internet vs. print media?

Can't beat the internet!

Internet is better and you can reach a wider audience

Hello

We just got our new site through real estate web design and now we are struggling with which way to market the site.

Which way have you guys seen better ROI, internet or newspaper?

Thank you

Hello,

No offense, but look at the traffic statistics: for the same amount of invested $, how big audience do you get via newspaper or the net?? Of course, the net has the fastest ROI feasible, but be aware, that if you are a newcomers to the net-adv., there are a LOT of schemas going on - find the rep. companies, pay a little extra and see your business grow.
Have a nice day!

Elbuhleini

Can't beat the internet!

We all love the net. That's how we got to this place. However when considering online vs traditional marketing, it's more a question of what media your prospective customers are using than the benefits of one technology or media. Ask them. What media do they spend the most time with? Web, local newspapers, radio, TV, particular magazines etc.

Certainly the net can be very cost-effective, but equally one can spend a lot of time marketing products or services online, for very little return. You may not have spent a lot of cash, but wasted many days, weeks or months with few sales. I would estimate that over 90% of new home business ecommerce ventures fail. Just because you build it, traffic doesn't follow, even when you have all th right keywords etc. The only winners are the SEO experts and/or ecommerce website providers that scammed you out of money for their service or ebook.

However, assuming your target market has ready access to the net and it's their favorite tool to find out stuff and where to buy things, how do you get people to your website or ecommerce digital storefront?

Just relying upon Google generic search or even adwords brings mixed results. Success here is difficult. A few success and those are the ones we hear about. The 99% that don't are lost and forgotten, afraid to admit their venture failed.

Firstly, accept that even the net is changing. It's not just traffic we want but conversions. i.e. Of those that come to your site, what percentage actually buy? Traditionally, it's under 1%, very similar to the old direct mail figures. what's wrong with your site design, structure or offer that can't retain visitors? The value of a good copywriter cannot be underestimated. Generally, it's the words, not graphics that make the biggest impact, drawing people in. You need a good story to tell.

Also, in terms of gaining traffic, how well optimized is your site both from an SEO and a social media perspective? If your target market is the younger generation using Web 2.0 technologies (blogs, rss feeds, facebook etc etc) how well does your website fit? A good quick check can be found by using www.websitegrader.com

Lastly, if your market is local and not national, then the value of using offline marketing like direct mail postcards, letterbox flyers, networking events, etc cannot be underestimated. Sure it's relatively costly, but in terms of initially getting people to your website it's very very effective. Conversions rates can be high, especially when the mailer is personalised, not generic and some of the emerging cross-media purl marketing initiatives are amazing. This high response rate more than covers the higher costs involved in going 'traditional'. David Frey of marketingbestpractices.com has some really good background material here.

However perhaps the best thing you can immediately do is make sure that when they arrive at your website you've a strategy in place for capturing their email address and even a phone number e.g. an attractive 'offer' or competition with a method to subscribe online. After than, all follow up and ongoing communication can be via email or telephone. Sales is seldom a one-hit affair. You need to start a communication with customers before they'll buy. as in traditional selling, it generally takes 5-8 'touchpoints' before they pass over their credit card numbers.

hi, i think it would be much better to advertise through the internet since most people nowadays are into the net. Its pretty obvious that newspapers are no longer that progressive unlike before.

Hello

We just got our new site through real estate web design and now we are struggling with which way to market the site.

Which way have you guys seen better ROI, internet or newspaper?

Thank you

First of all, congrats on your new venture..best of luck. Your query as well as the answer encompasses many facets, but little info has been provided from you. The what, where, and who needs to be incorporated for any logical advice to be suggested or even formed. While it's true print numbers are down as a whole, this varies regionally as well as by industry. Obviously the Net too needs to be utilized in a logical matter...sometimes less is more. I would be glad to offer my advice after a little background. Again congrats.

You should prefer Internet as those who prefer mostly print media will never use internet just to see your website, only net users can better analyze about your site

If you've strong presence in local market you can go for both, however organic optimization of the website for local search engine could yield good results.

