Given the current unsteadiness of our economic systems, and the hit that the real estate market has taken in particular, many of you will find this month’s newsletter a nice change of pace. The marketing metrics we’ve played by for the last 5 or 6 years have been turned on their head in recent months, warranting a fresh look at how your brand and marketing initiatives are faring. However, this doesn’t mean you need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. In this issue of Fresh Findings, we’ll look at ways you can best economize the investment you’ve already made in your brand development and marketing, while also addressing the readily apparent need for new strategy.

Let’s start by clarifying the two distinct areas you might need to review: your brand and your marketing strategy. We’d venture to say that nearly all of you need to re-evaluate your marketing strategy. Drastic changes in our economy and industry niche can’t occur as they have without changing the way we target and approach consumers. For some of you however, your brand is still intact and relevant; little work, if any, needs to be done in redefining who/what you are and what you do. And still, there are some of you that might be hit with a double-whammy – you need to refresh your brand and your marketing strategy.

Beginning with your brand, here are some questions that can help determine if a complete brand review and subsequent revisions are necessary:

Does it reflect your current product offering?

Perhaps when you started out, your brand was developed so far in advance of your Phase IV Town Center that it failed to adequately incorporate this retail essence. A good brand should be able to transcend all facets of your development. If you’re finding it difficult to market a new part of your development without abandoning the identity you’ve already built, it might be time to start over and create a brand that truly encompasses everything you’re about.

Was it done right the first time?

In our niche of real estate development specifically, we’ve found that many times branding isn’t done right from the beginning. We attribute this primarily to the confusion between sales and marketing (see last month’s newsletter for more on that). In the haste to hire a sales team and begin to generate cash flow, many developers turn over the marketing reigns to unqualified salespeople. If your brand identity wasn’t developed correctly from the start, you might be faced with an overhaul later.

Do you really have a brand anyway?

A lot of times, a collection of logos and collateral materials is mistaken for a brand identity. There should be a common thread among all of your marketing materials. If you can’t identify this readily, you probably haven’t really developed your brand; or, it’s very weak at best.

Do your potential customers recognize your brand and can they tell what you’re about?

You’d be surprised at what consumers will say about your brand. We sometimes refer to this as “you can’t see the forest through the trees.” A true example: While you might think your logo says that your development is a family-focused, inviting neighborhood with southern charm, your consumers think it says creepy graveyard-looking garden.

Hopefully you have an idea of where your brand identity is and if you have work to do. Moving on to revising your marketing strategy – some of the following tips and examples might not be applicable to you now, but consider using them to get your own creative juices flowing on ways you can freshen and re-approach your marketing without having to start over.

Get More Targeted:

In the heyday of the real estate boom, marketing seemed to require a lot less effort because you were able to cast a wide net and reach all the people you needed. Now that your marketing budget is tightened, it’s vitally more important that the dollars you spend are spent reaching your target audience with the least amount of waste possible.

Revisit Your Customer’s Demographic Profile:

Now that the economy has taken a turn for the worse, families’ expenses are growing, while income is not. This means that most households have less expendable income. Two years ago, your target audience might have been households with average annual incomes of $200,000; now, because of less expendable income, your target audience might need to be bringing in closer to $250,000 to be able to afford your product.

Direct Mail:

Hopefully your marketing efforts have included a direct mail component all along. But now more than ever, it’s a great way to reach your more targeted audience for a cost that is still relatively low. Also consider strengthening your e-marketing efforts in conjunction with printed mail pieces. A combination of the two typically renders the best results.

Mine Your Data:

Throughout your marketing efforts, you should have been able to build a substantial database of potential sales prospects. If not your own database, you should at least have identified sources for this data. Now is the time to crunch these numbers – cross reference this data with your more targeted approach and perhaps redefined demographic profile and see where you stand. You should be identifying your absolute best leads and spending more energy and money marketing to them, rather than including all the fringe leads too. Don’t forget that past customers can sometimes be your best source of business. Crafting creative referral incentives for past customers is a good way to get new leads.

Get Covered:

Public Relations should always play a primary role in your marketing efforts, and it should always tie into your brand message and advertising efforts. Often, clients think of PR as free advertising – it’s not. Look for ways to generate press interest, but always remember that ultimately it needs to be press-worthy. While many newspapers are cutting back on staff reporters and leaning more heavily on supplied story leads (due to their own economic woes), they’re still not going to run your press release if it doesn’t hold anything of value or interest for their readers. Try to craft your press releases in a way that it creates this value or interest and isn’t just a sales pitch. And, don’t be afraid to spend money in areas that could yield great press opportunities.

Keep Your Appearance Up:

Now is not the time to let the lawn maintenance company go. While you might be looking for every area to cut costs, it’s important that you maintain your property’s standard during this downturn. This is also the time to resist cutting back on your sales office hours if at all possible. Keeping a healthy staff and normal business hours will be very re-assuring to the potential buyers you still have. The last thing you want a potential customer to see is a property and sales office that look abandoned.

We’re all dealing with the rough road of these recent economic and real estate woes. Hopefully we’ve provided you with some insight and encouragement to get creative and find ways to keep your marketing efforts alive. It’s imperative that you stay active in the marketplace because when this downturn finally makes an upswing, those of you who have wisely invested in your marketing all along will reap the quickest and most profitable benefits.

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