There’s no question that commercial real estate flyers and real estate brochures are still a very important part of how businesses in our industry market their properties and investment opportunities.  While it seems somewhat unusual in this day and age to use a hard copy of anything, there’s something about a well presented glossy real estate flyer that stimulates the senses, both visual and tactile.  Additionally, in an industry that is still very much driven by face to face interaction, a flyer is an excellent complement to those meetings. The most important thing to remember is that a flyer, brochure or real estate om, no matter what you’re using it for, is a representation of your business, so it has to look great and feel good in the hands of the recipient.

The web is filled with sites offering online applications for “easily building” commercial real estate marketing materials by inputting your basic property information. Alternatively, some commercial real estate businesses have turned to exist in house resources or outsourcing their commercial real estate marketing needs to an industry-specific real estate marketing agency. Having someone familiar with your business and your offerings work well as long as that person is equally knowledgeable about design, layout, and copy. 

Either scenario above can produce acceptable looking commercial real estate flyers, brochures and offering memorandums.  However, be sure to evaluate long term capability and fit before relying on this resource as a full-service solution.  To better align yourself with the perfect marketing deliverables, ask yourself the following six questions to ensure you’re producing a high-quality product that elevates your real estate branding.

Is this piece really a match for my offering? It’s important to make sure that software and templates are right for your business.  Nothing screams mis-match more than collateral that’s been designed for office space offerings and is being used to promote investment sales or industrial space.  Every offering type should have a different layout which should accommodate very specific types of information.

Is my brand being properly represented? It’s easy to be attracted to a great looking brochure.  This may have come from your marketing team or have been the output of a third party software.  Before you adopt this piece as a permanent part of your sales kit, make sure it’s a match to corporate colors, typefaces, and style to ensure that it’s going to serve your brand well.

Does your printed material stand above the competition?  A big problem with using templates or software programs is that you’re not the only company using them. Even if your in-house marketer is the person using these, your new flyer should be neatly laid out and should stand apart from competitive materials, not blending in with them.

Am I using high quality pictures, graphics & industry data? Assuming you’re comfortable with using your templates, software or marketing team you’ll need impactful supporting content and visuals to keep your material interesting.  Remember, just having the materials is half the battle, the other half is formatting them so they look good and fit within your layout.

Do I have the well written copy? Like the pictures, real estate graphic design and industry data above, copy is the other puzzle piece you’ll need for your new flyer or brochure.  Original, clearly written, well-worded copy is essential for conveying professionalism.  Don’t be tempted by companies that offer “canned” copy for your materials – you’ll undoubtedly wind up sounding like your competitors.

Are the right skills present to do this? If you’re using a template or software solution make sure whomever is doing the work is comfortable with using office suite style tools and has the time to coax your rough outline into a commercial real estate template that may not be designed for this purpose.  If you have an in house resource or outsourced agency creating your designs from scratch, they should be knowledgeable in the use of design software like Adobe InDesign in addition to knowing the commercial real estate industry inside and out.

First impressions do count, so it may be worthwhile to hire a professional organization to help with your flyers, brochures and offering memorandums.  The right look and feel will signal to your client that you have what it takes to satisfy their unique requirement. Look for a firm that understands the industry and is able to take minimal direction to create something special. They should be able to handle the copy writing, graphics, image sourcing, develop real estate maps, pull demographics and also be willing and able to do any research and financial analysis required.