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News Story

Agents pull out of newspaper advertising

Friday 26th September 2008

The first hard evidence that estate agents have pulled out en masse from local newspaper advertising has been presented in new figures from the Daily Mail group.

The publisher has revealed today that revenue from property advertising in its regional titles was down 45% in July and August.
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Posted By Nick Alexander on Wednesday 29th October 2008 03:40:47

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I think that newspaper advertising is still a great advertising medium but it's had it's time. If you are looking for a great way to generate high quality new leads, instructions, enquiries and website traffic look at:

www.EstateAgents123.com

A whole years worth of marketing at a fraction of the cost of print based marketing.

Posted By SR on Monday 29th September 2008 10:43:07

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I agree with Cambell Evans. If we all put our heads together then an agent instigated portal would save so much money and drive down the cost of advertising on other portals. Everything else is being reduced in price but Rightmove haven't budged!

Posted By Dominic James on Monday 29th September 2008 09:02:56

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Cambell Evans and SR - Why make things difficult for yourself - The solution is already here:

Globrix.com

I bet they're already listing your properties.

We keep bleating on about Rightmove as though they're too big, but remember We made them who they are because we were stupid enough to advertise their name all over the place whilst paying their fees.

This means all we have to do collectively is agree to promote another site.

12000 agents doing this en masse will see the demise of Rightmove pretty quickly.

Anyone up for it?

Posted By Cambell Evans on Saturday 27th September 2008 01:02:51

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Mmmm. Some interesting points there. Being blunt, I can't remember when I sold a property through the newspaper adverts last - we have cut back on newspaper advertising, but haven't stopped altogether (yet) for the simple reasons that our competitors are still advertising and it helps get instructions. As a trial, a while ago we did stop all newspaper adverts for 1 month, and although the sales graph showed no difference whatsoever, we did notice a drop in valuation instructions. I can't help feeling though that agents are missing a trick though. Why do we pay good money to Rightmove etc, when we could set up our own Portal site for a fraction of the cost and run by the NAEA or the RICS. If every agent did it, IMHO we could pull out of newspapers altogether (and not miss out on sales) and hammer the cost of our on-line advertising. Worth thinking about?

Posted By Harj Bains on Friday 26th September 2008 12:50:59

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We have seen board enquiries fall by 50%. Our high street office has seen numbers down by 30%. Yet we're still enjoying excellent levels (Lettings). The industry has come of age with internet marketing. No wonder why the property portals will soon be charging pay per click. There are agents out there who have niche markets and traditional marketing but they too are dying breed just like the newspapers!!!

Posted By PB on Friday 26th September 2008 12:43:32

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I like the guys at the newspaper, they have really tried to work with us even though we have all, locally, pulled out. Look at Rightmoves advert promoting Premier Spots, according to their testimonials it is great at preventing complaints and withdrawals, slightly misses the point that we only make money from actually selling houses, which obviously it doesn't do for us.

Posted By NicholaM on Friday 26th September 2008 12:17:48

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In 2 1/2 years of trading, we haven't sold one house through the paper. It's all boards or internet. We continue to use the paper, although down to half a page now, because new instructions often come from the paper and as we don't have a high street office, we might find it difficult to sell our services without that, or newspaper advertising. We know we don't need either really, but it could be difficult convincing prospective clients. We are seriously considering giving up the local rag though. Specially as it is clear there are different rates for different agents, despite the paper claiming there is one transparent rate card.

Posted By Steve Latham on Friday 26th September 2008 11:57:14

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I have had a superb relationship with the team at my local paper group (The Leighton Buzzard Observer and The Citizen) over the last 8 years of trading - I still find local advertising very effective - particularly for local vendors and local buyers - there are still (beleive it or not!)many folks without computers or internet access and they use traditional methods of searching. I receive good feedback from my local advertising - and a quality service from real people - in a Town with around 36,000 residents and 14 agents, I think the exposure on offer (circulation appx 30,000 combined)is well worth being involved in.... especially for the benefit 15/20% of technophobes!!

Posted By Marc Rees on Friday 26th September 2008 11:54:10

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I agree that paper advertising is worthless....although we havent pulled out of paper advertising due to client concerns but more importantly our competitors have continued to advertise...it only costs £170pppw!, have a look www.thepropertypaper.co.uk

Posted By Harj Bains on Friday 26th September 2008 11:49:26

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We pulled out of newspaper advertising 8 months ago and we are still enjoying month on month growth (Lettings). Press advertising for property is a dead medium, just look at the number of newspaper companies purchasing/starting property portals on the web. £1000 for a colour page, I wonder if there agents who pay more than this?

Posted By Neil Shaw on Friday 26th September 2008 11:47:56

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Promote globrix.com - it's free [at the moment!]

Posted By MickyT on Friday 26th September 2008 11:42:12

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If you work out what enquiries you are receiving from either the newspaper or Rightmove, I guess that per click or per enquiry it is coming up pretty expensive.

Do we all not agree that the newspaper died a death as soon as the internet became mainstream? If we all pulled out do we think there'd be any less business now and even in better times?

As someone alludes to above, some agents will still continue to waste money on constant advertising in the vain thought that they look succesful.

