When you own or help run a commercial property, the hope is that you have a great collection of loyal tenants who in turn have a robust customer base and dynamic foot traffic. Sounds nice, right? Even if that’s the case, it’s essential to stay in tune with market trends that can enhance property values.
Over the last 10 years, I’ve worked with clients in the real estate space, many of which own commercial and mixed-use developments that were in need of repositioning and rebranding to remain competitive in the marketplace. Real estate is a challenging industry, as consumer behaviors have shifted over the last 10-plus years, and there’s an increased focus on providing them with an experience. We’ve worked with our clients in this space to create and execute strategic initiatives that set them apart, generate awareness, drive traffic and reach their audiences.
When you want to reposition your commercial property to attract new audiences, we recommend implementing these three tactics.
1. Connect With Exceptional Influencers
While influencer marketing has become a proven method for attracting eyeballs and driving engagement, consider teaming up with influencers who can be active co-creators in your marketing efforts. Truly inventive influencers can tailor strategies that speak directly to the niche intersection of their followers and your target audience while also achieving the messaging goals you’re hoping for. The goal isn’t to use the most popular influencers to create content that benefits them but to utilize partners who are most likely to both lease space and/or drive traffic to your tenants and who will show off the parts of your space that you need to fill.
When one real estate investment and development firm wanted to attract a new group of shoppers and diners to its urban downtown district, better position it to a diverse group of new tenants and help with general brand awareness, we connected it with an influencer who was looking for a new spot for photo shoots. This match-made-in-heaven partnership resulted in over 4,000 hashtag uses, over 25,000 likes on the location, five live-streamed influencer events and a 1,173% increase in engagement on Instagram through specific location check-ins in the six-month timeframe.
2. Leverage Social Media With Strategic Intent
Even if your commercial property regularly posts on social media, you can always find ways to improve your activity. To achieve authentic engagement with your audience and the community around your property, use your social media channels to connect about things that matter to them. Getting the input of your neighbors is essential for strengthening those local relationships and displaying your commitment to the area.
When a real estate company wanted to connect one of its commercial properties with its neighbors in a meaningful fashion, we created a Facebook survey that asked nearby residents what they hoped to see in the property. The survey garnered over 2,500 responses and received 151 shares, 101 comments and 206 likes. The dialogue on Facebook was so popular that it earned five different pieces of traditional media coverage, and the property’s fan base grew by 526%.
3. Create Engaging Events
While your current tenants and loyal shoppers (hopefully) know how great you are, it’s important to introduce your property to new groups of people on a regular basis. Hosting original and innovative events is a great way to keep new faces coming in regularly.
When another real estate firm wanted to increase awareness of its lakefront office and retail property’s amazing amenities, we teamed up with Yelp to develop an invitation-only shindig for members of the Yelp Elite Squad in that city. As part of the event, 35 Yelp Elite Squad members had personalized “passports” stamped at six different restaurants while enjoying light bites, drinks, meet-and-greet opportunities with the local ownership and the chance to win an immersive spa experience. The event introduced a targeted list of elite influencers to the property, which resulted in future events with additional networking and influencer groups.
Repositioning your commercial property could mean reshaping its identity, introducing it to previously untapped audiences or even replacing tenants with ones who better reflect your new identity. Using these three tactics during a repositioning can help you maximize your efforts and showcase what it is that makes your property the place to be.
