In an announcement to the world or rather Malaysia, two of Malaysia’s major newspaper publishers said that they are now joining hands to offer the best value ePaper in Malaysia. Inside the article, they mentioned the importance of online because nowadays everything is online. Well, here we have two of the major dailies in Malaysia stating this very real fact and if they had ignored it, soon it would be at their peril. Yet, until today, there are developers who are adamant that ONLINE media does not work. How ironic. Actually, are they arrogant? Nope, not at all. They are just ignorant. In fact one major sentence used is always, “Once construction starts, the buyers would come”.
A few of them even believed that a few days’ worth of advertisements in newspapers should do the trick, like how they always do long time ago. Well, allow me to point out that even though every year the newspapers continue to claim that they readership is increasing, the truth is, their circulation is decreasing. Their readership numbers include all their online readers too. Okay, perhaps advertisement in newspaper is really the best. They should know better since they are the developer and I am just a blogger? Haha.
As a world trend, smartphone ownership is something which is increasing day after day. News travel faster than any traditional media. In fact thats why there are NO traditional media which does NOT have online presence. In fact many are continuously revamping their online sites to ensure they meet the needs of the readers. You can view a coloured advertisement on newspaper but you can view the actual 360 degree view of the property even before you step into the actual showhouse. Tell me honestly, would you like to go to 10 different showrooms and found just 2 that you like or you prefer to browse all ten, then decide to go into two and really be able to make a real decision?
Do leaflets work? Yes, I think they do. If your intention is just two rows of houses, at an attractive location and affordable price, I think leaflets should do the trick easily. In fact better than online. Do buntings work? Sure, but they cost a bomb and you continuously expose to just the same group of people passing through the same roads everyday. What if that was not the right road to put up the buntings? Do electronic billboards work? For properties, the answer is a firm NO. There are way too much information the reader has to read and mind you, he is DRIVING! Oh yeah, the best argument. Only the young browse online. The target market who are the older generation reads newspapers. Haha. Please read through the demographics report of population in Malaysia, the ownership of smartphone and the broadband penetration VERSUS the circulation of newspaper before you claim this again. Fortunately, I am only talking about minority of developers because majority has already started their online presence. I wish every developer, whatever their marketing strategy may be, all the best. Happy marketing.
written on 19 Mar 2015
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