As we all know there are many more people finding and researching their home buying decisions on the internet. In a new graph released by the National Association of Realtors as you can see to the left here there has been a giant swing over the last few years from researching using newspaper ads to researching using online internet search tools.
If we look back to 1997 and pretty well the early days of the internet, there were a lot of ways that buyers would look for info including 2% looking online. The number for the internet is not 37% and the newspaper share is now down 75% to only 2%.
Looking at these numbers shows us how incredibly important the internet is for Realtors but when we look at the failures almost every week at newspapers than these numbers are really a microcosm of what is going on with all marketing that happens on newspapers.
I know that many Realtors are willing to put a bit of money into marketing on the internet only willing to throw a bit of money into internet marketing while still spending lots of money on classified ads in local newspapers.
But those Realtors that are really serious about the internet are cleaning up while the rest of Realtors are looking for the cheap way online.
Realtor Marketing says
Wow, that a very interesting graph. It really shows the importance of having a web presence in this current real estate environment.
Woodrow J. Jones says
Internet seems to be an effective tool in marketing realties and homes. Nice Post!