaving an imprint.
This imprint has created several cases of impulse buying, and tends to occur when an asset manager is working within an unfamiliar territory and does not know who to choose out of the 100 available vendors. They may often choose the vendor with the banner ad because it stands out.
When purchasing advertising, take into consideration the audience you want to target, as well as the long-term strategy. The strength is in the longevity of the campaign and perception of the brand, which is you.
For more information, visit www.res.net.
