• by Jamie Matusek , October 10, 2018

When you think about disruptive marketing categories, you likely don’t think about real estate as the place to find your next big marketing idea. Yet, three trends in real estate marketing are critical considerations for all marketers today: 

• Brand experiences trump branding 
• Location matters
• Demographics impact both content and placement

Brand Experiences Trump Branding

Your brand goes well beyond your logo and your color palette. In fact, your brand identity and essence are communicated in every interaction you have with your customers and clients. 

In apartment real estate, for example, a brand includes everything from the colors and furnishings in the foyer or leasing office, to the friendliness and helpfulness of front-desk staff, to interactions with the maintenance team. While some of these experiences are primarily categorized as customer service or operations, they are also part of the brand. 

Every brand today should be thinking beyond the traditional definition of marketing to consider how experiences are delivered — and received — on the front lines. Using data and insights from user ratings and reviews can be a powerful tool in identifying issues with the brand experience and correcting them.

Location Matters

You’ve heard the adage that in real estate, three things matter: location, location, location. You’ve likely considered local factors in market studies, and these considerations should apply to your marketing as well. If you’re a national brand, you may have a leg up on local competition when it comes to awareness, but regional factors might negatively impact your brand consideration if you’re not attuned to local nuances. 

The three areas where we continually assess and represent local factors in marketing include:

• Community culture (for example, artsy vs. outdoorsy)
• Local competitors 
• Partner opportunities  

Demographics Impact Content and Placement

For most, it’s a no-brainer to consider a target’s demographics when identifying media for ad buys. For example, using  Pew Research Center data, you might advertise or place content in Facebook or Youtube if you’re targeting a general population of U.S. adults, but might focus on Snapchat or Instagram if you’re interested in reaching 18  to 24 year olds. You’d be right to do so.

However, demographics should also dictate the type of ad unit you use and the kind of content you produce. For example, our experience shows us that younger people are less likely to engage with traditional advertising in social media channels, and more likely to engage with content that looks as though it came from a friend.

Therefore, in creating content to promote an an apartment complex to that market, we focus more on the story format (video or a series of images) versus a static image, and we focus less on production value than we would for a more traditional ad unit.  Such considerations are critical in gaining attention in today’s highly competitive media market, and creating segmented content that addresses the needs and preferences of different demographics can help your brand stand out.