How a Staged Marketing Campaign Works in Brokerage

The idea of marketing a commercial or retail property for sale or lease is something that needs to be planned and staged.  It should never be a random process. 

Spend more time with any exclusive listings and ensure that there are strategies to improve any marketing program. 

As agents, we have some strategic choices to make regarding our property listings, the respective target markets, and market coverage.  In saying that, a staged marketing approach with any property listings should only apply to exclusive listings. 

Spend more of your real estate time and thought processes with those exclusive listings.  Open listings are only a factor of luck (there is no control in marketing), and luck doesn’t work in the long term in brokerage.

Real Estate Promotional Choices

So, there are some choices here regarding the listing type(s) and campaign processes.  Think about your recent property presentations. Were they listed exclusively?  What choices did you then make in taking on a new listing and promoting it locally?  Most agents can always do more in promoting a property, and that is where the ‘strategy’ idea kicks in.

We always have choices in how we promote properties and what listings we take on.  Open listings are more of an ‘experiment in marketing’ and should not take a lot of time for any agent.  We should always focus on the exclusive listing approach and method to bring in more of the enquiry.

What Do Clients Think?

Many clients think that the open listing process with several agents will give them more market coverage.  The reality of that is far more harmful, and it is usually the case that an open listing will stay on the market for a longer time.  In most cases, open listings achieve a lower price than other properties of the same type exclusively listed in a similar location. 

Always explain those listing alternatives and facts to prospects and clients as part of the listing process.  Gather some proof of the process so you can show any client or prospect precisely what is happening in your property market today.

So, let’s go back to the best listing process and marketing campaign solution.  The idea of a staged marketing campaign is something to be applied to those unique properties exclusively listed and used with those priority or good clients.  Exclusivity underpins the marketing approach and results in property inspections and enquiry will always be better for that reason.

Listing Choices for Agents

Some agents will not take on an ‘open listing’ in their real estate business. That is a logical and wise decision.  If the client will not allow the agent to take on the property in a dedicated promotional process, why should the agent waste time on something they cannot control?  The conversions of open listings are consistently lower, and the deals are harder to achieve.

Let us presume you can convert a new listing to exclusivity.  As part of that, a promotional campaign must be created.  The outcome you are looking for with your property marketing efforts will always be to boost inquiries in the shortest time. 

A Staged Promotional Process

A staged marketing campaign will look something like this and will be spread across a four-to-six-week period:

1. You are setting the target audience and locating the base of buyers and or tenants.  You can do that in your database and the local area for the campaign.  As targeted groups, they can then be part of a direct approach via email and telephone marketing when the property campaign starts.
2. Ensure that you are choosing the right marketing message for the property, given its location, the improvements, and the preferred method of sale or lease.
3. Choose the best method of sale or lease as the case may require and market evidence supports.  Every property promotion will have some bias towards a preferred method of sale or lease.  Ensure that you have those choices set based on market evidence.
4. Take time in setting the various headlines and contents of advertisements to be used.  From this activity, you can draft your advertising in readiness for approval and checking.  Use keywords in your marketing to match the location and the target market you are seeking to attract.  You can get many keyword ideas from real estate portals and search engines.
5. Establish and build a campaign timeline that can match the main media choices that reach the target market.  The property media choices will usually include telephone calls, internet portals, emails, brochures, professional photos, signboards, and local area coverage.  When these things are undertaken comprehensively, there will be some level of enquiry coming back in.
6. Establish a budget for the property promotion as part of asking for vendor paid marketing funds.  You can also give the client two or three alternatives to the campaigns and hence costings.  The ‘gold, silver, and bronze’ approach to property promotion is practical, and the budgets adjusted accordingly.
7. Draft the marketing campaign across two stages.  That is the first release of the property (2 weeks) and then the final follow-up release detail over the balance of the promotional campaign.  This allows you to optimize the promotional message to reach the target audience.  In other words, your marketing message is more strategic.  Often, and as a marketing enhancement, two types of advertisements are used across the advertising timeline.  That allows the property promotion to be ‘refreshed’ with more momentum midterm.
8. Know where the property enquiry is coming from, and how successful the marketing appears to be. As the campaign moves ahead, the enquiries can be tracked, and the inspections can be optimized. If something is not working in the campaign, small changes can happen with the media choices and promotional message.

So, this framework can form the basis of a staged marketing campaign for a commercial or retail property promoted for sale or lease.  Do more with your real estate marketing and use vendor paid funds for that.  The enquiry for the property will always be better.