In the fast-paced and competitive world of real estate, effective marketing is the key to unlocking success. If you’re a builder or investor looking to take your real estate operations to the next level, this is for you.
As a seasoned marketing manager specializing in real estate, I have curated an ultimate guide to help builders and real estate investors maximize their property's potential. I’ve worked with the top marketers in the industry and honestly, I’ve always been disappointed. Marketers don’t specialize in Real Estate generally, so I’ve always had to fill the void in translation and in doing so I’ve become the go to expert in the field myself. Now, I’m sharing the inside tips with you.
In this article, we'll delve into crucial aspects such as branding, website development, property management software integration, and strategic marketing techniques to easily take your company to the next level. If it feels like a lot of information and not in your wheelhouse to take on yourself, don’t worry, you can absolutely hire me to consult with your team or set up the entire operation for you.
Here’s a quick video on what I offer.
First, you’re going to need to establish your goals for your company or project by answering some basic fundamental questions.
Who’s Your Audience?
Are you marketing to potential residents or potential investors for your deals?
Will you need a website for your company, or just at the property level. Will this change as you scale?
How will your team communicate with leads, manage funds/rent rolls? CRM or Spreadsheets? There’s so many affordable property management software’s available now, we’ll review the best and why they’re better than excel from the onset shortly.
Branding: People buy why you do something, not what you do.
Establishing a strong brand identity sets the foundation for successful property marketing. To create a lasting impression, focus on the following:
Develop a unique brand identity that resonates with your target audience.
Design a captivating logo that represents your company and property.
Select brand colors that evoke the desired emotions and align with your target audience's preferences.
Craft a compelling brand voice that communicates your values and connects with potential clients.
Website Development: From Canva to Squarespace or Custom Sites
A professional and user-friendly website is a vital tool for showcasing your property and attracting potential builders and investors. Optimize your website with these essential elements:
Utilize user-friendly website builders such as WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace to streamline the development process, these are the best for optimizing SEO ranking, and can give you page options for individual properties if the main site is for your development company.
Create visually appealing property listings featuring high-quality photos, detailed descriptions, and floor plans. Canva not only creates fantastic graphics for use on your site, they actually allow you to create sites within canva, and collect data from forms consumers fill online, all without knowing how to build a site and deal with web hosting fees. Not amazing for a developer’s site, but if you’re listing one property— it’s pretty, pretty good.
For Example, this took me all of two minutes to make ——-> CANVA SITE EXAMPLE
3. Incorporate an easy-to-use application form to collect essential information from interested parties. THIS! This should always be the goal of you consumer facing site. Keep it simple and direct them to contact you in a way that allows capture of their info as seamlessly as possible.
4. Ensure simple integration with property management software for streamlined rent collection and application processing. This allows you to keep tabs on your receivables, track leads and rental applications/availability, and some offer investor facing options. I know because I beta tested Appfolio’s Investor Platform, and it’s cool.
Property Management Software Integration
Efficient property management is crucial for attracting investors. Integrate the right software to streamline operations and enhance tenant experience:
Stay tuned for our next article on all of the available property management software options in 2023.
Research property management software options such as Buildium, AppFolio, or Yardi that offer features like online rent collection, tenant screening, and maintenance tracking. Yardi lite is great if you’re needing only the basics. AppFolio is better if you’d like investors to be able to view their contributions and reports without generating your own each month. Entrata has a decent CRM, but honestly, you can use tools like Zapier to connect almost any software date nowadays.
Select a software that seamlessly integrates with your website, simplifying processes and providing a centralized platform for managing applications and rents. I can code almost any software into a squarespace site easily. Additional coding of a HTML can create a more visually appealing version of this for your consumer, but honestly, if they’re clicking to apply, you’ve already won them over in branding and marketing.
Optimize efficiency by leveraging automation tools for tasks like lease management, rent reminders, and maintenance requests. Setting up auto emails and texts for leads, reminders for rents due or important dates is crucial to maximize your leasing teams time and energy. Don’t skip this step in your CRM! Wouldn’t it be nice if your tenant files a repair request, and your Contractor gets an automatic email to confirm and schedule without you having to be the go between? Yes, you want this.
Images from Appfolio
Strategic Marketing:
To stand out from the competition and attract potential clients, implement a comprehensive marketing strategy directed at your audience. What do they want? What compels them to choose you over anyone else?
Conduct in-depth market research to understand local real estate trends, rental demand, and competitor strategies. You can view social advertisements of competitors on Meta Business Suite.
Go to their Profile.
Tap the ...
Select About This Account.
Under Active Ads you can view the account’s active ads in the Meta Ad Library, where you can see all the ads an account is running across Meta products - et voila.
Develop buyer personas to identify the target audience's preferences and needs. This is crucial for advertising. You have restrictions on housing as a special targeting audience, but your ads can absolutely have a Grad Student rocking a Penn hoodie working out in your gym and target audiences that have an interest in UofPenn. Targets like these are proven to lead to higher conversions.
Utilize digital marketing channels such as SEO, SEM, social media marketing, and targeted advertising to reach a wider audience. Take your site brand but make it social. Create a google my business page and add content and reviews here to create authority in the market.
image for MyMillenial
Create engaging content, including blog posts, videos, and images, to showcase the property's unique features and provide valuable information to potential clients. Go for emotional and entertaining content to draw in your audience, but don’t give the milk away for free… ie your goal is to entice your audience into your funnel or site. So only give them enough to show interest and want more info, so you can convert them through your contact forms on your site.
Photography, Video, and virtual tours are necessary. Did you know a great agent can do a Matterport virtual walkthrough of a property that’s 200 sqft in about 20 minutes, all from their phone. You don’t need to pay $300 every time you need a tour. A subscription to Matterport alone is around $100 and you can host all of your units under one subscription. If you have a great stabilizer to attach your phone to, you can get cinematic style video everyday as well, which is necessary for content on social and staying top of mind to your consumers.
Collaborate with local real estate influencers, property listing websites, and offline marketing methods like signage and direct mail to expand your reach. Hosting events is a great way to get USG, or user generated content. This helps build trust because when other people are talking about your company or property, your word of mouth reach expands, and this is the most trusted way to guarantee conversions.
Advertise, and retarget site visitors on social to keep their attention on your brand. You can do this using google and FB pixels to create custom audiences for retargeting your traffic when they take specific actions on your site, ie sending an ad for a two bedroom unit that’s available bc a potential tenant just clicked on two bed layouts on your site…. and now you’re following them around the internet in sponsored posts. Magic!
If you’re a real estate investor/operator, understanding the importance of branding, website development, property management software integration, and strategic marketing is vital to your success. By following the tips and strategies outlined in this guide, you'll be well-equipped to attract partners and tenants by positioning yourself as the premier option for them. Unlock the full potential of your property and drive success in the competitive real estate market.
Remember, effective marketing requires constant adaptation and refinement. Stay updated with the latest industry trends and continuously evaluate the performance of your marketing efforts to ensure optimal results.
Contact me today to elevate your property marketing to new heights and drive exceptional results.
Meet Kathryn Blessington
Locally known as a trend setter in marketing for real estate and design, Kathryn, a Main Line PA native, is ranked as a top luxury real estate agent in Philadelphia and the Main Line. She’s distinguished as the Most Viewed Agent Online nationally in 2021 and 2022 and her deals have been featured in Philly Mag, Philadelphia Style, Main Line Today, Curbed, The Inquire, and notably Architectural Digest.
