Growing any real estate business can be a challenge. Commercial real estate investors face even more of an uphill battle than their peers who choose to work in residential markets, though. It can be difficult to get a foot in the door and start making money, but it’s not impossible. Find out about five strategies for growing a real estate business that can help below.
1. Make Full Use of Press Releases
One of the first pieces of advice experts give developers who need help with commercial real estate PR is to forge positive relationships with local media outlets. That requires creating press releases.
While the primary purpose of a press release is to share news about a company, these valuable PR tools can also be used to improve brand image, increase awareness about and improve attitudes towards new developments, and even boost SEO efforts. Ideally, the press release will also pique the interest of the local media, but even if it doesn’t, boosting it on social media or simply posting on the company’s website can also help.
2. Develop Brand Awareness
Branding isn’t just for product developers and retailers. Any type of business, including individual real estate professionals, can benefit from increasing brand awareness. To get started, take a look at the website to make sure it reflects not just the company’s logo and color schemes but also its mission and values. Everything about the company’s online and in-person image should be easily recognizable by potential partners, tenants, and the general public.
3. Embrace Content Marketing
Content marketing involves a combination of publishing information on a developer’s own website and reaching out to media publishers to maximize the reach of well-developed articles. It’s important to stay up-to-date on emerging industry trends. Placing articles that contain relevant and timely information can help a development company build its brand, drive traffic to its website, and boost search engine rankings.
4. Get Involved in the Community
Real estate developers often face harsh criticism from within the communities that they are trying to help. Active community involvement both before and after beginning a new project can help to improve the company’s brand image, build goodwill, and increase visibility. Helping to create fundraisers for nonprofits, celebrating the accomplishments of local leaders, and raising funds for charities can significantly improve a developer’s image. Plus, it offers an excellent opportunity for publishing an extra press release.
5. Engage With Social Media
Social media has changed just about everything about how people interact on the Internet, which can be a boon for real estate developers. Creating a social media strategy that complements other PR and marketing techniques is an affordable way to reach new audiences, build brand awareness, improve a developer’s reputation, and respond to concerns from the public in ways that feel authentic. Creating accounts on the most popular sites isn’t enough, though. Developers need to engage actively with the online community to build an active social media presence.
The Best Solution
The best solution for real estate developers is often to focus on what they do best and trust the rest to experts in their own field. PR professionals don’t just know how important it is to generate goodwill around commercial real estate development projects. They know how to accomplish this difficult goal for clients so they can focus on other aspects of planning the project.
