Daily Real Estate News  |  October 8, 2007  |   The Difference Between Advertising and Marketing
Real estate technology trends expert Matthew Ferrara of Matthew Ferrara & Co. underscores the difference between marketing and advertising properties.

If you place a picture and a list of a home's specifications in the newspaper or online, you are merely advertising, he explains. And that's not very effective, he says, citing a consumer survey by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORSŪ that shows fewer than 5 percent of buyers thought newspapers were helpful in finding a home.

According to Ferrara, the biggest difference between advertising and marketing is that the former concentrates on a product, while the latter focuses on people and the opportunities available to them through the purchase of the product.

While home buyers may need a certain amount of bedrooms or a home feature such as a garage, Ferrara says most make a purchase based on the lifestyle associated with a particular property. But most real estate advertisements do not show people living in the home or enjoying the nearby amenities.

So how does this transfer to the Web? He says Web sites that allow buyers to search by their personal buying category, such as new buyers or retirees, are more useful than searches based on home price.

Ferrara believes homes targeting entry-level buyers should be marketed on YouTube or iTunes because many of today's buyers in this demographic generally are interested in videos and podcasts. Maintenance-free condominiums geared to empty nesters could be marketed on Web sites with guided video tours and allow prospective buyers to print high-quality brochures detailing the properties.

Source: Maryland REALTORŪ, Matthew Ferrara (09/01/07)