• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, March 17, 2014

Trulia launched its first national campaign Monday, dubbed the Moment of Trulia, in an attempt to draw the attention of home buyers, sellers, and renters to the online marketplace as the industry enters the busiest time of the year.

The $45 million campaign targets women ages 25 to 44. It will run across TV, radio, outdoor, online and mobile. The goal is to get serious home buyers and sellers to download Trulia's mobile app. The strategy, driven by data, began in late 2013 while testing the company's ability to build a cost-effective marketing campaign across channels. Those tests showed that the company needs to focus heavily on mobile and direct-response, in both online and offline channels.

Trulia wants to capitalize on mobile browsing and searches. Only about half the searches for real estate are done on mobile devices in the U.S., but that will change as more people become comfortable with voice search on a smartphone. About 159.8 million people in the U.S. have a smartphone, but not as many use voice search to find information through search engines or mobile app.

Conducting a voice search on a mobile device becomes as easy as pulling up a browser and verbally asking it to provide a list of all houses for sale or rent in a specific area. Online mapping services from Google, Bing and Yahoo then serve a listing of local restaurants, schools and other community services.

A video demonstrates how Trulia's mobile application helps consumers search and get answers to the many questions they have when buying a home. The campaign -- created by FCB San Francisco with media strategy and planning by Initiative Media -- kicks off with "Look," an ad showing a couple's journey to find a home and how Trulia turns a moment of confusion into clarity.

The company also built an application for Google Glass four weeks after the software development kit (SDK) launched.