Listening to consumers

How consumers want the Real Estate Industry

to communicate with them
A summary of the latest research findings
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Listening to consumers

In an industry that’s never standing still, there’s no way to predict
the latest developments in the real estate market.
While first-home buyer grants have been offered to generate sales
at the entrance level of the market, some analysts predict the baby
boomers offer the most potential, especially with empty-nesters
and mature aged home-owners selling up in the suburbs for a
place out of town.
In fact, nine out of Australia’s most aged 10 suburbs are coastal
locations in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia,
according to the ABS.*1
In these volatile times, with fragmented media and a consumer-
centric environment, it is of paramount importance to choose the
best media for communicating with customers and prospects.
To help marketers optimise their mix, Australia Post decided
to look at consumer*2 media channel preferences. In 2003,
Post commissioned independent market research to identify
the preferred media for customers and non-customers to receive
communications from various industries. The resulting study,
Reaching Consumers in the Information Age, also considered how
different types of messages affected these media preferences.
As a result, we able to present the specific findings for how
consumers prefer the real estate industry to communicate
with them.
The highly competitive nature of the property market in Australia
makes the findings from the research especially pertinent.
*1 The Australian Financial Review, October 14, 2003
*2 In this document, where we have used the term “consumers”, we
are referring collectively to customers and non-customers surveyed.
In some cases we have extrapolated the survey results to refer to
consumers of the wider community.

Fig 1: Customers’ preferred media for receiving advertising and promotional information from the real estate industry

Television 7%

Newspapers 14%

Magazines 2%

Mail (personally addressed) 21%

Mail (unaddressed) 16%

Radio 3%

Catalogues (personally addressed) 3%

Catalogues (unaddressed) 12%

Websites 2%

Telephone 2%

E-mail 2%

None 32%

Other 3%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

Source: Reaching Consumers in the Information Age

Base: 508 respondents
NB ‘Other’ includes magazines, SMS, outdoor billboards and individuals who didn’t know their preference
Where percentages do not total 100%, some respondents provided multiple answers
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advertising or promotional information by addressed mail than

Mail is preferred for receiving
advertising and promotional
information from real estate
companies
Operating in a results-driven environment, it is critical that the real
estate industry is utilising the most effective channels for their
advertising and promotional messages.
A key finding from the Reaching Consumers in the Information Age
research is that real estate industry customers prefer to receive
advertising and promotional messages through personally
addressed mail (see Fig 1).
When the consumer already has dealings with a real estate
company, they are nearly 50% more likely to prefer to receive
through newspaper advertising.
The figures for mail (personally addressed and unaddressed) and
unaddressed catalogues, when viewed together, show a significant
‘share of the mailbox’ for this sector. This applies regardless of
whether or not the consumer is a customer or not.
The fact that almost a third of consumers prefer no
communications reflects the very specific nature of the offer. If a
consumer is not considering buying or selling a house, they will
not require real estate services. As such, there is a need to target
offers as efficiently as possible in order to avoid wastage.
When the consumer is not a customer of a real estate company,
their preference for receiving advertising and promotional
information via unaddressed mail and catalogues is 32% versus
newspapers at 18% (Fig 2).

Fig 2: Non-customers’ preferred media for receiving advertising and promotional information from the real estate Industry

