Use the Power of All Your Media Working Together

Media match: Use the Power of All Your Media Working Together - Tip #7

In my last couple of posts, I promised I would talk about the power of creating an advertising CAMPAIGN, rather than just individual ads in individual media.

Campaigns

All too often, I see Realtors with totally different ads for the same property, in different media. They don't even look like each other. Either that, or they are so ordinary, showing yet another front of a house, with nothing memorable about it for prospects to remember.

In this case, it means that each ad is having to start from scratch with the prospective audience/buyers, rather than having an accumulative effect to get the best results.

Once you understand how CAMPAIGN advertising taps into your prospects’ conscious and subconscious minds, to give your properties "top of mind awareness", you will see how obvious and simple it is -- and how amazingly powerful!

(Remember John McKenna, the Pennsylvania Realtor who hasn't missed one listing in over two years now because of utilising this process -- NOW THAT'S POWERFUL!!)

Reach, frequency and OTS?

Advertising experts talk about "reach and frequency" aimed at as many "OTS" as possible, for the best possible outcome. Realtors mostly just talk about "writing their ad", mostly in a rush if an advertising deadline is due, or alternatively in some kind of mad rush, just to get the property on the Internet.

In other words, they would rather have a rushed, bad ad there quickly, than devote the time necessary to put together a powerful advertising campaign. If that was done, then they would harvest the synergistic effect of getting all the media employed, to work with and complement each other, rather than having them working in isolation.

Reach?

With any advertising campaign, the Media Planner in an advertising agency, in this case, the Realtor, selects their media by establishing how many potential prospects the particular media they are using will reach.

The more specific the media, the better. For example, an advertising agency looking to reach and influence doctors, might advertise in the Medical Journal, knowing that this medium will reach the specific audience they are after.

For real estate, while the internet is available to all, in some circumstances there are luxury property internet sites, designed to attract those who have the buying power for those types of property.

Certain magazines are designed to reach only affluent readers or areas, therefore, they are a good media choice for a high priced property. Realtors are actually very fortunate because there have always been specific real estate categories in newspapers or magazines, or standalone media, unlike those available to most other products or services.

Frequency and OTS?

A media planner will now gauge how many times (i.e. the frequency), the prospective buyer can see the same ad, the same message. A good campaign will reach as many of the right kind of prospects as many times as possible to give them the most OTS, which in advertising parlance, simply means "Opportunities To See".

Why is this important? Research over the years, shows us that people need to see the same ad, the same message, at least three times or more on average before they will react to it. That's why a carefully planned campaign will give prospects the opportunity to see the same ad, and react to the same message as many times as possible, even 10 times or more, to catch those at the top end of the average.

Media Mix Advertising Campaign

That just means a mix of different media working with each other to give them as many opportunities as possible to see a memorable positive message that will remain in their minds.
When that message is identical across different media, each time the buyer sees it, the brain remembers and immediately ties them together, giving a powerful accumulative effect to the advertising.

For instance, imagine you are sitting at home watching television and on comes a TV ad about an SUV. Now, if you can see the driver, you can pretty well guarantee it won't be an 80 year old. It's pretty straightforward; if the car manufacturer and their advertising agency had determined that their prime market is in the 38 year age group (that's the who part of HOODOO), then they will go to the model agency and book a 38-year-old model and put them behind the wheel of the vehicle to drive on the beach, or rough terrain, enjoying themselves (that's the do part of HOODOO).

Then, the ad will be repeated time and time again -- there's your frequency.

Now, the next day when you are out driving your car, on comes a radio commercial, which is the audio part of the TV commercial you've seen the night before. What will your brain do immediately? It will do an instant match and will immediately recall the TV ad from the night before, showing the 38 year old model driving and enjoying the vehicle.

Then once again, the ad will be repeated time and time again -- more frequency.

Next, you pick up a newspaper, magazine or perhaps flyer or direct mail -- guess what the main photograph will be? Yes, the main visual from the TV commercial which is already filed in the prospect’s brain. The minute you see the ad, your brain will bring up the TV commercial you have already seen. See how the media work together?

Can you identify with this example I’ve just related? I'm sure you can, as we see these media mix campaigns every day of our lives, selling us every imaginable product and service, whether it be cars, carpets or cornflakes.

Now think about this. If the ad in the newspaper or magazine, instead of showing the visual from the TV special night before, showed the same vehicle with a front on shot, displaying the engine. Would that have worked? I'm sure your answer will be no. It just doesn't make sense because there is no match for the brain to recognize.

Some might argue that the ad and photograph is still aimed at selling the same vehicle; however, it may now be talking to a different audience that is more technically minded and interested in specifications. Sadly, this means that all the money invested in the TV commercial and radio commercial has now gone straight down the drain because there is no match, no recall. Does that make sense?

Realtors have the greatest opportunity to create the biggest media mix campaigns of all.

Most professional campaigns selling us products or services on a day-to-day basis, will normally have a mix of around 3 to 4 media maximum. But, how many media options do Realtors have at their disposal? Depending on which state or country you are in, let's have a look at a potential list:

• As many as 4 different Internet sites
• 1 X database e-mail
• 1 X Flyer
• 1 X newspaper ad
• 1 X real estate magazine
• 1 X window display
• 1 X photo signboard
• plus, maybe TV and/or radio
• social media
• the list goes on - how many is that? 10, 12, 15 or more!!

Imagine the power if you can harness all of those media to work with and complement each other, giving a huge amount of OTS with your campaign -- with a memorable message that shows a clear picture of what living there, in that property, will do for them. Every time the prospective buyer sees the message again, it will be matched with what is already in their brain, they will become more familiar with it and it immediately gives them "top of mind awareness" of the property you are advertising.

So, now you can harness the power of a media mix advertising campaign, with every property you list from now on (AND WIN EVERY LISTING) when sellers see you as the advertising expert in their area.

In my next post, we will cover tips 8 and 9 and talk about how often the same ad should run and also looking again at specific content. See you then!