Revenues climb for Greeley (CO) real estate agent program
The Opportunity
It's a buyers market in Greeley, CO.
As one of Colorado's fastest growing cities, the Greeley area real estate offices are booming with homes "flipping" at a record pace. The Tribune provides a number of solutions to brokers and agents to feature their homes for sale. But a need arose during strategic planning sessions, to help develop a new method to help the agents with their most important challenge: How to generate more listings from local home sellers? Rather than constantly offering the real estate agent marketing programs geared to assisting them in pleasing their home sellers with another method of showcasing their listed property, the Tribune needed to develop a new way to gain back the dollars agents were spending on alternative media, that featured the agent as the best choice for listing a home.
With the assistance of The Blinder Group, the Tribune designed a multimedia real estate initiative that not only spotlighted homes for sale, but also generated an interactive platform that created more value for the advertiser, by marketing them as an area "expert" in listing a property for sale.
Program Overview
Each week "Your Neighborhood – Spotlight of Home" included a full-page color print ad featuring 16 real estate agents, each as an expert of a specific region. The Tribune staff divided the Greeley area into 16 specific "neighborhoods" offering agents the ability to be designated as the exclusive expert, of their "neighborhood of choice." In addition to featuring the agent's photo, contact details, the participating agent was given the opportunity to feature homes for sale in that "neighborhood;" or a home recently sold (at a high price). "Copy points" within the entire ad urged, readers to contact their local "expert" and inquire about the value of their existing home.
In order to increase the value of the program and the effectiveness for the advertisers, elements of each participating agent's print ad were also included on the newspaper's website, GreeleyTrib.com. Text links were rotated on various pages of the site that featured the various "neighborhoods" along with the designated listing "expert" of that neighborhood. These links "click" to an online version of the actual newspaper ad that features the weekly home "spotlighted" by that agent, for that "neighborhood."
Sales Strategy
Target lists of agents were set up in advance, as well as appointments set with Area Broker/ Owners and their entire team of agents. The Blinder Group created for the Tribune multimedia presentations that included compelling statistical research and online usage information that helped "tell the story." Finally, The Blinder Group performed numerous assisted "4-legged" sales training/ closing calls with the local reps to help train on how to present the multimedia program, as well as close business!
Results
In only a few days of selling, over $46,000 in new revenue was generated from just 13 agents. Once word spread throughout the area, agents contacted the Tribune requesting to be part of this mutually beneficial and lucrative program. The Tribune informed The Blinder Group they expect to open up the program to more neighborhoods and create a second page as a result of this highly successful program.
Contact Information
For more information about the sales strategy of this program, contact:
Michael Distelhorst, Associate Publisher/Advertising Director
(970) 352-0211 ex 248,
MDistelhorst@greeleytrib.com
Lead Consultant for The Blinder Group:
Mike Blinder
(917) 865-4827
Mike@BlinderGroup.com
The Blinder Group
Tampa Offices: 6139 Fjord Way
New Port Richey, FL 34652 USA
(727) 847-2464 ~ (727) 847-5959 (fax)
profit@blindergroup.com
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