When most people think of public relations, their minds are immediately drawn to actors and rockstars, successful corporations, and other major players. What they don’t realize is that any person or company can benefit from establishing an effective PR strategy. Read on to find out what that might look like in the commercial real estate sector.
What’s the Point?
Before moving on to discuss specific strategies for handling public relations in the field of real estate, it’s worth discussing a few key benefits. Working with a company like Violet PR can help sway public opinion, which can, in turn, make it easier to get the necessary approvals and get a project off the ground.
A good PR strategy is also essential for attracting donors, business partners, and other stakeholders.
Identifying Goals
It’s important to establish goals and objectives before creating marketing materials. These goals will help to inform the PR plan. If, for example, a newly renovated office building is looking for tenants, it makes the most sense to focus on reaching out to business owners.
Commercial real estate developers that need permission from hesitant city officials, on the other hand, will need broader campaigns that help to sway public opinion to influence higher-ups.
Key Messages
Once real estate developers or property owners know who they are trying to reach and why they can start to work on key messages. Those key messages should be chosen to inform the target audience about the project or the organization planning it.
PR agents use a variety of tactics to get information about their clients out there, but without a solid underlying message, it will do little good. Effective tactics for getting reaching audiences can include:
- Creating company-branded newsletters and other forms of complementary advertising.
- Pinpoint marketing strategies for campaigns that target niche markets or individuals.
- Broad-based marketing for generating public support.
- Engaging with the public or specific stakeholders on social media.
- Creating results-oriented media relations strategies.
To reiterate, the key to using these techniques effectively is to have a key message that underlies all of the marketing materials. If every interaction is not just branded but also highly targeted, people will be more likely to remember the campaign and think better of the real estate developer.
Free vs. Paid Advertising
Public relations campaigns typically involve a combination of free and paid ads. The key is to consider the return on investment (ROI) associated with each type of marketing material.
If, for example, a real estate developer is trying to generate public support for a new project, that will be difficult to do via free methods of advertising alone. It will likely require adopting broad-based strategies such as putting up billboards, taking out radio spots, or creating geographically targeted digital marketing campaigns.
While it may be necessary to pay for ads, it’s also worth making full use of any free resources that may be available. Reaching out to local journalists, bloggers, and others who might have a professional interest in the project can be helpful, especially if it’s likely to get their attention, anyway, and that’s just one example.
Hire a PR Firm
By far the best advice that anyone can follow regarding public relations for commercial real estate is to hire a professional. PR firms that specialize in working with clients in the real estate industry know how to maximize both reach and ROI.
