For years, the separation between print and online in real estate advertising was enormous. Print dominated for decades, online was irrelevant before catching up (and many would say it surged ahead) but still the two have been largely irrelevant for each other.
There have been mainly unsuccessful attempts to link the two mediums with significant amounts of cash spent on advertising and cross promotion, including video URL’s embedded into print copy. It has really only been Domain (in Oz) who have managed to bring the 2 closer together through their relationship with video suppliers Visual Domain, providing free video content for print spend.
What we are seeing now however is a medium that bridges that gap between print and online once and for all – QR Codes. QR stands for Quick Response, and these are 2-dimensional bar codes that you scan with a bar code and redirects you to any content you like. Think of a mobile optomised site containing listing content (photos, videos, copy) or think of the code serving up video content only (property or profile).
Used extensively throughout Asia and the US, they are being readily applied to the retail space here in Oz, which you can use as a barometer for their commercial relevance. In real estate the application is enormous.
And with mobile predicted to surpass desktop as the primary internet search toll by 2014*, embracing mobile and QR as part of an integrated marketing mix, with multiple, branded touch points and significant targeted reach is pivotal. Using codes on your business cards, brochures, community publications, or signboard provides massive value-add to your vendors marketing dollars and significant brand penetration for the agent.
Please consider that while you can download QR codes for free from the internet and apply a simple redirect to your website, the application needs to be much broader with customized codes, a self-managed platform, measurable ROI through detailed analytics and market education on implementation.
*(Morgan Stanley Research)