The trick to great returns on email is making sure you do it right.  Make sure that recipients have opted-in to receive email from you and be sure to segment this list.  Research has shown that segmented campaigns can be 18 times more successful than broadcast.  By doing this, you’ll keep relevancy of the content high amongst recipients.  Don’t forget that the best received emails are heavy on the pictures and have a great subject that piques the reader’s curiosity.  Finally, don’t forget to track your results.

Direct Mail
Unlike many industries, the commercial real estate industry relies on attractive hard copy real estate flyers and real estate brochures to showcase properties and announce investment opportunities.  Real estate postcards and other direct mail campaigns is a proactive, out-bound marketing strategy that can deliver these materials to your firm’s deep database of prospects, investors and brokers to promote and generate maximum attention.
While direct mail marketing may start slow, perseverance pays off.   The idea is to establish consistency upfront so that you are regularly generating leads on the back end. Unfortunately, too many marketers don’t adhere to this and give up too soon.  At a time when not as many companies are doing direct mail, you can take advantage of putting a well-designed complimentary marketing report, listing sheet or an announcement of a recent win in the hands of your target audience. If done well, many recipients will keep hard copies for future reference, even if they don’t act now.

Social Media
Don’t underestimate the power of social media. Tools such as Twitter and LinkedIn are now widely accepted for marketing commercial real estate. Real estate social media can be used to demonstrate expertise and get the corporate message across in a more informal way, opening up discussions and allowing users to leave comments.  One of the beauties of social media is that it can be a two-way communication, meaning you also have the opportunity to gather market intelligence when you use it.

Referrals are a huge source of business in commercial real estate and social media is all about referrals that come in the form of sharing, tweeting, posting, liking and pinning which can all lead to an untapped trove of prospects. Every tweet, post and story reinforces your brand, differentiates you from the competition and helps to drive traffic to your website.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
How visible is your company when people do a search on Google, Yahoo, or other search engines for “real estate investment opportunity” or “office space Orlando, FL”.  The answer lies in how well you’ve done in getting to the top of search engine inquiries with a strong Real Estate SEO strategy. Doing SEO right, means being hands-on, adjusting copy, incorporating keywords and focusing on links – it’s an on-going process.  

Searchers are seeking out businesses that can deliver relevant information to them quickly and easily.  Bolstering your SEO Program will ensure that your brand is found online. After all, you don’t want to be that company that’s lost on page seven.  While it takes some know-how, SEO is relatively inexpensive and is an important complement to many of your other marketing activities.

Follow-up Phone Calls
Remember most commercial real estate transactions are still about interpersonal relationships, first and foremost. So, while the industry has at times come under pressure to adopt the newest technology, seasoned professionals know that sometimes a well-timed phone call is the best way to connect with a prospective client.  That doesn’t let commercial real estate businesses off the hook on adopting technology, but rather it should go hand-in-hand with analog techniques.

Generally, people don’t mind getting follow-up phone calls, particularly if the call is more in the vein of “can I answer any questions?” or “I found some additional information that may be helpful to you”.  A follow-up phone call is great way to judge interest, further qualify the prospect, and also set next steps.  Regular follow-up calls build real relationships, provide additional intelligence and can also make you aware of any competitive activity.