The campaign will be rolled out across print and digital media and takes place against a backdrop of fee disruption and intense competition between portals.
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As America’s leading real estate portals wage a war for consumer attention, Realtor.com announced Thursday a new marketing campaign that positions the company as an advocate for buyer agents.
A statement from the company described the initiative as a “national multi-layered integrated marketing campaign” across “print, digital and social channels.” The campaign aims to introduce “an amazing 111-point to-do list that independent buyer agents facilitate during home purchase transactions.” The statement added that Realtor.com “calls on the industry to support this effort and spread the word.”
The company did not say how much it plans to spend on the marketing campaign, but said in a statement that the effort began Wednesday with full-page ads. of wall street journal And that new york post.
Damien Eales
Additionally, Realtor.com announced the campaign a day after CEO Damian Eales. also claimed of wall street journal, argued that discouraging the use of buyer agents would “reverse” years of progress in the real estate industry. Mr Eales, an Australian, also compared the US market to his home country, arguing that ultimately “the US model has lower overall costs and offers better representation for both buyers and sellers”.
The effort to promote Realtor.com as an advocate for buyer agents comes against the backdrop of two important trends. First, as the Eels editorial indicates, a series of recent commission lawsuits have resulted in potentially devastating settlements involving the National Association of Realtors. This situation has the potential to change the way agents, especially buyer’s agents, are compensated. Additionally, many agents may exit the industry and some consumers may balk at the idea of paying an agent and may choose to transact without an agent. There is also speculation.
On top of that, the U.S. Department of Justice has signaled it wants even bigger changes, including fee “unbundling,” or having buyers negotiate payments directly with brokers.
The Realtor.com campaign is therefore an attempt to resist a potential future of fewer purchasing agents and more unrepresented homebuyers.
The second important trend is the so-called “portal war.” This effectively began with CoStar’s entry into the residential real estate sector. CoStar, which launched its own major advertising campaign earlier this year, now claims its flagship Homes.com brand has grown enough to make it the No. 2 home portal in the U.S. after Zillow. ing.
At Inman Connect New York in January, Eales pushed back against KoStar’s characterization of his company’s position in the market, but said he welcomed competition. He also pointed out that both Realtor.com and CoStar want to dethrone Zillow as a portal.
Realtor.com’s new marketing campaign generally fits into its growth-oriented agenda. But the company’s positioning as a champion of buyer agents in particular is noteworthy. CoStar emphasizes courting listing agents through its “Your Listing, Your Lead” strategy, and Realtor.com’s new initiative positions the company as an expert on the other side of the home buying transaction It seems like it is.
It remains to be seen how this message will resonate with consumers and industry experts, but Eales was clear about the value of buyer agents in his op-ed.
“The goal of this campaign is to help all Americans understand the value of being represented by a buyer’s agent by highlighting the full range of services we provide to our clients in a typical transaction,” he said. ” he said.
Email Jim Dalrymple II
