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February 2017 — Multifamily Properties Quarterly — Page 29
Management
There’s a marketing epidemic
going on in the real estate
industry. We’ve fallen behind
other industries in how we fight
for the attention of our custom-
ers – not just in how innovative our
methods are, but also in how much
we’re spending for the lack of return
we’re getting. I call this epidemic
backward marketing, and one of my
passions is figuring out how to bring
real estate marketing to the front
lines in the battle for attention.
Here’s what backward marketing
looks like. When a project launches,
a marketing checklist immediately
makes an appearance. Before any
competitive advantages, platform
strategies or stories are discussed,
we’re checking off “marketing neces-
sities” that we’ll spend money on.
T-shirts? Check. Flyers? Check. Bar
events? Check. These items are
meant to build brand awareness. We
have the right goal in mind, but we
need to make sure people love our
brands before they can ever love our
two-bedroom units. This method of
marketing couldn’t be more inef-
ficient or unappealing to your con-
sumers.
(Let’s add an asterisk here. I’m a
proponent for modern awareness
marketing. That can look like video
storytelling with data-driven distri-
bution, creative campaigns that allow
people to interact with a nonsales
messaging and social media advertis-
ing. I’m slightly biased.)
It’s inefficient because you could be
spending more on backward market-
ing than the costs associated with
other available options. In today’s
marketing world, unless your media
budget is over $1 million, you should
be able to measure results from every
dollar you spend. I’ve yet to find mar-
keters who can tell me the impres-
sions, engagements and link clicks
their T-shirts or car flyers generated.
Out of fear, you’re spending too
much money on everything because
you can’t tell exactly what’s working
and what’s not. There are plenty of
boxes that get checked by default but
shouldn’t if we do the right research
and market preparation.
Backward marketing means you
don’t stand out.
The cardinal sin
of marketing is to
look and sound
like everyone else.
We spend lots of
time on ameni-
ties research so we
can offer some-
thing different but,
when it comes
time to introduce
the brand, we’re
all doing the same
things. It’s impos-
sible to stand out
when your marketing plans and
tools look the same as everyone
else’s.
Here’s a realistic note about our
competition. It’s not just the real
estate industry. When we put our-
selves in the shoes of our consum-
ers, we know that we’re compet-
ing for their attention with every
brand they see on their news feeds
and Hulu commercial breaks. This
includes companies like Apple, Nike
and Coca-Cola. When it comes to
marketing, we’re not just competing
with our competitive set, we’re com-
peting for attention with all market-
ing messages in the world.
In other words, we like to directly
compare our digital and social
media marketing methods to just
the competitive set in our market.
In reality, no consumer does that.
They see Nike’s video in their news
feed and then they see yours. They
see Apple’s social ad and then they
see yours. We’re competing for the
attention of modern consumers with
every brand in the world. It’s more
important than ever that we place
a priority on quality – 62 percent of
consumers are more likely to have a
negative perception of a brand that
published a poor quality video.
Backward marketing disregards
people and their actual behavior.
Students don’t look at T-shirts when
they walk across campus. They’re
looking at their phone 110 times a
day! No person has ever appreci-
ated being handed a flyer midstep.
It’s impossible to build an interested
brand following when your audience
is actively working to ignore your
marketing in the first place.
Here’s the solution. Use marketing
tools that are necessary instead of
just what’s on the standard market-
ing checklist. Do this by establishing
one to three competitive advantages.
The qualities of your product that are
the most likely to lead to a successful
sale. Only use marketing tools that
support those qualities. Is your loca-
tion your biggest win? Sunglasses
don’t tell that story. Scrap them!
The next step is to work with a
group with an extensive knowledge
of modern awareness marketing.
Work with them to accomplish brand
awareness by replacing tools you
can’t measure with things you can.
Challenge your marketing partner to
tell your brand story in a way that
people love and want to hear more
about and then have them distribute
that message in a way that can tell
you exactly how many people are
paying attention.
Be efficient by spending money on
video to accomplish what you’re hop-
ing your collateral and events do. Use
advertising platforms that allow you
to target specific people instead of
blanketing a city or car windshields
with a message that might not be
relevant. Facebook and Instagram ads
and Google pay per click are great
tools. Compete for attention with
Nike by targeting a local audience
and showing them a message that’s
hyper relevant.
Finally, care desperately about what
your consumer wants to see. Enter-
tain them. Create marketing they
love to interact with and remember
instead of marketing they tolerate
or downright hate. If they don’t love
what we’re saying and where we’re
saying it, how can we expect them to
love our communities?s
Matt
McAllister
Director of
strategy, Agency
Fifty3, Denver
or service firms.
Depending on the age and condi-
tion of the existing water closet,
return on investment can be a year
to as little as a few months; a very
attractive opportunity with mul-
tiple benefits, especially less calls
for clogs and overflows. Surpris-
ingly, many tenants place signifi-
cant importance on the quality of
their commode, and managers have
reported receiving sincere apprecia-
tion for new water closets.
As a conservation specialist, I have
seen and heard from multiple cus-
tomers about the significant finan-
cial and intrinsic benefits they’ve
received from installing WaterSense
toilets, with some tenants more
excited about new commodes than
other traditional amenities. Maybe
it should be said, “Forget the pool,
install a WaterSense stool.” Mag-
nify benefits by adding WaterSense
showerheads and faucets to per-
form an entire WaterSense restroom
upgrade, and you gain energy sav-
ings through hot water efficiency, an
aesthesis improvement and durable,
immediate and long-term savings.
As of 2017, WaterSense fixtures are
now a requirement in Colorado and
should be widely available from all
resources. Some utilities offer incen-
tives to help with retrofits, and por-
celain recycling is available in some
Kinder
client, contractor and consultants
developed a tight, collaborative
structure where pricing and changes
were made quickly so that decisions
could be made to get a set of per-
mit drawings that would meet our
budget. Multiple meetings were held
each week to ensure that all team
members were on the same page
throughout the process.
Since the drawing schedule was
condensed, the entire team provided
input in real time so progress could
continue. Once the drawings were
finalized, NDHC’s team pressed
Denver’s building department to
expedite the plan review process.
Their diligence paid off. I had a plan
reviewer call me with comments
even before the response letter was
issued so we could prepare our next
response in just a few days. It was
apparent to us that the city had a
stake in the project’s success and
was trying to help any way possible.
In addition to having the quickest
review timeframe I have ever seen,
we received many well wishes for a
successful project.
Palace Construction was a great
partner and efficient in its precon-
struction planning, keeping the
project moving forward and meet-
ing the milestones developed by
the client. In the fall of 2015, we
started construction and through-
out the process the team continued
to keep project costs down while
also providing valuable upgrades to
the development, such as a com-
munity kitchen and window blinds.
Despite having a few setbacks due to
weather, we met the final construc-
tion deadline. Their team exceeded
everyone’s expectations throughout
and provided exceptional service.
• A signature project. Northfield at
Stapleton opened last fall and Den-
ver’s Mayor Michael Hancock joined
community leaders, local officials
and business leaders at the grand
opening. During the ceremony, Han-
cock called Northfield at Stapleton a
signature project in keeping Denver
affordable and accessible.
We achieved our goal of meeting
NDHC’s budget while creating an
affordable and exceptional project.
It’s a place where residents can be
proud to live and is undistinguish-
able from market-rate housing in
the neighborhood. s
Okland
AgencyFifty3