Devising and implementing an advertising budget is not easy. You have a limited resources and you have to spread them over several kinds of media. Mistakes are costly, and even the wins seem expensive. Which media is the most effective for you may be anyone's guess. So how can you maximize the dollars you spend?

The most expedient way is to give up advertising philosophies that don't work and adopt new approaches that do work.

Don't Try to Be All Things To Everyone

It doesn't matter that you are a traditional agent who can help anyone buy or sell a home. You can't do it all in one ad. If you try, you will be in the position of repeating the same message over and again to little effect. Worse, you will be offering nothing different than every other Realtor in the book.

What you want to do is distinguish you and/or the home you are selling from every other. The only way to do that is to be selective in your message and highlight your "points of difference." If you are selling a home, your message should be to buyers and only buyers who can afford this particular home. Forget other buyers and sellers for the time being. You are promoting this home - not your services as a listing agent. Save that for another ad, another time.

Ads have a brief shelf life. For that reason it is better to seek short term results. Don't try to be all things to all people. If you have a niche, say so in your ads. Suit the ad to the publication. Vary it a little for other forms of media. Let's say you are a buyer's agent specializing in senior lifestyles. In one ad you may be a buyer's agent for seniors, in another ad you may be the vacation/second home expert for the empty nester.

The same holds true for advertising a home. You want to design the ad to appeal to the buyer you think is most likely to buy the home. One way to do that is by including the price. That immediately qualifies and eliminates certain buyers.

Narrowing your target market by niche or price means you'll get fewer calls, but the calls you get will be more qualified.

Give Information to Get Information

Advertising is a call to action. That is only effective if your consumer is ready to buy or sell. Because of the unique nature of residential real estate, home buyers and sellers may not necessarily be at the point where they want to pick up the phone. If they are still at the information gathering stage, they are more comfortable remaining anonymous for a time.

Some kinds of real estate advertising puts too much burden on the consumer to give up information before they can get what they want from the agent. This is a lot to ask if they may not be sure of their plans, their price range, or whether they may want to work with you. Calling you forces these consumers to have an answer to those questions before they may be ready.

Giving information up front helps eliminate a lot of questions and anxiety for your consumer. Let's take advertising a listing on the Internet as an example. Should you include the address? The price? With today's technology, your Internet buyer should be able to cross reference the home's address with an online map that will tell them exactly where the home is located. They can see where the home is in relationship to where they work, where friends and relatives live and where the most desirable schools are. This is useful information whether the buyer is out of state or across town. But it all screeches to a halt if the buyer has to contact the agent to get the address, especially if they don't want an agent yet. And as far as price goes, customers are more likely to call on homes they feel more confident they can buy. In spite of this logic, agents still believe that they should reserve sharing such information so that the "phone will ring." And so many homes are posted on local association sites and sent to Realtor.com without the addresses or prices to the frustration of online home buyers.

Vanity ads don't work for the same reason. They simply don't give enough information that is pertinent to the buyer or seller and that is, "What can this agent do for me?" To develop this kind of ad, think step by step. Address the consumer's concerns and then show how you can provide the solutions. If you can answer their questions in an ad, you will get more qualified calls. Target your ad for the type of buyer you want - first-time, move-up, luxury, senior, etc.

Follow Up

Another area of importance in advertising is a timely follow-up. Once the consumer does make the contact, the broker/agent often drops the ball by failing to do simple things such as getting their names and numbers, replying to their emails, or emptying their voice mails often enough to let new messages in.

Don't discount email prospects. Email is the communication medium of choice for many people. If you are a "phone" person this may be hard to understand, but email is as important to the "email" person as voice mail is to you. If you have email, make sure that you check your messages and respond as promptly as you would for a phone message.

Put your follow up calls on a schedule that works for you. Return calls and emails at least 3-5 times a day. Follow up on consumer requests for information. If you say you will get certain information for them, get it as quickly as you can. Follow up again to make sure they got it and are pleased with your efforts.

Be Willing to Evaluate Your Results

If you try an ad one time and it doesn't work, that isn't enough time to get a true picture of the effectiveness of your campaign.

Let's use the Internet as an example. You hear this complaint often: "I put up a Web site, but I don't get any results."

Customers must be driven to the Web site, just as customers are driven to any other form of media. A yard sign drives traffic with its boldness. The newspaper drives traffic with special sections and coupons. A Web site drives traffic through connectivity with other sites, word of mouth, and special features. You have to put the Web site on your business cards, tell people you have a Web site, and then give them a reason to visit the site.

If you don't like the results of some of your advertising, ask the advice of someone who appears to be doing it more successfully. You know who has the best Web site in town - call and ask what makes theirs so successful. Be prepared to listen and make changes.

Take the time to learn how each form of media works.

Each form of media has a target group of consumers and a formula. Your job is to find out who they are. Home magazines, for example, are a great tool for agents who specialize in relocation or new homes. Why? Many home magazines primarily sell advertising to builders, so their editorial content will be geared toward architecture, building trends, and new home communities. People who pick up the magazine will primarily be interested in new homes, either to have one built or to buy a new custom home. In your ad, you should promote your expertise as a new home specialist, a relocation specialist or as a buyer's agent. Forget including anything about what a great lister or seller's agent you are. The builders will see you as competition and the buyer may not have a home for you to list, so promoting listing is a waste of space. Advertise what works for each particular medium. If you want to promote your services as a listing agent, choose a different type of publication besides a home magazine.

Address each form of media with the appropriate language and graphics. A roadside billboard needs to grab attention quickly. Your photo, your web address and a slogan is plenty for the motoring commuter to absorb. You can add more details of interest in a display ad, and many more details at your Web site.

In fact, that is the key to the success of most advertising - interactivity and connectivity. It starts with your business cards, which include your phone numbers and Web site. They link to your signage where you repeat your slogan and your contact information. Your classifieds and display ads also drive people to your Web site, where you can show them the full inventory of what you do, your homes for sale (or your local MLSs if you don't have any listings) and links to other services.

Remember, no single advertisement needs to stand alone. Your ads can lend support to each other to help build your name recognition and market presence.

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