Maryland Business

By: jackie.sauter

With the real estate market still on a respirator, one national company’s decided to resuscitate its advertising strategy – by redirecting all national TV advertising to the Web.

Century 21 was one of the first real estate companies to advertise on TV. Now, Senior VP/Marketing Beverly Thorne says research has proven that a better ROI exists online. So, aside from some local TV spots that will be made available to franchises – it’s a wrap, folks.

Advertising Age thinks Century 21 is onto something:

Research from the National Association of Realtors shows that in 2008 “highly motivated” home buyers and sellers used the web as their main source of information and research. The NAR’s 2008 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers showed that most buyers started their searches online. A full 87% said they used the web to search for a home, and the same percentage ended up using a real-estate agent to make their purchase.

The Web’s not only the most popular place for consumers to browse listings; it also offers highly customizable options for advertisers that don’t exist in print or TV, which Thorne cites as a decisive factor.

“There are a lot of possibilities online, not only classic display advertising but a lot of methodologies with search, enhanced listings for real-estate properties and enhanced technologies,” Ms. Thorne said. “Our online investment will be spread across all of those and any other incremental innovative approaches we work out with key partners.” 

I’m curious how many of our marketing & advertising readers are contemplating increasing their online advertising spending in 2009. (Both for my sake – I do have a stake in this, after all – and as it relates to our coverage).

If you are planning to spend more online – in paid search advertising, banner ads, sponsorships, etc. – is it coming at the expense of another medium?

And which form of online advertising is most attractive to you?

JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor