New to Commercial Real Estate Advertising
The majority of the experience I've had with advertising in real estate has been on the residential side of things, so when I was asked to start handling the commercial real estate content creation for my company, I jumped at the opportunity. Now, I'm running into the issue of my content appearing too "residential". What are some general tips to keep in mind when creating engaging content for people in the CRE world?
[{"id": "fckizy6", "text": "If you like jumping around, maybe you should go learn how to twirl a sign like those people on street corners. Even celebrities like Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker did a pretty good job with a sign. Speaking of celebs, product placement and name dropping could make your advertising more sexy and thus more commercial. For example, buying product placement in tv shows and porn.", "replies": [{"id": "fckj9yj", "text": "was this supposed to be funny?", "replies": [{"id": "fcmqh5u", "text": "*laughs uncontrollably*", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fckjeed", "text": "Depends on the product type, but I assume your content appears too residential because you are using too many pictures. For instance, with a warehouse, you only need 1-2 photos. Its the information that is most important (building size, ceiling heights, parking info, dock doors, etc)", "replies": [{"id": "fckrgqw", "text": "^This, Im an investment sales broker and a lot of our packages are bare bones and not fancy at all. They just have all the correct information that buyers are looking for. They also give the appearance that it ISN\u2019T being marketed which a lot of investors like because they want off-market opportunities. Loopnet and fancy residential marketing with lots of photos is more work and if your not providing the necessary information for a buying decision to be made you\u2019re just wasting investors time. It will give the appearance it\u2019s over marketed, that everyone already knows about it, and investors will wonder w\u201dwhy hasn\u2019t anyone bought this yet there must be somethin wrong with it \u201c", "replies": [{"id": "fcn34oo", "text": "Thank you, all of you are giving me some incredible advice, but I do have a question for you in particular since you gave such a more in depth answer about perception of inventory in respect to its advertising. In respect to social media, if I am tasked with creating content to promote awareness of brand in order to drive an audience to consider the possibility of investing in commercial real estate with us, maybe for the first time, maybe not, what kinds of things do you feel like would produce any ROI towards that goal if any?", "replies": [{"id": "fco48t1", "text": "I think content marketing with useful information that brings value would be the best way to reach that demographic. From what you\u2019re telling me it sounds like your company raises money/is a syndicator?\n\nIm asking this because as an broker in investment sales we usually prefer to avoid first time investors/newbies when selling real estate (more work/handholding &amp; they are less reliable buyers). I never saw social media as a great source for buyers (I cold call specific owners for leads mostly) but if I am  hearing you correctly, you will want to stick with content marketing and creating value.", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fckm49t", "text": "I was in a similar position, and one of the things I\u2019ve learned is to really think about your message. With residential you\u2019re trying to paint an emotional picture \u201cfirst home, yard for kids\u201d etc. but with commercial it needs to be more dry and matter of fact to appeal to the rational.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fckpgiz", "text": "Im on the finance side of CRE - when I am looking at broker materials to start underwriting, I want information. I dont care that you say something is beautiful, but I do want to know gross sq ft, leasable sq ft, infrastructure, number of doors, units, whatever. A photo or two is enough. \n\nCRE is about the numbers, not falling in love with a neighborhood or feeling at home.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fckrd9b", "text": "Try talking to some people in your target market about what they look for in marketing materials. Also, try seeing what your successful competitors are doing and emulate that.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fckwyni", "text": "Commercial is an investment vehicle for most. They want to know the salient facts. NOI, cap rates, form and function of the building. If your putting together an offering memorandum, include market demographics on traffic count, location highlights like big traffic draws if retail.\n\nKeep at it and find some broker listing online for reference.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fcl0rle", "text": "Also - maps help A LOT. Amenity / neighborhood maps, truck travel time maps (for industrial), etc. check out liftgeo dot com - they have a free amenity mapper.\n\nTalk about the regional picture (location to transp. hubs, hospitals, schools, industrial - whatever is relevant) and local map etc.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fcqxb9v", "text": "I\u2019ll start off by saying that I would encourage you to go to LoopNet to look at different ways companies advertise their space. Many brokers will post up their marketing brochures there and I think that\u2019s a great space to see visuals of advertising to learn from. Here you can look at sales, leasing, and a variety of asset types, and it\u2019s free for viewers so you won\u2019t need to sign up for anything to peruse. \n\nNow on to my long post!\n\nI use to partner with a marketing team and we collaborated on advertising a lot.  The biggest thing I learned about the business is it\u2019s heavily information based because CRE is an investment. What you do for marketing will greatly depend on what you are trying to do and who you are trying to attract. I think a big part knowing how to advertise it is learning about the space, understanding the needs of a potential landlord vs tenant, and getting to know asset types (office, retails, industrial, medical, land, etc.) because sometimes that\u2019ll create variances in what you put on the marketing materials as well. The education of CRE and experience in the space alone will help you get there! I have put together some high level views of different materials to help you out.\n\nPortfolio Sale - this is usually the big kahuna advertising - you would usually create what is called an offering memorandum which is usually rich with information to attract buyers. In this, the information would usually include information and history about the building, tenant make up, floor plans, a lot more photos of interior/exterior for potentially buyers to get an understanding of the building classification, and information about the market, maps, and building financials. \n\nFor a one off sale - you may do a much smaller ad, which is maybe a couple pages 2-4 depending on the size of the property which includes a couple photos, building floor plans and information about the building and surrounding area. And you would take the time to highlight anything that is worth noting.\n\nFor spaces for lease - 1-2 photo(s), depending on the type of space you may have interior photos if it\u2019s turnkey, information about the building, and floor plans. Also since this is a tenant with employees you could benefit from a list of amenities or an amenity map, mention if it\u2019s easily accessible by freeway, if it\u2019s downtown is there walkability? Local demographics to showcase the type of employees they have access to, etc. \n\nInformation that should be included on every ad -\n- space details: SF or size or purchase, cost or rent, asset type, building type (include zoning if land), note if building has any certifications, parking ratio, broker contact information. \n\nI know this was a lot to digest but feel free to reach out, more than happy to assist further and answer any additional questions.\n\nExcuse any typos as I\u2019m writing this from my phone this morning.", "replies": [{"id": "fdkgc3v", "text": "Thank you this is very helpful. I'll keep everything you said in mind! :-)", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]