A great commercial real estate marketing strategy will convert leads and help your business increase revenue. While many come into a marketing strategy with a few good ideas on advertising, ads structure and message, these ideas will fail to succeed if not adhered to a larger strategy. Here are 4 steps to complete before you start buying ad space.
1. Emphasis on the Target Market
Narrowly define your target market. Keep in mind that you can’t please everybody and trying to do so will put you in unneeded pressure. Instead, focus on your target market and narrow it down. For commercial real estate, this usually means choosing an industry: industrial / retail / office /etc. or a specialty such as investments / landlord rep / tenant rep.
Everything in your marketing strategy will be based on what would attract your target audience. Some of the factors that need to be taken into consideration are the likes and dislikes of your target and their purchasing power.
2. Focus on the Defined Service
When specializing in the retail industry, your ad mockups will be vastly different than someone focusing on industrial spaces. Each of your target markets are looking for something vastly different, and until you have made decisions and segmented your audience, you cannot define your service properly. Same with investors versus tenant rep. Each segment has their own set of needs and interests.
When defining your ad look and messaging, you will consider your target market’s pain points and how you can help. For instance, tenant rep ad may say something like, “Get the best deal on your next lease agreement.” While a landlord rep would be more interested in, “Get top rental rates for your property.” Vastly different messages, for two different audiences.
3. Have Measurable Specifics
Everything in your marketing strategy should be quantifiable. A timeline is important, so include all major and minor details with their proper dates. A good marketing plan is driven by strategy, but the tactics and the details are the ones that will give the push it needs. The plan needs to show the result of each activity so that it becomes easier to measure ROI (return on investment).
These can be measured with tools such as Google Analytics. When buying ad space, request a “trackable” link to verify clicks. When using print ads, create a unique landing page (on your website) so you can track how many hits it gets and measure the ad’s success.
4. Responsibility and Accountability
A good marketing strategy requires more than just “spray and pray”. Track each of your marketing efforts so you can judge where to put additional funds down the line. For instance, if you have purchased a magazine ad costing $1000, but only brings 10 clicks and 0 leads, you’ll know something about it was a bust. Knowing is key. Now that you have stats, change your messaging, subject line, and photos, and try again. Over time, if you still get a poor response, give up on the platform knowing you have tested it thoroughly and it is not working for you. On the flip side, knowing every time you spend $100 on an Email Blast brings in ## leads, is a great start to lining up your future ad campaigns.
