• by Ben Frederick  @mp_benfred, March 22, 2016

Xpressdocs, a provider of direct-marketing solutions for enterprises and franchises, and Chalk Digital, a mobile ad platform, announced a partnership today to help franchises and real estate turn print marketing into geo-targeted mobile ads.

The partnership is intended to provide marketers with new options for targeting buyers that might be difficult to reach through other channels, including millennials. It will also allow them to extend their reach to geo-targeted mobile users.

The technology can export print content into a mobile banner ad format, target users, and track some metrics like clicks and views. Ad creation is free.

“Eighty-nine percent of home buyers use mobile at the beginning and throughout their search,” stated Craig Hagopian, Chalk CEO and founder.

As more potential home buyers turn to digital means to find homes, and as more millennials reach home-buying age, digital has become an integral part of the search process.

The first step that 42% of buyers in 2015 took was to search online, while 14% found a realtor first thing, according to the National Association of Retailers. Those buyers that did use the Internet typically looked at more houses over a longer period of time than those that didn’t use the Internet as part of their process.

This partnership appears to be a transitional step into mobile marketing for real estate and franchises. While banner ads are widely disparaged by consumers and journalists alike, when they aren’t blocked, they can be effective.

If real-estate marketers use this opportunity to learn the basics of mobile marketing, it could help them stay relevant as millennials age into the home buying market.