Public Awareness Campaign

The Public Awareness Campaign is Working for You

For more than 10 years, the Public Awareness Campaign has been convincing home buyers, sellers and investors about the value of working with a REALTOR. The percentage of consumers that would use a REALTOR to buy or sell a home has increased to an all-time high of 74 percent—up from 50 percent in 2001—according to the most recent tracking study.

 

You Can Only Take Advantage of the Power of the REALTOR® Brand If You Use It

So include the REALTOR® “R” in your marketing materials and on your business card; tell clients and potential customers that you’re a REALTOR®; use the materials available to you at www.realtor.org; and wear your REALTOR® pin with pride.

 

For more about the campaign and related resources, visit www.realtor.org/awarenesscampaign. 

 

KCRAR Campaign Enhances National Effort

Locally, advertising addressing the Homebuyer Tax Credits, passed as part of the federal stimulus bill in February, 2009, and then extended in November, has been included in the campaign.  Ads have run since March 2009 to educate consumers about the credits. Here is the most recent ad, which ran several times in early 2010. The message about the tax credit was also delivered online on the real estate page of www.kansascity.com, www.inkkc.com and through sites pin-pointed by behavioral targeting through Yahoo!

 

In addition, this ad ran in 2009 and will run again in 2010 to encourage consumers to "Get the Facts" about their local market by contacting a REALTOR® in their area.

 

Local advertising also promotes www.KCHomePrograms.com as a source of consumer information about the basics of mortgage financing, grants and other special programs for low and moderate-income buyers, non-soliciation homebuyer classes and more.  The homebuyer classes sponsored by KCRAR and the Mortgage Bankers Association of Greater Kansas City also receive additional advertising exposure prior to each month's class.  Ads on these topics run frequently online and in The Kansas City Star, Ink, the young-adult publication circulated throughout greater Kansas City and in some neighborhood news editions of The Kansas City Star. Suburban and community newspapers round out the local print advertising campaign.

 

Monthly articles in the Saturday real estate section of The Star promote REALTOR® services and inform readers about homeownership issues impacted by REALTOR® efforts.  Other articles run in several local publications, often with comments from KCRAR leaders.  Here are some that have been published:

 

From The Kansas City Star, April 24, 2010 -  DO GROUNDWORK BEFORE HOUSE HUNTING

 

 

All of this takes place under the umbrella of the NAR campaign funded by each and every REALTOR®'s annual payment into a fund dedicated to the Public Awareness Campaign.  It includes network TV and radio schedules and, new in 2010, consumer magazines.  Visit www.realtor.org/awarenesscampaign for more details.

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Posted on Tuesday, March 23, 2010 by Catherine Thomson