Marketing for Commercial Real Estate: Trends and Strategies for Success

Understanding a Commercial Real Estate Strategy, difference with advertising commercial real estate and CRE marketing plan

To truly understand all aspects of marketing commercial real estate, it is essential to recognize that a commercial real estate marketing strategy encompasses more than just advertising commercial real estate. While commercial real estate advertising is a crucial component, it is only one aspect of a comprehensive and multifaceted approach.

A crucial moment for marketing for commercial real estate is implementing a commercial real estate (CRE) marketing plan which serves as a roadmap for attracting, engaging, and delighting clients. It should be tailored to your firm's audience, resources, and goals, allowing you to manage tasks, track activities, and communicate with stakeholders effectively.

Trends in Commercial Real Estate Marketing

Before crafting your marketing plan, it is crucial to be aware of the prevailing trends in the commercial real estate industry. Here are some notable trends to consider:

CRE Digital Marketing: The demand for online information continues to grow, making it essential for CRE firms to invest in digital marketing. By complying with this trend and tracking conversions, you can keep clients engaged and satisfied.

Virtual Meetings: Face-to-face interactions are no longer the sole means of conducting business. Virtual 3D property tours on websites enable clients to visualize themselves in a space, saving time and money. Embracing video conferencing also allows your firm to meet with more clients in a single day.

Integrated Marketing Tools: Specialized CRE marketing tools that integrate with other technologies are gaining popularity. Leveraging a tech stack driven by APIs streamlines workflows, creates scalable processes, and enables quick distribution of real estate property listings across multiple channels.

Multifamily Recovery: The multifamily property sector is experiencing a rebound from the pandemic, attracting clients who want to expand their investment portfolios. Vacancy rates are stabilizing, and it is expected to remain flat in the coming year, presenting opportunities for growth.

Coastal Recovery: Multifamily properties in coastal cities are also bouncing back from the effects of COVID-19. Vacancy rates in major cities like Los Angeles, New York City, Boston, and Seattle are returning to pre-pandemic levels, indicating a resurgence of interest in these areas.

Upgraded Rentals: The pandemic has led renters to seek more spacious and luxurious apartments as they spend more time at home. With high prices in the single-family housing market, tenants are likely to upgrade to larger rental units, creating demand for improved rental properties.

Hybrid Work: The office landscape is evolving, with many employers adopting hybrid work models. This shift necessitates commercial properties that can accommodate employees in flexible work arrangements. Embracing this trend can ensure a steady stream of potential clients for CRE companies.

Retail Recovery: Despite the rise of e-commerce, brick-and-mortar stores still hold appeal for shoppers. Neighborhood and community shopping centers have seen a steady decline in vacancy rates, indicating a continued preference for physical retail spaces.

Commercial Real Estate Opportunities

To seize the opportunities within the CRE market, it's essential to be aware of emerging areas of potential. According to J.P. Morgan's commercial real estate outlook, three key areas stand out: affordable and workforce housing, infrastructure updates, and upgraded technology.

Affordable and Workforce Housing: Meeting the demand for middle-class housing is crucial. Developing mixed-income housing projects and establishing public-private partnerships can help address the shortage of affordable housing options.

Infrastructure Updates: The recent passing of a bipartisan infrastructure bill has allocated substantial funds for infrastructure projects. Commercial properties located in areas undergoing upgrades to roads, bridges, and other infrastructure stand to benefit from improved transportation and boosted economic activity.

Upgraded Technology: With the rise of electronic rent payments, it's important for multifamily property owners to enhance communication and improve accessibility for tenants. Implementing digital rent collection tools and embracing technological advancements not only lowers costs but also strengthens capital and enhances tenant satisfaction.

Crafting a Successful Commercial Real Estate Marketing Strategy

To develop an effective CRE marketing strategy, follow these steps:

1. Identify your target audience and establish marketing objectives.
2. Assess your traditional marketing methods and make necessary improvements.
3. Enhance your online marketing strategies for maximum impact.
4. Monitor and evaluate the outcomes of your marketing efforts.

Identify your target audience and establish marketing objectives

Begin by identifying your target audience and creating buyer personas that represent your ideal clients. Understand their challenges, preferences, and where they spend their time to determine the most effective channels to reach them. Analyze your competition's marketing strategies to differentiate your value proposition. Set specific, measurable, actionable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals and determine the necessary resources, budget, and tracking mechanisms to achieve them.

Assess your traditional marketing methods and make necessary improvements.

While digital marketing is crucial, offline marketing tactics still play a significant role in the CRE industry. Direct mail campaigns can be effective when targeting a hyper-focused list. Invest in print media to build brand awareness and establish authority. Provide high-quality print collateral to clients, showcasing the unique features of your properties. Networking remains essential, so attend industry events, host brokerage gatherings, and connect with professionals both offline and online.

Enhance your online marketing strategies for maximum impact.

