Online real estate advertising expected to climb by 15 percent

The real estate industry’s spending on online advertising may be set to increase as agents and brokers move to employ more diverse marketing strategies, a new report by research and consulting firm Borrell Associates predicts.

According to Borrell researchers, online real estate advertising is expected to increase 15 percent to $13 billion, making real estate the largest advertising category across online and mobile digital media combined.

The sites that are expected to see the largest increase in online ads are Realtor.com and Zillow.com.

By 2017, Borrell projects that targeted display will rush past email to be the primary ad format, making up nearly 47 percent of ad spending, with the share of video advertising doubling to 22 percent. Both ad types are expected to thrive as real estate professionals turn to emerging platforms to connect with prospects.

While home sales and new construction continue to rebound, real estate professionals continue to shift marketing dollars to less costly channels such as mobile and social media.

An estimated 62 percent of real estate agents maintain a social networking site, with an average of 535 friends and followers each. The media research firm expects social media to play a growing role in advertising.

The report notes real estate agents as early adopters of mobile technology presence. “The agent of the near future is likely to be the most socially-savvy, mobile-connected business in town,” stated the report.

Borrell says that traditional channels of banner advertising and paid listings are on the decline. New tools such as social media are still fairly new in growth. The report details research showing that real estate agents are actually behind the curve in the adoption of social media, and says that conditions are “ripe” for companies that can serve opportunities to help connect agents with homebuyers and sellers.

Borrell Associates research reports cover a wide variety of industries from automobiles to real estate. They focus particularly on online marketing tactics. The company was founded in 2001 by Gordon Borrell and is headquartered in Williamsburg, Virginia.