The recession has hit everyone hard, but as we all know the real estate industry has been one of the hardest hit (outside of the auto industry, of course).  So although newspapers and classifieds used to work to sell homes, this economy has not allowed those types of ads to be as effective as they were in years past.  Real estate companies and agents have had to get creative with their budgets, especially because Realogy Corp., parent company of Coldwell Banker, Sotheby’s International and Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate among others, spent 31.7% less on measured media in 2008.   The newspaper ads are still effective, but you get more bang for your buck with moving some of those dollars onto the web because the internet is a lot less expensive and more people are moving online to get their information.

Studies show that nearly 9 out of 10 home buyers used the internet to find information on property they were interested in.  The Sunday paper used to be the go-to source for information, but when you have sites like Zillow and Trulia, which pull together listings from a variety of brokerage firms, you can find much more detailed information, including photos in a short amount of time.

Realogy is one of the best at utilizing the internet.  In fact, the Realogy Company upped its internet spending 29% to $8.6 million.  Their executives and their brands are on Facebook and Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.  They are not there just to be there, they know that their target demographic is participating on these sites and so that is where they need to be.  They can no longer rely on being a 3-line classified ad.

This is not a temporary shift for the real estate market.  The internet is where agents, real estate businesses and builders need to be, because that is where your clients are.

For more information from AdAge, go to: http://adage.com/article?article_id=136973