ShareBy Suzanne Westrum, vice president of communications and marketing, San Antonio Board of REALTORS®
It is inevitable in our line of work that we have had to explain to a friend or family member that not all real estate agents are REALTORS® and that the process of buying or selling property is actually much more complex than it looks on the internet or television. In a time when the DIY mentality reigns, the task of informing the public about the value of a REALTOR® is more important than ever.
At the San Antonio Board of REALTORS®, we use several platforms to spread this message to the public and help them understand why using a REALTOR® should be a priority. Through a strategic mix of paid advertising in print, online, and on television and efforts aimed at earning unpaid media mentions and features, our goal is to provide a convincing case for the REALTOR® value.
Our consumer outreach, which focuses mainly on why consumers should use a REALTOR®, began more than a decade ago, and today members view it as a core benefit that they receive from their association. We make sure they know about all of our efforts by giving them a monthly list of our media appearances and advertising buys.
Our most popular and successful outreach has been paid segments on local morning television talk shows. In these segments, our spokespeople, who are current association volunteer leaders, discuss buying and selling tips while emphasizing why a REALTOR® is a necessity in each step. These segments allow us to go in-depth on the REALTOR® value, but appear as interviews rather than sponsored content, which lends increased credibility. And since the segments are universal to REALTORS® and not specific to anyone, our members share these clips widely online as tools to market themselves.
Each of our paid efforts ends with a call for action to visit our consumer website at SABOR.com to find a property and a REALTOR®. In our earned media interviews, our spokespeople are trained to highlight the use of a REALTOR® and how to find one.
Our print ads in popular local publications, including the daily newspaper and several magazines, are a staple and allow us to have a continued presence in front of consumers and members. Our digital ad strategy goes further by allowing us to target internet users who have already visited SABOR.com, searching with specific keywords that we have selected. Tracking impressions and click-through rates is instant, and we can adjust keywords and artwork mid-campaign as needed. These ads follow the users wherever they go online.
Although we have found success with these platforms, we continuously evaluate how well each is working and where they falter. This allows us to determine whether we should scale back one method while amplifying another or add in a new platform or media partner altogether. By remaining nimble and flexible with our campaign, we expect this mix of digital, television, and print advertising to continue building the consumer impression of REALTOR® value in the San Antonio area and garnering further earned media attention for our message.
The California Association of REALTORS® has an extensive TV, radio, and digital campaign, and a robust tool-set that REALTORS® can use to enhance their personal branding.
The long-running “Champions of Home” campaign emphasizes the benefits of working with a REALTOR® and how REALTORS® are connected to their community and the economic health of the state.
The latest campaigns feature REALTOR® Egypt Sherrod, host of HGTV’s “Flipping Virgins” and “Property Virgins”; Telemundo star Edgardo Gazcón; and a selection of “real Californians” sharing their personal stories about why they used a REALTOR®.