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It can be easy to dismiss television advertising when there are so many newer (and cheaper) platforms on offer, but according to this expert, there’s definitely a place for it in a multiple-channel marketing approach.
In conversation with REB, the chief marketing officer at Local Agent Finder, Alex Lasry, expressed the belief that television is “always going to be paramount to reaching many people in a short period of time”.
Stressing the validity of the “one to many” as a strategy for the real estate sector in 2022, he acknowledged that just like billboards, when TV is done effectively, “it can actually be quite cost-effective”.
That cost-effectiveness piece comes from the fact that television, too, has moved with the times.
“Things like programmatic buying are obviously coming in, where you can be more agile around the way that you buy, as opposed to a ‘set and forget’ that probably happened in the past,” Mr Lasry said.
Another way that television’s reach has been broadened of late is through catch-up TV — also known as video on demand — and it’s an option worthy of consideration by the real estate profession.
According to Mr Lasry, these new television advert options usually demand less production quality, making them a less daunting prospect for a smaller operation to not only develop an ad, but then go on to purchase the advertisement space during programming. This mode also offers a far more targeted advertising space, which the CMO indicated is “because you have a lot more audience insight”.
Drawing on Local Agent Finder’s own forays into catch-up TV, Mr Lasry said it provides opportunities around scale beyond “what they call linear TV, which is what you would see on channel nine, channel seven”.
Through catch-up TV, you are better empowered to “reach audiences that may not be watching that normal TV but are going to watch The Block on a Friday night, catching up on the week that’s been because they’ve been out doing things”.
“It’s that catch-all that really works effectively, in unison, to make sure that you’re reaching the audience. That’s really cost-effective,” Mr Lasry said.
And from Mr Lasry’s point of view, it’s definitely one that agents could use to their advantage — but only as part of a broader marketing strategy.
All in all, the CMO has stressed the need for multiple-channel marketing approaches to be used by the sector, arguing that on isolation, television marketing will certainly not be the way to go — especially for smaller businesses and individual agents.
“If it’s purely just about brand building, obviously you are not going to see the conversion,” he said.
Where the marketing magic does occur is in “the ability to be able to marry it up with other channels — some of them digital, some of them offline”.
According to the CMO, that’s key: “There is very hard data that really points to the really strong, powerful compounding effect that multiple channels have talking to each other in the right way.
“TV in isolation, definitely not. It’s definitely not what we would hinge our marketing strategy on, but the ability to work them together as a combined effort works really effectively.”
This requires a solid understanding not only of the avenues through which you can be advertising but also of the role each separate channel can play when it does come to marketing.
Drawing on Local Agent Finder’s own marketing strategy, Mr Lasry touted the benefits that can be felt through such a combined effort.
And it all starts with a brand awareness piece — driven through the business’ use of billboards, despite the CMO’s concession that such an advertisement outlet isn’t useful for much else: “They see the brand driving home on the freeway. They get home, they watch the news. There’s the Local Agent Finder ad explaining what the service is and why you should use us. They search ‘sell my house in St Kilda’, and we are the first search result that comes up.”
In conclusion, “it is the effect of having all of those channels working in unison and working effectively as a channel to drive a particular response or behaviour that really gets the most out of it”.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Grace Ormsby
Grace is a journalist across Momentum property and investment brands. Grace joined Momentum Media in 2018, bringing with her a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) from the University of Newcastle. She’s passionate about delivering easy to digest information and content relevant to her key audiences and stakeholders.
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