Now RE+AD This: April

Real Estate Advertising During Coronavirus

The real estate and advertising industries feel like the iced over city of Arendelle in the Disney Frozenmovies. Everyone huddled inside waiting for the thaw, afraid of the dark forces unleashed from the other side of the mountain. And parents everywhere singing the soundtrack, word-for-word… or maybe that’s just me?

 

 

This 2nd edition of ‘Now RE+AD This!’ is dedicated to curating key research and insights from marketing and advertising land in an effort to provide guidance and benchmarks on whether to pause, edit, or shift your real estate advertising as we are left scratching our heads in regards to the remainder of the year ahead.

Top Reads:

Starting with Mike Delprete, the leading real estate tech strategist. In his real estate pandemic guide, he anticipates that yes, real estate transactions will drop dramatically, but they will also rebound dramatically. And NO, virtual tours won’t save the industry for the time being. Our favorite quote: “Step 2: There is No Step 2. Survival is everything.”   READ MORE

Next, the Internet Ad Bureau (IAB) survey provides directional data around what leading advertising buyers are planning to do with their marketing and advertising budgets for the remainder of the year. Quick highlights include:

* Ad spend will drop more than 30% overall, with offset increases in cause- and mission-based messaging and audience targeting. 

* There will be significant decreases in geographic targeting.  READ MORE

Check out global ad tech leader Pubmatic’s infographic depicting industry ad spend growth and declines by category. Real estate is showing as relatively flat, meaning that real estate ad spend on its global ad platform has increased marginally; it has not dropped as drastically as travel or retail. READ MORE

Realtor.com released its research sentiment on what the industry should expect. "There are more than enough buyers out there to keep home sales from slowing in any major way," stated Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale, suggesting that the combination of plenty of buyers, a shortage of housing supply, and favorable interest rates will keep the industry moving forward.  READ MORE

Trulia founder Pete Flint’s excellent article outlines the 28 moves to survive through this economic downturn. Pete has a grasp on real estate, markets, and operations like few do, and he is an inspiration to all of us working in the disruptive side of real estate.  READ MORE

A worthwhile piece by digital media platform, Polar, CEO Kunal Gupta on Advertising In the Age of Coronavirus, highlighting that: yes, overall ad spend will decline, but digital ad growth will continue to rise. One could safely assume this will apply to the real estate industry as we see traditional channels like print and outdoor advertising move to more efficient and flexible channels like search, social, and digital web. READ MORE

eMarketer tracks ad spending across the globe, and in this latest report is forecasting a decline from $712B to $691B due to COVID-19. While this is most certainly a significant hit, it is important to note that $691B global ad spend in 2020 would still represent growth over 2019. While it shall be seen if this holds true, it provides a macro-level benchmark for the current and future state of real estate marketing budgets.  READ MORE

Last (and maybe least?!), my article about real estate advertising during coronavirus, citing long-held beliefs that advertising during downturns while not for the faint, can make for a much stronger brand in the long run: “The bottom line is: advertising seems wasteful right now. But the opposite is true if the message and service being provided is tasteful and can help people with whatever challenges they are facing now, or in the future.” READ MORE

IN SUMMARY: How to Proceed with your Digital Marketing Efforts Based on Aggregate Market Guidance

• Use the next few weeks to cut non-measurable and low-ROI channels, and tightly measure your sustained spending. Use the time to build up your CRM from the high volumes of online consumers and low ad rates. 

• Edit your messaging to be cause- and mission-based. Don’t be promotional. Adjust ad messaging to be service-oriented. 

• Addressable advertising - meaning highly targeted to the right prospects and customers - along with search and social are the ad channels to sustain or even grow per IAB’s survey of leading ad buyers. 

At Audience Town, we are helping our real estate advertisers by offering complimentary insights and reporting services until further notice. Learn more about customers while planning for the future.

View sample reporting here.