Television 9%

Newspapers 18%

Magazines 2%

Mail (personally addressed) 13%

Mail (unaddressed) 20%

Radio 3%

Catalogues (personally addressed) 2%

Catalogues (unaddressed) 12%

Websites 1%

Telephone 0%

E-mail 1%

None 31%

Other 3%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

Source: Reaching Consumers in the Information Age

Base: 500 respondents
NB ‘Other’ includes SMS, outdoor billboards and individuals who didn’t know their preference
Where percentages do not total 100%, some respondents provided multiple answers
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The mail has room for growth
On average, Australian households receive only 2.3 items of
personally addressed advertising or promotional mail each week.*1
While the spend on direct mail in Australia grew by nearly 70% in
the seven year period between 1995 and 2002,*2 marketers are
still generating less than one item per person per week.*3
Even with this growth, however, Australian households still receive
less personally addressed advertising than those in comparative
developed markets. For example, the United States Postal Service
estimates that US households receive an average of nearly 15
items of direct mail (defined as sales, advertising and promotional
material) each week.*4
As Fig 3 shows, the real estate category accounts for a relatively
small share of the overall total of advertising mail in Australia.
This chart implies that, for most sectors, there is limited
competition in the mail box as a number of sectors do not appear
to be utilising advertising mail, and hence there may be a
significant opportunity to gain the consumers’ attention.
The relatively small numbers of mail pieces in the Australian
letterbox could explain why three-quarters of direct mail (75%)
Fig 3: Sources of addressed advertising mail
Finance/banking/insurance
Telecoms/mobile phones
Charities
Real estate
Utilities
Department store
Motor vehicle 4%
Travel 1%
Supermarket 4%
0%
Source: Australia Post Letterbox Diary Stats, Winter 2003
Base: 527
Where percentages do not total 100%, some respondents provided multiple answers
received by consumers is opened and read.*5 At a time when a
number of media are struggling to achieve cut-through, this is of
vital importance. In the majority of instances, direct mail literally
gets the message into a consumer’s hands.
Further to this, 61% of consumers say they have purchased as
a result of direct mail they have requested.*5 Direct mail is
sometimes called the ‘silent salesman’ and this statistic shows
why. Even when the consumer has not requested an item of direct
mail, over a third of respondents stated that they had purchased
as a result of receiving a particular piece.*5
Almost all (98%) consumers could state something they liked
about direct mail.*5 Where consumers request direct mail, nearly
all of them like something about the mail they are sent as a result.
Even when they have not requested the direct mail piece, 87% still
like some element of the direct mail they receive, where
a prior relationship exists with the organisation sending the
direct mail.*5
*1 Australia Post Letterbox Diary data, Winter, 2003
*2 Direct Marketing in Australia, CEASA Report, 2002
*3 Household Mail Survey, Ingenuity Research, June, 2003
*4 USPS 2001 Household Diary Study
*5 Marketing Media In Australia, ResponseAbility Report, 2001
26%
16%
22%
9%
9%
13%
10% 20% 30% 40%
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If the message is relevant, most consumers do not mind who uses

Frequency and relevance are keys
to success
In the information age, consumers have not only come to accept
but now prefer to receive marketing communications from
companies as regularly as monthly for the largest percentage,
narrowly followed by weekly. This is summarised in Fig 4.
By comparing the actual frequency of advertising and promotional
mailings, with the preferred frequency by consumers, it becomes
clear that there is a significant opportunity for agents to more
regularly send out mailings.
the direct mail channel (see Fig 5). Indeed, just under half (49%)
of consumers state that they actively like to receive promotional
information from organisations through the mail. Promotional
material is shared between family members in the majority of
households, with the information often kept to read at a later time.
With the home being the most significant of all household
purchases, it is feasible that more than one person will be involved
in the decision-making. As such, the ability to share marketing
information is vital.

Fig 4: Preferred frequency for customers receiving advertising and promotional information

Weekly 27%

10%
Fortnightly

Once month 29%

Every 2 months 4%

Every 3 months 5%

Every 4 months 0%

Every 6 months 2%

Every 12 months 1%

Less than once a year 1%

Never 11%

Don't know 10%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

Source: Reaching Consumers in the Information Age

Base: 1001 respondents

Fig 5: Attitudes towards direct mail

I don’t care who sends information to me as Don’t know

long as it is relevant 15 16 8 60 10
Strongly disagree
Most of the promotional material we
receive is read by more than one member in 12 25 5 46 11 Disagree
the household
Neither agree
1 9 24 16 41 8 nor disagree
I quite like receiving promotional information in
the mail from companies Agree

If I can’t read it right away I keep it until later 7 22 7 53 11 Strongly agree

Source: ‘Reaching Consumers in the Information Age’

Base: 1001 respondents
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In fact, RedSherrif’s annual Australian Internet Report (2003)

Consumers are not receptive
to e-mail
More than half of the consumers surveyed (56%) have access to
e-mail and regularly receive a variety of e-mail communications
from companies.*1 However, as Fig 6 shows, when they are
customers of an organisation, the vast majority prefer to receive
information via the mail.
revealed that one-third of e-mails are not read at all. Pop-up menus
are either closed immediately or software purchased to prevent
advertising from occurring.*2
While marketers may perceive e-mail to be more cost-effective,
the reality is that relatively few consumers currently prefer the new
media channel. It should be noted that Reaching Consumers in the
Information Age includes the comparison in Fig 6 with other media.
*1 Direct Mail Quantitative Report, TNS, July, 2003
*2 AdNews, September 26, 2003

Fig 6: Media preference for receiving types of information when a customer: direct mail v e-mail