Hello

We just got our new site through real estate web design and now we are struggling with which way to market the site.

Which way have you guys seen better ROI, internet or newspaper?

Thank you

Hi,
Online Medium is the best way to advertise yourself. If you will find the reach in comparision to print media, its phenomenally well.

if you want some more information then you can get back to me on my mail id that is kumar.awanish1@gmail.com

Regards
Awanish

I think the best way to market a website is through online marketing. There are many ways to drive traffic to your website, but you do need to choose carefully. However, as what was previously mentioned, I do agree that if you are also targeting your locals, then perhaps some print advertising would do as well. :)

what if you do both.., make a website out of it and post it on the ads as well.. im sure you'll get better results...

I own several companies and my forte is in sales and marketing and I find that most people are not getting good results from print ads anymore.
Most people that are online are using the internet for everything. I personally have not used a phone book or newspaper in several years. I google everything.
If you want to test print media, I suggest using a coupon that people have to return so you can see how effective it really is.
I am very excited about a new way to advertise online to reach your local market by their zip code and it will show up high in google and you don't have to pay for the clicks.
You pay for 2 key words and select the zipcodes and you can also have a coupon online, videos, whatever you want. You don't even need a website, but if you have 1 they can click from the ad to your site.
My other suggestion is joining the local chamber of commerce and networking. I find word of mouth adv is the very best and it does not cost anything.
If you want further info please e-mail me. Hope this helps!

Internet is becoming the best route to go. I just read a report off Globalspec that said 46% of people use 6+ hours worth of internet at work each week. Also, it said that there have been rapid declines in magazine ads, direct mail, and trade shows (this may just be for the manufacturing industry, but i think it's kind of a global trend either way)... and increased usage of company websites, search engines, online catalogs, industry trade publications, etc..

The power of the internet to advertise free is your best shot,Newspapers and other offline prints can't hold up to the internet if you know what your doing,So I would try the internet

i worked as a webmaster in the company with 14 sites, different styles and products. There were insurance company, several salons of cars, logistics and others. On some buisneces we were making print advertising i magazine for several years - and there were no rezult. Not a man called from it. And just in two months after the site was ready there were about five contracts from it.

It was really very clear and undrstandable :)

I strongly believe in internet advertising, you can't brand your business world wide with a newspaper ad. With the internet you can kill two birds with one stone, using local geo targeting and also have the option of the WWW. hope this helps someone out their.

The internet is a great resource, that if you don't use, will be a missed opportunity. But on the other hand, you shouldn't abandon print media altogether, because not everyone has integrated the web into their lives 24/7, in fact many still have not. I know if I were to look for a new place right now...the first thing I would do would be check local listings. Why? Well, unless a website is very credible-looking, I trust print media more for real estate, and local leads as well.

Today is the world of Internet, and you better market your service thru advertising on web. I don't trust printmedia much. Through printmedia you can reach upto a limited human readers, but through internet marketing you can reach each corner of the world and can get more benefits from it.

Indeed, Internet is the way to go. However if you want to target your local market you need to give some importance to the Print Media. It all depends on the what type of customers you want to target.

I strongly believe in internet advertising, you can't brand your business world wide with a newspaper ad. With the internet you can kill two birds with one stone, using local geo targeting and also have the option of the WWW. hope this helps someone out their.

So true. You have global reach with internet media, and more limited reach with print media -- unless that print media is televised or celebrity-endorsed.

That's why I'm investing myself into researching online business, because there is much more reach right at the onstart.

Today is the world of Internet, and you better market your service thru advertising on web. I don't trust printmedia much. Through printmedia you can reach upto a limited human readers, but through internet marketing you can reach each corner of the world and can get more benefits from it.

Well, yes, it is the world of Internet, I agree on that. But there are still bestsellers and people do still read the news and magazines. Yes, the numbers are declining, but for the most part, you can still reach people with that type of media.

Printmedia is very useful if you plan to target the local market. There is no other option that is as good as it is.

the internet is really a great tool for advertising specially worldwide advertising... but if you work on your business locally.. sometimes prints should also be considered.