Why Advertise Offline in an Online World?

Even though it is the internet age, advertising the traditional offline way still has its place in the world. This is despite the fact that a majority of grandparents, uncles, aunties, the elderlies, young professional working adults, Generation Xs, Generation Ys, and millennials are being heavily exposed to online advertising. Seeing the physical thing is believing.

As mentioned in the previous post – banners, newspaper advertisements, and flyers are examples of offline advertising. In this post we’ll go in detail and discover the pros and cons of each form of offline advertisement.

FOR SALE / TO LET Banner

Banners are the most direct way of saying that the property is up for sale or for rent. Banners work for you 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Nevertheless, some banners can be quite confusing as the FOR SALE / TO LET is left open. It can mean either or, or both to begin with. To send a clearer message will be to strike out whichever that does not apply. For example, FOR SALE / TO LET or FOR SALE / TO LET.

While banners may be good for stating a fact but it does not provide the facts. From my experience, most of my enquiries came from banner advertisements. Neighbours and people passing by will contact me to enquire about the property. I even get calls from grass-cutters as they want to cut the lalang (a coarse weedy Malaysian grass) in the garden. Generally, the enquiry will be about:

• Price
• Size: land area & built-up
• Tenure: Freehold/Leasehold
• Number of bedrooms and bathrooms
• Furnishings

Furthermore, the property was located on the main road or the road with a lot of traffic during peak hours. Banner advertisement is more effective for such a property in those locations as compared to a property in a gated & guarded community. There are higher traffic and a higher chance of getting eyeballs and an incoming enquiry.

Flyers & Newsletters

Flyers and newsletters basically serve three purposes. They are to keep the neighbourhood itself and the neighbouring neighbourhoods informed of:

1. Properties for sale or for rent
2. Last transacted and market prices of properties
3. Open houses and upcoming events

Flyers about properties for sale or for rent states a fact, whereas flyers about the last transacted property prices provide the facts. The latter serves to educate the market. Some owners may be ill-informed, therefore its a good source of information for their knowledge. Owners will definitely want to know how much their own home and their neighbour’s house are worth presently.

Then, while flyers about the last transacted property prices serve to educate the public; flyers about open houses create awareness. The neighbours are invited to attend the open house and to view the house for sale. Opening an open house? Click the link to learn more about opening an open house.

These will help you, the real estate agent, to build a brand and presence in the community. The first agent that comes to mind is you, because of your flyers in their mailboxes. Its surprising to note that some owners actually keep stacks of flyers either as a hobby or for their own reference.

Yet again, questions remain. Is printing flyers cost-effective? Won’t it be a waste of paper? Some owners may think it is one of those many junk mails and immediately throw it into the rubbish bin. At other times, due to unpredictable weather, the flyers may get wet because of the rain. Those may be the case; but they are not, based on my personal experience. I still do get calls from flyers. Owners will want to know about the property for sale and/or for rent, and to find out more information about the last transacted property prices.

In order to get the leads, the flyers have to be attractive and informative. Make use of pictures and designs to engage the customer. Pictures about the property have to be of good quality and viewable. Information has to be informative whereby the relevant and important details are displayed. Details such as property type, location, tenure, land area, built-up, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, number of car parks, furnishing, and asking price are crucial. As for the last transacted prices; the transacted date, the jalan (road) name, property type, and sold price are needed. All in all, do not forget your company name, your name, your REN number, and your contact number.

Prior to sending the flyer to the printer for bulk printing, ensure that ALL information on the flyer are accurate. This is a true story. Colleagues of mine had an upcoming open house in a week. They printed 10,000 flyers. Unknowingly, the wrong contact information was displayed on the flyer. When they discovered their mistake, they immediately scrambled to rectify it. They spent a good one day crossing out the incorrect contact information and rewriting the correct contact information on each and every 10,000 flyers. Therefore, it is crucial to be meticulous and thorough in our paperwork.

Newspaper Classifieds

Advertising your properties in the newspaper may not be what it seems. Its not the full page, half page, or quarter page advertisement in the newspaper. Instead, its the classified advertisement in the property or real estate section of the newspaper.

The classified advertisement is periodical. Your properties are only advertised for a set number of days. You have the option of advertising your properties for 2+2 days continuous or 2+1 days with a day skipped in between. An example for the 2+1 days option is: Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday. On Monday, the advertisement is skipped, and resumes on Tuesday.

The text in the advertisement goes by the number of characters and/or number of lines; depending on the newspaper guidelines. Only the relevant information are included in the advertisement, similar to the information given in flyers.

• For Sale or For Rent
• Location
• Property type
• Tenure
• Land area
• Built-up
• # of bedrooms
• # of bathrooms
• Asking price

Compared to flyer advertisement, only one picture can be used in the newspaper advertisement. If you opt not to use a picture, the company’s logo can also be used.

Based on my experience once more, mainly people who are interested in properties, looking for a particular type of property, and are familiar with your company’s brand will easily spot your advertisement.

Property Magazines

To advertise to a more niche and targeted audience will be to advertise in property magazines. Readers of property magazines are really interested in the real estate industry, hence they subscribe to the property magazine(s). Some examples of property magazines are iProperty Guide, Property Insight, Property Lifestyle Malaysia, etc.

So, why advertise offline in an online world? You’ve read and seen the pros and cons of offline advertising. You can advertise offline by way of banners, flyers and newsletters, newspaper classifieds, and property magazines. Each form of offline advertisement has its own strengths and weaknesses in different scenarios. Use them to your advantage to close the deal.

While banners may be good for stating a fact but it does not provide the facts.