Bills (phone, gas, etc) 91%

7%

Financial accounts/ 91%

statements 7%

Annual reports 77%

9%

Explanation of & changes to 82%

t and cs 7%

Loyalty statements & info 71%

9%

New product announcements 26%

8%

Invitations to special events 54%

or sales 9%

Club or membership 62%

newsletters 12%

News & updates about 46%

an organisation 13%

Advertising or 30%
promotional info 8%

Political information 27%

3%
E-MAIL

Requests for donations 29%

MAIL
2%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Source: Reaching Consumers in the Information Age

Base: 1001 respondents
Where percentages do not total 100%, some respondents provided multiple answers
 7

Customers prefer advertising and

promotional messages by direct
mail, not e-mail
When asked to choose between direct mail and e-mail for
receiving advertising and promotional messages, customers
overwhelmingly chose direct mail.
For the real estate industry, direct mail scored highly overall (21%),
with 10 times as many respondents saying they prefer
to receive information via mail rather than by e-mail.

Fig 7: Preference for receiving advertising and promotional information by direct mail
and e-mail when a customer of an organisation, by industry

Real estate 21%

2%

Banking & finance 66%

6%

Telecommunications 54%
7%

65%
Utilities
4%

Car manufacturers & retailers 19%

2%

Supermarkets 10%
2%

Department stores 14%

3%

18%
Travel & tourism
7%

9% 15%
Local businesses
3%

Charities 34%
3%

29%
Election information
2%

19%
Retailers (overall)
3% E-MAIL
35% MAIL
Club & sports
7%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Source: Reaching Consumers in the Information Age

Base: 508 respondents
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As Fig 9 shows, mail is peaking in the youngest (18 to 24) group

Real estate customers prefer mail of respondents and remains the preferred channel across all ages.
regardless of their profile Even though half of the 65+ respondents said they were
Mail ranks as the most preferred communication medium with disinterested in receiving real estate promotions and advertising,
customers of the real estate industry, regardless of their it is still worthwhile segmenting streams within this age group.
demographic profile. Not only in terms of downsizing, but also for properties at the high
end of the market.
As can be seen in Fig 8, there are few differences between metro
and rural customers with preference for personally addressed mail
consistent across both groups.

Fig 8: Customers’ preferred media for receiving advertising and promotional

information from the real estate industry – by metro vs rural

Total 21 16 12 7 14 2 10 32

Metro 21 15 15 7 11 3 10 34

Rural 21 17 9 7 17 1 11 30

Source: Reaching Consumers in the Information Age

Base: 508 respondents
Where percentages do not total 100%, some respondents provided multiple answers

Fig 9: Customers’ preferred media for receiving advertising and promotional

information from the real estate industry – by age

18 to 24 28 21 11 9 13 6 11 21

25 to 39 23 17 14 9 16 4 11 20

40 to 54 18 15 1 13 8 16 1 15 35

55 to 64 17 21 12 3 14 1 4 42

65+ 21 7 9 2 4 4 7 52

Source: Reaching Consumers in the Information Age

Base: 508 respondents
Where percentages do not total 100%, some respondents provided multiple answers

Mail (personalised) Mail (unaddressed) Catalogues (personalised)

Catalogues (unaddressed) Television Newspaper
E-mail Other Don't know/none
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Fig 10 indicates that personally addressed mail is the most
preferred channel of the higher income groups. In fact, it enjoys the
highest percentage share in the $100k+ income group.
Interestingly, television has its lowest preference score in the
lowest income group.
Finally, Fig 11 shows the breakdown of channel preference when
analysed by the level of education the consumer achieved. As you
can see, the appeal of personalised and unaddressed mail remains
strong across all groups.

Fig 10: Supporters’ preferred media for receiving information

from the real estate industry – by income

Less than $35K 19 12 14 3 9 1 8 43

$35K to $50K 15 21 13 14 10 3 6 29

$50K to $100K 21 20 13 9 18 2 9 28

Over $100K 40 12 12 8 14 4 22 22

Source: Reaching Consumers in the Information Age

Base: 508 respondents
NB: ‘Other’ includes SMS, outdoor billboards and individuals who didn’t know their preference
Where percentages do not total 100%, some respondents provided multiple answers

Fig 11: Customers’ preferred channels for receiving advertising and promotional
information from the real estate industry – by education

Less than year 12 16 14 13 5 15 10 39

Secondary 28 14 10 9 15 2 8 28

Trade/tertiary 19 21 15 8 9 5 11 32

University+ 23 17 12 6 15 3 13 28

Source: Reaching Consumers in the Information Age

Base: 508 respondents
Where percentages do not total 100%, some respondents provided multiple answers

Mail (personalised) Mail (unaddressed) Catalogues (personalised)

Catalogues (unaddressed) Television Newspaper
E-mail Other Don't know/none
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Consumers’ access to e-mail

While nearly half the consumers questioned have access to e-mail, Fig 14 shows that most people access e-mail at home, with
the profile of this audience is (perhaps unsurprisingly) skewed significant proportion able to do so at work. This chart totals more
towards younger and more affluent consumers. than 100% because of many people access e-mail at both home
and work.

