By Steven Seeberg
Little Known Print Opportunity
A few weeks ago, a franchisee subscriber of ours in the service industry told me they were contacted by a national ad agency about advertising on the inside flaps of folders used by real estate firms for housing listing sheets used when realtors show homes and for closing documents.
Huge Local New Business Potential
The real estate firms carrying their ad has 350 agents in six offices located in their market area. They estimated that only 70% or 245 agents would be active daily and each would make an average of 3 new client showings for the day. In addition, there would be two closings a day. So total impressions for the year (new clients getting folders) would be 447,125 or 37,260 per month at a cost of $100 per month
Nominal Cost
They decided to sign up and give it a try since home buyers and sellers were exactly the market they were targeting and the investment seemed reasonable. When they told me the cost and the number of consumers they would be reaching, I computed the CPM (cost per thousand impressions, a standard comparative advertising metric) and was amazed!
They were paying $2.68 per 1000 impressions vs an average of $40 for direct mail, $28 for broadcast TV, $19 for syndicated TV, $16 for magazines, $16 for newspapers, $12 for cable TV, $11 for internet, $10 for radio, and $5 for outdoor advertising, See. “Cross Channel Marketing Cost Comparison CPM Basis”, Augustin Fou, 2014 (data from 2011 OAAA).
Additional Cost Saving Possibility
Ad agencies offer realtors in offices with 5 or more realtors free folders in return for the ad revenue the agencies generate from the sale of ads on the inside and back covers. Real estate firms are given complete artistic control over folder design and advertisers included. The agencies are willing to offer free ad space for advertisers who solicit new realtors to use their product. Our subscriber is in the process of doing this and contemplates reducing his CPM by 75% over the next year from $2.68 to $.67.
More Effective than Other Media
The “shelf life” of impressions varies by media type. For example, impressions from radio, TV, and outdoor sign are fleeting, while those from print media and the internet can be saved and referred to at a later time. Unless the consumer has an immediate need, it is unlikely that the first impression in either media type will prove effective in generating new business. With respect to print media, however, the consumer has a referral source when the need for your service arises. In reality, however, when the need arises, the magazine, newspaper or direct mail piece will most likely have been discarded.
Even if the print material is still available at that time, your ad is most likely difficult to find buried on an internal page.
Compared with both types of media described above, real estate folders provide the ideal venue for local advertising,
1) Your ad will always be in the ideal position from a viewing standpoint residing on the inside or back cover (there are no internal pages),
2) There are no ads from competitors in your industry
3) You are top of mind to the consumer who received the folder during the 3-6 month home buying and selling process, so an initial impression will turn into multiple impressions with that same consumer during this process increasing the chances of that consumer or a referral becoming a new business prospect.
For more information, contact us.
