With all of the hype around digital marketing, it can sometimes feel like you are behind the times as a professional if you use print marketing, but it still has distinct benefits digital marketing simply cannot deliver.

1. Use Your Home-Field Advantage – With the current trend of increased support of local businesses, this is your time to really network within your community. A great way to do that is through print marketing.

2. Give Your Customers a Little Extra Attention – Send your customers, whether longtime or new, a little something in the mail now and again. Let them know that you appreciate their business and remind them of upcoming sales, discounts, and specials.

3. Introduce an Entirely New Target Market to Your Company – There’s no debate that there is a different set of people who only stay abreast of things through digital and online means and those who prefer the “old-fashioned” way—physical books, newspapers, magazines—to using modern technology. So, instead of choosing one method over another, why not use both?

It’s time to redefine the benefits and usefulness of print media. It may not be hot, new thing in modern marketing, but it has stayed around so long for a reason.

Original Article

We also give you a choice as to where and how to display your listings within your Facebook account. You can post listings individually on your Profile page, or include all your inventory on a dedicated “My Listings” tab on your Business Page.

Now you have a third option. From the same “Social Syndication” section of the Homes & Land Control Panel, advertisers can choose to post select listings on their Business Page wall. This way your new listings are shared with everyone who “likes” your page – instantly.

Here’s How

(What you’re hoping for) – (What you get)

This might be the simplest possible explanation of customer satisfaction.

Dissatisfaction occurs when salespeople and marketers tend to try to amplify the first part (what you’re promised) while neglecting the second.

The ability to delight and surprise is at the core of every beloved brand (product, politician, teenager…). Overhype and shady promises will undercut that before it even has a chance to get started. Yes, of course you have to make promises to earn attention and trial. The mistake is when you put more effort into the promises and less into what you deliver. Promise a lot but deliver even more.

[One really important amplification: Research shows us that what people remember is far more important than what they experience. What's remembered:

--the peak of the experience (bad or good) and,

--the last part of the experience.

The easiest way to amplify customer satisfaction, then, is to underpromise, then increase the positive peak and make sure it happens near the end of the experience you provide. Easy to say, but rarely done.]

Are you thinking about doing more volunteer work, helping the needy in your community, but not sure where to turn? Here’s a website that identifies both short-term and long-term volunteer opportunities. Go to www.VolunteerMatch.org.

Last month Bernice Ross, a Realtor and one of Inman.com’s best columnists, declared that Micromarketing is the hot real estate marketing trend for 2012. Ms. Ross described micromarketing as “old-fashioned farming with a 21^st Century twist.”

Micromarketing means marketing to an area where the residents’ demographics, lifestyle, and recreational pursuits match your own interests and expertise. Perhaps you target residences around a large recreational lake where people buy second homes or retire. This appeals to you because you are an agent who a. lives on the lake and b. owns a boat and likes to fish.

Ms. Ross uses AustinLakefrontProperties.com as an example of a micromarketing website, as opposed to a more common and generic URL like www.Realtorsname.com. You should also use micromarketing to enhance Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and promote your social media efforts.

Ms. Ross reports that “agents who are having the best luck with this approach have integrated their print marketing efforts with their online marketing efforts.”

If micromarketing intrigues you, consider using Homes & Land’s Integrated Marketing Package. Your Homes & Land Publisher can help you reach a micromarket using direct mail. A Homes & Land ad is also a great place to promote your Facebook page and blog. In addition, we feature QR codes that link to a video promoting your micromarket.

With the Homes & Land package you receive a website that can be branded as a micromarket (e.g., AustinLakeFrontProperties.com). You can also backlink your Homes & Land site to your current website for enhanced SEO.

As usual, Homes & Land is ahead of the marketing curve.

When you are marketing what to most Americans is their biggest financial asset, you need to do it right. Columnist Phoebe Chongchua explains how great photography can help you sell homes. http://bit.ly/wcRTJs

#5. 7 Steps For Writing Effective Ad Copy
In today’s market, it can be difficult to attract qualified buyers. Print advertising is an effective way to generate leads—if you give buyers the information they are looking for.

#4. What is a QR Code Anyway?
There is a lot of buzz in the real estate industry about QR codes. But what is a QR code and how does it work? And – how should you use them to better connect with prospects?
This short video explains.

#3. Ad Design Challenge: To Starburst Or Not To Starburst
Starbursts are one of those graphic elements included in ads to call attention to specific qualities about a home. They do the job – but they’re overused. Nothing clutters an ad (or screams “used-cars”) more than a page full of starbursts and small photos.
There is another way. Lots of them in fact.

#2. Choose Your Words Wisely
That’s what a study at the University of Guelph in Ontario found from analyzing the wording of more than 20,000 listings. According to the research, a listing’s phrasing affected sales price and the length of time it was on the market.

#1. Coke vs. Pepsi – A Marketing Case Study
The Cola Wars are fierce. Coke, the perennial leader in beverage sales, is still at the top of the class. And Diet Coke just passed Pepsi to take the number two spot. Pepsi has held that number two spot for many years – so what happened?
Pepsi has been closely watched by marketers because of the innovative social media strategy it rolled out at the beginning of 2010.

We look forward to bringing you even more insight and inspiration in 2012.
Happy New Year from Homes & Land!

P.S. The top posts from 2010 are also worth reading.

Homes & Land works hard to make sure you get the best possible response from your marketing. To that end, we’ve created a website devoted to effective advertising and design. Short videos cover topics like How To Write Ad Copy That Works, How to Win Listings, and Effective Branding Techniques. To find out how you can maximize your advertising investment, visit www.HomesAndLand.com/Design

It’s almost the New Year, a time to reflect on how to make our lives more productive. One thing to consider is using a To-Do List that actually yields results. Wall Street Journal columinst Sue Shellenbarger reflects on why some To-Do Lists are ineffecive, and she reviews new software applications that can help you stay on task in 2012.  http://on.wsj.com/tlhicj

I know we’ve all seen the timeless Rudolf cartoon that shows his rise to fame in the North Pole. You remember, he traveled to the Island of Misfit toys with the elf-wannabe-dentist Kirby, and had to escape the abdominal snowman. What you may not know is that while Kirby was studying dentistry, Rudolf was reading up on marketing strategies. After being teased and shunned by all the other reindeer for his unique red glowing nose, Rudolf realized he needed to improve his image in Santa’s Village.

See, village residents are no strangers to the concept of branding – after all, Santa is a Brand Mastermind. So Rudolf started thinking of ways to make his red nose more desirable. He started with placing subtle posters in the break room that said “Red is the New Black” and others that showed fashionable accessories that glowed.

Then Rudolf expanded his message to other areas of the village and updated the images used to start associating himself with these new glowing, red trends. The extra-foggy Christmas Eve was really just a bonus. Santa had already been conditioned that Rudolf was someone he needed on his team.

The rest, as we know is history.

We at Homes & Land hope you have a safe and happy holiday!
See you next year.