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Attention-grabbing marketing

According to the Property Academy’s Home Moving Trends Survey, 2013, nine out of ten potential vendors read the printed materials given to them by prospective estate agents, illustrating just how valuable print continues to be.

Sarah Kemp, Marketing Manager at Ravensworth, a print and marketing service provider, said, “It is not always possible (for agents) to meet all of the decision makers at the point of valuation and there is a lot of information to impart. Therefore, the printed materials that are left behind become an indispensable reference point for vendors.”

Various studies, according to Kemp, show that print remains an important part of the marketing mix because reading words on paper versus pixels on a screen stimulates a “deeper reading experience” and therefore “greater retention”.

She continued, “Well designed, personalised, hard copy newsletters and lifestyle magazines provide an attention grabbing alternative to digital communications. With so much information available, achieving cut-through can be difficult and print can be more effective in getting the message across than digital communications.”

Reaching your target market

When it comes to lead generation, targeted leaflet drops in the form of ‘recently sold in your area’ flyers continue to deliver good results for agents, according to Sarah Kemp, Marketing Manager at Ravensworth. “Direct mail can be extremely effective when it comes to building and sustaining an agency’s brand awareness,” she says.

013-print-publishing-21-topNewspapers and magazines can also be extremely effective in reaching out to local people in order to help estate agents find new customers and generate fresh business, reports Mark Burgess, Director at Iceberg Digital.

He commented, “As most agents know, local newspapers and flyers are more important for attracting sellers rather than buyers and consumers do still browse the local newspaper and then ask the agents round for a valuation, although in much smaller numbers than in previous years.”

“If you have an estate agency branch in Liverpool you are not interested in Twitter followers from London,” Burgess added. “For this reason, even though we are a digital agency, we still believe that print marketing should form a very important part of our clients’ strategy.”

Managing the message

Whatever print medium an estate agent should choose to use, David Martin, Senior Partner at communications agency TTA Property, advises that they be clever about how they market themselves, especially as many consumers are often overloaded with information on a regular basis.

013-print-publishing-21-base“There is still a lot of value in print, as long as the reader finds it engaging, so think about how you are spending your marketing budget and use it wisely,” he said. “Consumers don’t like to feel that they are being given the hard sell, but are still happy to engage with a brand on a more subtle level if it is delivering value to them.”

Martin continued, “Examples we have produced for clients include local area guides or local newspapers. Although these can be lightly branded, the content is designed to engage the reader, such as restaurant reviews, event listings, competitions and advice columns. These can of course then be produced both digitally and in print to utilise both mediums.”

Integration

013-print-publishing-21-mugRather than kill off print, the emergence of digital marketing could in fact be viewed as a means of reinforcing it, with the two mediums working in conjunction to complement one another.

While print magazines and newspapers can be reproduced in digital format, many print publications can also be used to help drive extra traffic to a company’s website.

“The growing use of QR codes and hashtags on print communications enables readers to engage further and more dynamically.” Matthew Cole PCS

For instance, print media can now offer quick and simple ways to access digital content using ‘bridging technologies’ such as QR codes.

“It (print) has become a strong platform for driving traffic to digital platforms and to take consumers to the next stage in their consumer journey where, granted, organisations can get that little bit more creative,” said Matthew Cole, Commercial Executive, PCS.

He added, “The growing use of QR codes and hashtags on printed communications to enable readers to engage further and more dynamically has almost started to identify a new purpose for printed communications in that process, still making it a very valid and impactful communications channel.”

Print marketing campaign

When embarking on a new print marketing campaign, John Smith of Printwell advises agents to commit to a period of three to six months in order to achieve the best possible consumer reach, exposure and return on investment (ROI).

“We would strongly recommend planning a marketing campaign over a period and not get excited that a one hit wonder will bring the returns,” he said.

But Smith urges agents not to be deterred by some of the additional expenses that print marketing may incur, compared to digital media, because they generally provide a better ROI.

He concluded, “We believe that many (agents) find leaflet marketing, for instance, an unwanted additional expense, despite the fact that those who do market this way have much better proven returns!”

Long live print!

The fading fortunes of some print products should not deter agents when planning out an appropriate print marketing strategy. But before moving on, agents do need to properly understand how their clients consume their media. This will naturally vary from agency to agency, depending on target audience and the demographic in which they operate. But ultimately, an effective marketing campaign generally works best when print is used with other media as one element of an integrated solution designed to achieve maximum results.

Contacts:
Crucial Projects www.crucialprojects.co.uk
Iceberg Digital www.iceberg-digital.co.uk
PCS pcs-publishing.com
Printwell www.printwell.co.uk
Ravensworth www.ravensworth.co.uk
TTA www.ttaproperty.co.uk l

April 24, 2014

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