Leverage the power of digital marketing to reach a wider audience and generate leads. Maximize your owned, paid, and earned media approaches:

• Owned Media: Leverage your website, blog, social media profiles, and email lists. Use search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to improve your website's visibility in search results. Engage with potential clients through email marketing campaigns, providing valuable content and nurturing them through the sales funnel. Share informative blog posts on social media to position your firm as a thought leader.
• Paid Media: Invest in paid advertising channels such as pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, remarketing, and banner ads. Run targeted ads that direct potential clients to landing pages on your website, optimizing lead generation. Consult with a PPC professional to ensure effective keyword selection, budget management, and campaign optimization.
• Earned Media: Build your online presence and brand advocates to gain exposure through social media, SEO, and press coverage. Focus on improving your SEO ranking to appear prominently in search engine results. Engage with clients and industry professionals on social media platforms to establish credibility and trust.

Monitor and evaluate the outcomes of your marketing efforts.

Now that your CRE marketing plan is ready to be implemented, it's crucial to track and analyze your marketing activities to gauge your success.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Since you established your marketing goals at the beginning, you should already be familiar with your key metrics. Here are a few KPIs worth monitoring:

• PR clippings: Keep track of media coverage and mentions related to your brand.
• Brand impressions: Measure the number of times your ads are viewed by your target audience.
• Website visits: Monitor the traffic to your website generated by online campaigns.
• Leads generated: Focus on the number of qualified leads generated, aligning with your overall goal.

By focusing on the KPIs that align with your specific objectives, you can gain valuable insights from the data and make informed decisions on how to optimize your strategy going forward.

Tools

Investing in marketing commercial real estate tools will enable you to effectively measure success by meticulously tracking every activity within your sales funnel. One essential tool is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, which allows you to centralize information across your marketing, sales, and support processes. This organization of data can help you identify potential business opportunities and streamline your operations.

Consider the following CRMs specifically designed for real estate agents:

• Chime
• Freshsales (formerly Freshworks)
• Apptivo
• Insightly
• Propertybase
• LionDesk
• HubSpot
• Salesforce

Additionally, utilizing marketing tools such as Google Analytics and Google Data Studio can streamline your data analysis process. Google Analytics enables you to track website traffic and monitor the performance of your Google Ads campaigns. Meanwhile, Google Data Studio consolidates all the relevant information into user-friendly dashboards and reports, facilitating easy analysis and reporting.

Consider Collaborating with Commercial Real Estate Marketing Experts

When it comes to advertising commercial real estate, a comprehensive CRE marketing plan is crucial. If you find yourself in need of additional support or expertise and the question or how to get commercial real estate leads is one of the pivoval, consider reaching out to specialized commercial real estate marketing companies. These firms are well-versed in various marketing disciplines and can offer valuable insights and strategies for optimizing your digital marketing efforts, utilizing tools such as HubSpot and Salesforce.

By developing a high tech marketing for commercial real estate and staying updated on industry trends, you can effectively build brand awareness, generate leads, and achieve success in the highly competitive commercial real estate market.

Affordable and Workforce Housing: Meeting the demand for middle-class housing is crucial. Developing mixed-income housing projects and establishing public-private partnerships can help address the shortage of affordable housing options.

Infrastructure Updates: The recent passing of a bipartisan infrastructure bill has allocated substantial funds for infrastructure projects. Commercial properties located in areas undergoing upgrades to roads, bridges, and other infrastructure stand to benefit from improved transportation and boosted economic activity.

Upgraded Technology: With the rise of electronic rent payments, it's important for multifamily property owners to enhance communication and improve accessibility for tenants. Implementing digital rent collection tools and embracing technological advancements not only lowers costs but also strengthens capital and enhances tenant satisfaction.

Outsourcing Commercial Real Estate Lead Generation

Outsourcing lead generation in commercial real estate can optimize your business operations. By partnering with specialized service providers, you can leverage their expertise and resources to generate high-quality leads. This chapter explores the benefits of outsourcing and provides practical insights for success.

Benefits of Outsourcing: Outsourcing brings expertise, saves time, and allows you to focus on core functions.

Selecting the Right Provider: Choose a provider with a track record in commercial real estate lead generation.

Defining Objectives: Clearly communicate lead generation goals and establish measurable KPIs.

Collaborative Approach: Maintain open communication and share comprehensive business information.

Monitoring and Reporting: Implement systems to track lead quality and regularly review progress reports.

Cost Analysis and ROI: Assess costs and evaluate the return on investment of outsourced efforts.

Continual Evaluation and Adaptation: Monitor performance, stay updated on industry trends, and adjust strategies as needed.

Conclusion:

Outsourcing lead generation in commercial real estate offers efficiency and expertise. With the right provider and a collaborative approach, you can generate quality leads while focusing on core business functions. Continually evaluate and adapt your outsourcing strategy for optimal results.