5 PR Trends That Will Help Your Real Estate Company Grow
Violet PR's campaign played a crucial role in propelling the success of The Pinnacle Companies' The MC Hotel project.
Learn the keys trends to help your CRE business grow.
With the commercial real estate (CRE) industry becoming exceedingly more competitive, a strong public relations campaign can help your firm stay ahead of the competition. Here is the inside scoop into the top tools your firm can use to grow your business.
1. Prioritize public relations
Companies often benefit from a PR firm’s expertise in media relations, online content and social media, so anytime you see, hear or read about a specific CRE company or development, it’s usually a result of a PR effort. Public relations firms are getting involved with projects at an early stage – long before the ribbon cutting – to develop messaging and help shape public perception, which is especially important in the age of social media.
2. Create and share videos
According to G2.com, video generates 1200% more shares than text and image content combined.
If you need more convincing that video is vital to the success of your CRE business, check out these stats:
78% of people watch online videos every week, and 55% view online videos every day. (HubSpot)
More internet users are watching video on social platforms other than video content leader YouTube. (source: Insider Intelligence).
It is crucial for developers and CRE professionals to create and release videos of projects to expand their reach and remain memorable.
3. Blog frequently
Blogs will continue to be a crucial asset for CRE companies. A blog can be used to share commercial real estate market knowledge and expertise from a company’s perspective. Reading like a long-form or feature article, these “thought leadership” pieces can help move the needle in terms of exposure and help position the firm as a leader with a unique, creative solution.
Potential clients are more likely than ever to read a blog post. According to HubSpot, companies that published 16+ blog posts per month got about 4.5X more leads.
Overall, blogs help build credibility, give a brand a voice and attract new leads. They should be viewed as an essential, multi-purpose tool for today’s CRE firm.
Not sure where to start publishing blog posts? The LinkedIn platform allows users to create and publish articles that will live on their page forever. This content ranks high in SEO and typically has a great ROI for the writer.
With strong indexing performance on major search engines, potential clients and even reporters may come across a LinkedIn piece. It could even inform a sale or lend a voice to a major, public-facing feature.
4. Consider interactive social media campaigns
It is now a common trend for firms to create engagement-focused social media campaigns with target audiences.
By creating a series of interactive social media posts, a firm can target and communicate with its main audience to build a strong online presence. Real estate firms can create such campaigns by featuring high-resolution renderings of the development to increase image-focused posts. A firm could release a series of Instagram stories about the project. Instagram offers a variety of Q&A and survey tools for its stories; utilizing these tools can increase engagement with users. Another popular method to create interactive posts is to highlight project updates or news coverage consistently on social platforms.
These tactics can create organic buzz around a project over time, and even help build awareness months before the property or site has officially launched. This can help avoid empty grand openings and scarce ribbon-cutting ceremonies.
Still not convinced? Here are some quick stats:
In January 2019, more than 500 million Instagram accounts were using Stories every day, and it is more than likely that that number has risen since then.
Fifty-nine percent of U.S. adults use Instagram at least once per day.
Fifty percent of Instagram users are more interested in a brand after seeing an ad for it on Instagram
Sharing blog posts on social media channels will remain a top trend. As with any trend, this will evolve, and new, buzz-worthy features will emerge.
Overall, social media posts housing interactive, informative content give companies the opportunity to connect directly with partners or clients in a highly visible fashion. This will not change.
5. Enlist influencers to carry your message
Influencers – prominent social media users capable of guiding public perception – will expand beyond the consumer market. In fact, real estate and development firms have already started utilizing influencers to attract new audiences and retailers to their properties and generate brand awareness.
In many cases, these influencer partnerships have resulted in thousands of hashtag uses, tens of thousands of likes and numerous live-streamed events. These tactics often yield a steep rise in user engagement, thus bolstering the brand.
Takeaways
Consider targeted social media campaigns, informative thought leadership articles and other compelling content, including video production, to help spread the word about your development projects.
About Violet PR
Whether it’s rebranding a city, drawing attention to a revitalized neighborhood, or promoting a new sustainable development, Violet PR helps clients make a difference. Through a combination of news stories, social media, and compelling content, our NJ-based boutique public relations firm helps clients attract more dollars and supporters.