Born: 1901 :: LA Times Real Estate Sunday Section
Deceased: July 27, 2008
That’s right. The LA Times have discontinued their Sunday Real Estate Section this past weekend with the final printing.
Is this a sign of things to come? Newspapers are hurting all across the country as advertisers - from large corporations to smaller companies to REALTORS - move their marketing dollars from print to online. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why:
- Online advertising is more interactive (surveys, games, virtual tours, IM’ing …)
- Online advertising can hit a larger targeted audience.
- Online advertising, if done right, dollar-for-dollar will give you more bang for your buck.
- Over 80% of all real estate buyers and sellers start their research online.
- Fewer and fewer people read the newspaper - they go online for their news.
There are, of course, other great reasons why online is the wave of the future. But, it is symbolic that the first major newspaper has discontinued their printed real estate section on Sundays. Synonymous with Sunday coupons and retail ads, the real estate section was a 20th century staple for most. Heck, even ten years ago it was the main marketing tool for REALTORS. For those agents that still “don’t get it,” it still may be their primary tool.
I’m sure that since things usually start in California (no-smoking laws, outlawing trans-fats) we’ll next see this in New York City and then slowly infiltrate the rest of the country’s newspapers who need to cut costs and reorganize their marketing strategies to generate needed income.
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