Can the printed media survive the swing to online communications?

Among the challenges that face those responsible for marketing residential property, has for years been the ongoing reduction in numbers and size of print media serving this sector. This, says Rowan Alexander, Director of the Cape Town estate agency Alexander Swart Property, is not something new: it has been a clearly observable trend ever since the introduction of television to South Africa but has been hurried and emphasised by the growing reliance on electronic and social media - and now, by the Coronavirus epidemic which has limited the public's access to printed publications and has also made them fearful of virus contamination from handling printed material.

"The question asked now, has taken on a very serious tone. Some are questioning whether the printed media will survive at all - and if so, in what shape or form?"

The current trend, says Alexander, does pose somewhat of a threat to the traditional property publicity media. "The new online and social media have a serious drawback that they are wide open to use by ANYONE, often overloaded by trivial and sometimes false news, some almost impossible to understand but have to be "waded through". Due to lack of credibility it makes all such news or advertising suspect."

"By way of contrast, print media have always had a fairly high level of credibility, is known to be effective, well written on the whole and factual.

"We have spent large sums of money on printed publications over the years. In the vast majority of cases this has had the result we were after - so I would be sad to see any further decline in the number and size of these publications. They have proved especially useful when directed at and serve specific communities, in which they are often by far the most widely read of all publications. In our case, they have often been backed by hand delivered printed knock-and-drop publicity, which although expensive, has also shown to be effective."

With the economy "knocked sideways" by the lockdown, there is likely to be an increased tendency among estate agents to rely more on social and electronic media. It is already clear that some agencies, by no means all, are adapting to the new conditions and challenges far faster than others. "The use of new media is often not welcomed by long established agencies, which in general find it hard to rethink their marketing strategies."

This adaptation calls for thorough training of agents in the use of the new media," says Alexander, "and I like to think that we at Alexander Swart have been among the leaders." Alexander Swart is fortunate to be staffed by very experienced older and highly motivated young agents, most of whom quickly understood the advantages of maintaining a high social media profile and learning how to maximize their electronic skills.

"What has become clear is that when we finally emerge from the Coronavirus meltdown, we will be in a whole new scenario: the new normal will be very different from what we have grown accustomed to. Working from home will not only be seen as viable but actually conferring benefits. Perhaps the big challenge then will be to maintain staff morale when people are not meeting their colleagues and managers daily."

For further information, please contact Rowan Alexander on 082 581 3116 or by email : rowan@asproperty.co.za