Marketing That Pays for Itself

Written by Acme Mag

It is the dream situation for most businesses – marketing that pays for itself. Really, you could argue that most pieces of marketing pay for themselves through the leads you receive and the market presence you create, however we are talking about marketing that DIRECTLY pays for itself. 

Meet Darren Penn from Ray White Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, he recognised a need for marketing material that made him stand out from the crowd. 

“I think we went to magazines because we were producing those stereotypical market reviews for a while and there was nothing in them that was really unique to what other agencies were doing,” Darren said. “It has morphed into what it is now, a full publication that includes the community and provides a resource to readers – and we still include our
report data.”

Currently on its third edition, Newcastle Living magazine is now producing its own income from advertising spend offered by businesses within the area. Spaces in the publication are hot, with businesses ranging from lawyers to cafes all wanting a piece of the action. With a print run of around 6000 and plans to increase, there is no sign of the mag slowing down. 

Having started before the pandemic, the quarterly magazine now has a real drive to tell the stories of local community businesses, giving them a means of reaching new potential customers through editorial pieces. Darren suggests this storytelling has given his business a new way to connect with people in the area. 

“It has given us this opportunity to learn more about the people within our community and the amazing businesses trading in our town,” Darren said. “We have this new and exciting way to get in touch with people and we can talk about topics that aren’t just within real estate. It is building our credibility as a brand and is truly creating an authentic means of connecting with potential customers.” 

Businesses within Newcastle and Lake Macquarie are interviewed and included in stories throughout the magazine and are offered copies to have within their store. This creates different channels to share the publication through that can build
its own momentum quite quickly.
The success of this magazine is clear, inclusion of the community gives people a personal connection to the publication, in turn giving a reason to engage with the content. Simply put, people will engage with content if they can relate or will receive some benefit from doing so. Newcastle Living does this excellently, and has continued to improve on how it presents itself from its first edition. 

Darren believes the publication has had a positive impact on his business and how people perceive his brand. 

“It is helping us to create dialogue with the community that we are there and we want to help other businesses thrive, “ Darren said.
“We are building a reputation
for ourselves as a business who is willing to be a platform for the voices of the community, and I
think that is pretty great.” 

Newcastle Living is an excellent example of marketing that listens to what your audience is asking for, and for real estate businesses, it is almost mandatory to do so in order to stand out from the clutter. 

For those looking to create something similar to Newcastle Living, Darren shares a neat bit
of advice.

“Get help with the entire process,” Darren said. “The magazine, the printing, the delivery – build relationships with businesses that can support you through the process and you will be able to create a team that is driven to provide an excellent piece of material.”