Re: Newspapers face ‘triple threat’ as Realtors shun print ads (REM, June).
The source of this article, Inman News Features, related the threat to revenues of newspapers and free publications from digital media, based on a report by Borrell Associates Inc. That report noted the triple threat arises from shifting consumer home-seeking habits, broker reciprocity policy, and anti-newspaper sentiment. It also noted that cross-media opportunities could keep newspapers relevant in the future.
I would like to put forth how our real estate board and its in-house newspaper have provided these cross-media opportunities, and are still leading the pack for real estate advertising in our area. From our experience may come other ideas on how boards can maintain relevant and valued services when threatened by changing circumstances.
Unquestionably, the buying public is turning more and more to the Internet for information and home search. I cite a series of three public surveys done for the Calgary Real Estate News (CREN), owned by Calgary Real Estate Board, in 1999, 2000 and 2001. When the public was asked, “If you were in the market today to buy or sell a home, where would you look for information?”, the open-ended question elicited “the Internet” as a response in increasing percentages of those who replied – from 20 per cent to 29 per cent to 44 per cent in the surveys.
Interestingly, CREN was cited by 51 per cent in 2001, a higher percentage than the Internet or any other media or publication, but the increasing influence of the Internet is evident.
However, any threat can be turned into an opportunity if one understands the dynamics of the various media, and applies the inherent advantages of each media. Then, electronic media and print media can work well in conjunction with one another, rather than in competition.
Other print and electronic publications, in many industries, have learned that an electronic newspaper/magazine without a print counterpart will yield a failed enterprise, and a print newspaper without an Internet presence is more apt to become irrelevant to the Internet savvy public.
Here's how these principles have been applied at CREN in order to remain relevant to our readers, and to home buyers, and how other real estate-related newspapers can improve their chances to survive and to thrive.
1. CREN has developed an Internet website presence (creb.com/news), on which is advertised every property also advertised in the hard copy. For our members, this yields far greater exposure, without added advertising cost. Essentially, they get ads in two media for the price of one. To accomplish this, we redirected some costs from added print exposure to instead developing and maintaining a website.
2. The reading public can still read hard copy in the favourite reading room where computers don't usually go, but they can also go online, and view those properties exactly as they want the properties to appear. In the newspaper, proper- , ties sometimes have prices and community noted, and other times don't; ads for properties in any one community are scattered throughout the newspaper. Online, because CREN gets ad info from the MLS database (the on-line ad may not look like the available on the Calgary Real Estate Board site (creb.com) and on mls.ca (including virtual tours).
3. CREN overcomes the problem of members' anti-newspaper sentiment by owning the real estate newspaper, and providing not only the public’s favourite source of real estate information, but also at a price that is a small fraction of the cost of advertising in either of our city’s two daily newspapers. We also can get our editorial viewpoint out to the public, without fear of being misinterpreted by a reporter who may be unfamiliar with our industry. We don't have as extensive a circulation as the daily newspapers, but we have a rifle aimed directly at the public interested in buying and selling real estate. We retain the public's interest by keeping the primary focus of all print ads on the sale of real property.
Through this cross-media promotion, the real estate industry, through its boards and their in-house media, can provide the biggest bang for the members’ advertising dollar, and the public need only stay on these sites to have access to the most and best information. Threats from other media have become opportunities to increase our penetration of and relevance in the real estate advertising marketplace.
Bruce Klippenstein
Manager and editor,
Calgary Real Estate News
Calgary
