f even just a few years ago, you could predict what the future held, how would you have changed your commercial real estate marketing plan? Imagine if you could have known with certainty which product type would be the next “hot” investment opportunity, or what rental rates would be doing over the next 24 months. Wouldn’t it have been pretty cool to be “in the know”? Imagine how much money you could have made for your clients and the type of reputation you would have created for yourself in the space of commercial real estate thought leaders.

To know what the market would be like next, would certainly have been a game changer for you and your business.  But predicting the future, like Peter Drucker, the veritable godfather of marketing, once said “…is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window.”  You may never have an opportunity to know definitively what the future holds, but with some insight and the right commercial real estate marketing plan, you’ll be able to address three current marketing challenges and make sure that your future is bright.

Competition, clutter, continuity are three challenges that any commercial real estate marketing plan should address to ensure  success for the practice. These three considerations affect not only your business, but all commercial real-estate businesses. Below we’ll describe these in more detail and give you some tips for tackling each one.

Competition
Today’s commercial real-estate professionals are competing with more than just the traditional competition. They’re competing with businesses all over the world and newcomers to the industry that have splashy, high-tech marketing capabilities, but almost no track record. As a commercial real-estate professional, to be competitive, you’ll need to adapt and add the most modern technology to deliver new value to your clients.  Remember, while there’s lots of new tools out there, tools don’t make the carpenter.  Use tools to streamline processes and demonstrate to clients how your business stands apart from the competition.  Always be aware of your in-place capability and don’t be afraid to look outside of your organization to a commercial real estate marketing company to help implement necessary strategies.  

Clutter
Your prospective client is drowning in daily marketing messages.  As commercial real-estate professionals have competed to fill their buildings and execute leases, they’ve also contributed to this communication deluge in hopes of getting noticed.  To stand out in a crowded room, you’ll have to compel prospects to get excited about the services you’re offering and immediately see the value that you’ll be able to add.  To do this, know your market, understand current and emerging trends and create a valuable, relevant messages.  Only those that understand positioning and targeting will execute high impact, creative commercial real estate marketing strategies that are aligned with their sales, service and loyalty will enjoy rental premiums and faster uptake of space.

Continuity
Creating consistent, timely messaging is where a lot of commercial real estate marketing efforts can go off the tracks.  Giving in to the hot trend in advertising or reacting to a competitor’s marketing push in a way that contradicts your brand identity will just cause confusion with customers.   The big idea here is that you want to be memorable.  Unless a business is looking to open a new location, lease new space or expand their company’s footprint they probably aren’t thinking a lot about commercial real estate.  Engage in consistent brand focused commercial real estate marketing that highlights your thought leadership and keeps your commercial real estate business top-of-mind, so when a business is looking to make a change, they’ll think of you.

Considering competition, clutter and continuity may seem like no-brainers, but too often marketing goes bad because marketers don’t adhere to the basics.  We started this post with Drucker, so maybe it’s fitting to end with him.   “The only thing we know about the future is that it will be different.”  The question is, how will you address your commercial real estate marketing to influence that difference?