I grew up in a small town just outside Burlington Vermont where my Uncle was the Mayor, I knew the postman by his first name, I could tell you the names of most every person on the fire department and my 5th grade teacher taught not only myself and my 3 siblings but my mother as well. This was a city where conversations and relationships were king. Yet, few leveraged this in their businesses.
Flash forward many years to Boston Massachusetts. Signs like the Citgo sign shown here next to Fenway are a common phenomenon lining the streets. Billboards are animated, on the T (the subway) ads decorate the inside of cars and as the train moves ads scream at you from the outside.
Whether agents are in a large city or a farming town, their advertisements should do the same thing. Old marketing methods tell us that ads are used to sell a product and make a message visible to as many people as possible. New marketing methods tell us that ads are used to start a conversation and it is perfectly fine if you start that conversation with just a few like-minded people.
So here is the question. Does your ad scream at people or does it start a conversation?
The most basic questions to ask yourself when creating your advertisement are:
1. To whom am I speaking?
2. Will this ad be important to them?
3. Does the advertisement show a personality?
4. Do I give them enough information so they can contact me on their own time using their preferred method (phone, address, email, website)
5. Is my advertisement attractive?
Answer these questions before you come up with your idea for the ad and you’ll be in good shape.
Matthew S. Gosselin is the author of My Blue Goose, Exploiting The Wow Factor In Real Estate Marketing. The book can be purchased on MyBlueGoose.com or Amazon
