Developing a Marketing Plan

The more exposure your house receives, the better your chances to connect with a buyer. That's the key to a good marketing plan. So what are the best advertising outlets? The 2005 National Association of Realtors® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers (NAR Survey) helps us answer that question.

1. Multiple Listing Service (MLS)
   
   The number one advertising outlet is a listing in your local MLS—the service real estate agents use to share listing information with each other. Agents have buyers! So, insist on a listing agent who is a member of the MLS. NAR Survey stats:
   
   
   • 90 percent of home buyers used a real estate agent as part of the search process
   • 36 percent of home buyers first learned about the home they purchased from a real estate agent
   All Satterfield Realty agents are members of the Pocatello MLS. Any property you list with us will be added to the system with compelling text and the maximum allowable number of photographs to attract agent attention.
   
   
2. Internet
   
   The Internet has soundly surpassed the yard sign as the number two advertising outlet this year—and with good reason. Even if it's easy to drive your area of interest, the capability of the Internet to find homes for sale and get you inside is the ultimate in convenience. Next to using an agent, this is buyers' number one search source. Choose a listing agent who leverages the power of the Internet to market your home. NAR stats:
   
   
   • 77 percent of home buyers used the Internet as part of the search process
   • 24 percent of home buyers first learned about the home they purchased from the Internet
   Satterfield Realty understands the powerful role of the Internet in marketing your home. An in-house photographer and Web developer is charged with creating a media-enhanced presentation of your property online when you list with us.
   
   
3. Yard Sign
   
   For as long as houses have been sold, the FOR SALE sign has remained a top advertising outlet. Choose an agency with a highly visible sign that promotes the house, not the agent. NAR stats:
   
   
   • 71 percent of home buyers looked for yard signs as part of the search process
   • 15 percent of home buyers first learned about the home they purchased from a yard sign
   The bright yellow signs used by Satterfield Realty attracts attention in any weather condition. They are not cluttered with detracting company promotion, rather they direct interested buyers back to the number one and number two advertising outlets: the listing agent and the Internet.
   
   
4. Other Marketing
   
   All other advertising outlets are significantly less effective than the top 3. They simply don't offer enough exposure of the home. Real estate agents generally employ these outlets to satisfy their sellers or to obtain leads. These include newspaper ads, home magazines, open houses, radio spots, and television programs.
   
   Satterfield Realty participates moderately in newspaper advertisements, home magazines, and open houses. It opts not to advertise on radio or television, which are the most expensive and least effective.