If you’re a property developer creating a marketing plan for your development, here are some important things to consider.
If there’s any group who understands the importance of planning, it’s property developers.
Every single step of developing a property is intricately planned and includes timings, assets required, budgets – all brought together under the goal of creating a quality development that sells.
The most successful property developers are those that extend that thinking to their marketing.
They are the property developers who understand that at every stage of development, right from the early stages of planning to the sales, a marketing plan will help them reach the maximum number of customers with strong messaging.
If you’re a property developer creating a marketing plan for your development, here are some important things to consider.
Clear objectives are the key
The first step in any marketing plan needs to be goal setting.
Property developers that have clear objectives of what they want to achieve will inform every step of planning and every marketing activity undertaken.
It’s a well-worn marketing cliche but it’s true: you wouldn’t just get in your car and drive; you need a destination.
When you think about the goals of your business, chances are they’re pretty broad and aspirational. You might want to become the biggest build-to-rent developer in Melbourne’s west, or it could be to become known and trusted by families.
However, when it comes to marketing, the goals of property developers should be specific and have numbers attached to them. It might be to sell a certain number of units; it could be to build a list of qualified and experienced contractors; or it could be to acquire a certain number of properties within a specified area for future development.
Importantly, your goals must be measurable. How else will you know if your marketing strategy has worked, or if it needs to be refined for future marketing campaigns?
Timelines should align
Every property developer knows that construction planning involves creating timelines, and it’s no different with marketing.
At every stage of a development, you’ll need to market to different audiences, with different messages and using a variety of marketing platforms.
For example, at the development approval stage, your messaging might promote your sustainability credentials and your community ethos and would be directed at the council and the local community likely to be impacted by your development. However, at the selling stage, you might want to highlight the quality of your homes and the beauty of the location, and your target audience will be wider spread.
A key part of developing your marketing strategy is to align your activity with your property development.
Plan marketing as customer buying cycle evolves
While you might have a clear picture of who you’re marketing to at every stage of the buying cycle, it’s important for property developers to remember that not everyone in that group is at the same stage of what marketers call the buying cycle.
For example, there may be potential customers who know who you are. They’ve viewed several of your past developments, they’ve spoken to residents, they’ve researched your credentials. They’re ready to buy – they just need the final push (through some savvy marketing).
In the same group, you might also have people who vaguely know who you are, are considering moving to the area, as well as others, and who have no idea why they should invest in your development over another.
They are at different stages of the buying cycle. Property developers need to target their audiences at every stage of the buying cycle and massage them through from awareness, to research, right through to purchase.
Review your results
Analysing the results of a marketing campaign isn’t about determining who gets Employee of the Month. Rather, it provides insights into assessing which marketing assets worked and in what ways, which will be essential in developing future marketing strategies.
Drill down as deep as possible to get the most out of your review. The data might tell you that social media posts proved an effective way to connect with the community and share details of your development, but which specific platform performed the best? What pictures accompanied the most-clicked posts? What did the headline say? And what time was the post shared?
Marketing support for property developers
Property developers understand that for the best results, you need the delivery partners with skills, expertise and experience to get the job done well.
Assemblo is a full-service marketing agency based in Melbourne with extensive experience working with property developers to create and execute marketing plans that yield results.
To find out how we can help your business, give us a call on (03) 9079 2555 or send us a note via the contact form below.