We have not advertised since June and this has not one jot affected our ability to cope in this market. Whilst sales are of course down on last years figures, the percentage has not changed by not advertising.

Posted By Marc Rees on Friday 26th September 2008 11:37:59

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We are based in Plymouth and we approached the local reps of south west media group who said they would not reduce there page rates...9 months on there is a new (additional) property paper providing a better glossy publication for less than half the price we used to pay, saving us thousands of pounds per year...SWMG came back too late and offered 30% reduction of the "old rates"!if agents can agree to go forward as one group then you can negotiate with any paper..good luck!

Posted By Ian Moore on Friday 26th September 2008 11:31:06

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The local paper offered us a great deal!! Advertise for 13 weeks total cost £11700 and we would get £1200 back in the form of a cheque once we completed the final ad. They must be in the dark ages if they think any body in their right mind would do this!!

Posted By secretagent on Friday 26th September 2008 11:30:02

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Our local paper in Tunbridge Wells has cut prices by half! Still too expensive! rightmove is too expensive, if you're not selling. Agents - get out there and promote your own website - not that of the portals!

Posted By Lara Brown on Friday 26th September 2008 11:22:58

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We have tried to suggest to all our 'competitors' that a once a month property pages would be a good ides in the local press. Unfortunately, the press reps are playing us all off against each other - and not reducing their rates!!!! What with them and Rightmove you kinda think that all our so called positive marketing avenues are just after their pound of flesh! I'm off to get some coal and pigeons!

Posted By brightmove.co.uk on Friday 26th September 2008 11:11:37

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The main reason some agents are still advertising prolifically in Newspapers is to create an illusion that there is still a property market and that there are a large number of buyers out there!

Posted By Richard on Friday 26th September 2008 04:53:21

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Who still thinks newspaper advertising is to sell houses? It's all about getting listings. In the good times the cost seemed trivial. In tougher times, we have negotiated lower rates and halved the number of pages. If your advert is attractive, well designed and you have interesting houses to sell, it's good marketing. But you'll sell your stock throught the Internet.

Posted By Richard Rawlings on Friday 26th September 2008 02:32:45

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We know three facts here - 1. Buyers seldom actually buy the advertised property that attracted them to your agency, 2. Most buyers now use the internet, and 3.If you pull out of your local newspaper you become invisible to the very people to whom you should be directing your marketing efforts - local homeowners. Indeed, if everyone pulled out of the paper, the agent who continued to advertise there could potentially clean up!

Certainly a page of boring properties looking like post nuclear Britain has had its day, but astute agents are replacing these with relevant, timely and meaningful advice, such as market comment, property lifestyle articles, presentation suggestions, legislative issues, etc..

There is a huge role for both on and off line marketing, but just remember, marketing is by no means restricted to advertising properties, and agents would be well advised to consider the wider opportunities for their business. Richard Rawlings. Estate Agency Consultant (PS: And guess what... I write articles for estate agents to use in their local newspapers!!!)

Posted By Northernboy on Friday 26th September 2008 02:16:07

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I can't understand why so many Agents are keen to see the death of advertising media such as local newspapers.

I have always found local newspapers highly effective for branding my business and winning me instructions. Local newspapers are as much a part of my marketing mix as the internet - and they will remain so.

Why any Estate Agent would want to miss the opportunity to put their business in front of thousands of pairs of eyes each week is beyond me. Perhaps some just don't understand the concept of marketing their business preferring to think that vendors will just come to them without their business making any marketing effort.

I treat my marketing as an investment rather than a cost. The more choices I have to market my business, particularly to a local audience, the better in my eyes.

I pay about £250 per page for 22,000 copies.

Surely the decline that DMGT are experiencing is more to do with Agents tightening their belts rather than a lack of effectiveness from their titles.

Posted By Chris Mervyn on Friday 26th September 2008 01:17:35

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The figures from DMGT are unsurprising. They have been at the forefront in the SouthWest for high page prices for property advertisers. Though in saying that, there hasn't been the competition to drive the prices down. They have done little to halp the local estate agents in Plymouth and surrounds. Newspaper advertising has unfortunately been in decline for the last few years but there will always need to be some form of printed advertising media. As an estate agent it was noticeable that the power of advertising on a certain day of the week dwindled over time. You're right in saying that many agents now advertise 1. For branding, 2. Because everyone else is 3. Because potential vendors ask if and where they advertise. After being an agent and working at the local paper previously we started a new paper Plymouth Property Paper offering a better publication but at under half the price of the other local paper. We work with the agents, it's their product after all. There are no varying rates, no favourites and we actively encourage feedback and act on it. We are actively working with our clients to promote not just the product but the industry. We produce a product on a Wednesday that is available in local convenience stores, Supermarkets and Estate Agents...and actively advertise the fact that the general public can get them from agents. We offer an alternative, have good support and have been asked to recreate the model in other areas by associations and individuals. These are hard times for the market and whatever we can do for advertisers....we are doing. Honesty, approachability and cost effective advertising are core ethics of our business.

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Editorial Contact Details - Rosalind Renshaw | rosalind.renshaw@estateagenttoday.co.uk | 01252 843 566.