Fig 12: What percentage of the sample who took part in Fig 13: Demographic and income profile of respondents
this research has email access with email access

80% 77%

70%
63% 62%
60%

44% 56% 50% 47%

40%

30%

20% 16%

10%

0%
18 – 24 2 5 – 39 4 0 – 54 5 5 – 54 65+
Have e-mail Do not have
access e-mail access

Source: Reaching Consumers in the Information Age, Stats, 2003 Source: Reaching Consumers in the Information Age, Stats, 2003
Base: 1001 respondents Base: 1001 respondents
Where percentages do not total 100%, some respondents provided multiple answers Where percentages do not total 100%, some respondents provided multiple answers

Fig 14: Consumer location when accessing email Fig 15: Consumer location when accessing e-mail

Home 83% 88%

90%

80%
70%
70%
Work 47% 60%
60%

50%
School/
7% 40%
university
31%
30%

Internet 20%
2%
cafes
10%

0%
Other 2% Less $35k to $50k to Over
than $40k $100k $100k
$35k

Source: Reaching Consumers in the Information Age, Stats, 2003 Source: Reaching Consumers in the Information Age, Stats, 2003
Base: 1001 respondents Base: 1001 respondents
Where percentages do not total 100%, some respondents provided multiple answers Where percentages do not total 100%, some respondents provided multiple answers
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Direct mail References

opportunities
The findings contained in this report describe the importance Australia Post commissions independent specialist companies
of direct mail as a communication medium for the real to undertake research into direct mail usage and perceptions
estate sector. amongst Australian consumers. The findings in this report are
based on the following research sources, which are available on
It is clear that consumers, whether customers or prospects of
the Mail Marketing website www.auspost.com.au/mailmarketing
real estate companies, prefer to be contacted by direct mail.
Many consumers like receiving promotional mail and will keep it
Reaching Consumers in the Information Age – undertaken by
if they don’t have time to read it right away. The frequency with
TNS, the world ’s third-largest marketing information company
which consumers like to be contacted can be carefully managed
using direct mail. E-mail, often characterised as a replacement
Qualitative Study – This study involved six in-depth focus
medium for physical mail, is not preferred by the majority of
groups of between six and eight participants, differentiated by
consumers. Mail’s appeal is very broad, spanning all income
metropolitan and regional area and age groups.The purpose of the
and demographic groups.
qualitative study was to determine consumer-friendly terminology
The volatile and increasingly competitive real estate market, as for each media channel and provide more in-depth responses.
well as the fact that customers and prospects want to be
Quantitative Study – This study involved 1,001 telephone
contacted through the post, bodes well for operators investing in
interviews with the person in the household either totally or
direct mail campaigns. This, of course, indicates similar
mainly responsible for receiving and opening household mail.
opportunities for other industries.
A representative sample of households throughout every regional,
To find out how to maximise the effectiveness of your direct mail, rural and metropolitan area within Australia was selected.
contact your Australia Post representative, phone 13 11 18 or visit This research considered media preferences for customer and
www.auspost.com.au/mailmarketing non-customer, by type of message, by industry type, throughout
the marketing and business cycle.

Australia Post Letterbox Diary, Winter 2003 – undertaken by

McNair Ingenuity Research

The study involved 527 consumers completing an in-depth

survey into all items (addressed and unaddressed) received in
their letterbox.
Other research and reports available on the Mail Marketing
website include:

Marketing Media in Australia

Undertaken by ResponseAbility,this research examined consumer
and business people’s attitudes towards various marketing media
in Australia.

Nielsen Media Research Insight Reports

Derived from the detailed activity report “Who’s Mailing What”,
this monthly report can help you evaluate levels of competitor
direct mail activity.
12 12

Listening to consumers

To find out more, call 13 11 18 or visit www.auspost.com.au/mailmarketing

ABN 28 864 970 579