How the Real Estate Industry Can Use PR for Brand Awareness
Public Relations is a powerful tool for a lot of different industries including real estate, whether residential or commercial and can greatly increase brand awareness. PR in real estate can take the form of many different tactics including distributing press releases, trend pitching, creating thought leadership content, and positioning you and your firm as industry experts. Here at Serendipit, one of our specialties is PR in real estate. We’ve represented clients from Land Advisors and Vie Management, to P.B. Bell and LevRose Commercial Real Estate, all ranging in different real estate sectors such as retail, office, land, multi-housing, student housing, senior housing, and more.
Although each sector is a bit different, implementing the tactics above can really increase brand awareness for those in the real estate industry.
Benefits of Press Releases
The most fundamental, but successful, way to increase brand awareness is by distributing press releases to announce your deals, executive new hires, etc. If your firm can get into the habit of drafting and distributing a press release on each “big” deal you close, you’ll begin to see an increase in website traffic which ultimately could lead to clients and prospects commenting on your latest transaction. The main benefit of press releases is that through targeted pitching, which our PR experts can help with, real estate trade media like REBusiness, Multi-Housing News, and BisNow will pick up your press release and share it online and, in most cases, will further share in their weekly e-newsletter. Another benefit of press releases is they’re a great way to increase your SEO for your website, especially if you share it on a newswire service such as PRWeb. Although press releases are a quick way to increase brand awareness, it’s really just the jumping-off point in PR.
Becoming an Industry Expert
If you’ve been in the real estate industry for a while, it’s a safe bet to say you know your markets, sectors, inside tips and tricks, etc. Becoming an industry expert means you’re willing to share your expertise with your prospective clients and others in the industry through the lens of the media. As prospects see your contributions and expertise, they’re more willing to trust you as an industry leader. Now, this doesn’t mean you need to give away your secret sauce, but having credibility through the media will position you as a true expert in the industry. Working closely with a PR team who understands both trend pitching and your industry can help catapult you and your brand to being more recognizable.
Thought Leadership Strategy
The next step to becoming an industry expert is by also being a thought leader. It’s important to have a comprehensive strategy when becoming a thought leader in your industry. Effective tactics include award nominations and rankings, speaking opportunities, and quality content for your website, social media channels, and media opportunities - these will help elevate both public and industry perception of your brand.
Awards serve as a third-party endorsement which is instrumental to being a thought leader. Furthermore, winning a prestigious award provides more awareness and credibility to your brand - it’s a true differentiator from your competitors. In the real estate industry, there are numerous annual award nominations so it can be overwhelming to go after them all. By partnering with a PR firm, they will not only help you narrow down your award list but will also help you stay organized throughout each nomination process - it can be very thorough and time-consuming.
In addition to awards, another way to elevate your thought leadership strategy is by participating in speaking engagements whether that be on a panel or as a keynote speaker. These types of speaking engagements give you a platform to showcase your expertise, gain more credibility, and engage with your key audience. These events also allow you to develop and build relationships in a no-pressure environment.
Lastly, content is the name of the game and how you use it as a thought leader can really increase brand awareness. By knocking out the first two tactics, you’ll already have content to propel on your website and social media channels, and then voila!
Public relations is a great tool to increase brand awareness in any industry but can be incredibly successful in real estate. By using these PR tactics and strategies, you will see an increase in your visibility as well. Click here to connect and learn more about our PR team.
